Origin (Lux #4)(44)

And then she was back in her room, and I was in mine. Finally, I did sleep.

When morning came, so did Nancy. Nothing like seeing her prim face and plastic smile first thing to start the day off right.

I’d expected to be reunited with Kat, but I was taken to the med floor for more blood tests and then shown the hospital room Kat had spoken of.

“Where is the little girl?” I asked, scanning the chairs for the small child Kat had mentioned but not seeing one. “I think her name was Lori or something.”

Nancy’s expression remained blank. “Unfortunately, she didn’t respond as we’d hoped. She passed a few days ago.”

Shit. I hoped Kat didn’t learn that. “You guys were giving her the LH-11?”

“Yes.”

“And it didn’t work?”

Her gaze sharpened. “You’re asking a lot of questions, Daemon.”

“Hey, you have me here, most likely using my DNA for this. Don’t you think I’m going to be a little curious about it?”

She held my stare for a moment and then turned back to one of the patients who was having a fluid bag changed out. “You think too much, and you know what they say about curiosity.”

“That it’s possibly the most cliché and stupid saying ever?”

One side of her lips tipped up. “I like you, Daemon. You’re a pain in the ass and a smart-mouth, but I like you.”

I smiled tightly. “No one can deny my charm.”

“I’m sure that’s true.” She paused as the sergeant entered the room, conversing quietly with one of the doctors. “Lori was given LH-11, but her reaction was not favorable.”

“What?” he asked. “It didn’t heal the cancer?”

Nancy didn’t respond, and that was that. Somehow I figured the unfavorable reaction was due to more than the cancer not healing. “You know what I think?” I said.

She tipped her head to the side. “I can only imagine.”

“Messing with human, hybrid, and alien DNA is probably asking for a world of trouble. You guys really don’t know what you have.”

“But we’re learning.”

“And making mistakes?” I asked.

She smiled. “There are no such things as mistakes, Daemon.”

I wasn’t so sure about that, but then my attention shifted to the window at the end of the room. My eyes narrowed. I could see other Luxen in there. Many of them looked as happy as a kid at Disneyland.

“Ah.” Nancy smiled, nodding at the window. “I see you’ve noticed. They are here because they want to help. If only you’d be that accommodating.”

I snorted. Who knew why the other Luxen were here, happy as clams, and I really didn’t care. I got that there were parts of Daedalus that were actually attempting to do something good, but I also knew what they did to my brother in the process.

All around me, doctors and lab technicians milled about. Some of the bags hooked up to the patients had a strange glittering liquid in them that vaguely resembled what we bled in our true form. “Is that LH-11?” I asked, gesturing at one of the bags.

Nancy nodded. “One of the versions—the newest—but that really isn’t a concern of yours. We have—”

A siren sounded, cutting off her words with an ear-piercing shrill. Lights on the ceilings flashed red. Patients and doctors looked around in alarm. Sergeant Dasher stormed out of the room.

Nancy cursed under her breath as she spun toward the door. “Washington, escort Mr. Black back to his room immediately.” She pointed at another guard. “Williamson, shut this room down. No one goes in or out.”

“What’s going on?” I asked.

She shot me a look before stomping past. Like hell I wanted to go back to my room when things were obviously just getting fun. Out in the hall, lighting was dim and the blinking red light caused an annoying strobe effect.

The Guard of the Moment took one step, and chaos stormed into the corridor.

Soldiers poured out of rooms, locking them down and taking up guard in front of them. Another came down the hall, clutching a walkie-talkie in a knuckle-white grip. “We have activity on elevator ten, coming out of building B. Lock it down now.”

Huh, the infamous building B strikes again.

Farther down the hall, another door opened, and I saw Archer first and then Kat. She had a hand pressed over the fleshy part of her elbow. Behind her was Dr. Roth. My eyes narrowed when I saw a wicked-looking syringe in his hand. He brushed past Kat and Archer, heading straight for the guy on the walkie-talkie.

Kat turned, her gaze finding me. I started forward. No way was I not going to be beside her when the shit hit the fan, which apparently was happening.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Washington demanded, hand going to the weapon on his thigh. “I have orders to take you back to your room.”

I turned to him slowly, then back to the three elevators across from us. All of them were stopped on different floors, the lights red. “Exactly how are we supposed to get to my room?”

His eyes narrowed. “Stairwell?”

Tool had a point, but like I cared. I turned away, but his hand clamped down on my shoulder. “You stop me, and I will end you,” I warned.

Whatever Washington saw in my face must’ve assured him that I wasn’t fooling around, because he didn’t interfere when I shrugged off his grip and went to Kat, dropping an arm around her shoulders. Her body was tense.