The Brightest Night Read online

  My lips parted as nausea rose swiftly. “Jesus.”

  “Where was this facility?” Luc asked as he reached over, curling his hand around my bent elbow. He tugged, pulling me over, and I went. He settled me so I sat on his right thigh.

  Eaton opened his eyes. They seemed even duller. “Dalton, Ohio. At Wright-Patterson Air Force Base—”

  “Hangar 18? I know of the place.” Luc folded his arm around my waist, his hand splaying out over my hip. “They were keeping Origins there.”

  “The Trojans were moved out before you razed the hangar to the ground,” Eaton said, and I looked back at Luc, but he was staring at the general. “To where, I have no idea.”

  Luc’s thumb moved over the curve of my stomach. “How many Trojans did you see that day?”

  “Thirty.” A pause while my foot began to tap. “And then twenty-nine.”

  Then twenty-nine. Sorrow swelled for a boy whose name I didn’t even know but with whom I felt an odd kinship nonetheless. I remembered hearing his voice in the woods, right before what existed inside me took hold. Prove to me you’re worth this gift of life. Show them! That voice had been full of unrelenting demand, and I now knew that voice belonged to Dasher.

  All that guilt over being unable to recall how his voice sounded when I’d believed him to be my father had been wasted energy. The reason why was because I’d never heard his voice as Evie. I’d only heard Dasher’s voice as Nadia.

  Luc’s arm tightened around me, pulling me back until my entire side pressed against his chest. “Is it possible there are more Trojans?”

  “Not counting her?” Eaton jerked his chin at me.

  A shudder rolled through me. “Don’t count me. I’m different from them.”

  The general’s stare made me wonder for how long. “And not counting those activating now? There were at least a hundred fully trained that I knew of, but that was several years ago. Could be more now, but even if there aren’t, that’s a significant number. May not sound like a lot to you, but to put it into perspective, that’s a hundred of you, Luc.”

  “There is only one me.” There was no teasing quality to his tone or arrogance. It was the truth. There was no one like him.

  A faint smile appeared on Eaton’s face. “But there are at least a hundred capable of doing what she did and countless more who will be able to. Dasher will amass a small army, and what they’re doing out in the Yard isn’t going to make a difference. They’ll be nothing more than cannon fodder.”

  “Ye of little faith,” Luc murmured, his thumb moving once more along my hip.

  “None of this has anything to do with faith.” Eaton snorted as he scanned the room, his eyes narrowing on a carton. “Why don’t you be useful, Luc, and summon me one of those beers?”

  “I think you’ve had enough for the entire day.”

  He made another dismissive sound. “At this point, there is no such thing as enough.”

  I lifted a brow, deciding to ignore that. “You said that Luc was the Darkest Star and I was the Burning Shadow. They were code names for us.” When he nodded, I continued, “What is the Brightest Night?”

  “Dasher never explained what that stood for, and I did a hell of a lot of digging but never could get any clarification. All I can assume is that it’s the end goal.”

  “World domination?” Luc huffed out a dry laugh. “He’s got big aspirations with his itty-bitty army of self-destructive super-soldiers.”

  I blinked.

  Frowning at Luc, Eaton shifted again on the cushion. “Hasn’t the Daedalus always had lofty goals? You’d know. After all, other than the Trojans, you are their most coveted creation.”

  That reminded me of another thing I couldn’t quite understand. “You said they used me to get to Luc, as some way to possibly gain the upper hand and reel him back in, but I don’t get it. If they want to eradicate Luxen, hybrids, and Origins because they can fight back, why would they want Luc alive? Or…” My heart turned over heavily. “Or they want him dead and I totally misinterpreted all of that.”

  “I don’t think you did, Peaches. They want me.” Luc dropped his chin to my shoulder. “Can you blame them?”

  “Yes.”

  That got a cackle from the otherwise stoic general.

  “Ouch,” Luc murmured, but a moment later, I felt the brush of his lips against the side of my neck. A quick kiss that sent a wave of shivers racing to all the interesting bits. I wiggled a little in return, and Luc’s arm tightened, stilling me. Over my shoulder, I caught his narrowed glare, and I grinned. “Behave,” he mouthed silently.

  “With the Trojans,” Eaton went on. “I don’t know why they’d want Luc alive.” A pause. “No offense.”

  “Offense taken.”

  Eaton looked like he couldn’t care less. “If I were Dasher, I’d have a bounty so high on your head that the risk of certain death could be overlooked. You’re a threat, a real one, but they want you.” He looked between us. “So, that should be moderately concerning.”

  “Moderately?” I repeated. “I’d say that would be highly concerning.”

  “What it means is they have plans for me.” Luc couldn’t sound more bored than if he were watching a documentary about being placed on hold. “The Daedalus always has plans for me, and look how all their previous ones panned out.”

  Leaning back, I stared at him. “You are one of the few things that can stop them. Keeping you alive means they have even bigger plans than before. You’re not at all concerned?”

  Thick lashes lifted, revealing glimmering amethyst eyes. “I’m not remotely concerned. Their plans are always bigger than the ones before, and every single one of them involves controlling me. They’ve never been able to do that, and there’s not a single thing they can do that would accomplish that.”

  “There’s not?” Eaton asked quietly as he looked pointedly at me.

  Tracking along the same line of thinking, my stomach sank to my toes. “They already have in a way. They got you to walk away and stay out of my life. They used me to do that.”

  “That’s different.” Luc held my stare. “And they will never get their hands on you again to be able to use you as a tool to control me. Never again.” He repeated those two words as if they’d be etched in stone. “So, I’m not concerned.”

  “Concerned or not, at the end of the day, they want both of you,” Eaton pointed out.

  I dragged my gaze from Luc. “They can’t have us.”

  The general shrugged. “You know, we’ve done everything to keep Zone 3 as safe from the Daedalus as possible. The wall is constantly patrolled; so are the city limits. We shut down the walking tunnels under the city and blew the entry points. That’s enough for now, but if anyone were smart, everyone here, including both of you, would scatter to the four corners of the earth. Find a nice hole to hide in as long as they can, and scratch out some sort of life until no one can hide anymore.”

  I couldn’t believe he had said that. Anger had been a slow burn from the moment he started talking, but now it rose to the surface, prickly over my skin like a heat rash.

  “That’s what I should’ve done, but I didn’t. Look where I am now.”

  A pink flush crept across his weathered cheeks. “I tried to stop Dasher. I went to everyone above me, and I was warned to mind my own business each time, but I didn’t listen.” He shuffled to his feet. “I kept pushing, and you know what I got in return? I lost everything. I’m not talking about my career or my house. I lost”—he swiped his hand through the air—“everything.”

  My foot stilled, stomach sinking.

  Luc leaned in, his lips brushing the curve of my ear. “His wife. His son.”

  “What?” I whispered, chest squeezing.

  Eaton’s shoulders moved with heavy, rapid breath. “They warned me to let it go, and when I didn’t, they came for me, but they got them instead.”

  A knot lodged in my throat as I stared at him, having no idea what to say.

  He sat on the ed
ge of the couch. “I want to see Dasher and all of them punished in ways that would most likely disturb you. I’m helping the people the best I can, but I know what we’re up against.”

  My right foot started tapping again. “I’m sorry about your family. I really am.”

  Eaton stared at me several moments and then nodded curtly. A long moment passed. “I know battle strategies. I know simple numbers, and I know what it means to be outgunned even if you’re not outmanned.” He dropped his elbow onto the arm of the couch. “I care about the people here. I even care about that one holding you now. I don’t want to see anything bad happen to any of them.”

  “That warms my heart.” Luc straightened behind me. “It really does.”

  The general shook his head. “And that’s why I need to say what I’m about to.”

  “I’m all ears and a whole lot of warm fuzzies. I’m listening,” Luc replied.

  “We have a more pressing matter than when the Daedalus discover we’re here and what we’re doing.” Eaton drew his right knee up, rubbing it with the palm of his hand.

  “And what could that possibly…?” Luc trailed off, and when I looked over my shoulder at him once more, I saw that his brows were knitted, head cocked to the side. His eyes flared an intense, brilliant purple, and then his expression locked down. His face nothing more than striking lines and hard angles. “No.”

  “Luc—” Eaton started, and my gaze snapped back to his.

  “You’ve already thought it, and that’s bad enough,” Luc cut the older man off. “You can’t take it back. It’s already out there, but if you speak it, give it life to fester and spread, I will not forget that.”

  Really wanting to know what in the hell Eaton had been thinking, I opened my mouth, but the look on Eaton’s face silenced me.

  Sorrow etched into the lines of his face as he shifted forward, both hands on his knees. “I’m sorry,” he said, sounding genuine. “I don’t want to think or say it, and I sure as hell don’t want it to be, but you know, Luc. You know it’s the only way.”

  * * *

  Luc was silent as we walked out of Eaton’s home, his features still hard and gaze distant but blazing, his gentle hold on my hand completely at odds with the barely leashed anger thrumming through his body.

  The sun had burned off the cool morning air. I imagined locals found the temps to be on the chilly side, but to me, used to much colder temps in November, it was the kind of weather perfect for grabbing the camera and getting outside.

  A pang of wanting lit up my chest. I missed the rush of being behind a camera. It was such a silencer. I didn’t stress or think about what the next hour would bring, let alone the next day or week. Every part of me, from my eyes to the fingers curling around the camera, would be focused on the moment in time I’d be trying to capture. The entire process was a contradiction, intimate and yet remote, sheltered and also like falling without a safety net. Even if my photos never made it beyond Instagram, I always felt like I was leaving behind something bigger than I was, whether it was proof that sometimes death truly was a renewal—like when leaves shifted from green to red and then finally gold before falling—or a candid smile or laugh.

  And right now, my fingers itched to capture the looming city of Houston, its buildings stretching high into the sky like hollow skeletons and the freeways congested with cars but empty of people.

  A dead city that should be remembered.

  But I had no camera to grab. The old one had been destroyed by April, and the one Luc had gotten me afterward had been left behind in the rush to escape the Daedalus.

  I pushed away the heavy sadness. I had more important things to deal with.

  The narrow street outside of Eaton’s house was empty and the nearby houses silent with the exception of curtains and canopies snapping softly in the windows. I had no idea if people were living in the ranch-style homes or not, but there seemed to be no one around, which was perfect.

  I stopped without warning, and Luc halted, looking over his shoulder. Warm sunlight glanced over his high cheekbones. “We need to talk.”

  An eyebrow rose, and a moment passed. “About?”

  “You aren’t reading my thoughts right now?”

  “You’re not being loud.” Facing me, he held on to my hand as he stepped closer, his tall frame blocking the sun. “I try not to listen when you’re not projecting.”

  “I appreciate that.” And I really did, because I often thought about really random, stupid stuff like why blueberries weren’t actually blue. “What was Eaton thinking?”

  “When he decided to drink half a case of beer before noon?” Lifting his other hand, he caught a strand of my hair. “I imagine it’s stress. Maybe even boredom. Hell, he could’ve always been a—”

  “That’s not what I’m talking about, and you know that. He was going to say something, but you picked up on it and wouldn’t let him say it.”

  Luc tugged on the strand, wrapping it around his forefinger. “Did you know that in the sunlight your hair is like melted gold? It’s beautiful.”

  “Uh, thanks.” I snagged my hair free from his finger. Luc pouted, managing to look equally adorable and ridiculous. “Complimenting my hair isn’t going to distract me.”

  “What about complimenting you? Will that distract you?”

  I sighed. “Luc—”

  “Do you truly know how incredibly resilient you are? How strong?” he asked, placing the tips of his fingers to my cheek. A buzz of electricity skated through my veins. “You’ve dealt with so much, Evie. Your entire life has been flipped upside down and shaken. What you were thinking inside was right. You’re still standing. Most wouldn’t be. Some of the most physically strong people I know wouldn’t be. I don’t think you give yourself enough credit.”

  Even knowing what he was up to, he still managed to lead me right off the topic at hand. “All of that won’t matter if Dasher has a way to take control or if I lose it again and don’t come back.”

  “You’re right,” he agreed. “When April used the Cassio Wave on you, it awakened your abilities, but it didn’t give control to her or Dasher. And in the woods, you may have been triggered and didn’t know who you were, but you weren’t attempting to get back to Dasher like a child called home, right?”

  I thought about that. In the woods, I hadn’t been me, but I also hadn’t been a Trojan programmed to return to Dasher. I had been something … other. But who knows what I would’ve done had I succeeded in taking out Daemon and Luc? Would I have then gone on to attack the rest of the group, eventually returning to Dasher? I didn’t know.

  We needed to figure out if that was the case, because if I were triggered again, we all needed to know what we were dealing with. Not only was I a danger in the physical sense once I went full super-villain, Zone 3 was chock-full of unregistered Luxen and more. That knowledge in the wrong hands would be deadly.

  “You’re not going to betray the people here,” Luc said softly, cupping the back of my head with his hand.

  He was reading my mind again.

  “Sorry.” He grinned. “You were being loud then.”

  “Look, we need to talk about all of that, too, but to get back on point, I know Eaton was thinking something you didn’t want me to hear. And I get you’re probably protecting me, but whatever it is, I need to know.”

  Luc lifted our still-joined hands, pressing them to his chest, above his heart. My stomach took that moment to remind me and the entire world that I was still hungry, grumbling loudly. “Peaches,” he murmured, lips twitching. “What you need right now is food.”

  “What I need right now is for you to stop being evasive.” And maybe a hamburger, but considering where we were, I doubted that would be on the menu anytime soon.

  “You’d be surprised. There’s a lot of cattle here, and they have ice cellars and iceboxes,” Luc explained. “If you behave, I’m sure I can grill you up a juicy hamburger.”

  My stomach was all about that idea. “If you don’t
answer my question, I’m sure I’m going to punch you somewhere it will hurt you.”

  “You’re so aggressive,” he murmured, dipping his head as he tilted me farther back. His breath danced over my lips when he spoke, sending a shiver through me. “I like it.”

  My pulse kicked up, flushing my skin. “You will not like it. Trust me.”

  He sighed even as he brushed his lips along the corner of mine. The breath I took caught as razor-sharp anticipation swelled, but he didn’t kiss me. “Eaton is just worried that you’re going to lose control.”

  Although I wasn’t surprised to hear that, my shoulders still sank. “That’s not breaking news, so why did you react the way you did?”

  Luc was quiet for a long moment. “Eaton has a way of thinking things.” He lifted his head. “He’s a paranoid old man. Not that he doesn’t have justifiable reasons for being just that, but his paranoia doesn’t need to infect you.”

  Studying him, I wished the damn serum had given me the ability to read thoughts. Then again, not all Origins could do it. As far as I knew, only Luc and Archer could.

  “As I told Eaton, there is no one like me.”

  I glared at him. “I’m going to punch you.”

  “I might like it.”

  “There’s something wrong with you.”

  “Maybe.” He started to lower his head, but I managed to evade him. Barely. If he kissed me, there’d be nothing but muddied thoughts and liquid bones.

  “Eaton has a right to be paranoid,” I told him. “I may not return to Dasher like a programmed toy, but that doesn’t make me any less dangerous if I snap again.”

  “Then we just have to make sure you’re not in a situation that can lead to you snapping.”

  “We don’t even know what kind of situation will cause that.”

  “I’m thinking someone trying to kill you is the kind of situation we need to avoid,” he reasoned.

  “Uh, that would be great and all, but I have a sinking feeling with the Sons of Liberty out there and the Daedalus searching for me, that’s going to be a hard situation to avoid.”

  Luc’s jaw tensed. “I will keep you safe.”