Origin (Lux 4)

Jesus H. Mary mother of Christ in crutches, came Daemon’s voice.

I’m not sure that’s how it goes, I told him, squeezing my palm shut against the burn.

I was vaguely aware of the doctor stooping down and grabbing the blade as I looked up. The light from Daemon surrounded me as his hand outstretched, fingers becoming more visible as they circled my injured hand.

Open up, he said.

I shook my head, and his phantom sigh bounced around my head. He gently pried my hand open, his touch as warm as clothes freshly removed from the dryer. Man, that hurt more than I thought.

There was a low growl that replaced the sigh. Did you really think it wasn’t going to hurt, Kitten?

Whatever. I let him guide me over to the chair, and I sat, watching as he knelt before me, his head bowed. Heat flared over my palm as he started to do his thing.

“Amazing,” Dr. Roth whispered.

My eyes were trained on Daemon’s glowing, bent head. The warmth that blew off him filled the room. I reached out and placed my uninjured hand on his shoulder. His light pulsed, and the red at the edges bled inward an inch or so. Interesting.

You know how I like it when you touch me in this form. His voice sent a shiver down my spine.

Why do you have to make everything sound so dirty? But I didn’t pull my hand back.

His chuckle rolled through me, and by then, the pain in my palm had stopped. I’m not the one with the dirty mind, Kitten.

I rolled my eyes.

Both of his hands circled mine, and I was sure at that point my hand was already healed. Now stop distracting me.

I snorted. Me? You’re such a douche canoe.

“Fascinating,” Dr. Roth murmured. “They’re communicating. It never fails to amaze me when I see it.”

Daemon ignored him. I took this form to tell you that I spoke with Luc before I went to Mount Weather.

I sat up straight, all ears. Did he have anything to do with this?

No. And I believe him. He’s going to help us get out. I need—

“Show us your hand, Katy.” Nancy’s voice intruded.

I wanted to ignore her, but when I glanced up, I saw the other guard moving closer to Daemon with what looked like a stun gun in his hand. I jerked my hand from Daemon’s and showed them. “Happy?”

“Daemon, take your human form,” Nancy ordered, voice clipped.

A heartbeat passed, and then Daemon stood. In his true form, he seemed taller and was a hell of a lot more intimidating. His light pulsed once, more red than white, and then it dimmed out.

He stood there, minus the glowworm thing. Only his eyes burned with white light. “I don’t know if you’ve realized this or not, but I don’t like to be ordered to do things.”

Nancy cocked her head to the side. “I don’t know if you’ve realized this or not, but I’m used to people taking my orders.”

A smirk graced his face. “Ever hear of the saying you catch more lions with honey than vinegar?”

“I think it’s ‘catch more bees’ and not lions,” I mumbled.

“Whatever.”

Dr. Roth examined my hand. “Remarkable. Only a faint pink line. It will probably be completely gone within the hour.” He turned to Nancy and Dasher, practically thrumming with excitement. “Other Luxen have healed in this amount of time, but not to where the cut is completely sealed.”

Like Daemon needed help feeling special.

The doctor shook his head as he stared up at him. “Truly amazing.”

I wondered if the good doctor was going to kiss him.

Before he could start drooling on Daemon, the door burst open and an out-of-breath officer appeared, cheeks ruddy with the color of his buzzed hair. “We have a problem,” he announced, taking several deep breaths.

Nancy gave him an arch look, and I couldn’t help but think the guy in the doorway would probably get yelled at later for barging in here.

Dasher cleared his throat. “What is the problem, Collins?”

The officer’s eyes bounced across the room, moving over Daemon and me before darting back to us and then finally settling on the sergeant. “It’s a problem in building B, sir, from the ninth floor. It requires your immediate attention.”

Chapter 12

Katy

Building B? I vaguely remembered hearing someone mention another building attached to this one underground but had no idea what or who was housed there. I was 100 percent ready to find out, though. Whatever it was, it appeared dire, because Sergeant Dasher left the room without further word.

Nancy was right on his heels. “Take them back to their rooms. Doctor?” She paused. “You will probably want to join us.” And then they were gone.

I turned to Archer. “What’s going on?”

He gave me a look that said I was dumb for asking. I scowled. “What’s in building B?”

The other soldier stepped forward. “You ask too many questions and need to learn when to shut up.”

I blinked. That was all it took, and Daemon had the stocky guard by the neck and pinned to the wall. My eyes popped.

“And you need to learn to speak to the ladies with a little bit of manners,” he snarled.

“Daemon!” I screeched, preparing myself for the onyx.

But it never came.

Daemon pried his fingers off the gasping soldier’s throat, one by one, and stepped back. The soldier slumped against the wall. Archer had done nothing.

“You let him do that?” the guard accused, pointing at Archer. “What the hell, man?”

Archer shrugged. “He had a point. You need to learn manners.”

I squelched the urge to laugh because Daemon was eyeballing the soldier like he wanted to snap his neck. Hurrying to Daemon’s side, I wrapped my hand around his and squeezed.