Opposition (Lux, #5)(55)

I arched a brow.

“It’s going to be getting the Grand Poo-Bah to go along with it. The Arum are kind of like you guys. All they need is a leader, and then they’ll follow him right off a cliff.” He paused, scrunching his nose. “Never met the guy. Have heard some stuff about him.”

“What stuff?” Kat asked.

He shrugged a shoulder. “Doesn’t matter.”

Kat’s brows knit when she frowned.

“Anyway, I’m going to have to stay behind. Pretty sure my presence is needed to keep Nancy from doing something that will upset the balance of the universe. Archer will go with you guys. Both of you, right?” Luc glanced between us. “I seriously doubt either of you will stay behind.”

“Not likely.” I scrubbed my hand down my jaw. Thirty hours in a car with Kat could get interesting, real fun, but with Archer? I thought I might hurt myself.

“Speaking of Nancy . . .” Kat looked at the closed door before she continued. “You can’t let those kids go back to her, no matter what you promised.”

The corners of his mouth rose in a wide smile that was a tad bit on the creepy side. “Don’t worry. She’s not a problem. The whole thing with her will most definitely work itself out in the end.”



The following morning, I sat at a white rectangular table that reminded me of a school cafeteria. I wasn’t sure what to think about that. Did I miss school? Not really. Did I miss life before this crap, when it was just me, my trusty pen, and Kat sitting in front of me?

Yeah. Sometimes.

But it wasn’t like anyone could go back in time.

Dawson sat across from me, scooping scrambled eggs from his plate onto Beth’s. The chick was definitely eating for two, considering the amount of food she just put down, and she was still going strong.

Pregnancy was weird.

Kat sneaked a slice of bacon off my place.

She had no reason to eat that much other than loving food . . . and bacon. She grinned at me as she snapped it in two, dropping half of it back on my plate.

“I really think you need to stay here,” I said, turning my attention back to my brother as I picked up the slice of my measly share of bacon.

Dawson frowned as he toyed with the bottle of chocolate milk. I knew what he was thinking. I could read him like an open book with big words and pictures.

“Look, you need to be here.” My gaze flickered over to Beth, who had a huge forkful of eggs. “This is where you need to be. It’s too dangerous out there for you or for Beth.”

Beth glanced up. “Isn’t it dangerous for you and Kat?”

“It is.” Kat glanced at me, chewing on her lower lip. We hadn’t told Dawson or Beth yet what Nancy told us about not being connected in the way they were. Kat took a deep breath, opened her mouth, and then Archer seemed to pop out of thin air.

He dropped down on the other side of Kat. “These two,” he said, gesturing at us with a flick of his hand, “aren’t connected—not like you and Beth.”

Dawson frowned as he glanced between Kat and me. “What do you mean? He healed her. She’s a hybrid—just like Beth.”

“Yes, but apparently Daedalus gave Beth one serum and tested out the new one, the Prometheus serum, on Kat,” Archer explained. “Which means they aren’t connected like you and Beth.”

As expected, Dawson argued that was impossible, but after I explained what Nancy had told us, my brother sat back, absolutely stunned.

“So, you see? You have too much to risk,” I told him. “You have Beth and you have this baby to worry about.”

Dawson cursed under his breath as he leaned back, rubbing his hands along the back of his neck. “You guys are really going to go after the Arum?”

“Yep.” Sounded crazy, but it was better than doing nothing.

He shook his head. “Never thought the day would come that we’d go to the Arum for help.”

I snickered. “No doubt.”

“Luc is going to stay behind,” Kat said, pushing what was left of her eggs around her plate. “To make sure Nancy behaves herself. We’ll be leaving in a few hours. Then once we get the . . . when we get the Arum to help, we’ll notify General Eaton. I guess at that point we’ll start to head back here.”

“But you have to leave so soon?” Beth shot a nervous glance at Dawson.

“We don’t have a lot of time to get this done,” I said. “But you two will be safe here.”

“I’m not worried about us,” Dawson said, and I wanted to smack him upside the head because he needed to be worried about them. “Letting you guys go off, meeting up with some damn Arum, and trying to convince them to help us out? That’s crazy dangerous.”

It was.

There was no denying that, and I’d never been a liar before, so I wasn’t going to start now.

Archer leaned forward, resting his weight on his arms. His eyes met my brother’s. “I understand you and I don’t really know each other, and you have no reason to believe anything I say, but I promise you I will make sure Daemon and Katy come back with Dee. You can take that to the bank.”

Sitting back, I stared at the Origin.

I’d never admit it, not in a million freaking years, but Archer . . . yeah, sometimes he was pretty cool in my book, and I did like the way he sounded. Hell-bent on fulfilling that promise and bringing back not only us, but Dee. He just didn’t need to know I felt that way.