Khaki Beret. “Archer, you were here when Bethany and Dawson were brought in?”
I turned to Archer, and he nodded. “When the subjects were brought in, both were understandably difficult to deal with, but after the female had gone through the mutation, she was even more violent. They were allowed to stay together until it became obvious there was a safety issue. That was why they were separated and eventually moved to different locations.”
I shook my head as I pulled the blanket closer. I wanted to yell at them at the top of my lungs. “I’m not stupid.”
“I don’t think you are,” the doctor answered. “Hybrids are notoriously unbalanced, even the ones who have mutated successfully. Beth was and is unstable.”
Knots formed in my belly. I could easily remember how crazy Beth had been at Vaughn’s house. She had seemed fine when we found her at Mount Weather, but she hadn’t always been that way. Were Dawson and everyone in danger? Could I even believe anything these people were telling me?
“That’s why I need to do a full exam, Katy.”
I looked at the doctor. “Are you saying I’m unstable?”
He didn’t respond immediately, and it felt like the table had dropped out from underneath me.
“There is a chance,” he said. “Even with successful mutations, there is an instability issue that arises when the hybrid uses the Source.”
Clenching the blanket until the feeling came back in my knuckles, I willed my heart to slow down. It wasn’t working. “I don’t believe you. I don’t believe anything you’re saying. Dawson was—”
“Dawson was a sad case,” he said, cutting me off. “And you will come to understand that. What happened with Dawson was unintentional. He would’ve been released eventually, once we were sure he could assimilate again. And Beth—”
“Just stop,” I snarled, and my own voice surprised me. “I don’t want to hear any more of your lies.”
“You have no idea, Miss Swartz, how dangerous the Luxen are and the threat those who have been mutated by them pose.”
“The Luxen aren’t dangerous! And the hybrids wouldn’t be, either, if you left us alone. We haven’t done anything to you. We wouldn’t have. We weren’t doing anything until you—”
“Do you know why the Luxen came to Earth?” he asked.
“Yes.” My knuckles ached. “The Arum destroyed their planet.”
“Do you know why their planet was destroyed? Or the origins of the Arum?”
“They were at war. The Arum were trying to take their abilities and kill them.” I was totally up to date on my Alien 101. The Arum were the opposite of the Luxen, more shadow than light, and they
Dr. Roth shook his head. “Like with any great war, the Arum and Luxen have been fighting for so long that I doubt many of them even know what sparked the battle.”
“So are you trying to say that the Arum and the Luxen are like the intergalactic Gaza Strip?”
Archer snorted at that.
“I don’t even know why we’re talking about this,” I said, suddenly so tired I wasn’t sure I could think straight. “None of that matters.”
“It
“Well, I guess you’re going to educate me?”
He smiled, and I wanted to knock the condescending look off his face. Too bad that would require my letting go of the blanket and mustering up the energy to do so. “During their prime, the Luxen were the most powerful and intelligent life-form in the entire universe. Just like in any set of species, evolution evolved in response, creating a natural predator—the Arum.”
I stared at the man. “What are you saying?”
He met my gaze. “The Luxen weren’t the victims in their war. They were the cause of it.”
…
“How did you get out?” Dawson asked.
It had taken everything for me not to slam my fist into his face. I had calmed down enough that bringing the house down on its foundation was unlikely to occur. Still a possibility, though.
“Better question is how many did I lay out to get here?” I tensed, waiting. Dawson blocked the doorway. “Don’t fight me on any of this, brother. You won’t be able to stop me, and you know it.”
He held my gaze for a moment, then swore as he stepped aside. I slid past him, my eyes going to the staircase.
“Dee’s asleep,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “Daemon—”
“Where’s Beth?”
“Here,” came a soft voice from the dining room.
I turned around and, hell, it was like the girl materialized out of smoke and shadows. I’d forgotten how much of a tiny thing she was. Slim and elfin, with lots of brown hair and a pointy, stubborn little chin. She was a lot paler than I remembered.
“Hey there.” My beef wasn’t with her. I glanced back at my brother. “You think it’s wise to have her here?”
He went to her side, draping his arm over her shoulders. “We planned on leaving. Matthew was going to set us up in Pennsylvania, near South Mountain.”
I nodded. The mountain was rocking a decent amount of quartzite but no Luxen community that we knew of.
“But we didn’t want to leave right now,” Beth added quietly, her eyes darting around the room, not settling on anything in particular. She was dressed in one of Dawson’s T-shirts and a pair of Dee’s sweats. Both swallowed her whole. “It didn’t seem right. Someone should be here with Dee.”
“But it’s not really safe for you two,” I pointed out. “Matthew could stay with Dee.”
“We’re fine.” Dawson bent his head, pressing a kiss against Beth’s forehead before pinning me with a serious look. “You shouldn’t be out of the colony. We had you there to keep you safe. If the police see you or the —”
“The police aren’t going to see me.” That concern made sense. Since Kat and I were both presumed missing, or that we’d run away, my reappearance would raise a lot of questions. “Neither will Kat’s mom.”
He didn’t look convinced. “You’re not worried about the DOD?”
I said nothing.
He shook his head. “Shit.”
Beside him, Beth shifted her slight weight from one foot to the next. “You’re going after her, aren’t you?”
“The hell he is,” my brother cut in, and when I said nothing, he strung together so many curse words I was actually impressed. “Dammit, Daemon, out of everyone, I know what you’re feeling, but what you’re doing is insane. And seriously, how did you get out of the cabin?”
Striding forward, I brushed past him and headed for the kitchen. It was strange being back in here. Everything was the same—gray granite countertops, white appliances, the god-awful country decorations Dee had thrown up on the walls, and the heavy oak kitchen table.
I stared at the table. Like a mirage, Kat appeared, sitting on the edge. Deep pain sliced across my chest. God, I missed her, and it killed me not knowing what was really happening to her or what they were doing.
Then again, I had a good idea. I knew enough from what they’d done to Dawson and Beth, and that made me physically ill.
“Daemon?” He had followed me.
I turned from the table. “We don’t need to have this conversation, and I’m not in the mood to state the obvious. You know what I’m doing. It’s why you put me in the colony.”
“I don’t even understand how you got out. There was onyx all over that place.”
Each colony had cabins meant to keep Luxen who’d become dangerous to our kind or to humans and that the Elders didn’t want to take them to the human police.
