Opposition

23

{ Daemon }

Shoved in the back of my jeans, the rigged gun burned my skin, but before I could go for it, he spoke.

“Don’t even think about doing anything. I know neither you nor your sister is falling into line. I knew you’d be tough, but your sister surprised me. The game’s over.” He barely passed us a glance as he walked over to the table, straightened a chair, and sat down. “Your sister and the one with her will be slaughtered before you can blink an eye if you displease me. Keep that in mind.”

A deep growl rolled up my throat.

He glanced at the dead Luxen and then his violet eyes slid back to us. He tsked under his breath. “Daemon Black, I had so much hope for you.”

It took everything not to blast his ass into outer space. “Funny. You sound so much like someone I know already. Disappointed her, too.”

One dark eyebrow rose. “Hmm. Let me guess. Nancy Husher?”

I ground down on my molars. “You are on speaking terms with her?”

Ethan idly brushed the backs of his fingers along his pants, and then he hooked one knee over the other. “Not quite, Daemon. Please.” He extended a hand, and two of the chairs flipped upright. “Have a seat.”

“No thank you,” I said as Kat shifted closer to me. I had no idea what kind of frame of mind she was in right now.

Ethan smiled tightly. “I really wasn’t giving either of you an option. Sit or I’ll send the message to the others outside to kill your sister. Slowly.”

Anger was like a bitter acid in my blood as I stared down the Elder or whatever the hell he really was to our kind.

It was Kat who spoke, her voice surprisingly level considering what she’d just been through. “We’ll sit.”

Looking over at her, I saw that her face was pale and eyes slightly swollen, but her gray gaze was sharp. I took her hand.

Ethan chortled as he watched us. “Tell me, Daemon, what made you fall in love with a human?”

How in the hell was I supposed to answer that? I sat in the chair nearest to Ethan, which forced Kat farther away. “Why do you even want to know?”

“I’m curious.” He cocked his head to the side. “Answer me.”

My teeth were going to crack. “What’s there about her not to love?”

“Well, she’s a human.” His gaze flickered over her, his upper lip curling. “She’s mutated, but ultimately, she’s a human underneath it all.”

“So?” challenged Kat.

He ignored her. “She’s human, Daemon.”

“That doesn’t matter to me.”

“Really? Because I remember the Daemon who hated humans, hated what they’d done to his brother and brought onto his family,” Ethan replied. “I remember the Daemon I had such great hope in.”

“I was wrong to hate humans for what happened to Dawson. It wasn’t Beth’s fault or the fact that he fell in love with her. It was Daedalus.”

“An organization run completely by humans.”

I narrowed my eyes. All I could do was keep him talking, keep my brain blank from anything we planned. “Yeah, thanks for the clarification on that.”

He looked unmoved. “You can’t tell me that if your brother had never met that human girl, things would’ve been different. Same with you. Maybe even the whole world would’ve been different. After all, your actions in Vegas gave us the perfect opportunity.”

A muscle along my jaw started to pop. That human girl. I remembered him calling Kat that twice and I hadn’t really sensed the pure hatred then, just distaste, but I got it now. Oh yeah, I was really picking up on it now. “And guess what, Ethan?” I could feel Kat’s eyes on me. “I wouldn’t change a damn thing. Neither would Dawson. So chew on that.”

A flare of white light behind his purple eyes came and went. “What if I told you that your parents were alive when they arrived here?”

For a moment I didn’t think—couldn’t think. His words did not make sense.

“What?” Kat demanded.

Ethan didn’t even look her way. He was locked onto me like he was going to take me out to dinner later. “Your parents, Daemon. What if they came to Earth, but humans killed them? How would you feel about your precious human then? Or any human?”

Unable to stop myself from reacting to what he was saying, I sat back and stared at him. Again, I could feel Kat’s eyes on me, and I didn’t need to look deep to find the answer. “Yes. I would feel the same way.”

He stared at me curiously.

“Were . . . were they alive?” Kat asked.

“That doesn’t matter,” I snapped. And it was true. None of that mattered now. “This is bullshit. All of it.” My hands curled into fists atop the kitchen table. “What do you want, Ethan? Why this? You want to take over the world or something?”

“World domination?” Ethan chuckled. “That’s so cliché. So damn silly. I don’t give a damn about ruling this planet or any planet.”

I raised my brows.

“My parents were killed, Daemon. But you probably already realize that, since you know exactly what I am and I’m sure Nancy told you . . . Well, told you half of the truth.” Ethan folded his hands in his lap. “I was a part of the first group of Origins, before Nancy stepped in at a young and tender age to spearhead Daedalus.”

One of the first groups? Yeah, if what Nancy had said about them was true, the first group really didn’t have a great go at things.

“When they realized that my father had mutated my mother, they captured them. Started doing experiments. Whatever love those two might have had for each other was destroyed by the things they did to them and made them do, including my creation,” he explained without a drop of emotion. “I was a part of a limited group of Origins, and I grew up in a lab.”

“That sucks.”

That tight smile appeared. “You have no idea. I lived for years knowing that they could end my life if I did one thing wrong. Over and over, I watched other Origins, too young to really understand what they were, get taken away and never seen again. They were killed. And then I watched them murder my parents for an infraction that I committed.”

My hands, hell, my whole being itched to end this. “Like I said, that sucks, but I really don’t get why you’re telling me.”

“You don’t?” Ethan laughed, and for the first time, real emotion spread across his face. “I lived in Daedalus’s lab until I was old enough to be placed outside, into a controlled position. Not like some who were placed as senators or doctors. No. I was placed within the Luxen community, ordered to keep an eye on them.” He chuckled. “As if I would help them with anything. Or any Origin of my class would.”

“Class?”

“Yes. There’ve been roughly five classes. I was a part of the first. Your friend outside was in the second batch, and there have been three more.”

I was guessing that the last two were the ones including Luc and those freaking kids. “Are all the Origins from your group like you?”

“Like me,” he huffed, shaking his head. “You mean do they want what I want or are they no longer under the control of Daedalus? The answer is twofold. No Origin can truly be controlled by anyone. We are practically the closest things to gods.”

Wow, mouthed Kat.

“And those who are left of our class, which are few, want just what I do.”

Kat sat forward, sliding her hands off the table. “Few? There aren’t many left of your . . . uh, class?”

His gaze slid her way, and I didn’t like it. Not one freaking bit. “When you two escaped from Daedalus and Vegas happened, Daedalus began cleaning up—eradicating the Origins.”

Her brows pinched. “They said they started that when the Luxen arrived.”

“And you believe anything a human says? Of course you do, because that is what you are.” He sneered, his disgust evident, and he was really starting to piss me off. “They started cleaning house when you all decided to take down Vegas. All across the country, we dropped like flies, and it simply became time to end this.”

“End this.” I was so beginning to see where this was heading. “You found a way to communicate with the Luxen who hadn’t been here.”

“We’d been working on a way, and let’s just say we opened the doors for them. It was perfect timing.” He spread his hands wide. “And here we are. Most of the Luxen, both here and those who’ve arrived recently, answer to me.” His smile went up a notch. “I can be very convincing.”

Kat stared at him. A second ticked by. “You hate humans.”

“Loathe them,” he confirmed. “They disgust me. They are weak and fragile. They are fickle and dangerous. They deserve everything that is coming to them. The Luxen want to rule them, and they will. They already are, and that’s fine by me. I don’t care what they do, as long as humans suffer and experience everything that I have.”

“All of this . . . all of this is because of what happened to you?” she asked, shaking her head slowly. Disbelief colored her tone. I didn’t blame her. I was also shocked.

Taking over the world was at least something to aspire to. This? This was just nasty hatred and revenge and . . . yeah, crazy. How he managed to get so many Luxen behind him was beyond my understanding. How could they not have seen through what he was? Though hell, I had never seen him for what he was.

“You’re doing this just because of what was done to you,” Kat repeated.

“And what they did to others of my kind.” His eyes flashed again. “And what they would’ve continued to do, even after dismantling Daedalus and their projects.”

“But there are people who would’ve never done anything like that. Who would’ve welcomed the Luxen,” she argued. “You can’t judge an entire race of beings on what a small percentage of people have done.”

“Already have,” he replied.

Jesus. There were no words for this.

“That’s insane!” Kat’s cheeks flushed with anger, and damn, she was right. “That’s worse than how the Luxen feel about the Arum and vice versa. That’s absolutely—”

Ethan moved faster than even I could track for a moment. One second he was sitting, and the next second he was right beside Kat, his fingers curled around her throat.

I shot up from my chair, knocking it over. My form began to shift. Let her go.

His grip tightened on her neck. “Take one step toward me. Shift or summon the Source, and I will snap her neck. Let’s see if you can heal her from that.”

My heart—dammit—my heart stopped in my chest as I stared at them. He had me by the throat because he had my whole world in his hands. I forced the shift to back off and said one word I thought I’d never utter to the bastard.

“Please.” I swallowed hard, but the words came out easier than I could’ve ever imagined. “Please don’t hurt her.”

Ethan sneered into her face. “You beg for a human who wouldn’t do the same for you?”

“I’d do anything for her.”

“And I would do . . . the same for him,” Kat gasped out, her hands curling inward in her lap. “And I would . . . never be as batshit crazy as you.”

“Kat,” I warned.

Ethan’s fingers tightened, and she jerked. “Excuse me?”

“You are worse . . . than the Luxen. You’ve judged billions of people for something they didn’t do.” Her voice cracked. “You hurt my mother. She never did anything to you, and you probably don’t even know her name.”

“That bitch?” Ethan spat back. “She isn’t even worth knowing her name.”

Several things happened at once. Blue light flared from the outside, a halo that lit up all the windows and danced over the walls. The sound of giant wings beat at the roof. There were shouts from almost every direction.

Ethan lifted his head, brows furrowing in a look of confusion.

Kat kicked her chair back, swinging one leg up. Her foot connected with Ethan’s midsection. She wrenched back and he stumbled against the table. I shot toward her, grasping her by the shoulders before she could fall. I hauled her up and away from Ethan as I shifted.

The windows facing the front yard, over the sink, exploded. I spun Kat behind me, blocking her from the shards of flying glass.

Men in black with face shields landed in the kitchen like something straight out of an action flick, their boots crunching on the broken glass. Well, I assumed the military had arrived or a SWAT team had just busted up in the wrong house. The massive weapons they hoisted—PEP guns—told me my first assumption was correct.

I backed Kat up, not wanting her to get caught in the whole lot of bad that was about to go down, but I wasn’t the only one worried about getting out of the middle of this.

Ethan spun, and the bastard ran.

{ Katy }

Too much emotion was swirling inside me. I was like a tornado, about to wipe out everything in my path. My senses were on overload and I was overwhelmed by everything that had happened—was happening.

Men had just rapelled into the house, through the win-dows.

Mom was dead.

The whole world had been upheaved on its axle. All because of revenge. That was all. Nothing important. Just crazy revenge, and it had changed the entire world—my world. There was no point behind this. No real reason.

When Ethan turned to run, I didn’t stop to think about it. I didn’t hesitate as I reached behind me, yanked on the butt of the Glock—the modified gun. It happened so quickly. I took aim as the men shouted at Ethan.

He was already at the sink, about to Houdini himself out the window, and I knew if he got outside we’d never find him. We’d have to start all over and he’d never pay for everything he had done.

I took aim at his head and pulled the trigger.

All of this happened within one or maybe two seconds, and the months and years leading up to it were over in a heartbeat.

Ethan toppled over face-first onto the kitchen floor.

Done.

Dead.

It was over for him in the span of time it took to move a finger. What had happened to my mom would’ve taken longer, would’ve been more painful. Ethan is lucky, I thought numbly. He was there one second and then gone in the blink of an eye.

My hand shook as I lowered the gun, and I was vaguely aware of Daemon staring at me and the strange men turned in my direction, their faces hidden behind shields, but I could feel their stares.

Ethan was dead.

It wasn’t the same with the Luxen. There was no light show before he died. Ironically, he left this earth like the humans he hated—like the humans he was actually a part of, and how messed up was that? His mother had been a hybrid—part human. Did he hate himself, too? Why was I even thinking about this? Because it didn’t matter.

I tried to take a breath, but it got stuck, and I felt cold and then hot, too hot.

One of the men turned, a gloved hand rising to the side of his helmet. There was a burst of static and he said, “They’re here.”

At first I thought he meant the Arum, but the pulses of light that suddenly lit up the outside told me that wasn’t the Arum.

“Go! Go!” ordered one of the SWAT-looking guys.

The men—five of them—went out the same way they’d come in, through the windows. Dumbly, I wanted to point out the door a mere few feet from them, but then Daemon was reaching for me, going for the gun I was still holding.

I jerked back from him, tightening my grip on the gun.

“Kat . . .”

My gaze swung over Ethan to the dead Luxen who had assimilated my mom, and as I stood there, shouts rose from the outside. Although it was daytime, it looked like lightning striking horizontally. Daemon cursed, his attention divided between me and where his sister was, and I made the decision for him.

“This is not over,” I told him in a voice that was pitched too high.

He took a measured step toward me, and his chin dipped as his gaze collided with mine. “It is for us, Kat. It is.”

“No.” It wasn’t over. There was too much building in me, a reckless amount of energy and anger and a thousand other emotions. “No.”

“Kat—”

I spun around and raced out of the kitchen, toward the front door. Daemon was right on my heels as I threw open the door.

Chaos.

A dozen or so Luxen had streamed out from the thick cluster of trees surrounding our homes, and with them were at least three Origins. I couldn’t see Dee or Archer, but there were bodies littering the ground, both human and Luxen. Blasts from PEP weapons and from the Source zinged back and forth across the yard. There were more Luxen than humans standing, and in their true forms, their light was as bright as the sun breaking through the clouds overhead.

It was an all-out war scene, very much like what had gone down in Vegas. The trees closer to the yard were singed, and a few of the bare branches were burning, billowing black smoke into the air. A distinctive burned smell lingered in the air, curdling my stomach.

The Luxen were lobbing bolts at the men in black like they were throwing baseballs, one after another. One struck a man in the chest, spinning him back and onto the ground near the porch. The PEP weapon hit the ground and fired, sending a deadly blast in our direction.

Daemon shoved me to the side as the blast from the weapon cracked into the storm door behind us, shattering the glass.

Out of the corner of my vision, I saw Archer dart across the driveway, firing off rounds from the gun he held in his hand—the same kind I’d used on Ethan. He hit the Luxen, taking shots like a total badass. One went down . . . and then another and another. Their forms flickered in and out while one hit the ground, light fading into the shell of something sort of human.

Then I saw Dee behind Mom’s car. Every couple of seconds, she stood and sent out a blast of the Source in the direction of the Luxen.

Daemon moved around me as an Origin raced toward the porch, rearing back as white light wrapped down his arm at an alarming rate. Daemon vaulted the railing, tackling the Origin before he could do a thing.

Damn, he was like a ninja, totally badass, too.

Unable to stand there and do nothing, I took aim with the gun and continued firing in the direction of the Luxen until I pulled the trigger and nothing came out of the barrel. I’d hit two, maybe three. They weren’t kill shots, but Archer was on them, finishing them off with the Source.

I hurried down the steps, tossing the gun aside as another Origin headed toward where Daemon and the other were fighting hand to hand. Daemon was on top, straddling the douche, arm cocked back before he delivered a blow.

My heart lodged in my throat as a flash of whitish-red light came from a different direction, over by Daemon’s house. I shouted his name, but it was too late. The energy smacked into his shoulder, knocking him off and onto his back. His face contorted with pain as he gripped his arm, his lips forming a string of curses.

Then he shifted into his true form and shot to his feet, his light white with vibrant red streaks through it. He was about to unleash a whole different level of badassery, but something deep and vicious was still building inside me.

My gaze centered on the Origin in the next yard. Static crackled down my skin. Fury fused my cells, mixing with the rage and pain already there. It burst from me like a shock wave, rolling out in a surge of power.

Mom’s car rattled, forcing Dee to jump back. Her wide eyes swung toward me as her black curls blew around her head. Her mouth opened, but her words were tossed back in her face.

The force of power was like hurricane winds. It slammed into the Explorer, lifted it up on two tires, and then flipped it over. The vehicle rolled toward the Origin, who spun and ran.

Ran.

My brain had clicked off and my boots dug into the ground as I pushed and took off, giving chase. I heard my name shouted, but I couldn’t stop and I couldn’t listen. My feet picked up speed, and the burst of power and energy rolled through me.

I hit the edge of the forest as I heard my name yelled through my thoughts, but I didn’t stop. I kept going, picking up more and more speed. My heart pounded like a jackhammer hitting cement, and my pulse was as frantic as the beating wings of a trapped bird.

Heat swept over my skin as my hair streamed out behind me. Branches snagged at me, catching pieces of my clothing, whipping back at my cheeks and arms like thin lashes. They didn’t stop me. I leaped over rocks and fallen tree trunks, my muscles screaming as I pushed harder and harder.

I chased the Origin, who stayed a yard or two ahead of me through the forest, darting around trees and large rocks. In the back of my mind, I wondered about the violent energy bouncing inside and if I’d been tested enough to ensure I wouldn’t self-destruct like some hybrids, like Carissa. What if they hadn’t, and this—this was what self-destruction felt like?

I was burning up inside, full of murderous rage and frustration and sorrow that cut so deep it was like an endless well of hurting. And I couldn’t believe that my heart could beat this fast and still keep going.

Kat!

I heard his voice again, but I was focused on the Origin, on the need to take him out, to end this with none of them getting away.

I had no idea how far I’d run, but the trees started to thin when the Origin glanced over his shoulder. Something about the look on his face caused my feet to stumble just the slightest.

But it was too late.

Up ahead, I could see the base of Seneca Rocks, their quartzite flecks glittering in the sunlight, rising as tall as I could see, their peaks like jagged fingers reaching into the sky, and I realized I’d run for miles.

The Origin broke free of the trees, and I was only a few seconds behind him, clearing the forest, when I stopped, or tried to. Sliding across the ground, I kicked up grass and loose soil as I stared at the rooftops of houses that sat at the base of the rocks, and then my gaze dipped, frantically traveling over the mass of people in front of me.

Hundreds, if not thousands, and they weren’t really people. Nope. They were Luxen. Maybe even a few Origins. It didn’t matter. My heart nearly came out of my chest as the horrifying realization kicked in.

“Oh shit,” I gasped out.

One of the Luxen, a female, smiled while I started to back up, swallowing the rising panic. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. I was so incredibly stupid and reckless and more stupid.

I’d run straight into the colony of Luxen.

There wasn’t even a second to get the hell out of there. A blast of whitish-red light blinded me for a second, and then fiery pain lit up my shoulder. The power of the hit knocked me backward. My feet came off the ground and I saw the blue sky above me.

Oh God.

But I never hit the ground.

Heat enveloped me. Strong arms surrounded me. I was suspended for a moment, not touching the ground, and then I was pressed against Daemon, who stood before the colony in his true form.

He shielded me from his own kind.

They began to shift, one after another, like Christmas lights blinking on in succession. There were so many of them, too many. We would not be able to fight them all. We would not be able to escape. And this was my fault.

I’m sorry, I said to Daemon. The only thing I could think was that maybe one of us could get away if the other caused the distraction. He didn’t deserve this. Shoulder aching and possibly smoking, I started to pull away from him. I’m sorry.

Daemon’s arm tightened around me, and I didn’t make it far at all. No. His voice wrapped around me. Don’t even hink it. If this is it, then we face it together. His light receded, revealing the form I’d fallen in love with first. The unruly dark waves, broad cheekbones, and bright emerald-colored eyes. “Together,” he repeated out loud.

My breath caught, and static built in the air around us. My body was trembling from the unspent energy and the knowledge that there was no escape.

“Together,” I whispered.

Daemon bowed his head, lowering his mouth to mine, as a sudden rush of noise caused the blood to freeze in my veins. I feared that this was it—the end.

The great massive oaks and pines around us shook, branches rattled, and birds—thousands of them—took flight, their wings beating into the air as they circled high above the colony of homes, veering sharply to head in the direction of where we’d come from.

What the . . . ?

The strangest thing happened. Clouds, thick and so dark they were almost black, dropped from the sky above Seneca Rocks, and they continued to fall to the ground at a rapid pace.

Except they weren’t clouds.

“Oh my God,” I whispered.

Daemon hauled us back, farther away from the line of Luxen, as they started to shift in and out of their forms.

Someone—had to be a Luxen who’d been on Earth or an Origin—shouted. “Arum!”