Origin (Lux 4)

In the excitement of a potentially successful mutation, no one was paying attention to me. No one besides Daemon ever did during these things, except Archer, and if he was peeping into my thoughts, he sure as hell hadn’t said anything.

I hadn’t really thought any of this through when I grabbed the serum, but as I held it in my hand, I knew that if I did get caught, I was probably going to regret it. So would Daemon. If Archer was peeking in my thoughts right now, and he wasn’t working with Luc, we were so screwed.

We went to the elevator, Nancy and the newly mutated hybrid heading in the other direction. We were alone—just the three of us—as the elevator doors slid shut. I almost couldn’t believe our luck. My heart was pounding with excitement and fear, like a drummer doing a solo.

Nudging Daemon in the arm, I got his attention. He glanced at me, and I looked down at my hand, carefully opening my fingers. Just the tip of the top of the syringe was visible. His eyes flicked up and widened, meeting mine.

In that instant, both of us knew what this meant. With the LH-11 in hand, we had no time. Someone would eventually realize it was missing, or they might’ve even caught me on the security tapes. Either way, it was do or die time.

The elevator doors slid shut, and Archer turned to us. Daemon shifted forward, but Archer’s hand shot out. My breath caught in my throat as his hand hit the control panel. The elevator didn’t move.

Archer’s gaze dropped to my hand, and his head tilted to the side. “You have the LH-11? Jesus. You two are… I didn’t think you’d do it. Luc said you would.” His eyes flicked to Daemon. “But I really didn’t think either of you would pull it off.”

My heart was pounding so fast my fingers tingled around the needle. “What are you going to do about it?”

“I know what you’re thinking.” Archer’s attention was on Daemon. “Why didn’t I get the serum for Luc? That’s not what I was here for, and we don’t have time to explain it. They’re going to know it’s missing very soon.” There was a quick pause, and he was back to me. “And the plan in your head is crazy.”

I had been thinking about the origins, but now I was thinking about Rainbow Brite doing the Electric Slide. Anything to keep Archer out of my head.

He made a face. “Seriously, guys?” he said, taking off his beret. He shoved it in his back pocket. “What exactly do you two hope to accomplish? Your plan has a hundred percent fail rate.”

“You’re a smart-ass,” Daemon said, shoulders stiffening. “And I don’t like you.”

“And I don’t care.” Archer turned to me. “Give me the LH-11.”

My fingers tightened around it. “Hell no.”

His eyes narrowed. “Okay. I know what you guys are about to do. Even though I warned you not to do it, you’re planning on letting the freak show out, and then what? Making a run for it? Besides the fact you don’t know how to get to that building, you’re going to need your hands, and you don’t want to stick yourself with that needle. Trust me.”

Indecision flooded me. “You don’t understand. Every time we’ve trusted someone, we’ve been burned. Handing this over…”

“Luc’s never betrayed you, has he?” When I shook my head, Archer grimaced. “And I would never betray Luc. Even I’m a bit scared of that little shit.”

I glanced at Daemon. “What do you think?”

There was a moment of silence, and then he said, “If you screw us over, I will not think twice about killing you in front of God and everyone. You got that?”

“But we need to get the LH-11 out of the compound,” I said.

“I’m going with you guys, like it or not.” Archer winked. “I hear the Olive Garden is a good restaurant to try out.”

I remembered our conversation about him having a normal life, and for some reason that made what I was about to do a little easier. I didn’t understand why he was helping us or Luc, or why he hadn’t gotten this before, but like he said, we were already in too deep. Swallowing hard, I handed over the syringe and felt like I was handing over my life, which in a way I was. He took it, grabbed his beret, and wrapped it around the syringe, then shoved the bundle in his front cargo pocket.

“Let’s get this show on the road,” Daemon said, eyeing Archer as he reached down and squeezed my hand briefly.

“You’re wearing a piece of opal?” Archer asked.

“Yes.” He flashed a daring grin. “Nancy’s crush on me is useful, huh?” He waved his wrist around, and the red inside the opal seemed to flicker. “Time to be awesome.”

“Turn into Nancy.” Archer hit the floor button. “Quickly.”

Daemon’s form flickered and morphed, shortening several inches. His waves straightened into thin, dark hair pulled into a ponytail. His features blurred completely. Boobs appeared. That’s about when I knew where he was going with this. A drab woman’s pantsuit later, Nancy Husher stood beside me.

But it wasn’t Nancy.

“That’s so freaky,” I murmured, eyeing him/her/whatever for a telltale sign that it was really Daemon.

She smirked.

Yep. It was still Daemon.

“Do you think this is going to work?” I asked him.

“I’m going to say the glass is half full on that.”

I tucked loose strands of hair behind my ear. “That’s reassuring.”

“We’re going to let the kids loose, and then we’re going to get back on this elevator and head to ground level.” He eyed Archer with every ounce of authority Nancy carried. “I’m going to give her the opal when we get outside.” He glanced at me. “Don’t argue with me about that. You’re going to need it because we are going to run, and we’ll run faster than we’ve ever run before. Can you do that?”