Opposition

19

{ Daemon }

It was taking everything in my power not to introduce my boot to Lotho’s face. The Arum was crazy. Absolutely off his rocker and should be locked in a padded room. Better yet, he should be locked in a room full of metal spikes and then bounced around.

I wanted to punch him.

But I also wasn’t stupid. Hunter and his brother hadn’t been joking when they said Lotho was powerful. The little bit he’d displayed in that room told me he was capable of much more, and if we seriously had to get down to business, it would be ugly and really messy.

We were now seated in a small room that looked like someone had dug it out of rock and earth. The scent was musty and the torches shoved into the wall didn’t cast much light.

I had Kat where I wanted her, in my lap with my fingers working the tense muscles in her shoulders and neck. She’d been quiet since we left Lotho’s room, and I could tell she just wanted to get the hell out of here.

So did I.

“It’ll take me a day or so to get them all rounded up.” Lotho had progressed to vodka, and since we’d moved to this room, which had been maybe thirty minutes ago, he’d downed half the bottle. I was curious to see if Arum could get alcohol poisoning. “Some of my boys are out scouting.”

Hunter stood near the door, leaning against the wall. He looked completely at ease, but the sharpness in his eyes said he was ready to spring into action. “How much time are they giving you guys?”

We’d explained the government plans to get overexcited with e-bombs. “We have time,” Archer answered from where he was perched on a stool beside us. “About four or so days, but the sooner we can move against them, the better.”

“Yeah . . .” Lotho took another healthy swig. “Worried about them getting trigger-happy, eh?”

Archer nodded as he eyed the Arum leader.

“Like I said, I need just a day or two. Tell your human masters we’ll be there.”

Human masters? I rolled my eyes as I dropped my arms to circle Kat’s waist.

Lotho frowned as he glanced down at his now-empty bottle of vodka. “Where are we going again?”

Kat sighed.

“Right now, they want you at Mount Weather in Virginia,” Archer explained. Again. “If that changes—”

“You’ll call.” Lotho tapped the back pocket of his leather pants. Asshole still hadn’t found his shirt. “Got it.” He paused as he tossed the bottle to the floor somewhere to his left. Glass shattered. He smiled. “You have my word that we will be there. That is something I don’t mess around with.”

My gaze flickered to Hunter, and he nodded.

“It’s not like my kind or I will miss an opportunity to serve a little payback and get fed at the same time.” Lotho gestured at the closed door. “It’s been real nice chatting with you guys and we’ll be seeing each other again, but y’all got to go. None of you is welcome here, including you,” he said to Hunter.

He looked real torn up about that. Pushing off the wall, he didn’t even bother to hide his grin. “We’ll be in contact.”

Kat stood and I followed, more than ready to get the hell out of Dodge, but as we walked past Lotho, he suddenly stepped in front of Kat. I started to pull her back from him, but he was fast.

“You have balls bigger than the males in this room,” Lotho said, his face inches from her. “I like you. And I’d keep you if it weren’t for the fact that you’re part Luxen. So that’s probably good news for you. Boo for me.”

And then he kissed her. Full-on, mother-freaking kissed her.

Before either of us could react and I could unleash my fury, Lotho shifted into something that was nothing more than smoke and shadow, and was gone.

“I’m going to kill him,” I swore, feeling the Source crackling along my skin.

Kat jerked out of my grip, her face pale and lips tinged in blue, like she’d been making out with a Popsicle, and she swung on Hunter and Archer. “I want to leave right now.”

Hunter glanced at Archer. “Yeah, I think that’s a good idea, before this whole trip goes to waste.”

An hour later, we were finally topside. It was dawn the following morning, and I was still so angry that the metallic bitter taste filled my mouth with every breath I took.

“You guys are more than welcome to come back to Lore’s place if you want to chill out for a few hours before you hit the road again,” Hunter offered. “Get some rest. Grab something to eat. Whatever.”

As Kat climbed into the backseat of the Explorer, I glanced at Archer. We really could use the time to rest before we got back on the road. Kat had barely spoken the whole time it took to get out of the damn maze of underground tunnels, and I knew she was exhausted. Probably disturbed, too.

What do you think? I directed the question at Archer.

He opened the driver’s door. I think we could use the R&R and I think Lore and Hunter are good, um, people, but heads up, Kat doesn’t want to go back to the base.

My brows rose as I glanced into the interior of the backseat. She was fumbling with the seat belt. Smiling a little, I leaned in, brushed her fingers out of the way, and buckled her in. Do tell?

She wants to go home. She wants to see her mom. It’s all she’s really been thinking about for the last hour or so.

I sighed. I didn’t have the heart to even broach that subject with Kat. Visiting her mom would be risky—too risky.

“Thanks for the offer,” Archer said, turning to the Arum. “We’ll take you up on it.”

Hunter quickly gave him the directions before doing that shadow thing and taking the extraordinarily fast method of traveling. As Archer climbed into the driver’s seat and I got in the back instead of the front passenger seat, he pulled his phone out of the compartment in the center console and tapped the screen. He frowned.

“What’s up?” I asked.

He shook his head. “There’s a missed call from Luc. Let me check this out, but he’s probably just impatient, wanting to know how everything went with the Arum.” Getting situated in his seat, he retrieved the voicemail. The minute his gaze flickered up and met mine, I knew whatever he was listening to wasn’t good. When he lowered the phone, lines formed around his mouth. “Luc said . . . he said Nancy is missing.”

“What?” Kat asked, her chin jerking up.

“I don’t know. I need to call him,” Archer replied. A nugget of unease sprouted in my gut and grew as I listened to the one-sided conversation. While Archer quickly explained what had gone down with Lotho and that the Arum was on board, the worry over what the hell Nancy was up to didn’t lessen.

Archer hung up, dropping the phone in his lap as he twisted around to face us. “All right, so it looks like Nancy has gone MIA. Sometime after we left was the last time anyone at the base had seen her. Luc and General Eaton have no idea where she is.”

Kat glanced at me. “But what does that mean?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “Luc seems to think she’s probably heading to wherever those kids are stashed and he’s got some people on the lookout for her, but with Nancy . . . man, you never know with her.”

True. I didn’t know what to think about that. If everything worked out with the Arum and we successfully took down the Luxen invaders, yet Nancy disappeared off the face of the Earth, it wasn’t a good thing. No way was I living the rest of my life wondering where in the hell she was and if she was going to pop up again one day, when we least expected it.

“It’s not the biggest of our problems right now.” Archer’s eyes met mine, and for a brief second, they flickered over to Kat. “Nowhere near it.”

That was also true. “Luc will find her,” I said, and I had to trust in that. But as I got all up and close with Kat, maneuvering her surprisingly pliable body around so she was stretched out across the seat and her head was in my lap, I couldn’t stop thinking about Nancy Husher. Did she really go for those kids? Or was there something else? If I’d learned anything by being around her, it was that there was nothing the woman could do that would surprise me.

I leaned down, brushing my lips across Kat’s cheek. “Get some rest, okay?”

She smiled a little. “That sounds bossy.”

“Okay.” I tried again as Archer fired up the Explorer. “Take a nap.”

One brow rose. “That’s still bossy.”

I chuckled and brushed the hair off her cheek, sweeping it behind her ear. “Go to sleep.”

“You really suck at understanding what bossy means.” But she closed her eyes, and I’d swear by the time Archer figured out how to get out of the damn airport, she’d drifted off.

Lore lived on the outskirts of Atlanta, and even with the low-level traffic in and around the city, it took a while to get there. I tipped my head back against the seat and closed my eyes as Archer kept it quiet and my hand got all playful in Kat’s hair.

Nancy was out running around, doing God knows what, and Kat . . . she wanted to go home and see her mom.

Hell.

I got why she did, and the last thing I wanted to do was break her heart by telling her there was no way we could risk doing that right now. The smart thing for us to do would be to get our butts back to the base and let the Arum do their thing, especially since Nancy was MIA.

That didn’t sit well, though, settling like expired milk in my gut. Heading back to the base took the control right out of my hands, and it also meant I was leaving Dee to . . . well, to whatever fate was heading her way, which very well could be in the form of a thousand hungry Arum.

God, I didn’t know if I could do that.

But how could I search her down? Doing so would mean heading straight into the heart of the danger zone, and that was more than just a risk. That was a straight-up death wish. And hell, how could I even suggest doing that when I didn’t want Kat going back to Petersburg?

Hell in a handbasket.

I stirred as the Explorer slowed, turning down a narrow entryway that was nearly invisible from the road. I took notice as we eased up a long driveway and a sprawling house came into view.

Hunter’s Porsche was parked out in front of the garage. There was a huge front porch covered with potted plants and hanging flowers.

Huh.

The house was a monstrosity in terms of size but surprisingly welcoming. I had been expecting something cold, rundown—in other words, a shitty place. This was far from that.

Kat sat up, pushing her hair back as Archer killed the engine. Her mouth dropped when she peered out the window. Obviously she hadn’t been expecting something as nice as this, either.

I dropped my arm over her shoulders as we climbed the porch stairs. The whole place smelled like one giant flower. Color me shocked some more.

The door opened before we reached it, revealing Lore. He squinted, and I realized it was from the faint rays of sun streaking across the porch. “Come on in.”

There was hesitation, as I was about to experience another first to add to going deep into the Arum’s lair, teaming up with them, and now staying at an Arum’s house that looked like it belonged on the front of Better Homes and Gardens.

I’d given up trying to figure anything out at this point.

Archer stepped in first, and then I ushered Kat inside. Lore closed the door behind us and padded down the foyer in his bare feet, into a living room with the blinds drawn.

Serena was standing in the middle of the room, staring at a piece of paper. “Is this all we need to get?”

Lore scanned the paper and nodded. “Looks good to me.”

“We’ll run out to get some food,” Serena announced, smiling. “Lore is in the mood to cook, and trust me, you want to eat what he makes.”

I arched a brow. “He . . . cooks?”

He strolled past us, tossing the keys to Hunter, who had appeared out of freaking nowhere, it seemed. “I also bake. I’m like a culinary master chef—you know, when I’m not out there killing innocent Luxen babies.”

I had no idea what to say in response to all that sarcasm.

Serena inched closer, and I was aware of Hunter also drifting toward us, as if he didn’t trust us near his woman. The role reversal was . . . odd. “There’re two bathrooms on the second level that no one uses. I laid out some shampoo, soap, and fresh towels in them.”

“Thank you,” Kat said, smiling. She glanced at Lore and then Hunter. “Thank you for letting us come here, and for everything else.”

Lore shrugged.

Hunter shrugged.

Everyone was shrugging.

Serena smiled brightly. “It’s okay. I’m just glad we could help in some way. And it’s about time all of us started working together.”

Hunter stared at the ceiling.

Lore started messing with a giant potted palm tree–looking thing.

“Well, all righty then.” Serena clapped her hands as the silence grew to an awkward level. “We’ll head out.”

“It should take us no longer than an hour,” Lore said, and for some reason that came across as a warning. Like what would we do? Run around and rearrange the numerous plants and flowers he seemed to have growing out of the walls?

They skipped on out the doors, leaving the three of us in the house. Archer was the first to say what we probably all were thinking.

“I can’t believe they left us here,” he said, brows raised.

I grinned. “I feel like we should start rearranging rooms or something.” I cast a long look over the skillfully decorated living room and adjoining den. “I think Lore would really appreciate that.”

“Don’t,” Kat said, narrowing her eyes at me. “I know Arum and Luxen are BEFs, but seriously, they are being super cool by letting us stay here.”

“BEFs?” I frowned.

“Best Enemies Forever,” she replied, shrugging one shoulder. “Anyway, let’s all play nice with one another. It would be a good change of pace.”

“Yeah, especially if one of them doesn’t end up kissing you,” Archer said.

Pulling her hair back from her face in a low ponytail, she swung an arch look at him as heat blew off me. “Did you really need to remind me of that?”

He flashed a quick grin, and I wanted to punch off his face. The reminder got me all primed to do violence, and the damn Origin appeared completely shameless.

“I’m going to go get our bags,” he offered.

I glared at him. “Yeah, you do that.”

As he turned and left the room, Kat walked over to me. Without saying a word, she placed her hands on my chest, stretched up, and kissed me softly. That flipped my raging aggression into something a lot more fun.

I swept an arm around her, fitting our bodies as close as we could get while standing. My other hand delved deep in her hair, and I took the kiss to a whole different level. The taste of her never failed to blow my mind, and so did the soft sound she made as I nipped at her lower lip.

Archer cleared his throat. “Seriously guys?”

Slowly, I lifted my mouth from Kat’s and narrowed my eyes as she pressed her face against my chest. “Can’t you go somewhere?”

“Oh, I don’t know. What about you all? How about one of those bedrooms upstairs that have doors and stuff? Hey! That would be a good—”

I felt it the same moment Archer had. My senses sharpened as awareness settled over me like a too-warm cloak. I eased Kat back, swearing under my breath.

“What?” she demanded.

Archer turned toward the doorway he’d just come through, dropping our bags. “There are Luxen here.”

“No,” she said, dragging in a deep breath. “Do you think they’ll be friendly, not wanting to—?”

The large picture window in the living room exploded. Pieces of plastic and glass turned into nasty little projectiles. Kat ducked down, throwing her arms up to shield her face as I stepped forward, summoning the Source and using it to push back the explosion of sharp and painful things.

They fell to the floor inches from where the three of us stood.

“I think that’s your answer, Kitten.”

She rose, hands balling into fists. “Dammit. All I want to do is shower and take a nap and eat some bacon!”

Archer slid a look at her. “Well, I think that will—”

A Luxen came through the window, a blur of bright light, and I shot forward, colliding with it as I shifted. We hit some antique-looking chair. The legs gave under our sudden weight. We tore right through the back. Stuffing flew into the air. The palm tree ended up as a drive-by casualty.

Landing hard on the floor, I reared back and slammed my hand down on the Luxen’s chest, letting go of the Source and sending a steady shot right into the heart of the bastard, frying him from the inside out.

The light dulled as I pushed myself up, whirling around. How many?

I don’t know. Kat was heading for the archway that led to the foyer.

Switching back into my human form, I joined her and Archer at the archway a second before the front door literally blew off its hinges and winged across the entryway, embedding deep into the opposite wall.

I knew before I even looked.

I felt it in my bones; in every cell that was me, I knew before I looked.

My sister stood in the doorway in her human form, and as her gaze swept over us, she smiled in a way that was so wrong for her.

“Gotcha,” she said.

{ Katy }

Dee looked like a goddess of vengeance straight out of one of the books I’d read and cherished. She stood with her slender legs wide and shoulders back. With the sun behind her, forming a halo over her body, and her eyes glowing white, she looked fierce and really scary.

Fine. I might have read too many books, because this was real and she looked like she wanted to kill us. Like kill us dead.

Archer started forward. “Dee—”

She raised her hand, and he should’ve been able to move in time, but he was like Daemon, rooted to the spot he stood in. A bolt of the Source caught Archer in the shoulder, spinning him back.

Oh, she was so not messing around.

Dee turned to where we stood and then casually, like nothing was up, stepped into the house. Behind her, I saw more Luxen.

This was about to get bad.

“Shacking up with Arum?” Dee tsked as she spared a quick glance at Archer while he picked himself up. “How far you’ve fallen, brother.”

Daemon stepped forward. “Dee—”

She lunged at him, flying the several feet between them as my heart lodged in my throat. All Daemon did was grip her by the shoulders. He made no move to do anything else, and she took complete advantage of that.

Dee shoved her hand at his chest. He only moved at the last second to avoid a direct hit to the heart, but he took an up-close-and-personal blast anyway. I cried out as he went down, his sister right on top of him.

I knew in that instant that she would either really hurt him or kill him unless he treated her like the Luxen he’d just taken out.

Archer had the other Luxen engaged as I shot forward, making up my mind.

Daemon might hate me if I ended up having to kill his sister, but I’d rather he despise me than hate himself for hurting her worse.

I grabbed handfuls of her long hair and yanked her off Daemon. She hit the floor, arms and legs sprawled like a crab. She looked up, eyes glowing like diamonds.

“You don’t want to do this,” I said. “You—”

Dee popped up. Like didn’t even bend her knees, just shot right up and was in my face. “Oh, you have no idea how badly I want to do this.”

Then she drew her arm back and cold-cocked me right in the face.

The impact knocked me away, and I landed on my butt as pain lanced through my jaw and down my neck. Blinking fresh tears out of my eyes, I stared up at her.

“That felt so good,” she said, cocking her head to the side. “I think I need to do it again.”

Oh, it was on like Donkey Kong.

I lumbered to my feet, nowhere near as gracefully as Dee. Behind her, a Luxen zipped into the room just as Daemon rose. They two of them collided at the same moment I slammed my fist into Dee’s jaw.

Her head snapped back, black tresses flying out around her in a way that made her hair look like Medusa’s snakes. Dull pain flared along my knuckles, but there was no time to really pay attention to that.

Dee launched herself at me, grabbing my ponytail and jerking on my neck. A fiery sensation coursed down my spine, and I reached up, digging my fingers into her arms. She didn’t let go, and there was a good chance she was going to rip my head off.

Time to get dirty.

Twisting in her grasp, I gripped her arms as I brought my knee up, shoving it right in her lady parts.

Dee shouted hoarsely and let go, bending over as I straightened. I clutched her hair and brought my knee up once more, connecting with her face. She went down on one knee as I stumbled back, breathing heavily.

“Please,” I gasped out. “This isn’t you, Dee. Whatever this is, it isn’t you—”

She was up and her hand was bonding with my cheek in an epic smack, spinning me around in a little circle. Holy crap, that stung.

Dee slammed her hands into my back, knocking me onto my knees as she wrapped a slender arm around my neck and squeezed.

I gasped, fighting for air.

The little training Daedalus had taught me kicked in, and I grabbed her hand and then threw my weight forward. She went right over my shoulder, landing hard on her back.

She shouted something too furiously for me to understand, and I struggled not to find something sharp and plunge it into her eyeball. “We’re best friends,” I told her, pushing to my feet as she rose. “Don’t you remember? We’re best friends, Dee.”

“You’re just a stupid human.” Bluish-red blood trickled from her lip. “Because that’s all you are, underneath it, just a fragile, useless human who bleeds easily.”

“Jesus. It’s like I’m a muggle to your pure-blood or something.”

She just glared at me.

I backed up, keeping an eye on her. This so wasn’t the time for Harry Potter references. “We planted flowers together and you borrowed a lot of my books and never gave them back. You made Daemon talk to me and be nice—you hid his keys. And you—”

She tackled me to the floor, clawing and pulling my hair.

We were in full girl-fight mode.

Both of us had a hold of each other’s hair as we rolled across the floor. I gained the upper hand for a second. “We hung out together on Halloween and watched stupid movies. And we fought Baruck together—”

Dee flipped me, her nails tearing the collar of my sweater. “None of that means anything.” She grabbed my shoulders and slammed me back down with enough force that I was stunned for a second.

For long enough.

Hauling me up, she screamed as she spun around—spun me—and the next second I was flying through the air. I hit the wall. Plaster cracked and gave way. For a second, I could see clouds of white dust fly everywhere and then I was in the den, toppling over the back of a couch, hitting the floor.

That—that bitch! She’d thrown me through a wall!

I lay on the floor, unable to move as I stared up at the ceiling, blinking out the tiny stars clouding my vision. There was a ringing in my ears as I forced my body to shift onto its side.

Dee climbed through the Katy-size hole in the wall, which was pretty big. Good Lord, she wasn’t going to give up.

Hands shaking, I pushed myself to my feet, breathing through the unholy burn surrounding my ribs and back. There was probably a lot of stuff broken, important stuff.

She landed on the couch and then dived at me with murder in her expression. I darted out of the way at the last second, and she hit the coffee table behind me. Glass shattered.

Now she looked stunned as she stared at the ceiling, her chest heaving. I didn’t give her a chance to recover.

I landed on her, my knees digging into the broken glass, and slammed my hands onto her shoulders. “We’re best friends,” I tried again, not knowing what else to do. “You picked out my fake name—from one of my favorite books. You gave Daemon his new name.” I shook her, rattling her head back and forth. “You were picturing Archer naked not that long ago and you wanted one perfect night with him.” Her hand connected with my face again, wringing a pain-filled grunt from me. “We’ve been through some harsh stuff, but we’ve always made it out together, even after what happened to Adam.”

She went wild, like some kind of demon straight out of a nightmare, smacking and bucking, kicking and scratching.

“You and Adam tried to help me,” I shouted at her as I pinned her with all my weight, straining to avoid her swinging hands that hit my face and chest. “Do you even remember Adam?”

“Yes!” she shrieked. “I remember him! And I remember—”

“Me being the reason for him dying?” Every part of my body ached, and I could feel blood in a lot of places, some really uncomfortable places, but I had to get through to her. I had to. “It was my fault. I know that! And I’ll never fully forgive myself for what it did to you and to our friendship. But we got past that, because you’re like a sister to me.”

Dee froze with her fingers curled along the torn hem of my shirt, like she was about to rip it straight off me, and at that point I honestly wouldn’t have been surprised if she had.

“Do you think he’d be like this now? Adam loved everyone, and he would’ve hated this war—hated what his kind was doing to innocent people.” I watched the white light fade from her green eyes. “He would’ve hated what has become of you. Can’t you see that? You’re better than this. You’re—”

Dee threw her head back and she screamed—screamed like I was trying to murder her, and I eased off, raising my hands. The horrible, wretched sound was like a wounded animal, something dying. She shuddered under me and squeezed her eyes shut. Both of us were still for a handful of seconds, and then she screamed again, until the sound was raw and pained, until I thought there was a good chance she might be dying.

“I’m sorry,” Dee whispered as another great tremble rocked her lithe frame. As I stared down at her, trying to catch my breath, trying to process the two words, her beautiful face crumpled and big, fat tears streamed down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry.”