Opposition

18

{ Katy }

I was going to hurl all over my sneakers.

This . . . this thing wanted to feed off me? That was his condition? Panic rose swiftly, sinking its poisonous venom into my bloodstream.

Daemon exploded. He shot forward, reaching the first step before Hunter and Archer got hold of him. The words that streamed out of his mouth were a steady onslaught of various F-bomb combinations I didn’t even know were possible.

“You’re out of your fucking mind,” Daemon shouted. His eyes were all white, bright as diamonds, as he strained against the two guys. “You sick son of a bitch!”

Lotho arched a brow.

The edges of Daemon’s body thrummed, casting frantic slivers of light into the gloom of this underworld. “Forget it. That’s never going to happen, and you’re never going to fucking walk again when I’m done with you.”

One broad shoulder rose as Lotho stared down at him dispassionately. “Like I said, take it—”

Another ripe F-bomb was tossed in his direction. “If you think you’re going to get anywhere near her, you’re insane.”

My stomach tumbled as Lotho continued to smirk. “Hey, if you don’t want to play along, don’t let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya.”

Daemon lurched forward, nearly dragging Archer and Hunter to the ground. Another explosive tirade ripped from him as my heart pounded like thunder in my chest.

“That’s really your condition?” My voice was hoarse. “You’re not going to help without that condition being met?”

He nodded. His lifeless eyes landed on me, and I knew he wasn’t going to cave. We would leave with no Arum support. The military would drop their e-bombs all across the United States. Innocent humans and Luxen would die, along with hybrids and Origins. Dee would be lost, most likely killed. The world would rapidly rewind to the past, losing hundreds of years of technology and advancement.

We couldn’t let that happen.

My stomach turned as reality slammed into me with the force of a freight truck packed full of dynamite. I was . . . I was going to have to let him do this. That was it. We had no other choice.

Archer and Hunter had managed to drag Daemon back a few steps, but the expression on his face was downright murderous as he glared at the Arum leader. I knew if he got free, he was going to go at him with everything he had. Maybe that was what Lotho really wanted.

Or maybe Lotho was seriously just a sick bastard.

I didn’t know, and it really didn’t matter.

My hands shook as I smoothed them down my sides. “Daemon.”

It was like he didn’t hear me; he was so focused on the Arum. Violence poured into the air around him. His chest heaved with every deep, ragged breath he took. He was a bottle with the lid about to be completely screwed off.

“Can you give us a few moments?” I asked.

Lotho gave a noncommittal wave of his hand. “I have all the time in the world. You all? Not so much.”

Daemon started to shift. “You have less time than you think, you stupid freak of a mother—”

“Daemon!” I placed my hand on his arm, and his head whipped toward me, eyes blazing. “We need—”

“We don’t need jack,” he growled. “But I need to end his life right—”

“Stop,” I said, staring into his burning eyes. “We need to talk about this.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.” His gaze swung back to Lotho. “Unless you want to hear in detail what I plan to do to the bastard. Then we can talk all you want.”

Archer’s eyes met mine from the other side of Daemon. It’s our only choice.

I know, I sent back.

Then you need to get him on board.

What the hell did Archer think I was doing? “Can you guys help me get him outside of this room?” Talking in here would just decline into him cussing out Lotho again.

Hunter nodded. “Come on, big boy. Let’s take a walk and let you cool down.”

It took a god-awful amount of time to get Daemon out into the tunnel leading into the main room. Both of the guys hesitated leaving him alone with me, as if they thought he’d bum-rush Lotho in the main room.

The way he was staring at the closed metal door, there was a good chance he might blast a hole right through it and go all Rambo on steroids on Lotho.

I watched him stand a few feet from me, his chest rising and falling deeply. The edges of his body were still blurred, and I could practically feel the bitter metallic taste of his anger.

“I can’t believe he’d even suggest that,” he said, his voice as razor sharp as broken glass.

“I can’t either, but . . .” I took a deep breath when his luminous gaze found mine. “But that’s his condition.”

Daemon opened his mouth, closed it, and then opened it again. “I don’t care if he could twitch his fucking nose and make the Luxen disappear; he’s not going to feed off you.”

“If he doesn’t, then he’s not going to help us,” I reasoned carefully. “None of the Arum are going to help us.”

“I. Don’t. Care.”

“Yes, you do. I know you care. There’s too much at stake for you to not care.”

He laughed harshly as he faced me. “You know me better than that.”

“Exactly! I know you, and I know you’re angry right now—”

“‘Angry’ isn’t a strong enough word for what I’m feeling right now,” he shot back.

“Okay.” I raised my hands. “But we have to get him to help us.”

“Not if it means you have to go through with that.” He started to pace. “I can’t allow it. There’s no way I can let you go through being fed on. Nothing in this world is worth that. You have no idea—”

“I know what it’s like to be fed on,” I reminded him, and he flinched. I swore it was the first time I’d ever seen him do that. “When I got caught in Mount Weather, I was fed on. I know it’s not fun and it won’t be pretty and it’s going to hurt, but—”

“No!” he shouted, hands curling into fists. He cursed again, thrusting his fingers through his hair as he twisted his upper body toward me. “It kills me that you even know what it feels like, that you had to experience it and I couldn’t protect you.”

“Daemon—”

“I’m not going to allow that to happen to you again. No way, so don’t even think you can convince me.”

“Then what do we do? Just say screw it?”

“Sounds like a plan to me.”

I stared at him.

“What? We can go live in a damn cave,” he said, pacing once more. “Look, I’m a selfish person. You know that. And I don’t want you to go through that, so I’m willing to say screw it and we cut our losses.”

“Really? What kind of life would that give us?”

“Don’t bring logic into this conversation.”

Frustration whirled inside me as I stepped in front of him, clasping his cheeks. The stubble grazed my palms. “Daemon, there is no life for any of us if we don’t get them to help us.”

“We can make it work. I know we can.”

“Daemon . . .”

He broke away. “I can’t even believe we’re having this conversation.”

“I know the idea is upsetting.”

“Do you? Sounds like you don’t.”

My eyes narrowed and I planted my hands on my hips. “Come on, you know I don’t want to do this. The very idea of—of feeling something like that again terrifies me and makes me sick, but if that’s what it takes to get them to help us, then that’s what I need to do. That’s what we need to do.”

“You do not need to,” he snapped.

I dragged in several deep breaths. “We need to. For your sister.”

“You’re going to make me choose between you and her?” he shouted, eyes a vehement white.

“I’m not making you choose.” I followed him around the tight circle he paced. “You are making that choice. By trying to protect me, you’re letting her go.”

He stopped and stared at me. I thought he’d lash out again, but he closed his eyes, his striking face taut and his body rigid.

I knew in that moment I had him thinking instead of feeling. I latched onto it. “Are you ready to do that? Because she’ll probably die. I hate saying so, even thinking about it, but it’s the truth.”

Mashing his lips together, he turned away from me, his head bowed. Several moments passed. “He’ll be touching you. He’ll be—”

“It’s not like Lotho wants to have sex with me.”

He faced me, nostrils flared. “God, I’m going to kill him. Just even hearing his name and the word ‘sex’ in the same sentence—”

“Daemon.”

“What?” He turned, thrusting both of his hands through his hair. “How can you ask me to be okay with this?”

“I’m not! I’m not asking you to be okay with it, but I’m asking you to understand why we have to do it, to acknowledge how much is at stake and who is at stake. I’m asking you to not think about me or think about yourself in this. I’m asking—”

“You’re asking for the impossible.”

Daemon lunged forward, and a second later, my back was flush against the wall and his mouth was on mine. The kiss . . . holy alien babies, the kiss was a raw combination of lust and possession. There was a taste of desperation and anger as our teeth clanged, but the hand against my cheek was so gentle, barely there, and all those emotions were in the kiss, but the love was far stronger than anything else.

As his mouth moved over mine and the deep sound from the back of his throat reverberated through my skull, I didn’t feel the cold press of the damp wall or the bitter edge of panic that had started clawing at my insides the moment Lotho stated his condition.

Daemon kissed like he was staking a claim, but he already had me—all of me. My heart. My soul. My whole being.

When he lifted his head, his breath was warm against my lips. “I can’t promise you that I’m going to let this happen. I also can’t promise that I’m not going to walk back in that room and try to kill him. But you’re right. We need them.” Those three words sounded painful for him to say. “All I can promise is that I will try.”

I closed my eyes, resting my forehead against his. What we were about to do—because it wasn’t just going to be about what I was feeling or thinking, but both of us—wasn’t going to be easy. Out of everything that we’d been through, I knew it was the hardest, and possibly the truest, test either of us had ever faced.

Nerves were going to get the best of me. Between the upcoming feeding—God, I didn’t want to even think about it—and the way Daemon prowled the length of a large chamber we’d been led to after we’d agreed to Lotho’s condition, I felt like I was seconds from freaking out.

But Daemon had one of his own conditions—he demanded to be with us. Lotho had smiled a bit too widely and too brightly at that. Instead of refusing him, he practically rolled out the red carpet.

Archer was outside, still in the main chamber, and while I knew he could handle himself, a lot of the Arum had been checking him out like he was an appetizer.

Daemon stopped in the middle of the room, glaring furiously straight ahead. Heart sinking, I followed his gaze to the massive bed covered with what looked like pelts of animal fur.

“His bedroom,” he said, shoulders rising. “The son of a bitch just had to do this in his bedroom.”

Yep. He had to.

I was beginning to think this whole thing was just to mess with our heads. There were plenty of places Lotho could do his thing. I shuddered, now unsure if I was going to be able to go through with it.

But I had to.

We both had to go through with it.

Bile was sitting at the base of my throat, ready to come up at any given second. Shaking my arms out, I closed my eyes and tried to release some of the tension building in my muscles.

I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.

“What are you doing?”

I stopped what had become an impromptu dance. “Sorry. Nervous.”

“Don’t apologize.” He arched a brow. “It was interesting. Kind of reminded me of a flailing Muppet Baby.”

A wry laugh escaped me. “Really?”

Daemon nodded. “Yep.” He glanced at the bed again and swore. “Kat, this . . . this is screwed up.” My throat tightened as I whispered, “I know.”

His brilliant emerald gaze centered on me. “Did you ever think this is where you’d end up when you knocked on my door asking for directions?”

I shook my head as I walked over to where he stood. “No. Not even in a million years. I couldn’t imagine any of this when I knocked on your door.” I paused and forced a smile as I gazed up at him. “All I was really thinking about that day was your abs.”

Daemon barked out a laugh.

“And that you were a flaming asshole,” I added.

A cynical smile formed on his lips. “Sometimes I wonder if you ever regret it.”

“Regret what?” My worried smile faded from my lips.

“This—all of this,” he said, voice low. “Us.”

“What?” I pressed my open hands against his chest. “No. Not once.”

“Really?” Derision dripped from his voice. “I’m pretty sure there had to be moments where you’ve regretted stepping foot in West Virginia.”

“There have been times that have sucked—sucked donkey balls—and I never want to relive them, but I don’t regret us.” My fingers curled around his shirt. “I couldn’t, because I love you. I really love you, and love . . . it comes with the bad and the good. Right? I mean, I know my mom never wanted to experience everything that she went through with Dad and then losing him, but she doesn’t regret loving him. Not even with all that pain and heartbreak, and I can’t—”

Daemon kissed me, capturing my words with the soft and tender pressure of his lips. “I know there were many times when I didn’t deserve you, especially with the way I treated you in the beginning, but I plan on using every second to make up for that.”

“You already have.” I kissed him back. “Many times.”

As we drew apart, the heavy door to the chamber swung open, clanging off the blocks of the wall. I turned in Daemon’s arms and got an unwelcome eyeful.

Lotho strode in, the leather pants hanging low—way low—on his narrow hips. There was a whole lot of pale skin on display. Stomach. Chest. But that wasn’t the only thing. As he strode past us, I saw what Hunter and Lore had been talking about before we came down here.

Opal.

The gemstones glistened from where they were embedded in his back, following the straight line of his spine. Seeing them seriously sewn into his skin . . . that was crazy.

I squeezed my eyes shut. “Oh jeez.”

“Did your shirt fall off?” Daemon asked, his arms tightening around me.

Lotho laughed. “No.”

“So why do you need your shirt off to feed?” Even though Daemon sounded perfectly calm, I knew he was seconds from turning into the alien Terminator on bath salts.

“Feeding can get messy,” he replied nonchalantly. “Don’t want to ruin my favorite shirt.”

Heat blew off from Daemon like nuclear fallout. Wrenching my eyes open, I watched Lotho make his way across the room and then throw himself onto the bed. He lay down in the middle, on his side.

Lotho winked as he patted the spot before him. “Let’s do this.”

My feet were attached to the floor. “I . . .”

Daemon’s arms were like steel bands around mine. “No. Not like this.”

“But I want it like this,” Lotho purred as he rested his head on his closed fist. “After all, it will be really comfy.”

I was going to puke.

“You’re taking this too far,” Daemon warned.

“I haven’t even begun to take it too far.” Lotho’s pale eyes flashed. “It’s not about me, now, is it? It’s about how far you’re willing to go to get my help.”

A low, inhuman sound rumbled from deep within Daemon as I tried to drag in air, but the oxygen didn’t make it past my throat.

“Need I remind you of the fact that I don’t need shit from any of you?” he said with a slight, almost playful smile. “I’m not the one asking for a favor. You don’t want to do this my way, fine. But there’s no other way. So you can get the fu—”

“No.” The word burst from me. “We can do this.”

“We cannot,” Daemon said.

Lotho arched his brows. “I’m confused.”

I turned in his arms until I faced Daemon. “You promised to try.”

“I did.” He was staring over me, pupils white once more. “I tried. He’s being a—”

“Nothing has even happened,” I cut in, trying to reason with him. “So we haven’t tried. Not yet.” I really wished Lotho wasn’t lying on the bed behind us, smirking, because that was so not helping anything.

“Please.” I clasped Daemon’s cheeks, forcing him to look at me. My words carried the weight of everything riding on this. “We have to do this.”

Daemon closed his eyes, and several long moments passed before he spoke in a voice that ripped up my insides. He only said one word. “Go.”

I let out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding and then took another I didn’t need. I tried to step back, but his grip was fierce. I gently grasped his arms, and it took everything in me to force him to let go.

He did, and by the way the heat flared off him, it looked like it killed him. And hell, it tore me up. Eyes burning with tears I couldn’t let fall, I turned around and stepped toward Lotho.

I had to do this.

There would be pain—lots of it. There would be revulsion—a ton of that. As I forced my feet toward the edge of the bed, a bright white light reflected off the walls. Daemon had shifted into his true form.

Kitten . . .

Sucking in a shaky breath, I sat on the bed, my hands trembling so badly I couldn’t feel the tips of my fingers. This was wrong, so wrong.

Lotho reached out, and I had to force myself to sit still as he placed his hand on my cheek. His fingers were so bitterly cold, and I flinched as he sat up, pressing his other hand into the bed next to my hip. He leaned in, and his hand slipped down my throat, sending waves of revulsion and fear rippling through me. Lotho wasn’t even watching me. His gaze was fixed on where Daemon stood, his lips spread into a taunting grin.

I’m sorry. Those two words blazed through my consciousness. I can’t allow this.

My body locked up as I prepared for a whole lot of bad to go down, and then it did. Daemon was a blur of light as he lunged toward us.

Everything happened so fast.

I was pulled off the bed, thrown away from the bone-chilling cold, and Daemon was leaning over Lotho. Horror set in as I realized it was Lotho holding him there without even touching him. Wind roared from behind me, blowing my hair across my face. It was like the Arum was a vacuum, sucking everything toward him.

Suddenly, Daemon was tossed back against the wall, and he was held there, several feet off the floor, as Lotho stood at the foot of the bed.

I couldn’t let this happen to Daemon, but we couldn’t walk out of here without Lotho’s help.

“Stop!” I shouted, rushing forward without really thinking that one through.

“Please! Just do it now.”

Lotho glanced at me, a quizzical expression on his face, and then a toothy grin appeared. I squared my shoulders.

But he didn’t. Lotho . . . he flopped onto his back and let out a loud cackle of laughter as he pulled his knees up and planted his booted feet on the bed. The force pinning Daemon against the wall eased off and he landed on the floor.

Uh.

I twisted around to where Daemon stood in his true form a mere foot or two from the bed. Was he seeing this, too?

Lotho continued to laugh, deep belly laughs that echoed off the cement walls. Backing away from the bed, I walked to Daemon as he shifted into his human form once more. I didn’t get it. Nope. Did not compute.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of him laughing himself to death, Lotho quieted down and sat up in one fluid motion. “Ah God, you guys are great.” He smacked his hands down on his thick thighs. “Man, really.”

“Yeah.” Daemon drew out the word. “I’m not following this. At all.”

A wide smile broke across Lotho’s face and he almost looked . . . normal. Still a wee bit scary, but kind of normal. “You two were really going to go through with this, weren’t you?”

I blinked.

“Holy shit, you really were going to let me go all yum-yum on you.” He popped onto his feet, raising his arms above his head, stretching. His back bowed as he sneered. “Do you really think I’d feed off a hybrid? Sure, you guys might be snack-a-licious, but I only eat Grade-A Luxen. And a certain type. Unwilling usually does it for me.”

I blinked again.

“What the fuck?” Daemon exploded like cannon.

Lotho threw his head back and laughed again, and we waited . . . again. “I seriously just wanted to see how far you guys were willing to go.”

I blinked at him a third time. “Wait a minute. You never planned on feeding off me?”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, hon. You’re cute, but you’re not my type.”

Should I feel offended? “And if we didn’t agree, you would’ve still let us leave without helping us.”

“Yeah.” He shrugged as he walked over to a high table and grabbed a bottle of Jack off it. Taking a swig, he faced us.

Oh my God, we’d just been dragged through an emotional wringer, and for what? Just so he could mess with our heads? Suddenly exhausted, all I wanted to do was shove my head under one of those animal pelts.

“I want to punch you,” Daemon said. “In the face. And in other places.”

Lotho shrugged again. “Most people do. Good news is that I know you two really are willing to do anything. I can respect that. So, you have your Arum army.”

I really didn’t know what to say. Shoulders slumped, I felt so many emotions all at once that I had moved beyond words.

Lotho swiped two glasses off the table, filled them, and then handed them over. I took one in a virtual state of shock.

“Let’s toast,” he said, eyes as cold as a January morning. “To a very unlikely, and very temporary, partnership.”