Origin (Lux 4)

“Uh…” I said.

“Look.” Luc turned to me, his expression clouded. In that moment, he looked way older than I knew he was. “I’m guessing you think I was somehow a part of Katy being captured. You’re wrong.”

I sneered. “And I should believe you?”

“Do I look like I give a flying rainbow if you believe me? You broke into Mount Weather, a government stronghold. It takes no stretch of imagination to guess that something went wrong. I did what I promised.”

“Blake betrayed us. Daedalus has Kat.”

“And I told you to not trust anyone who had something to gain or lose.” Luc exhaled roughly. “Blake is…well, he’s Blake. But before you cast judgment, ask yourself how many people you’d crucify to get Katy back?”

The hold on me let go, and I slid down the wall, hitting my feet. As I stared at the teen, I believed him. “I have to get her back.”

“If Daedalus has your girl, you can kiss her good-bye,” Hunter said from across the room. “They are some fuc—”

“And you?” Luc cut in. “I told you to stay in my office. Not listening to me is not how to get something from me.”

Hunter gave an awkward shrug, and a second later, he was standing on the floor, looking as cuddly as a pit bull.

Luc cast both of us dark looks. “I get that you two have problems—big problems—but guess what? You’re not the only aliens out there who are butt sore. There are bigger problems than what you guys have. Yeah, I know, hard to believe.”

I glanced over at Hunter, who shrugged again and said, “Someone didn’t get his warm milk this morning.”

I snickered.

Luc’s head swung toward him, and damn if I couldn’t believe I was standing in a room with an Arum and not killing him—but he was also not trying to kill me. “You need to be glad that I like you,” Luc said in a low voice. “Look, I need to talk to Daemon. Can you go do something? If not, then maybe you can be helpful?”

The Arum rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I have my own problems.” He started back toward the hall and then stopped, glancing at me. “See you on the flip side.”

I gave him the middle finger good-bye.

When he disappeared down the corridor, Luc turned toward me and folded his arms. “What happened?”

Seeing that I had nothing to lose, I told him what went down at Mount Weather. Luc gave a low whistle and shook his head. “Man, I’m sorry. Truly I am. If Daedalus has her, then I don’t—”

“Don’t say it,” I growled. “She’s not lost to me. We got Bethany out. You got out.”

Luc blinked. “Yeah, you got Bethany out, but Katy got caught in the process. And I’m…I’m not like Katy.”

I didn’t know what the hell that meant. Turning from him, I thrust my fingers through my hair. “Did you know that Blake would betray us?”

There was a pause. “And if I did, what would you do?”

A bitter laugh snuck out. “I’d kill you.”

“Understandable,” he replied evenly. “Let me ask you a question. Would you have still helped your brother rescue Bethany if you knew Blake would betray you?”

Facing Luc, I slowly shook my head as the truth hit me square in the chest. If I’d known that Kat wouldn’t be coming home, I don’t think I could say yes, and I couldn’t put to words the fact that I would choose her over my brother.

He tipped his head to the side. “I didn’t know. That doesn’t mean I trusted Blake. I don’t trust anyone.”

“Anyone?”

He ignored the question. “What do you want from me, since you obviously aren’t going to try to kill me? Do you want me to take down the security again? I can do that. It’ll be a freebie for you, but it’ll also be a suicide mission. They’ll be expecting you.”

“I don’t want you to take anything down.”

He looked at me, confused. “But you’re going after her?”

“Yes.”

“You’ll get caught.”

“I know.”

Luc stared at me so long I thought the kid might’ve had a seizure. “So you really were coming here to kick my ass?”

My lips twitched. “Yeah, I was.”

The kid shook his head. “Do you have any idea what you’re getting yourself into?”

“I know.” I folded my arms. “And I know once they have me, they are going to want me to make hybrids.”

“Have you ever had to watch people die, over and over again? No? Ask your brother.”

I didn’t hesitate. “She’s worth whatever I have to go through.”

“There are worse things,” he said quietly. “If you and Hunter could put away your differences for two seconds, he’d probably tell you himself. There are things that they are doing there that will blow your mind.”

“Even more reason for me to get Kat out.”

“And what’s your plan? How are you going to get her out?” he asked, curious.

Good question. “I haven’t gotten that far yet.”

Luc watched me a moment, then busted into laughter. “Good plan. I like it. Only a few things could go wrong with that.”

“How did you get out, Luc?”

He tilted his head to the side. “You don’t want to know what I did. And you won’t do what I did.”

A cold shiver crawled over my skin. I believed the kid.

Luc stepped back. “I got to take care of this other issue, so…”