Opposition (Lux 5)

Glancing over at Daemon, I watched a muscle along his jaw flicker. I had a feeling why they hadn’t seen any Luxen. They were no longer in their true forms.

“We also have received word of a very frightening and . . . and frankly disturbing development. There honestly are no words for it, and if you haven’t seen this video yet, I will warn you that it may not be suitable for younger viewers.” He looked off-screen and nodded. “This was sent in by a viewer in the Miami, Florida, area. We believe it was captured on a camera phone at some point yesterday, during the attacks.”

The screen to the right switched to a shaky recording and then expanded, filling the television. My eyes widened.

It looked like whoever was filming had hidden behind a car on its side. A Luxen was on the screen, in full glowworm mode as it stalked a human male who looked like he was in his twenties. The Luxen’s movements were as fluid as sculpted water as it backed the human male up against an abandoned city bus. Horror etched into the guy’s face as the Luxen launched forward and placed a glowing white hand on the center of his chest.

I knew what was about to happen.

“Oh my God. Oh my God,” whoever was filming whispered over and over again as the Luxen rapidly assimilated the DNA of the human male, taking on the physical form and characteristics until there was nothing left of the human but a dried-out husk crumpled on the ground.

The video started shaking more, and then I could tell the person was getting the hell away from what had just gone down.

When the video ended, the newscaster appeared as if he had aged a decade. “We are still waiting on the press conference from the president of the United States, but we have received word that many government figures in the sieged cities will be making statements later in the day.”

“How are they doing it?” I asked.

Daemon knew what I was asking. “When we arrived and were brought in by Daedalus, we were assimilated.” His hands slid down my arms to my cold hands. He folded his over mine. “We were exposed to a human—the three of us—over a period of time. It took several months, and when we finally shifted into our human forms, we had his characteristics—the dark hair, skin color, facial features. He was like a surrogate, but we didn’t kill him. At least as far as I know. Once we were moved out, along with . . . Matthew and the Thompsons, we never saw him again.”

Daemon had never gone into this kind of detail before, and trying to fully picture three little toddler-like aliens assimilating a human over a period of time made my brain hurt. How in the world had Daedalus gotten humans to sign up for that?

“So these Luxen are doing what you did but faster—too fast?” I said.

He nodded. “They’re doing exactly what we were taught to do.” He brought our joined hands to his lips and pressed a kiss against my knuckles. “It’s strange. They know so much, too much for not being here, but then there’s a lot they don’t know. Someone or something had to be working with them from here.”

“Sadi?”

His brows rose.

“I don’t mean just her, but haven’t you noticed? She doesn’t move or talk like the other Luxen,” I explained. “She’s more human. I think she’s been here.”

The corners of his lips pulled down. “I hadn’t noticed, but I try to stay away from her. She’s a little bit touchy.”

A slow burn of anger blazed through my veins. “I really don’t like her.”

“I know.” He kissed my cheek and then gently lifted me out of his lap. I swayed a bit on my feet, drawing a concerned look from him. “You need to rest. We have a few more hours before the sun breaks and the press conference happens.”

I folded my arms over the edge of the towel. “Why does he want us there?”

“That I can’t figure out. Rolland says he can’t get a read on me, and I can’t get one on him, either.” Daemon reached behind him, picking up a long shirt. “I was able to find this for you to sleep in.”

It was a man’s shirt, and I really tried not to think about where it came from when I took it and slipped it on over my head. I shimmied out of the towel, and the shirt almost reached my knees.

“I’ll stay with you.” He rose, glancing at the door. “I don’t think that will raise any suspicions.”

Not when they thought Daemon and I were banging our brains out. My cheeks heated, even though it was stupid to be embarrassed over it, but it was like the Luxen saw me simply as Daemon’s property and nothing else.

That made me itchy in my own skin and sick to my stomach.

I climbed into the bed and rested on my side. Daemon floated around the room, checking the door and the windows even though we both knew it was pointless, and then he turned off the TV. The bed dipped behind me as his weight settled. An arm snaked around my waist, urging me against his chest and into all his warmth.

He smoothed my hair behind my ear as his breath danced along my temple. My eyes closed when his lips brushed over my skin. “We’ve been in worse situations,” he whispered. “We’ll get out of this one.”

Had we been in worse? At least with Daedalus we knew they wanted us alive. Alive to do horrible things for them, but that somehow sounded better. With the Luxen, I knew deep down they couldn’t care less if we woke up dead tomorrow.

I think Daemon realized that, too.

“We need to get out of here.” I stared into the darkness of the room. “Tomorrow, when they take us outside, it will be the perfect opportunity.”