Opposition

“Then, of course, there was the Prometheus serum,” she said, her eyes lighting up like a kid catching the Easter Bunny hiding eggs. “The serum that was given to the men you mutated.”

“You mean the men you forced to be mutated?” I challenged.

“The volunteers you mutated were given the Prometheus serum, just like the hybrids that the most recent batch of Origins were created from,” she explained, surprising me.

“Wait,” Kat chimed in. “You were just testing out that serum when we were there.”

Luc shook his head. “What she means is that humans who were accidentally mutated on and off throughout the years were given the Prometheus serum in test batches. Not ones like Daemon mutated, but people like you and Beth and anyone else out there who was healed by a Luxen.”

Confusion poured into me. “So you were testing the Prometheus serum for the first time on forced mutations?”

“Like I said, they volunteered,” she corrected.

I was about to volunteer my foot upside someone’s head. “Okay. This is great info, but basically useless to me.”

A smirk graced Nancy’s lips for the first time since our lovely reunion. “The Prometheus serum is different from the Daedalus serum. It ensures that the mutated human, that the hybrid, is not connected to the Luxen.”

My head cocked to the side. “Okay?”

“When you healed Kat, and Dr. Michaels alerted us when she fell ill, we didn’t use the Daedalus serum.”

Kat stiffened. “What? He said—”

“Do you think he really knew what we were handing him?” Her dark gaze fixed on Kat. “He believed what we told him and that was it. He was given the Prometheus serum, which is what was given to you.” Her attention flicked back to me. “It was the same thing given to those you also mutated, Daemon.”

“No.” I leaned forward. “That doesn’t make any sense. When Kat was shot—”

“You got sick. Thought you were dying? Oh, save us from the dramatics.” Her eyes rolled. “It’s because you truly bonded with her on an emotional level. You love her.” She spat out the L word like it was an STD. “Yeah, we’ve figured that out. The whole true want and need crap.”

“Well, yay for you, but I was dying.”

She shook her head. “You were weakened and you were ill, but if she had died, you would’ve survived. You would’ve gotten better. Life would’ve gone on. You just didn’t get to that point because obviously someone else healed her.”

Kat gasped.

I stood. The floor under my feet seemed to shift. I locked my knees together. I was rocked through and through, almost unable to believe her.

Nancy took a deep breath. “Your lives aren’t joined like you think they are. If one of you dies, the other will feel it—feel everything, down to the last breath, the last heartbeat—but the other one will take another breath and their heart will beat again.”

11

{ Katy }

After that little bomb was dropped on us, no one really had anything else to say. We’d reached our limit when it came to lies and chatting it out with everyone.

My brain was on overload, running circles around what Nancy had just told us, what Dee was doing, where my mom and friends were, if Luc really had control over Nancy, and what the future held for all of us.

I was done.

Daemon was done.

Archer made a pit stop on the way to showing us our room. Rapping his knuckles on the door once, he eased it open without waiting for an answer. Luckily none of us was scarred for life.

Dawson was standing at the foot of the bed, near where Beth sat. We were probably interrupting something, but the smile that transformed Beth’s face as Archer stepped aside and we walked in caused me to trip over my feet.

Daemon glanced back at me, brows arched, but I was focused on Beth. She . . . she looked normal sitting on the bed, cross-legged, hands resting in her lap. Weariness still marked her pretty face. Her skin was too pale and the shadows under her eyes stark, but her gaze was clear and focused.

“I’m so happy to see you guys,” she said, placing one hand on her lower belly. “I was so worried.”

“We’re doing well,” Daemon responded, glancing at his brother. Although we were standing in front of his brother and Beth, who appeared unharmed, tension radiated off of Daemon. “And everything is fine with you all?”

His brother nodded as he sat beside her. “Yeah. Beth’s been to the doctor on base already.” He curved a hand around her knee. “They seemed to have experience with this. Kind of weird, but I guess it’s a good thing.”

Daemon shot a look in Archer’s direction, and then his gaze settled on Beth. “The doctor treated you right?”

“She—Doctor Ramsey—was really kind and said that . . . well, the pregnancy is progressing as it should. She said that I needed to rest and I have to start taking vitamins.” Pausing, she gestured at a dresser. On it were three large bottles that were like the ones Archer and I had tried to obtain for her. She followed my gaze. “Thank you for going out that day. You risked a lot. Again.”

I blinked, not realizing at first that she was talking to me. I shrugged. “No biggie. I wish we could’ve gotten them for you then.”

“It was a big deal,” Dawson corrected. “You and Archer could’ve . . .” He trailed off as his brother stiffened. “Yeah, you know what could’ve happened.”