Opposition

21

{ Katy }

Freshly showered and rested enough that the aches from my battle royale with Dee had faded, I joined everyone in the living room. Before I’d left to scrape the blood and gross off me and take a nap, we’d put the living room and den back together.

Minus the missing door, busted-out windows, smashed furniture, and shattered potted plants—oh, and of course the hole in the wall.

I really felt bad about all of this. Lore was nice. His house had been nice. Actually, he was really nice, considering he didn’t yell at us or try to eat us after discovering what happened to his house.

I was beginning to like the Arum.

Well, at least these two Arum. The rest of them, especially Lotho, still freaked me out.

Dee had already apologized a million times, from the second we were done talking about Ethan up to the moment I’d left to shower and take a power nap. So I wasn’t surprised when she immediately turned those big green eyes on me when I entered the living room.

“Katy,” she began, starting to rise, and I knew what was going to happen next. She was going to start crying, and then she would start apologizing.

I walked over to where she sat on the only piece of furniture not destroyed—an ottoman—and hugged her. “It’s all right,” I whispered into her ear. “Everything is okay between us.”

And I meant it.

Life was really too short and twisted to hold grudges, especially over something she truly had no control over.

She squeezed my arm and whispered back, “Thank you. Now I won’t hit you for not telling me you married my brother.” Dee’s smile spread, transforming her beauty into something that was truly out of this world, and God, how I’d missed that warm smile.

“We were just talking about our plan.” Daemon sauntered up to me and nuzzled my cheek a second before lifting his head. “We’re going to head back, which puts us less than a day, if that, ahead of when Lotho said he’d have his Arum army.”

I glanced around the room, expecting more of a plan. “Okay?”

“But that’s not all.” Archer crossed his arms.

“It’s simple,” Daemon responded, his hand sliding off my shoulder and tangling in my damp hair. “We go home . . . and they will come to us.”

I arched a brow. “That’s a little too simple.”

“He’s being lazy in his descriptions,” Hunter replied.

“Or totally distracted,” commented Lore.

I flushed again, because when his fingers found their way out of my hair and then tiptoed down my spine, I seriously believed that he was.

“We’re going to have to pretend that we’re one of them.” Dee twisted toward where we stood. “I know that probably sucks to hear, but we can do this. We can make them believe.”

Oh, I really didn’t like the sound of this, and I was trying not to pay attention to the hand on my back.

Dee wet her lips. “They don’t know that I’ve gone AWOL or that the others . . . well, that they’re not around anymore.”

“How?”

“Dee was told not to check in until she took care of the problem with Daemon—either taking him out or bringing him into the fold,” Archer explained, and the way Dee had busted up into the house, I didn’t think she’d been interested in bringing him into anything except the afterlife. “They will be expecting to hear from her soon, but there’s a damn good chance they don’t know what’s happened yet.”

“A good chance?” I repeated dumbly.

Daemon’s hand was south of the band on the back of my jeans. “The best chance we got, baby.”

“So we’re just going to go home, pretend that you all are evil, and then hope for the best?”

“We’ll get to Ethan using Dee and Daemon. Get to him before the military or the Arum roll in,” Archer said, amethyst eyes sharp. “Before he can run.”

I got that part, but this . . . this was a risky and unreliable plan—one held together by duct tape, a lick, and a whole lot of wishing for good luck. The only good part about it was the fact that we were going home and I’d get to see my mom. If she was even there.

“But what about Nancy?” Daemon asked.

Dee glanced around the room. “What about her?”

“She ran off.” I filled in his sister. “No one knows where she’s at, but I doubt she’d head to where all the action is going down. That doesn’t make any sense, so I think that’s the last place she’d go.”

Daemon tugged on the band of my jeans but didn’t respond.

“She’s right. They’re looking for her now, but the likelihood of her heading to Petersburg is slim. I’m going to get in touch with Luc, let him know what’s up and that the Luxen behind this are holed up in Petersburg, along with Ethan,” Archer continued. “And then we’ll get in touch with Lotho, let him know where we need them first.”

That made sense. If the intel Dee had was correct, we needed to get them and the colony taken out, but we still had however many Origin to deal with afterward.

I winced.

Taken out. Deal with. I was starting to sound like a mobster.

Or Luc.

“Well then,” I said finally. “It’s a plan.”

Daemon patted my behind.

“You guys are going to need some stuff,” Hunter said, and then he glanced down at Serena’s blond head. “This is the end of the road for us.”

I nodded. We could use their help, all the help we could get, actually, but rolling into town with two Arum would probably give away the card up our sleeve.

“Don’t get us wrong,” Serena said, her eyes searching out ours. “We want to do more, but—”

“But like I said before, I have a lot of enemies in the government. While Daedalus might be defunct, I don’t trust anyone associated with it.” Hunter’s arm around Serena tightened. “And I’m not putting her in their crosshairs again.”

“Totally understandable,” Daemon announced, surprising me, since he didn’t follow it up with a smartass response.

Lore straightened and walked over to the closet that still had a door on it. When he opened it, I got a peek of a mini-arsenal. Glocks were attached to hooks on the interior walls. Rifles were propped against the wall from tallest to shortest. There were other guns I didn’t recognize secured to the wall, guns that looked like Glocks . . . but weren’t.

“Wow,” I murmured.

“Probably should’ve told you guys this was here,” he said, reaching inside. “I’ve collected quite a stash over the years.” He pulled out a gun, handing it over to Archer. “The thing that everyone seems to forget is that Luxen, and even we, are susceptible to certain wounds.”

“Bullet to the head or to the heart is catastrophic no matter the species.” Hunter grinned, and it was kind of creepy. “Problem is, both of our kinds are a bit fast, so hitting them in the head or heart is kind of hard.”“Not now.” Lore was also grinning in the same creepy way.

“Holy crap,” murmured Archer as he handled the odd-looking gun. “How did you get one of these?”

Lore smirked. “I have my ways.”

Archer shook his head. “Hell, these things were never approved for widespread use. Daedalus had them, but I never thought I’d see one on the outside.”

Daemon’s hand slipped off me. “What’s so special about the gun?”

“It’s specially designed for Luxen. It’s not a PEP weapon, not really.” Archer was also now smiling in the über-creepy way. “The gun is rigged to handle bullets juiced with a charge of the same matter behind the PEP. It’s not a DRT weapon.”

“DRT?” asked Dee.

“Dead Right There,” he explained. “But you shoot Luxen, hybrids, or Origins anywhere with one of these, they are going down. It’s mostly fatal, especially if the bullet doesn’t exit the body or they can’t get it out quickly. It kills more slowly, which was why the guns were never approved.”

“Because that would be like torturing someone.” I felt sick.

“Yeah, but you don’t have to really have good aim with this. Still need to be fast, but instead of sucking up energy and calling the Source, this will come in handy.” Archer looked like a kid who’d just been handed a birthday cake in his favorite flavor. “Really handy.”

“Each of you gets one,” Lore said. “So never say I didn’t give you anything. And I do expect a Christmas card this year.”

Smiling slightly, I took my gun—my more-dangerous-than-normal gun—and tried to get used to the weight and feel of the cool plastic and metal.

I was holding a gun in my hand. Again.

And I really did feel like a mobster.

We were back out on the porch, positions slightly changed. Daemon was sitting on the top step and his legs were spread wide. I was between them, turned slightly so I could see his face in the waning sunlight.

At first, we really didn’t say much. He was playing with my hair, twisting the length around his fingers and brushing the ends against my cheek. I had no idea what it was with Daemon and using things—my hair, pens, pencils, whatever—to touch me, but I didn’t mind. There was something relaxing about it now, when it used to be ridiculously annoying. I was leaning back against his left leg, letting him do whatever he was doing. We’d have to leave soon so that we’d arrive sometime in the morning.

Archer had clued Luc in to the change of plans, and he was going to relay the info to the powers that be. There were branches of the military close to Petersburg, mostly around Northern Virginia, but from what we could gather from Archer’s conversation, we wouldn’t be able to rely on them because they couldn’t afford to leave D.C. We’d have to wait on other branches spaced throughout the United States, most holed up in Montana—a good thirty-hour drive or so, putting them in Petersburg around the same time the Arum should be arriving. Archer would be contacting Lotho—that is, if Lotho wasn’t screwing with us and actually showed.

So basically if things went south, we were screwed up and down and from both sides. But I’d be home in Petersburg, where my mom should be—

I pulled the brakes on that collision course of thought. Mom would be okay. She had to be there waiting for me, because she would’ve never given up on me, no matter how long I’d been gone or what was going on in the world.

But I couldn’t let myself think about Mom right now. I had to focus on what we were about to do.

“Thoughts?”

“This is a really bad plan,” I admitted after a few seconds, glancing up at him.

“It is.”

I stared into his eyes. “That’s not reassuring.”

One side of his lips kicked up. “You got a better idea?”

I thought about that for a couple of moments and then sighed. “No, not really. As long as they don’t know Dee and the crew have gone off the rails, then they’ll be expecting her to be all kill-everyone happy.”

He dipped his head, brushing his lips over mine. “You’re worried.”

“Uh, duh.”

“You know I’m going to take care of you.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about.”

“It’s not?” Before I could answer, he kissed me softly, causing my breath to catch. “Then what are you worried about?” he asked.

“You. Dee. Archer. Dawson and Beth, even though they’re safe for now. I’m even worried about Luc.” I paused, frowning. “Though Luc is probably the last person I should worry about because he’s Luc, but I’m scared for him and even Hunter and Lore and Serena. I’m worried that—”

Daemon kissed me deeply, cutting off my words, and he took that kiss to a whole new stratosphere. “You’ve got a big heart, Kitten.” His lips cruised over mine as he spoke. “That’s what I love about you most. Well, that and I am a really big fan of your sweet body, but your heart? Yeah, that completes the package of you, wraps it up with a nice little bow. It makes you perfect to me.”

“Sometimes . . .” I stared at him, blinking back wetness. “Sometimes you say the most amazing things.”

“And I do love the sight of my hands on your ass, too.”

A laugh burst out of me. “Oh my God, and then you say things like that.”

“Got to be myself.” He kissed me again. “Kitten, it’s okay to be worried about everyone, but all of us can take care of ourselves.” He rested his forehead against mine. “And I also know that no matter how bad this idea is, how dangerous it is, we’re going to come out of this together. All of us. I’ll make sure of it.”

“Promise?” I whispered.

“Promise.” He tipped up his chin and kissed the bridge of my nose. “And I’ve never broken a promise to you, have I?”

“No. You haven’t.”