Opposition

13

{ Katy }

Oh my God, I felt like I needed to sit down or I was going to fall over.

I couldn’t tear my gaze from the screen. Nothing was happening. Of course not. Millions of people in L.A. were currently stunned. And out of them, how many would never get back up again? Hundreds? Thousands? I couldn’t believe what I’d just witnessed.

A voice crackled over the radio, declaring a successful drop of the EMP bombs. No one in the room cheered. I was glad they hadn’t, because I was sure either Daemon or I would’ve ended up with onyx being sprayed in our face.

“We’ll be initiating a scan for any electrical pulses,” the man who had been counting down earlier announced. “Two minutes and I should have the data.”

General Eaton nodded. “Thank you.”

“Luxen and their many spinoffs emanate an electrical response,” Nancy explained, but I already knew that. That was why the PEP and EMP weapons were so dangerous.

They fried us on a massive level.

Daemon wrapped an arm around my shoulders, dragging me against his side. When I placed my hand on his chest, I could feel his body hum. He was angry, like me. The fury swirling inside me caused a rush of static to pop across my skin. There was so much frustration, because I knew our options were limited, but this . . . ?

The magnitude of what had just happened went beyond the loss of life. Today, whatever the date, would go down in infamy as the day the City of Angels just stopped. Nothing would work there the same again. All of the electrical grids, the networks, and the complex infrastructure that was so beyond my realm of understanding were all gone.

“There’s no recovering from that, is there?” I asked, and my voice sounded hoarse.

Archer’s jaw was set. “It would take decades, if not longer, to rebuild to what it was.”

I closed my eyes, floored by the ramifications of this.

“There is no activity,” the man announced. “Not even a blip.”

Daemon stiffened beside me, and I pressed my hand against his chest. There had to be a lot of innocent people who had perished.

And this was only the beginning. I knew it. They would do this to more cities, all around the world, and more innocent people would die and the world would become . . . holy crap, life as we knew it would become a freaking dystopian novel like I’d thought before, but for real.

Pulling away, I turned and faced General Eaton. “You can’t keep doing this.”

His deep gray eyes met mine, and I knew he had to be thinking, Who in the hell is this chick to think she can even say anything? and maybe I didn’t have a right. Hell, in the grand scheme of things I was a nobody, just a freak of nature, but I couldn’t stand here and not say something as they literally destroyed the world one city at a time.

“You’re obliterating millions of people’s way of life, and that’s not even taking into consideration the people who were killed when those bombs were dropped,” I said, voice shaking. “You can’t keep doing this.”

“This wasn’t a decision that came lightly. Trust me when I say there were and will be many hours where sleep will be lost,” he replied. “But there is no other way.”

Daemon folded his arms across his chest. “What you’re doing is basically committing genocide.”

No one responded, because what could they say to that? It was genocide, because those bombs were going to wipe most of the Luxen off the planet.

Archer scrubbed a hand along his jaw. “The thing is, guys, what other option do they have? You know as well as I do that if the invading Luxen aren’t stopped, and if the Origins who are working with them aren’t rounded up, it will take just weeks before they have complete control of the whole planet.”

“Maybe not even that long,” Nancy commented as she dropped into an empty chair. Her expression was as impassive as ever, but I wondered if she feared that wherever the Origins were holed up was near one of the cities where bombs would be dropped. “If the Origins are in on this—”

“They are,” I said, thinking of Sadi and the Elder Daemon had mentioned. “Some of them are.”

Her cool, dark gaze landed on me. “Then there truly is no other option. The Origins were created as the perfect species, with cognitive abilities beyond anything ordinary humans are capable of. The Origin—”

“We get it,” snapped Daemon. His eyes glimmered like cut emeralds. “Maybe if you hadn’t messed with Mother Nature and create Origins—”

“Hey,” muttered Archer. “One standing right here.”

Daemon ignored him. “Maybe if you hadn’t done this, the Luxen wouldn’t have come.”

“You don’t know that,” she said, shoulders bunching. “They could’ve—”

“What I do know is that they are working with the Luxen,” he said, cutting her off. “And it doesn’t take a giant leap of logic to think that they had something to do with the Luxen coming here. That shit is on your hands—on Daedalus.”

“Which is awfully ironic, don’t you think?” Archer said, and when Daemon shot him a blank look, I thought for a second he might roll his eyes. “Daedalus was the father of Icarus in Greek mythology. He built the wings Icarus used to fly, and the dumb kid got too close to the sun. The wings melted and he plummeted back down to Earth, drowning in the sea. Kind of like his invention was his own downfall. Same with Prometheus.”

Daemon stared at Archer for a long moment and then turned back to Nancy. “Anyway, no matter how you guys spin it, this mess is on your hands.”

“And we are trying to fix it,” General Eaton responded. “Unless you all have something we haven’t thought of, there is no other option.”

“I don’t know.” I pressed my fingers to my temples. “We really could use the Avengers right about now.”

“Screw that. We need Loki,” Daemon retorted.

General Eaton arched a brow. “Well, unfortunately, the Marvel universe isn’t real, so . . .”

I started to laugh, because I was seconds from doing the crazy laugh and never stopping, but then Daemon blinked as if something had smacked him upside the head.

“Wait,” he said, thrusting a hand through his unruly hair. “We need the equivalent of Loki.”

“I’m not really following that train of thought,” I said.

He shook his head. “There is something we can use, that I know we can use.”

General Eaton inclined his head as Archer’s gaze turned razor sharp. His lips thinned, and I knew he was peeking in on Daemon’s thoughts. Whatever he was seeing, he didn’t look like he was a big fan of it.

When Archer spoke in an awed whisper, he confirmed my suspicion. “That’s crazy insane, like completely senseless, but it might work.”

Daemon sent him a killer look. “Gee, why don’t you go ahead and tell them what I’m thinking.”

“Oh, no.” Archer waved his hand dismissively. “I don’t want to steal your thunder.”

“I think you already did, so—”

“Come on,” I jumped in, impatient. “Tell the rest of us who don’t have nifty mind-reading abilities.”

Daemon’s lips twisted into a semblance of a smile. “There is one thing that the invading Luxen really have no defense against.”

“Well, obviously the EMP weapon,” Nancy commented mulishly.

His nostrils flared. “Besides something that destroys everything as we know it on Earth.”

She looked away, focusing on the monitor as if she were bored with the whole conversation. I wondered if anyone would get mad if I spin-kicked her in the back of the head.

“The Arum,” Daemon said.

I blinked slowly, thinking my brain just went kaput on me. “What?”

“The invading Luxen know of the Arum. That much I picked up, but there was something else I learned from them,” Daemon explained. “They have no experience with them.”

“But they know of them,” General Eaton said. “You just said that.”

“Yeah, but from my personal experience, knowing of the Arum and hearing about them are totally different than actually dealing with them, especially if you’ve never seen one face-to-face before—and they haven’t. The Arum were long gone, on their way here, and these Luxen went in the opposite direction. Even if they’d seen one before, they were just children then.”

A few of the officers in the room, the ones at the mini-monitors, had turned in their seats and were paying a lot of attention to Daemon.

“The first time I faced off with an Arum, I would’ve died if Matthew . . .” He took a breath, and the others might not have noticed the flicker of pain, but I saw it, and my chest ached. Matthew, who had been a father figure to all of them, had betrayed them, and I knew that would cut deep for a very long time. “If Matthew hadn’t been there, someone older and more experienced with the Arum, I would’ve died. Hell, many times over before I got the hang of fighting them.”

“The Arum were created by the freaking laws of nature to keep the Luxen in check and fight them,” Archer said, excitement thrumming in his voice. “They are the only true predator of the Luxen.”

A tiny spark of hope flared in my chest, but I didn’t want to give it too much room to grow. “But the Origins will know how to fight them.”

“They will, but there aren’t thousands and thousands of them,” Daemon said. “And there’s no way they can teach the Luxen that quickly how to defend themselves. Hell, I doubt they even think the Arum will be a problem. Luxen, by nature, are arrogant.”

“Gee, really?” I muttered.

One side of his lips kicked up in a sexy, smug half grin as Archer snickered.

“Origins are probably more arrogant, you know,” Daemon said. “The borderline stupid kind of arrogant.”

The smirk faded from Archer’s face.

“Wow. I feel like Morgan Freeman should be doing a voice-over right now, like, ‘Their weakest link is something already here,’” I said, and when several sets of eyes settled on me with identical looks of confusion, I flushed. “What? It’s from War of the Worlds, and I think it’s totes appropriate for the situation.”

A real smile crossed Daemon’s face, and in spite of everything, my insides melted into goo whenever he smiled liked that, because it was so incredibly rare. “I love how your brain works.”

There’s that love-struck thing you were wondering about in Beth and Dawson’s room. Archer’s words floated through my head, and I cringed. Heat enveloped my cheeks as I cleared my throat. “Do you think this will work?”

“How many Arum are here?” Daemon directed the question at the general and Nancy.

One of the biggest things that had surprised us over the years was the fact that Daedalus had been working with the Arum to keep the Luxen in check, for whatever gross, nefarious reasons.

Nancy’s lips pursed. “We don’t have exact numbers, not like with the Luxen who have been assimilated. Many of the Arum went dark when they came here.”

“Went dark?” I frowned.

“They went underground,” General Eaton explained. “Moving from city to city. They’re damn hard to keep track of.”

“And you guys were more concerned about us and the cool things we could do.” Daemon smirked. “Nice.”

“So how many do we know are here?” I asked before the conversation went downhill.

“A few hundred worked for us,” Nancy said.

“Wait.” Daemon’s eyes narrowed. “That’s in the past tense.”

Oh, no.

General Eaton looked like he wanted to strip out of his jacket. “Many of them left when the Luxen arrived.”

“Many?” scoffed Nancy as she smoothed her hands down her legs. “All of them did. None of us should be surprised. They aren’t the most loyal of all creatures.”

That tiny spark of hope started to fizzle out when Archer spoke up. “But they are still here, on this planet.”

“So what?” Nancy challenged. “You’re going to get them to help?”

A mysterious smile trekked across Archer’s face. “Not me, but I know someone who owes someone else a really big favor.”

Nancy rolled her eyes. “Even if you could get them to help, it would be pointless. There’re too many spread out and—”

“Actually, if I may speak up,” came a voice from the middle of the room. It was a middle-age woman with dark blond hair pulled back into a tight, neat bun. She was standing, her hands clasped behind her back.

General Eaton nodded for her to continue.

“Most of the invading Luxen landed in the United States with manageable numbers overseas. We think this is due to the amount of Luxen we already have here in the States. As you know, we’ve been tracking movement over the last ten or so hours. Many of the invading Luxen have been moving east, toward the capital. If our suspicions are correct, they will be joining forces there and becoming a sizable unit,” she said, glancing toward Daemon and Archer. “Some have integrated themselves into the cities we’ve already lost, but if we were able to make a strike against D.C., we’d take out many of them.”

“And that is what we are planning,” General Eaton said.

“But you’re planning to drop an electrical-whatever bomb on the nation’s capital,” I stated, hands clenching at my sides.

“Actually, if an even more sizable mass of Luxen does appear, it will be several e-bombs,” Nancy said. “Enough that most of Virginia, Maryland, and even the I-81 corridor in West Virginia would be hit.”

“Jesus,” I whispered, squeezing my eyes shut. That’s where my mom and my friends were. “What are you doing to the cities already lost—Houston, Chicago, and Kansas City?”

“Over the next twenty-four hours, EMPs will be dropped.” Empathy bled into his voice. “Those cities are gone, Miss Swartz. Most of the Luxen have taken on human form and they have killed the humans they’ve found not suitable. There is little to no contact coming out of them from any source that we trust. I pray for whatever humans are left in those places.”

“All right. Those cities are gone, but nowhere else so far. What if we can stop them?” Daemon said. “What if we can do the same thing without killing innocent people on both sides, and without destroying the cities to the point they’ll be unlivable?”

Nancy choked out a laugh as she shook her head in disbelief.

“Think about it,” Archer jumped in. “You’re going to have millions of Americans completely displaced in just those three cities, not counting L.A., and the more you do this, the more refugees you’re creating. The States would go under.”

A muscle flexed along General Eaton’s jaw. “Do you think this is not something we have thought about or have begun preparation for? Right as we speak, we’re planning for an even worse outcome than losing the major cities. We’re planning for a complete loss in case the EMPs fail in some manner.”

The general described the precautions they were taking, moving computers and other valuable electronic-based equipment into underground bunkers stocked with nonperishable items, and he droned on until I felt like I really was going to hurl.

If I thought the invading Luxen were bad, I’d had no idea. We truly were on the verge of a catastrophic disaster.

“We can get the Arum,” Archer said. “I know we can.”

My heart toppled over. Could we really get the Arum? I doubted it would be easy, and I almost couldn’t believe it when General Eaton said the magic words. “If you can get the Arum to fight, then we will hold off on neutralizing the force outside of the capital.”

“Thank you.” I almost jumped. I almost hugged the dude, and I was glad I didn’t, because that looked like it would be all kinds of awkward.

“But we don’t have a lot of time. We’ve got about six days, maybe seven, and then we have to go to the EMPs,” the general said. “I’ll need to make a lot of phone calls.”

“This is ridiculous.” Nancy stood, throwing her hands up. “I cannot believe you’re even thinking of allowing them to—”

“You forget your place, Husher. Like always,” snapped General Eaton. He drew himself up to his full height, pouring authority into the air. “I, just as the president of the United States, am willing to vet out different tactics.”

General Eaton continued to dress Nancy down, and I thought I’d be happier to see that happen, but I ended up experiencing a mad case of secondhand embarrassment and I seriously wished I wasn’t around to see it.

Daemon, on the other hand, looked positively gleeful as I moved to stand next to him while Nancy did the walk of shame.

Archer started talking about different ways the Arum could maim and kill the Luxen in less than five seconds flat, a conversation I never thought I’d hear Daemon taking part in so enthusiastically.

Eventually, Nancy left to probably go rock in the corner somewhere and plot her revenge, and General Eaton started making phone calls. It was then that my stomach decided to announce that it could use massive quantities of food.

Surprised that I could eat after seeing and hearing what I did, I pressed the heel of my palm against my belly and smiled sheepishly when the boys looked down at me. “Sorry?”

Daemon’s lips tipped up. “Hungry?”

“Maybe. A little.”

“There’s food in the mess hall near your rooms,” Archer said. “I thought I told you guys about that.”

“We didn’t have time . . .” I trailed off and started imagining dancing naked babies so I didn’t think about why we didn’t have time.

Archer’s brows rose. “The hell?”

Cheeks flaming, I turned to Daemon. I needed to get out of there before Archer got a peep show. “I think I’m going to go get something to eat.”

“Okay.” He brushed his lips over my forehead. “I’ll meet you back at the room.”

I didn’t look at Archer as I spun around. Leaving the boys in the control room, I hurried out into the hall. Not only did I need to get food in my tummy, I needed something else to do that felt normal. I considered visiting Dawson and Beth again as I climbed the empty stairwell and entered the wide corridor on the main level. As I rounded the corner, I stumbled to a surprised halt.

Luc stood up ahead, a few doors down from where Dawson and Beth were, but he wasn’t alone. A girl was with him, maybe around his age or a year younger. She was a tiny thing, and he all but dwarfed her. Ridiculously slender, her denim-clad legs were as thin as my arms. Her hair was like spun gold and she was stunningly pretty, with a heart-shaped face full of faint freckles and eyes that were a warm chocolate.

And I’d seen her before.

Back when Daemon and I had gone with . . . with Blake to meet Luc for the first time. She had been on the stage, as beautiful and fluid as a dancer, and then later, she’d poked her head into Luc’s office, and he’d gotten all frownie face about it.

But she looked different now.

A very pretty human girl, but there were dark smudges under her eyes, her cheekbones were sharp, face gaunt and pale, and her entire appearance was overly frail, as if it was taking everything in her to be upright on two feet.

She wasn’t really standing on her own, either. Luc’s hands were wrapped around her upper arms, almost as if he was supporting her weight. I didn’t need to be a doctor to know that she bled some serious illness into the air around her. Not a cold or flu, but something bad.

Something that reminded me of my father.

I bit down on my lip. Luc seemed unaware that I was there as he smoothed his hands up and down the girl’s arms. “It’s going to be okay now,” he said. “Just like I promised.”

A wan smile turned her lips up. “Do you have any idea what’s going on out there? I don’t think anything will ever be fine again, Luc.”

“I don’t care about that right now,” he said in typical Luc fashion. “Remember what I told you about that new drug?”

“Oh, Luc.” She wrapped bony, pale hands around his wrists. “I think we’re beyond the point of anything working—”

“Don’t say that.” Strength and determination poured into his voice. “It will work. It has to work. Or I’ll kick its ass.”

The girl didn’t look convinced, but her smile spread as she leaned forward, sliding her arms around Luc’s waist.

Luc closed his eyes, and his lips parted as he let out a slow breath. “Why don’t you go in there and get some rest, Nadia.” He drew back, smiling down at the top of her head. “I’ve got some things I need to take care of, and then I’ll be back. Okay?”

I so knew he was totally aware of me, and yet I didn’t feel bad for eavesdropping, considering how many times he’d peeped on us.

She glanced over to where I stood, her curious gaze starting at my toes, and when she reached my face, recognition flared in her big eyes. She hesitated for a moment, and then ghosted into the room.

Luc closed the door behind him and faced me. Once more I was struck by the wisdom in his odd purple eyes and the set of his face, as if he was much, much older than he appeared.

“Who is she?” I asked.

“You heard me say her name.”

“That’s not what I meant.” I glanced at the closed door. “I remember her. She was at the club, dancing on the stage.”

He cocked his head to the side. “I’ve killed people for just looking at her, and you want to know who she is?”

Luc could do that in the blink of an eye, and he could also make me squawk like a chicken if he wanted to, but I wanted to know who this girl was to him, and I seriously doubted he would mess with me. Or at least I hoped not.

Shoving his hands into his pockets, he strolled up to me. “After everything you’ve seen and heard, you really want me to tell you about her?”

I crossed my arms. “Right now, I would like to think about anything other than what I just saw and heard.”

He was silent for a long moment as he studied me, and then he leaned a shoulder against the wall. “Nadia just got here from Maryland—Hagerstown, to be exact. I called in some favors when I got to this base.”

The kid had more favors owed to him than a gambler had debt. “Of course.”

A slight grin appeared. “I’ve known Nadia for a couple of years, met her when I first visited the Wild and Wonderful West Virginia. She was a runaway—abusive home, a father who would make you sick.”

The moment those words formed, the worst-case scenario took form.

“What you’re thinking doesn’t even touch what really went on,” Luc said, voice hard. “Don’t worry. He got his just deserts in a very slow and painful way.”

My heart skipped a beat at the cold, grim smile that appeared on his face. I didn’t even need to ask what he did. I knew.

“She was young and living on the streets when I met her, so I took her in. Paris wasn’t too keen on it. She’s human after all, but there’s something . . . Well, Nadia is special.” A far-off look crept onto his expression.

“Is she your girlfriend?”

Luc let out a dry laugh. “No. I’d never be that lucky.”

My brows rose, and I couldn’t stop myself from thinking it. He was in love with her.

If Luc picked up on the thought, he didn’t acknowledge it. “Two and a half years ago, she started getting bruises all over her, would end up worn out easily, and couldn’t keep any food down. It’s a cancer of the blood, a label with too many words that don’t matter.” His eyes narrowed. “It’s fatal.”

I closed my eyes. “Luc, I’m . . . I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he said, and when I looked at him again, he was staring right back at me. “Your father died—a lot of people die from cancer. I get that. But Nadia won’t.”

“She’s why you wanted the Prometheus serum.” From the moment I saw her, I’d been putting two and two together. “Luc, they said it didn’t work for—”

“It works on some diseases and some cancers. They didn’t get a chance to roll the drug through every sickness out there,” he interrupted, and I snapped my mouth shut. “As messed-up as Daedalus was, they did do a few good things. And hopefully, this will be another karma point for them.”

I wanted it to be the case. I didn’t know the girl, but after losing someone to cancer and losing all contact with my mom, I knew how hard loss was. It never went away, but stayed with you like a faint shadow that was thicker some days than others.

“I hope it works,” I said finally.

He gave a curt nod. A moment passed and then he said, “So you guys want to use the Arum to fight the Luxen?”

I blinked. “Does it ever get old being a know-it-all?”

Luc chuckled. “Not one single time.”

My look turned bland.

“Using the Arum is one hell of a Hail Mary, you know that, right?”

I sighed. “It is. Archer said he knew someone who was owed a favor. I’m going to take a wild guess and say it was you.”

He laughed again as he tipped his head back against the wall, looking like a teen boy lounging outside of a classroom. “Yeah, one of the Arum does owe me a favor.” A winsome grin appeared. “And his name would be Hunter.”