Luc leaned back in his chair, kicking his legs onto the desk. He crossed them at the ankles. “I don’t know what to tell you about that. She may’ve known about the Luxen, gotten hurt, and some poor sap tried and failed to heal her. Or the Man pulled her off the street like they do at times. And unless you know some darn good torture techniques and are willing to employ them on an Officer of Daedalus, I don’t see how you’ll ever know.”
“I refuse to accept that,” I whispered. Knowing would bring some kind of closure and justice.
He shrugged. “What happened to her?” Curiosity colored his tone.
My breath caught in my throat as I balled my hands into fists. “She’s no longer…”
“Ah,” Luc murmured. “She did the whole spontaneous combustion thing?” The look on my face must’ve been answer enough because he sighed sadly. “Sick. Sorry about that. A twisted history lesson for you—you know all those unexplained cases of spontaneous combustion throughout history?”
Daemon grimaced. “I’m afraid to ask.”
“Funny how there’s not many cases known, but they do happen out in the noob world.” He spread his arms wide to indicate the world outside this office. “Hybrids—my theory at least, and it makes sense if you think about it—most do the self-destruction thing in the facilities, but a few do it outside. That’s why the occurrence is rare to humans.”
All of this was good and a little disturbing to think about, but it wasn’t why we were here. “My friend was wearing a bracelet—”
“Tiffany’s?” he asked and smirked.
“No.” I smiled tightly. “It was just like the one you’re wearing.”
Surprise rolled over Luc’s face like a wave. The little punk dropped his legs onto the floor and sat straight. “Not good.”
Foreboding chills skated over my skin as Daemon zeroed in on Luc. “Why is that not good?”
He seemed to debate whether he should talk about it and then went with a, “Oh, what the hell. You’ll owe me, hope you realize. But what you see here?” Luc flicked a finger along the stone. “It’s a black opal—so rare that only a few mines can even unearth these babies. And it’s only
“The ones that look like they have fire in them?” I asked, leaning forward to get a better look. It really did look like a black orb with a flame inside. “Where are they mined?”
“Australia, usually. There’s something in the composition of a black opal that’s like a power booster. You know, like Mario gets when he hits a mushroom. Imagine that sound. That’s what a black opal does.”
“What kind of composition?” Daemon asked, eyes sharp with interest.
Luc unhooked the bracelet and held it up in the dim light. “Opals have this remarkable ability to refract and reflect specific wavelengths of light.”
“No way,” Daemon breathed, and apparently that was super cool. I was still lost on the whole stone and light thing.
“Yes.” Luc smiled at the stone, like a father smiles at his prodigal son. “I don’t know who discovered it. Someone in Daedalus, I’m sure. Once they figured out what it could do, they kept it away from the Luxen and ones like us.”
“Why?” I felt stupid for asking, mainly because both of them looked at me like I was. “What? I don’t have a degree in alien mineralogy. Geez.”
Daemon patted my thigh. “It’s okay. Refracting and reflecting wavelengths of lights affects us, like the obsidian affects Arum and onyx affects us.”
“Okay,” I said slowly.
Luc’s purple eyes glimmered. “Refracting light changes the direction and speed. Our friendly neighborhood aliens are made of light—well, made of more than that, but let me explain it this way: let’s say their DNA is light. And let’s say that once a human is mutated, their DNA is now encased in wavelengths of light.”
I remembered Daemon trying to explain this before. “And onyx disrupts those wavelengths of light, right? Kind of makes them bounce around and go crazy.”
Luc nodded. “Opal’s ability to refract allows a Luxen or a hybrid to be more powerful—it enhances our ability to refract light.”
“And the reflection part—wow.” Awed, Daemon grinned.
I got the whole refraction thing. Sure, super speed, ability to pull on the Source more easily, and probably a slew of other benefits, but reflection? I waited.
Daemon nudged me with his elbow. “We flicker or fade sometimes because we move fast. And sometimes you see us fade in and out—it’s just reflection. Something all of us have to work at to control when we’re younger.”
“And it’s hard when you’re excited or upset?”
He nodded. “Among other things, but to control reflection?” He fixed on Luc. “Are you saying you can do what I think you can?”
Laughing, Luc hooked the bracelet around his wrist and sat back, dropping his legs on the desk again. “Hybrids are good. We can move faster than humans, but with the obesity rates nowadays, turtles can move faster than most humans. Sometimes we’re even stronger than the average Luxen when it comes to the Source—it’s the mixture of human and alien DNA that can create something powerful, but that’s not standard.” A self-fulfilled smile stretched Luc’s lips. “But give a Luxen one of these, and they can completely reflect light.”
My heart skipped a beat. “You mean…like, invisible?”
“So cool,” Daemon said, staring at the stone. “We can change the way we look, but become invisible? Yeah, that’s new.”
Confounded, I shook my head. “Can we be invisible?”
“No. Our human DNA gets in the way of that, but it makes us just as powerful as the strongest Luxen and then some.” He wiggled a little in his seat. “So you can imagine that they wouldn’t want any of us having these… especially one that hasn’t been proven to be stable, unless…”
A cold breath of air shot over my neck. “Unless what?”
Some of the enthusiasm faded from his face. “Unless they didn’t care what kind of damage the hybrid caused. Maybe your friend was a test run for a bigger incident.”
“What?” Daemon tensed. “You think they did this on purpose? Hooked up an unstable hybrid and sent her out into the wild to see what happens?”
“Paris thinks I’m a conspiracy theorist with a hint of schizophrenic paranoia.” He shrugged. “But you can’t tell me that Daedalus doesn’t have a master plan up their sleeves. I wouldn’t put a single thing past them.”
“But why would she come after me? Blake says they don’t know the mutation held. So it wasn’t like they’d send her after me.” I paused. “And, well, that’s if Blake’s telling the truth.”
“I’m sure he is about the mutation,” Luc responded. “If he wasn’t, you wouldn’t be sitting here. See, I’m not sure even Daedalus knows everything that this stone is capable of and how it affects us. I’m still learning.”
“And what have you learned?” Daemon asked.
“For starters, before I got my grubby paws on one of these, I couldn’t pick out another hybrid if one did a jig in front of me. I knew the moment you and Blake arrived in Martinsburg, Katy. It was weird, like a breath washing over my entire body. Your friend probably sensed you. That’s the least terrible probability.”
Daemon blew out a long breath and then looked away for a moment. “Do you know if it can enhance the Arum’s abilities?”
“I imagine it could if they were bloated on a Luxen’s powers.”
Overwhelmed, I sat back and then shot forward. “Do you think the opal can, like, counteract the onyx?”
“It’s possible, but I don’t know. Haven’t hugged any onyx recently.”
I ignored the sarcastic tone. “Where can we get some of the opal?”
Luc laughed and I wanted to kick his legs off the desk. “Unless you have about thirty thousand dollars lying around and know someone who mines opals, or you want to ask Daedalus for some, you’re out of luck. And I’m not giving you mine.”
My shoulders slumped. Yippee, another dead end. We couldn’t catch a break if it slapped us upside the face.
“Anyway, it’s about time for you guys to hit the road.” He tipped his head back, closing his eyes. “I’m assuming I won’t hear from you two again until you’re ready to go to Mount Weather?”
Ah, we’d been dismissed. As I stood, I debated on bum-rushing Luc and grabbing his bracelet. The way his
