Origin

Chapter 30

Katy

The ride was silent and tense. Besides the fact that all of us were looking over our shoulders, expecting the entire military to be on our tails, none of us knew what to say or if anything could be said.

Turning in Daemon’s arms, I pressed my face into his chest and inhaled the rich, woodsy scent. The scent of death and destruction hadn’t lingered on him, and I was grateful. If I closed my eyes and held my breath until I lost a few brain cells, I could almost imagine that we were just taking a ride in the desert.

He hadn’t bothered with the buckling stuff. At some point, he had pulled me away from the back window and nestled me between his thighs. I didn’t mind. More than anything, his embrace was grounding in the aftermath. And I think he needed it, too. I wished I could be inside his head, knowing what he was thinking right now.

I smoothed my thumb over the spot above his heart, mindlessly tracing odd shapes against his chest. I hoped guilt wasn’t eating away at him. None of what happened—the deaths—had been his fault. I wanted to tell him that, but I didn’t want to break the silence, either. It seemed that everyone in the car was mourning someone.

I hadn’t been close with Andrew and Ash, and I hadn’t known Paris that well, but their deaths hurt nonetheless. Each of them had died saving someone else, and most people would never know their names or what they’d sacrificed. But we would. Their loss would leave a mark on all of us for a long time coming, if not for eternity.

Daemon’s hand smoothed up my back and threaded through my messy hair until his fingers brushed the back of my neck. He shifted slightly, and I felt his lips on my forehead. My grip on his shirt constricted along with my chest.

I stretched up, my lips brushing against his ear. “I love you so very much.”

His body tensed and then relaxed. “Thank you.”

Unsure of what he was thanking me for, I curled against him, listening to his heart beat steadily. Every part of me ached, and I was tired, but sleep seemed impossible. Two hours in, Luc had said that heading to Arizona would be too risky and too close to Vegas. I hadn’t even noticed in which direction we were heading. There was another place he had—in one of the largest towns in Idaho, something called Coeur d’Alene. Another fifteen hours from where we were.

Dee had spoken up then, asking how he had so many properties when he was barely pushing fifteen. I thought that was a very good question.

“There’s a lot of money in the kind of club I run, and favors don’t come cheap,” he said. “So I like to keep my options open, own a couple of hidey holes around the States. You never know when you’ll need them.”

Dee seemed to accept the answer. And really, what choice did we have?

We stopped once to get gas somewhere in northern Utah the following morning. Dawson and Daemon went in to pick up some drinks and food, but not before changing their appearances. The rest of us stayed behind the tinted windows while Archer filled the tank, keeping his head low under a baseball cap that had been in the car.

Too anxious to sit still, I leaned forward and checked on Bethany.

“She’s sleeping,” Dee said quietly. “I don’t know how she can sleep. I don’t think I’ll ever sleep again.”

“I’m sorry.” I placed my hand on the back of her seat. “I really am. I know you were close to them, and I wish…I wish a lot of things were different.”

“Me, too,” she said, placing her hand over mine. She laid her cheek on the seat and blinked several times. Her eyes were misty. “None of this seems real. Or is it just me?”

“It’s not just you.” I squeezed her hand. “I keep thinking I’m going to wake up.”

“And it’ll be months ago, right before prom, huh?”

I nodded, but that kind of wishful thinking was a one-way ticket to Downersville. Daemon and Dawson returned, their arms full of bags.

When Archer was once again behind the wheel, they started doling out drinks and snacks. Daemon handed me a small green bag of Funyuns. My breath was going to be kicking. “Thank you.”

“Just don’t try to kiss me for a while,” he said.

I smiled, and it felt weird to do so, but his eyes glimmered when I did, and I knew the no-kissing rule wasn’t going to last very long. Not when he had that look in his eyes.

“Did you hear anything interesting in the convenience store?” I asked, curious.

Daemon and Dawson exchanged a quick glance. I couldn’t decipher it, but I was immediately suspicious when Daemon shook his head. “Nothing important.”

My eyes narrowed.

He arched a brow at me.

“Daemon…”

He sighed. “There was a TV on behind the counter, airing live from Vegas. It was muted, though, so I couldn’t hear what they were saying.”

“Nothing else?”

There was a pause. “A few people checking out were talking about aliens and how they always suspected that the government was covering it up. Something stupid about a UFO crashing in Roswell back in the fifties. I honestly stopped listening.”

I relaxed a little. That was good news. At least there was no mention of lynch mobs hunting down aliens. We drove most of the day, but the more miles we put between Vegas and ourselves didn’t really ease the tension. It would be a long time before any of us was truly comfortable.

The first things I noticed about northern Idaho were the tall fir trees and the majestic slope of the mountain range in the distance. The town near the large, deep blue lake was small in comparison to Vegas but bustling. We passed an entrance to a resort, and I tried to pay attention to the directions Luc was giving Archer, but I sucked at directions. He lost me at “turn right at the intersection.”

Another fifteen minutes or so and we were at the edge of the national forest. And if I thought Petersburg was in the middle of nowhere, I obviously hadn’t seen anything yet.

The Dodge bumped along a narrow dirt road crowded with firs and other trees that looked perfect for hanging Christmas decorations.

“I think we might get eaten by a bear,” Daemon commented as he stared out the window.

“Well, that might happen, but you won’t have to worry about too many Arum.” Luc twisted in his seat and flashed a tired grin. “This place has natural quartzite deposits but no Luxen that I’m aware of.”

Daemon nodded. “Good stuff.”

“The Arum…do you think they just happened to show up?” Dee asked.

“Not at all,” Archer replied, looking in the rearview mirror for a second. He smiled a little, I think for Beth. “Daedalus has some Arum on the back burner, called out when Luxen…step out of line. There was this issue in Colorado, right before they caught up with you guys outside of Mount Weather. Some lady in a wrong place, wrong time situation, and an Arum was brought in.”

“You met him,” Luc said, glancing back at Daemon. “You know, the Arum at my club you wanted to go all He-Man on? Yeah, he was called in by the DOD to take care of one of the problems.”

I looked at Daemon, who was sporting a major frownie face. “He didn’t look like he was taking care of the problem.”

Luc’s smile turned part mysterious, part sad. “Depends on how you look at taking care of things.” He paused, turning back around. “That’s what Paris would say.”

I settled back in the crook of Daemon’s arm, planning on asking him about that later. The vehicle slowed down on a bend, and parts of a log cabin peeked out from the firs—a very large, very expensive log cabin that was two floors and the size of two houses.

Luc’s bar must have been doing amazingly well.

The vehicle coasted to a stop before a garage door. Luc hopped out and loped around the front of the car. Stopping in front of the doors, he flipped open a keypad and entered a code with quick, nimble fingers. The door opened smoothly.

“Come on in,” he called, ducking under the door.

I couldn’t wait to get out of the vehicle as it rolled into the garage. My butt was numb and my legs a little shaky when I put my feet on the cement. Getting the blood moving again, I walked out of the garage and into the sunlight. It was significantly cooler for August, probably in the low seventies. Or was it September? I had no idea what month it was, let alone the day.

But it was beautiful here. The only noise was the chirping of birds and the rustling of small woodland creatures. The sky was a nice shade of blue. Yeah, it was pretty here and reminded me of…home.

Daemon came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. He leaned into me, resting his chin atop my head. “Don’t run off like that.”

“I didn’t run off. I just walked out of the garage,” I said, placing my hands on his strong forearms.

His head slid down, and the stubble on his cheek tickled me. “Too far for right now.”

Any other time I would’ve read him the riot act, complete with the diva crown, but after everything, I understood the why behind it.

I turned in his arms, forcing mine under his and around his waist. “Is everyone already investigating the house?”

“Yep. Luc was talking about one of us going back into town later and getting some food, before it gets too late. Looks like we’re all going to be holed up here for a while.”

I squeezed him hard. “I don’t want you to go.”

“I know.” He reached up and smoothed my hair back off my face. “But only Dawson and I can change the way we look. And I’m not letting him go by himself or letting Dee go.”

Inhaling deeply, I squared my shoulders. I wanted to rant and rave. “Okay.”

“Okay? You’re not going to give me evil Kitten eyes?”

I shook my head, focused on his chest. Sudden emotion crawled up, getting stuck in my throat.

“Hell must’ve frozen over.” His fingers splayed across my cheek. “Hey…”

Pressing forward, I rested my head against him, and my fingers dug into his sides. One arm slipped to my waist, and he held me close. “I’m sorry,” I said, swallowing hard.

“A lot has happened, Kat. There is no need to apologize. We all are doing the best we can right now.”

Lifting my head, I blinked back tears. “And you? Are you doing okay?”

He stared down at me, silent.

“You don’t blame yourself for what happened back in Vegas, do you? It wasn’t your fault. None of it.”

Daemon was silent for a very long time. “It was my idea.”

My heart turned over heavily. “But we all got behind it.”

“Maybe there was something different we could’ve done.” He looked away, throat constricting. A taut pull appeared at the corners of his mouth. “The whole way here I kept thinking it over. What other options did we have?”

“We didn’t have any.” I wanted to crawl inside him and somehow make it better.

“Are we sure of that?” His voice was quiet. “We didn’t have a lot of time to think it through.”

“We didn’t have any time.”

Daemon nodded slowly, eyes narrowed and focused on the tree line. “Ash and Andrew and Paris—they didn’t deserve that. I know they agreed to it and knew the risks, but I can’t believe that they are…”

I stretched up, cupping his cheeks. The aching spread though my chest, becoming a physical pain. “I’m so sorry, Daemon. I wish there was something more I could say. I know they were like your family. And I know they meant the world to you. Their deaths aren’t your fault, though. Please don’t think that. I couldn’t—”

He silenced me with a kiss—a sweet, tender kiss that eclipsed all my words. “I need to tell you something,” he said. “You might hate me afterward.”

“What?” I pulled back, totally not expecting that comment. “I couldn’t hate you.”

He cocked his head to the side. “I gave you a lot of reasons to hate me in the beginning.”

“Yeah, you did, but that was in the beginning. Not anymore.”

“You haven’t heard what I have to say.”

“It doesn’t matter.” I sort of wanted to punch him in the face for even suggesting that.

“It does.” He took a breath. “You know, when the shit started really going down back in Vegas, I had my doubts. When I saw Paris get taken out, then Andrew and Ash, I asked myself if I would’ve done this again, the same way, knowing the risks.”

“Daemon…”

“The thing is, I knew the risks when I got out of the car. I knew people could die and that didn’t stop me. And when I looked up and saw you standing there, alive and okay, I knew I would do it all over again.” His bright emerald eyes settled on me. “I would do it, Kat. How incredibly selfish is that? How messed up? I think that makes me pretty worthy of your distaste.”

“No,” I said, and then I said it again. “I get what you’re saying, Daemon. It doesn’t make me hate you.”

His jaw clamped down. “It should.”

“Look, I don’t know what to say. Is it a hundred percent right? Probably not. But I understand it. I understood why Matthew turned Dawson and Bethany over and then tried to turn us over. We’ll all do crazy shit to protect the ones we love. It may not be right, but…but it is what it is.”

He stared down at me.

“And you can’t beat yourself up over this. Not when you told me I couldn’t beat myself up over what happened with Adam because of the decisions I made.” My breath was shaky. I wanted to erase the pain in his eyes, the hurt. “I couldn’t hate you. Ever. I love you no matter what. And it doesn’t matter what happens in the future or what happened before this.” Tears burned my eyes. “I will always love you. And we are in this together. That’s never going to change. Do you understand?”

When he said nothing, my heart skipped. “Daemon?”

He moved so fast that he startled me. He kissed me again. It wasn’t sweet and tender like the last one. It was fierce, intense, and powerful—a thank-you and a promise rolled into one. That kiss broke me down and then rebuilt me. His kiss…well, it made me.

He made me.

And because of that, I knew it went both ways. He made me. And I made him.

…

Daemon

The trip into town with Dawson had been surprisingly uneventful. We were in and out of the market quickly. There was no avoiding the newspapers with pictures of glowing figures splashed all across them or overhearing the conversations while in line. Some of it was just plain crazy, but tension cloaked the people in the store, in a small town nestled against a lake, a world away from Vegas.

From what we could gather, the government hadn’t made any official announcement with the exception of declaring a state of emergency for Nevada and labeling the “horrific actions” an act of terrorism.

Things were going to get bad. Not just from the human standpoint but from the Luxen. Many of them had no problems living in secrecy. We’d blown that right through the roof. And then there were those who would take advantage of the chaos, like Luc had said. I couldn’t help but think about Ethan White, and his warning.

It was late once we got back to the cabin, and Kat and Dee fixed spaghetti. It was mostly Kat cooking, since Dee tried to heat up everything with her hands, which usually had disastrous results. Beth had helped with the garlic bread, and it was good seeing her up and moving around. I almost couldn’t remember what she’d been like before Daedalus. I did know she was a lot more talkative then.

And she had smiled more.

I helped Kat clean up afterward. She washed the dishes, and I dried them. The kitchen was outfitted with a dishwasher, something Luc had felt the need to point out, but I think the tedious task was calming. Neither of us spoke. There was something intimate about this, our elbows and hands brushing.

Somehow Kat got a cluster of frothy white bubbles on her nose. I wiped it off, and she grinned, and, damn, her smiles were like basking in the sun. They made me feel and think a lot of things, including some majorly cheesy stuff I would probably never say out loud.

She could barely keep her eyes open by the time we finished. I ushered her into the living room, and she plopped down on the couch. “Where are you going?” she asked.

“I’m going to finish up in the kitchen.” I dropped an old patchwork quilt over her. “Get some rest. I’ll be right back.”

Heading through the rec room, I could hear Archer and Dee talking in one of the rooms. I was halfway there before I stopped myself. Closing my eyes, I cursed under my breath. Dee needed someone to talk to. I just wish it wasn’t him.

I stood there in the dark hallway, staring at the gaudy wood paneling for God knew how long before I forced myself back into the kitchen.

Dee would not be taking him to Olive Garden. That was where I drew the line.

Grabbing the wet dishcloth, I slopped it on the table and cleaned up Luc’s mess. The kid’s eating habits and spaghetti didn’t go together well. Finishing up, I glanced at the clock. It was almost midnight.

“You lied to Kat.”

I turned at the sound of my brother’s voice, already knowing what he was talking about. “You would’ve done the same thing.”

“True, but she’s going to find out sooner or later.”

Picking up a bottle of water off the counter, I chose my next words carefully. “The last thing I want her to know right now is that her face is plastered all over national news. Instead of being concerned about what that means for her, she’s going to worry about her mother and…there’s nothing we can do about that right now.”

Dawson leaned against the counter and folded his arms. He stared at me, and I stared back. Knowing what that look meant, the lowered brows and determined set of his jaw, I sighed. “What?” I demanded.

“I know what you’re thinking.”

I tapped my fingers on the water bottle “Do you?”

“It’s why you’re in here playing Suzy Homemaker. You’re wondering what you’ve started.”

I didn’t answer for a long moment. “Yeah, I’m wondering that.”

“It wasn’t just you. It was all of us. We all did this.” Dawson paused, staring out the window over the sink into the dark void that surrounded the cabin. “I would do it again.”

“Would you? Knowing that Ash and Andrew would die?” Saying their names was a hot slice of pain.

He ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t think you want me to answer that question.”

I nodded. We’d answer that question the same way. What did that say about us?

Dawson exhaled heavily. “That’s some shit, though. God, they were like family. It’s not going to be the same without them. They didn’t deserve to die like that.”

I rubbed my jaw. “And Matthew…”

“Screw Matthew,” he spat, eyes narrowing.

Setting the bottle aside, I watched my brother. “We sort of did the same thing, bro. We risked people’s lives to keep Dee and the girls safe.”

He shook his head. “That’s different.”

“Is it?”

Dawson didn’t immediately respond. “Well, then screw us.”

I let out a dry laugh. “Yeah, screw us.”

His lips twitched as he looked at me. “Man, what the hell are we going to do?”

I opened my mouth, but I laughed again. “Who the hell knows? I guess we have to wait and see what the fallout will be. I need to figure out how to make Kat look like the innocent victim in this. She can’t hide forever.”

“None of us can,” he said solemnly. Then he added, “I would pay good money to know what the Elders are thinking right now.”

“Easy. They probably want our heads.”

He shrugged, and a couple of moments passed before he spoke again. Whatever he was about to say, I knew he was unsure of it. His mouth worked on it for a while. “I know this isn’t the best time to tell you this. Hell, I’m not sure there is a right moment for this, but it seems like after what happened to Ash and Andrew, I should just keep my mouth shut.”

My muscles tensed. “Just spit it out, Dawson.”

“Okay. Fine. I do need to tell you because, well, I think someone other than us needs to know.” The tips of his cheekbones flushed, and I really had no idea where this conversation was going. “Especially as things start to progress and—”

“Dawson.”

He took a deep breath and said two words that blew my mind. “Beth’s pregnant.”

My mouth opened, but there were no words. Truly no words at all.

Everything came out of Dawson in a rush. “Yeah, so she’s pregnant. That’s why she’s been tired a lot and I didn’t want her doing anything when we were in Vegas. It was too risky. And the traveling had really worn her out, but…but yeah, we’re having a baby.”

I stared at him. “Holy…”

“I know.” His face cracked into a smile.

“Shit,” I finished. Then I shook my head. “I mean—congratulations.”

“Thank you.” He shifted his weight.

I almost asked how Beth got pregnant but stopped myself before I asked that stupid question. “Wow. You’re…you’re having a baby?”

“Yeah.”

I gripped the edges of the counter. I was struck stupid, and all I could think about were those kids in Daedalus—the origins. The children of a male Luxen and female hybrid, so rare that if Daedalus learned of this…

I couldn’t finish the thought.

Dawson let out a shaky breath. “Okay. Say something else.”

“Uh, how…how far along is she?” Is that what people asked under normal circumstances?

His shoulders relaxed. “She’s around three months.”

Damn. They must’ve had one hell of a reunion.

“You’re mad, aren’t you?” he asked.

“What? No. I’m not mad. I just don’t know what to say.” And I kept thinking that in six months we were going to have a baby that could fry brain cells with a single thought if it didn’t get its binky. “I just wasn’t expecting this.”

“Neither was I, or Beth. We didn’t plan this. It just sort of…happened.” His chest rose sharply. “It wasn’t like I thought having a baby at this age was a smart thing, but it happened, and we’re going to do our best. I…I already love him more than I’ve loved anything.”

“Him?”

Dawson’s smile was part awkward, part joyous. “The baby could be a girl, but I’ve been calling it a ‘he.’ Drives Beth crazy.”

I forced a smile. He didn’t seem to know about the origins. Was it possible that Beth didn’t know, either? If so, they had no idea what they were about to bring into this world. I started to say something but cut myself off. Now wasn’t the time.

“I know things are going to be hard,” he went on. “We can’t go to a normal doctor. I know that, and it scares the shit out of me.”

“Hey.” I pushed forward, clamping a hand on his shoulder. “It’ll be okay. Beth and the…and the baby will be okay. We’ll figure this out.”

Dawson’s smile of relief was evident.

I had no idea how we were going to figure this out, but women had been having babies since the beginning of time without doctors. Couldn’t be that hard, right? I sort of wanted to punch myself in the face after that, though.

Childbirth scared the crap out of me.

We talked for a little while longer, and I promised to keep things quiet. They weren’t ready to share the news with everyone, and I could understand that. Kat and I hadn’t told anyone that we were sort of married.

Marriage.

Babies.

Aliens in Vegas.

The freaking world was coming to an end.

Still feeling a little shell-shocked, I headed into the living room. I stopped in front of the couch where Kat was curled up against the arm, the quilt bunched up under her chin. She was asleep.

Lowering myself, I carefully picked her up and placed her in my lap, her legs spread out between mine. She stirred, rolled onto her side, but remained asleep.

I stared out the window into the darkness for hours.

Now more than anything we had to do something. Not just run and hide. That was going to be damn near impossible as it was. The world knew about us now. Things would only get more dangerous from here on out.

And in a few months, we’d have a baby to worry about—a baby that could wreak all kinds of havoc.

We had to do something. We had to make a stand, change the future, or there’d be no future for any of us.

I smoothed my hand up Kat’s spine, curving my fingers around the nape of her neck. Tipping my chin down, I pressed my lips to her forehead. She murmured my name sleepily, and my chest clenched with the degree of emotion I felt for her. I leaned back on the couch and stared through the window into the darkness.

The uncertainty of tomorrow loomed like a storm cloud, but there was one thing I was fairly confident of, something more ominous than the unknown waiting for all of us.

We would be hunted by the humans and the Luxen.

And if they thought exposing the truth to the world was the most extreme thing I could do to protect those I loved, they hadn’t seen anything yet.

They had no idea what I was truly capable of.