Текст книги "Oblivion"

Автор книги: Jennifer L. Armentrout

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Текущая страница: 43 (всего у книги 51 страниц)

Chapter 10

Okay. A toddler was pushing it, but he couldn’t have been older than fourteen or fifteen years old, and right now, our age difference felt as vast as the damn universe. This was who Blake brought us to see? Who could help us get into Daedalus?

A tween?

Luc smiled. “Surprised? You shouldn’t be. Surprised about anything, that is.” Standing, I was shocked to see he was almost as tall as me. “I was six when I decided to play chicken with a speeding cab. It won. Lost the coolest bike evah and a lot of blood, but lucky me, my childhood friend was an alien.”

I eyed him, not sure if I believed the story he was spinning, because there was something about him that reminded me of someone else. Couldn’t put my finger on it, but I immediately knew something wasn’t right.

“How…how did you get away from Daedalus?” Kat asked.

Luc walked over to the table. “I was their star pupil.” His grin was unnerving. “Never trust the one who excels. Isn’t that right, Blake?”

Leaning against the wall, Blake gave a lopsided shrug. “Sounds about right.”

“Why?” Luc sat on the edge of the desk. “Because eventually the pupil becomes smarter than the teacher, and I had some really, really intelligent teachers. So”—he clapped his hands together—“you must be Daemon Black.”

I arched a brow. “That would be me.”

“I’ve heard of you. Blake’s a big fan,” he said.

Blake raised a middle finger.

“Glad to know my fan club is far-reaching.”

Luc tilted his head to the side. “And what a fan club—oh, my bad, I didn’t introduce you to your fellow Luxen all-star. This guy goes by Paris. Why? I don’t know.”

The Luxen smiled tightly as he extended a hand toward me. “Always nice to meet another not bound by old beliefs and unnecessary rules.”

I shook his hand. “Same. How did you fall in with him?”

Luc laughed. “Long story for a different day—if there’s a different day.” He looked at Kat. “Do you have any idea what they will do to you if they realize you’re a fully functional hybrid?” He tipped his head down, grinning. “We are so very rare. Three of us together is actually quite amazing.”

“I have a good imagination,” she said.

“Do you?” Luc’s brows rose. “I doubt Blake has even told you the half of it—the worst of it.”

She glanced at Blake.

“But you know that.” Luc stood and stretched. “And still you are willing to take the huge risk of going into the hornet’s nest.”

“We really don’t have a choice,” I said. “So are you going to give us the codes or not?”

Luc shrugged as he ran his hands over the stacks of money. “What’s in it for me?”

Kat exhaled roughly. “Other than pissing off Daedalus, we really don’t have much to offer.”

“Hmm, I don’t know about that.” He picked up a cluster of hundreds secured with a rubber band. A second later, the edges of the bills curled inward, paper melting until the scorched scent filled the air and nothing remained.

Really?

“What can we do for you?” Kat asked

“Obviously money’s not an issue,” I added drily.

Luc’s lips twitched. “Money isn’t needed.” He brushed his fingers off on his jeans. “Power isn’t either. Honestly, the only thing I need is a favor.”

Blake snapped off the wall. “Luc—”

The young boy’s eyes narrowed in warning. “A favor is all I want—one that I can collect at any time. That’s all I want in return, and I’ll give you all you want to know.”

Kat frowned. “O—”

“Wait,” I cut her off, not liking this. “You want us to agree to a favor without knowing what that favor is?”

Luc nodded. “Where’s the risk if you know everything?”

“Where’s the intelligence if we don’t?” I shot back.

The kid laughed. “I like you. A lot. But my help doesn’t come without its own peril for exchange.”

“God, you’re like the preteen mafia,” Kat muttered.

“Something like that.” He flashed a bright smile, and it was clear he was enjoying himself. “What you—all of you—don’t understand is there are things much, much bigger than a brother’s girlfriend or a friend…or even ending up under the Man’s thumb. There’s change brewing behind the winds, and the winds are going to be fierce.” He looked at me. “The government fears the Luxen, because they represent mankind’s fall from the top of the food chain. To fix that, they’ve created something much stronger than a Luxen. And I’m not talking about ordinary little baby hybrids.”

“What are you talking about?” Kat asked.

Luc didn’t answer.

Paris folded his arms. “Not to be rude, but if you’re not willing to deal, there’s the door.”

I looked over at Kat, seeing she shared my concerns. She’d nailed it. It was like we were making the deal with the mafia, the hybrid mafia, and we didn’t have all the necessary info.

“Guys,” Blake said. “He’s our only chance.”

“Christ,” I muttered, but he was right. “Fine. We owe you a favor.”

Luc’s eyes gleamed. “And you?”

She sighed. “Sure. Why not.”

“Awesome! Paris?” He held out his hand. Paris bent over, grabbed a small MacBook Air, and handed it over. “Give me a sec.”

I watched him punch away at the keyboard, his brows drawn in concentration. A door behind the desk opened and a young girl peeked in.

Luc’s head jerked up sharply. “Not now.”

The girl frowned, and for a moment I thought she was going to refuse, but she closed the door.

Kat’s eyes widened. “She’s the—”

“Don’t finish that sentence if you want me to continue,” Luc said, eyes fastened on the screen again. “All deals will be off.”

Okay then.

After a few moments, Luc placed the laptop on the desk, facing us. The screen was split into four sections, black and white, also grainy, like security film. One image contained woods. Another was of a tall fence and gate, another was of a security booth, and the final one showed a man in uniform patrolling another section of fence.

“Say hello to Mount Weather—owned by FEMA, secured by Homeland Security. Nestled away in the majestic Blue Ridge Mountains, it’s used as a training facility and hideaway for all the pretty officials in case someone bombs us,” Luc said, snickering. “Also known as a complete front for the DOD and Daedalus, because underground, there are six-hundred-thousand-mother-effin’ square feet of training and torture.”

Blake stared at the screen. “You hacked into their security systems?”

He shrugged. “Like I said, star pupil and all. See this section here.” He pointed to the screen where a guard patrolled the fence, almost blending into the grainy background. “This is the ‘secret’ entrance that doesn’t exist. Very few people are aware of it—Blakey-boy is.” Pausing, he tapped the space bar, and the camera inched over to the right until a gate came into view. “Here’s the dealo: Sunday evening at 9:00 p.m. is going to be your best bet—it’s a shift change and staffing is at the minimal—only two guards will be patrolling this gate. ’Cuz, you know, Sunday is kind of down day.”

Paris pulled out a pad and a pen.

“This gate is your first obstacle of choice. You’ll need to take out the guards, but that’s a duh. I’ll make sure the cameras are down between nine and nine fifteen—you know, pull a Jurassic Park moment. You’ll have fifteen minutes to get in, get your buddies, and get the hell out. So don’t let a spitting dragon take you down.”

I choked on a laugh. Kind of liked this kid.

“Fifteen minutes,” Blake murmured, nodding. “Doable. Once inside the compound, the entrance leads to elevators. We can take them down to the sixth floor, go right up to the cell.”

“Great.” Luc tapped his finger off the screen, over the gate. “The code to this gate is Icarus. See a trend?” He laughed. “You get inside the compound; you’ll see three doors side by side.”

Blake nodded again. “The middle door—I know. The code?”

“Wait. Where do the other doors take you?” Kat asked.

“To the great Oz,” Luc said, hitting the space bar until the camera was now focused on the doors. “Actually, nowhere interesting. Just offices and actual FEMA stuff. Anyone want to guess what the code to this door is?”

“Daedalus?” Kat threw out.

He grinned. “Close. The code to this door is Labyrinth. It’s a hard word to spell, I know, but make sure you do it correctly. You get one chance. Enter the wrong code and it’ll get ugly. Take the elevator to the sixth floor like Blake said and then you enter the code Daedalus—all caps. Voilà!”

I shook my head, doubtful. “There’re only codes to enter? That’s their security?”

“Ha!” Luc hit a few buttons and the screen went black. “I’m doing more than giving you codes and taking down cameras, my new BFF. I’m going to take down their eye recognition software. It can go down once a day for about ten to fifteen minutes without raising an eyebrow.”

“What happens if we’re still in there and it goes back up?” Kat asked.

Luc raised his hands. “Uh, kind of like being on a plane that’s about to crash. Stick your head between your knees and kiss it good-bye.”

“Oh, that sounds great,” she said. “So you’re like a mutant hacker, too?”

He winked. “But be careful. I’m not taking down any other security precautions they may’ve decided to put up. That will raise concerns.”

“Whoa.” I frowned. “What other security precautions could they have?”

“Nothing but guards, but it’s a shift change.” Blake grinned. “We’ll be fine. We got this.”

Paris handed over a sheet with the codes scribbled down. I snatched it before Blake could and slipped into my pocket. “Thank you,” I said.

Luc’s smile faded as he returned to the couch and picked up the game he was playing. “Don’t thank me yet. Actually, don’t thank me at all. I don’t exist, you know, not until I need my favor. Just remember, this Sunday at 9:00 p.m., you have fifteen minutes and that is all.”

“Okay,” Kat drew the word out, glancing at Blake. “Well, I guess…”

“We’ll be going,” I offered, taking her hand. “It was nice, kind of, meeting you all.”

“Whatevs,” Luc replied, thumbs flying over the game board. We turned to the door, but he stopped us. “You have no idea what waits for you. Be careful. I would hate for my dealing to be one-sided if you all get yourselves killed…or worse.”

Kat shuddered.

I nodded at Paris as we headed out, Blake closing the door behind him.

“Well,” Blake said, smiling. “That wasn’t too bad, was it?”

Kat rolled her eyes. “I have the feeling we just made a deal with the devil, and he’s going to come back and want our firstborn child or something.”

Hmm… I waggled my brows. “You want kids? Because you know, practice makes—”

“Shut up.” She started walking ahead of me.

I laughed under my breath.

Mountain Man met us at the door. “Remember,” he said. “You were never here.”

Chapter 11

After school on Thursday, we were all gathered in the living room, hashing out the plans for the Sunday-night raid on Mount Weather.

Dee wanted to go in with us, but I wasn’t having that. It was bad enough that Dawson would be in the line of fire if shit went wrong. “I need you and Ash to hang back just in case something goes wrong, along with Matthew.”

She folded her arms. “What? You don’t think I can handle myself with you guys? That I might trip and stab Blake to death?”

I wanted to laugh. “Well, now that you say that.”

Dee rolled her eyes. “Is Katy going in with you?”

My body tensed as Kat dragged in a heavy sigh. “I don’t want—”

“Yes,” she cut me off. “Only because I got most of us into this mess, and Blake won’t do any of this without Daemon and me.”

Ash smirked from where she sat. “How valiant of you, Katy.”

Ignoring her, Kat continued, “But we do need people on the outside in case something does go wrong.”

“What?” Andrew asked. “You don’t trust Blake? Go figure.”

Sitting back, I scrubbed my fingers through my hair. “Anyway, we’ll be in and out. Then everything…everything is over.”

Kat was watching my brother. “How long… how long has it been since you’ve seen Beth?”

“I don’t know. Time there was different. Weeks? Months?” Dawson stood, rolling his shoulders. “I don’t think I was at that Mount place. The place was always warm and dry whenever I was taken outside.”

My jaw clenched. When he was taken outside? Hell, I wanted to punch something.

Dawson let out a ragged breath. “I need to walk or something.”

The sun had gone down a while ago, and it wasn’t exactly walking weather, but I got why he needed out of here.

“I’ll go,” Dee offered.

Andrew stood. “I’ll follow.”

“I guess I’m out of here,” said Ash.

Matthew sighed. “One of these days, we will get through everything without any drama.”

I laughed tiredly. “Good luck with that.”

Everyone except Kat left, and when I looked over at her, she was nervously fiddling with her sleeve. She’d been like that all evening, but who could blame her for being anxious?

We were finally alone, and I didn’t want to think about Blake or my brother, or what we had to do on Sunday night.

Kat looked over and our eyes met. “What?”

Standing, I stretched my arms above my head, noticing how her gaze dropped to the section of skin exposed when my shirt rode up. “It’s quiet.” I offered my hand and she took it. “It’s never quiet around here. Not anymore.”

She smiled as I tugged her onto her feet. “It’s not going to last long.”

“Nope.” I pulled her to me. Her eyes widened in surprise as I lifted her into my arms. Her squeal was lost as I raced up the stairs and into my bedroom. I placed her on her feet. “Admit it. You like my method of travel.”

Kat tipped her head back and laughed. “One of these days I’m going to be faster than you.”

“Keep dreaming.”

“Tool,” she threw back.

My lips quirked up on one side. “Trouble.”

“Oh.” She widened her eyes. “Harsh.”

“We should make use of this quiet time.” I advanced toward her, liking how her cheeks flushed pink.

“Really?” The backs of her legs rested against the side of my bed.

“Really.” I kicked off my shoes. “I say we have about thirty minutes before someone interrupts us.”

Her gaze dropped and lips parted when I pulled my shirt off and let it fall somewhere on the floor. “Probably not that long.”

I smiled. “True. So let’s say we have twenty minutes, give or take five. Not nearly enough time for what I’d like to do, but we can work around that.”

“We can?”

“Mm-hmm.” I placed my hands on her shoulders and pressed down so she was sitting on the edge of the bed. I clasped the sides of her face as I knelt between her legs. “I’ve missed you.”

She wrapped her fingers around my wrists. “You’ve seen me every day.”

“Not enough,” I murmured, and pressed a soft kiss to where her pulse thrummed on the side of her neck. “And we’re always with someone.”

She smiled as I started a trail of kisses that followed her jaw. “We probably shouldn’t spend it talking then.”

“Uh-huh.” I kissed a corner of her lips. “Talking is such a time waster.” I kissed the other corner so it didn’t get jealous. “And when we talk, we usually end up arguing.”

Kat laughed, and I loved that sound. “Not always.”

Pulling back, I raised a brow. “Kitten…”

“Okay.” She scooted back and I followed, climbing over her, caging her in. “You might be right,” she said. “But you’re wasting time.”

“I’m always right.”

She opened her mouth, probably to disagree, but I claimed her lips before she could get a word out. I don’t think she minded, because she melted into that kiss. Her fingers slipped through my hair, tugging me back when I lifted my mouth from hers.

Yeah, she didn’t mind.

Loved that mouth of hers, but I had other…ideas. I kissed my way down her throat and then followed the edge of her cardigan, my lips dancing over her collarbone. I kept going, over the flower-shaped buttons and lower still, until her chest rose and fell deeply and sharply.

My hands skimmed over the thin tights covering her legs as I sat back on my haunches. I grabbed one of her boots, brows rising at the softness. “What are these made of?” I tossed it over my shoulder. “Rabbit skin?”

“What?” She giggled. “No. They’re faux sheepskin.”

“They’re so soft.” I got the other one off. Then I inched off her socks. Catching an ankle, I pressed a kiss on the top of her foot. She jerked. “Not as soft as this, though.” Lifting my chin, I grinned at her. “Love the tights, by the way.”

“Yeah?” She wasn’t looking at me. Her eyes were fastened on the ceiling, her hands flattened against the covers as I ran my hands up her calves. “Is it…because they’re red?”

“That.” I moved again, closer to her, fitting my shoulders between her knees. “And because they’re so thin. And hot, but you already know that.”

I watched her face as my hands slid over her outer thighs, under her skirt, and then over the tops of her legs. I didn’t stop there. Oh no, the palms of my hands made their way along the insides of her legs. The bedside lamp flickered, and it wasn’t from me.

“Kitten…”

“Hmm?” Her hands fisted the covers.

“Just making sure you’re still with me.” I kissed the inside of her leg, above her knee.

“Don’t want you falling asleep or anything.”

Her chest rose sharply.

“You know what,” I said. “Give me two minutes. That’s all I need.”

“Whatever,” she said. “What are you going to do with the leftover eighteen minutes?”

“Snuggle,” I offered.

Kat’s answering laugh was cut off sharply when I found the band along the top of her tights. I dragged them down. They got bunched around her ankles. “Dammit.”

“Need help?” she asked.

“Got it,” I muttered, balling them up and throwing them somewhere over my shoulder.

Kat’s breath caught as my hands now glided over bare skin, and I blazed the same path I’d taken earlier, but this time, with absolutely nothing between us, my lips trailed down her skin. Her body trembled with each kiss, each touch. I kept my eyes open, one hand curled around the outside of her thigh, unwilling to miss even the slightest flicker of pleasure.

Not that anyone could miss it.

A faint luminous glow surrounded her body and limbs as she moved. Damn, she was beautiful, and her response, everything about her, from the softest breath to the feminine breathy sounds she made, completely awed me.

Her arms and legs went lax, and I was barely able to hold it together as I stood. Shit. My hands were shaking. “You glowed a little.” My voice was rough. “I’ve only seen you do that once.”

Kat sighed.

My lips curved up in the corner as I wrapped an arm around her and lifted her so she was fully on the bed. I stretched out beside her, my own movements a bit stiff, as I kissed her parted lips.

“Wasn’t even two minutes,” I reminded her. “Told you.”

“You were right.”

“Always.”

Kat smacked me lightly on the chest as she rolled into my side, throwing a leg over mine. She was quiet for several minutes as we did exactly what I’d said we’d do with the remaining time. Cuddle.

“I can’t move,” she said finally, her voice muffled against my chest.

I laughed. “This is how we snuggle.”

“I really should head next door.” She yawned, making no move to get out of the bed. “Mom will be home soon.”

“Do you have to leave now?”

She shook her head, and I prepared myself. We really needed to talk about Sunday, and she wasn’t going to like this conversation. I placed a finger on her chin and tilted her head back. “What?” she asked.

My eyes searched hers. “I wanted to talk before you leave.”

“About what?” The lethargic haze faded from her stare.

“Sunday,” I said. “I know you feel like you got us into this, but you know you didn’t, right?”

“Daemon…” She tensed. “We are at this point because of the decisions I—”

“We,” I corrected gently. “Decisions we made.”

“If I hadn’t trained with Blake and had listened to you, we wouldn’t be here. Adam would be alive. Dee wouldn’t hate my guts. Will wouldn’t be running around doing God knows what.” She squeezed her eyes shut as she flopped onto her back. “I could go on and on. You get my drift.”

“And if you hadn’t made any of those decisions, we wouldn’t have Dawson back. It was kind of a stupid-smart move.”

She laughed drily. “There’s that.”

“You can’t carry this guilt with you, Kat.” The bed moved under me as I rose up on one elbow. “You’ll end up like me.”

She peeked at me. “What? An extremely tall and douchey alien?”

I smiled. “The jerky part, yes. I blamed myself for what happened to Dawson. It changed me. I’m still not back to where I was before everything happened. Don’t do that to yourself.”

Kat nodded, but I doubted it changed how she felt. “You don’t want me going Sunday.”

“Hear me out, okay?” When she nodded, I continued. “I know you want to help, and I know you can. I’ve seen what you’re capable of. You can be pretty scary when mad, but…if things go south, I don’t want you involved.” My gaze held hers. “I want you to be somewhere safe.”

“I don’t want you involved, Daemon. I want you somewhere safe, but I’m not asking you to stay out of it.”

I frowned. “That’s different.”

Sitting up, she tugged at her skirt. “How’s that different? And if you say it’s because you’re a guy, I’m going to hurt you.”

“Come on, Kitten.”

Her eyes narrowed.

I sighed. “It’s more than that. It’s because I have experience. That simple. You don’t.”

“Okay, you have a point, but I’ve also been inside a cage. With that intimate knowledge, I have more reason than you not to get caught.”

“And that’s more of a reason why I don’t want you doing this.” Suddenly I was thrown back to that horrible night when I saw her, heard her pitiful whimpers. “You have no idea what went through my head when I saw you in that cage—when I hear how your voice still rasps when you get excited or upset. You screamed until there—”

“I don’t need a reminder,” she snapped. “Shit.”

She placed a hand on my arm. “One of the things I love about you is how protective you are, but it also drives me crazy. You can’t protect me forever.”

Oh, I could so do that.

She exhaled roughly. “I need to do this—I need to help Dawson and Beth.”

“And Blake?” I spat out before I could stop myself.

“What?” She stared at me. “Where did that come from?”

“I don’t know.” I moved my arm away. “It doesn’t matter. Can—”

“Wait. It does matter. Why would I want to help Blake after what he pulled? He killed Adam! I wanted him dead. You were the one who was, like, turning over a new leaf or something.”

I stiffened as her words settled over me like a coarse blanket.

“I’m sorry,” she said in a rush. “I know why you didn’t want to…do away with Blake, but I have to do this. It’ll help me get past what I caused. Like making amends or something.”

“You don’t—”

“I do.”

My jaw clenched as I looked away. I knew she could handle herself. I knew she was strong, but dammit, she didn’t have to prove that to me. I couldn’t bear the idea of something happening to her. “Can you do this for me?” I paused. “Please?”

“I can’t,” she whispered.

Of course not. Tension crept into my shoulders. “This is stupid. You shouldn’t be doing this. All I’m going to worry about is you getting hurt.”

“See! That’s the problem! You can’t always be worried about me getting hurt.”

I arched a brow. “You’re always getting hurt.”

She gaped at me. “I am not!”

I laughed. “Yeah, try that again.”

Kat scrambled off the bed, her cheeks flushed with anger, which thoroughly amused me despite how angry I was. “God,” she muttered. “You tick me off.”

My smile was slow. “Well, at least I got you—”

“Don’t even finish that statement!” She snatched up the forgotten socks and tights. Rolling them on, she hobbled on one foot. “Ugh, I hate you sometimes.”

I sat up. “Not too long ago, you were really, really loving me.”

“Shut up.” She moved on to the other leg. “I’m going with you guys on Sunday. That’s it. End of discussion.”

Throwing my legs off the bed, I stood. “I don’t want you going.”

Shimmying the tights on, she glared at me. “You don’t get to say what I can and can’t do, Daemon.” She grabbed one of her boots. “I’m not a frail, helpless heroine in need of your rescue.”

I rolled my eyes. “This isn’t a book, Kat.”

She yanked on the other boot. “No, really? Crap. I was hoping you skipped to the end and would tell me what happens. I actually love spoilers.” She spun around and stomped out of the room, heading downstairs and then outside.

I followed her, damn near desperate to get her to understand where I was coming from, and the desperation fueled what I said next. “After everything that went down with Blake, you said you wouldn’t doubt me. That you would trust my decisions, but you’re doing it again. Not listening to me or using common sense. And when this blows up in your face again, what am I supposed to do then?”

She gasped, backing up. “That’s…that was a low blow.”

“It’s the truth.”

Her eyes glistened, and I cursed under my breath as she appeared to force the words out. “I know all of this is coming from a good place, but I don’t need a friendly reminder of how badly I screwed up. I totally know. And I’m trying to fix that.”

“Kat, I’m not trying to be a dick.”

“I know, it just comes easily to you.” Her gaze flickered over my shoulder. I looked. Headlights peeked through the fog, coming up the road. Her voice was hoarse when she spoke again. “I’ve got to go. Mom’s home.”

Kat hurried off the porch, but I wasn’t done. Moving quickly, I ended up in front of her. She stopped, eyes widening. “I hate when you do that.”

“Think about what I said, Kat. You have nothing to prove.”

“I don’t?”

“No,” I said, and I’d say it a thousand times.

But I knew screaming it from the top of Seneca Rocks wasn’t going to change how she felt. I watched her wait for her mom by their porch, and then I turned around.

Amazing.

Took only two minutes to turn her into boneless, happy, and sated Kat. And it only took two minutes to piss her off.