Origin (Lux 4)

He nodded. “There is a lot we need to show you. Hopefully, then you’ll understand what Daedalus is truly about.”

I fought the urge to laugh again. “I know what you guys are about. I know what—”

“You know only what you’ve been told,” the doctor interrupted. “And what you do know is only half true.” He cocked his head to the side. “I know you’re thinking of Dawson and Bethany. You don’t know the whole story behind them.”

My eyes narrowed, and the answering rush of anger warmed my insides. How dare he put what Daedalus did to Bethany and Dawson back on them? “I know enough.”

Dr. Roth glanced at Green Beret by the controls, and then he nodded. Green Beret quietly exited the room, leaving the doctor and Khaki Beret behind. “Katy—”

“I know you basically tortured them,” I cut in, growing more furious by the second. “I know you brought people in here and forced Dawson to heal them, and when that didn’t work, those humans died. I know you kept them away from each other and used Beth to get Dawson to do what you wanted. You’re worse than evil.”

“You don’t know the whole story,” he repeated evenly, completely unfazed by my accusations. He looked at Khaki Beret. “Archer, you were here when Bethany and Dawson were brought in?”

I turned to Archer, and he nodded. “When the subjects were brought in, both were understandably difficult to deal with, but after the female had gone through the mutation, she was even more violent. They were allowed to stay together until it became obvious there was a safety issue. That was why they were separated and eventually moved to different locations.”

I shook my head as I pulled the blanket closer. I wanted to yell at them at the top of my lungs. “I’m not stupid.”

“I don’t think you are,” the doctor answered. “Hybrids are notoriously unbalanced, even the ones who have mutated successfully. Beth was and is unstable.”

Knots formed in my belly. I could easily remember how crazy Beth had been at Vaughn’s house. She had seemed fine when we found her at Mount Weather, but she hadn’t always been that way. Were Dawson and everyone in danger? Could I even believe anything these people were telling me?

“That’s why I need to do a full exam, Katy.”

I looked at the doctor. “Are you saying I’m unstable?”

He didn’t respond immediately, and it felt like the table had dropped out from underneath me.

“There is a chance,” he said. “Even with successful mutations, there is an instability issue that arises when the hybrid uses the Source.”

Clenching the blanket until the feeling came back in my knuckles, I willed my heart to slow down. It wasn’t working. “I don’t believe you. I don’t believe anything you’re saying. Dawson was—”

“Dawson was a sad case,” he said, cutting me off. “And you will come to understand that. What happened with Dawson was unintentional. He would’ve been released eventually, once we were sure he could assimilate again. And Beth—”

“Just stop,” I snarled, and my own voice surprised me. “I don’t want to hear any more of your lies.”

“You have no idea, Miss Swartz, how dangerous the Luxen are and the threat those who have been mutated by them pose.”

“The Luxen aren’t dangerous! And the hybrids wouldn’t be, either, if you left us alone. We haven’t done anything to you. We wouldn’t have. We weren’t doing anything until you—”

“Do you know why the Luxen came to Earth?” he asked.

“Yes.” My knuckles ached. “The Arum destroyed their planet.”

“Do you know why their planet was destroyed? Or the origins of the Arum?”

“They were at war. The Arum were trying to take their abilities and kill them.” I was totally up to date on my Alien 101. The Arum were the opposite of the Luxen, more shadow than light, and they fed off the Luxen. “And you’re working with those monsters.”

Dr. Roth shook his head. “Like with any great war, the Arum and Luxen have been fighting for so long that I doubt many of them even know what sparked the battle.”

“So are you trying to say that the Arum and the Luxen are like the intergalactic Gaza Strip?”

Archer snorted at that.

“I don’t even know why we’re talking about this,” I said, suddenly so tired I wasn’t sure I could think straight. “None of that matters.”

“It does matter,” the doctor said. “It goes to show how very little you truly know about any of this.”

“Well, I guess you’re going to educate me?”

He smiled, and I wanted to knock the condescending look off his face. Too bad that would require my letting go of the blanket and mustering up the energy to do so. “During their prime, the Luxen were the most powerful and intelligent life-form in the entire universe. Just like in any set of species, evolution evolved in response, creating a natural predator—the Arum.”

I stared at the man. “What are you saying?”

He met my gaze. “The Luxen weren’t the victims in their war. They were the cause of it.”

…

Daemon

“How did you get out?” Dawson asked.

It had taken everything for me not to slam my fist into his face. I had calmed down enough that bringing the house down on its foundation was unlikely to occur. Still a possibility, though.

“Better question is how many did I lay out to get here?” I tensed, waiting. Dawson blocked the doorway. “Don’t fight me on any of this, brother. You won’t be able to stop me, and you know it.”