Origin (Lux 4)

I remember Daemon telling me before that Luxen matured faster than humans, not in physical appearance but in intellect and social skills, which seemed doubtful considering how he acted sometimes.

He slid me a long look, as if he knew what I was thinking. I squeezed his hand. “What do you mean by more?” he asked, turning back to Nancy.

“Well, really, it’s been limitless and still a learning experience. Each child—each generation—appears to have different abilities.” A certain light filled her eyes as she spoke. “The first one was able to do something that no hybrid has been able to do. He could heal.”

I sat back, blinking rapidly. “But…I thought only Luxen could do that?”

“We believed the same thing until Ro came along. We named him after the first documented Egyptian Pharaoh, who was believed to be a myth.”

“Wait. You named him? What about his parents?” I asked.

She shrugged one shoulder, and that was all the answer we got. “Ro’s ability to heal others and himself ran parallel to Luxen ability, obviously inherited from his father. Over the course of his childhood, we were able to learn that he could speak telepathically with not just Luxen and hybrids but humans, also. Onyx and diamond mixtures had no effect on him. He had the speed and strength of a Luxen but was faster and stronger. And like the Luxen, he could tap into the Source just as easily. His ability to problem solve and strategize at such a young age was off the charts. The only thing that he and any of the other origins have not been able to do is change their appearance. Ro was the perfect specimen.”

It took a few moments for all of this to sink in, and when it did, one thing stood out among everything she had said. It was a small word but so powerful. “Where is Ro now?”

A little of the light went out of her eyes. “Ro is no longer with us.”

Which explained the use of past tense. “What happened to him?”

“He died, simply put. But he was not the last. Several more were born, and we were able to learn how the conception was possible.” Excited, her speech sped up. “The most interesting factor was that conception could happen between any Luxen male and female hybrid who had been successfully mutated.”

Daemon slipped his hand free as he leaned back in the chair. His brows furrowed in awareness. “So Daedalus just happened to have a bunch of horny Luxen and hybrids who were willing to do it while they were here? Because that seems odd to me. This place isn’t really the most romantic. Doesn’t really set the mood.”

My stomach roiled at where his questions were heading, and the air turned stagnant in the room. There was a reason Nancy was being so open with us. After all, Daemon and I were the “perfect specimens,” according to Dr. Roth, mutated on a cellular level.

Nancy’s gaze turned cool. “You’d be surprised what people in love do when they have a few moments of privacy. And really, it only takes a few moments.”

And suddenly, the fact that we were able to share a bathroom also made sense. Was Nancy hoping that Daemon and I would cave to our wild-monkey lust and bring little Daemon babies into the world?

God, I thought I was going to hurl when she confirmed it.

“After all, we haven’t stopped you from spending a few moments here and there alone, have we?” Her smile officially creeped me out. “And you two are young and so very much in love. I’m sure you’ll make use of your free time sooner or later.”

Sergeant Dasher hadn’t mentioned any of this during his sales pitch about protecting the world against an alien invasion or curing diseases. Then again, there were many sides to Daedalus. He had said that.

Daemon opened his mouth, no doubt to say something I’d kick him for, but I cut him off. “I have a hard time believing you’ve had that many people who just…well, you know.”

“Well, in some cases, the pregnancies were purely accidental. In other instances, we assisted the process.”

Air came into my body but got stuck in my lungs. “Assisted?”

“It’s not what you think.” She laughed; the sound was shrill and nerve-racking. “There have been volunteers over the years, Luxen and hybrids who understand what Daedalus is truly about. In other cases, we did in vitro fertilization.”

The knots moved up my throat like bile, which was a bad thing because my mouth was hanging open. Nothing there to stop it from spewing out.

A muscle in Daemon’s jaw was working overtime, thumping away. “What? Is Daedalus moonlighting as Match.com for Luxen and hybrids?”

Nancy sent him a dry look, and I couldn’t stop the shudder of revulsion. In vitro meant there had to be a female hybrid to carry the baby. No matter what she said, I doubted all of them were willing.

The pupils of Daemon’s eyes had started to glow. “How many of them do you have?”

“Hundreds,” she repeated. “The younger ones are kept here, and as they grow older, they are moved to different locations.”

“How are you controlling them? From what it looked like, you barely had any control over Micah.”

Her lips thinned. “We use trackers that usually keep them where they are supposed to be. However, from time to time, they find ways around them. The ones who aren’t controllable are dealt with.”

“Dealt with?” I whispered, horrified at where my imagination took that.

“The origins are superior in almost every way. They are remarkable, but they can become very dangerous. If they have not assimilated, then they have to be dealt with accordingly.”