The Burning Shadow (Origin 2)

Was my blood black?

No. My blood was red and normal looking. I’d seen it enough times to know that. But if I were like April in some way, was I going to disintegrate when I died? My skin would just … flake off? Pressure clamped down on my chest as I folded my arms across my stomach.

“There’s a chance that there may be other things that are different about her,” Clyde continued as Luc turned, walking back to where I stood. “Tissue. Organs. So on and so forth. I got a trusted friend who’s a pathologist that can run some tests. Got to get the samples, though.”

“Can we talk about this?” Kent asked, hands on his hips. “Because I am not happy with this happening in the kitchen. I know damn well that one of you is going to expect me to clean up, and this isn’t the America I was promised.”

Zoe’s lips quirked as Clyde lifted the scalpel once more.

“Nope.” I backed up, raising my hands. This was all too surreal. “I can’t be in here while you do this. I know I’ll see things I can’t unsee. I don’t need any part of this.”

Grayson smirked, but I didn’t care. I wheeled around and walked out of the kitchen into the quiet, dimly lit hall.

“Peaches?” Luc was right behind me, and I kept walking. I wasn’t sure where I was going, but I was near the bar when he appeared in front of me, moving too fast for me to track. “Hey,” he said, placing his hands on my shoulders. “Where’s your head right now?”

“Right now?” I laughed. “Um, I’m just hoping I don’t flake away when I die, but then again, I’d be dead, so I guess I wouldn’t care.”

“You’re not going to flake away.”

“Well, we really don’t know that, do we?”

His hands drifted to my hips. “Look, there is something going on with you. I’m not denying that, but things don’t add up right now.” His hands tightened, and then he lifted me onto the bar. “We don’t know anything at this point, so let’s not focus on the whole death thing.”

Swallowing, I nodded as I heard the doors open from the hallway. A few moments later, we were joined by Heidi and Zoe and Grayson.

Noting how Luc was standing between my legs, his hands on my hips, Heidi lifted a brow and pursed her lips.

I was so going to be having a conversation with her later, too.

“So, what’s the deal?” Zoe asked, leaning against the bar. “What happened in the bathroom with April?”

Luc looked up at me, his eyes searching mine. “You want to talk about this now?”

I nodded, knowing this was something that needed to be said now rather than later. So I started to tell them everything, and while I talked, Luc stayed by my side, his presence oddly comforting.

“She had pictures of the real Evie—the ones that were taken from my mom’s photo album. I thought Micah had done it, but it was April,” I explained, rubbing my hands over my knees. “But she doesn’t know that I’m really … Nadia.”

“Wait. What?” Everything about Grayson turned rock solid.

I cut a quick glance to Luc. He was watching his friend closely. “I’m really Nadia Holliday. I was given the Andromeda serum and, well, it’s a long freaking story, but I don’t have memories of my time as Nadia.”

“You’re the Nadia?” he demanded, unfolding his arms.

“She is,” Luc answered.

Luc spoke only two words, but they seemed to blast through Grayson like a cannonball. The Luxen took a step back as he stared at Luc. “How could you not tell me?”

“Zoe knew because she knew Evie before.” Luc’s voice was low, calm. “The only other people who knew were the ones who’d met her before. Daemon and Dawson. Archer. Clyde. No one else needed to know. It would be too much of a risk. Still is a risk.”

Grayson blinked as if something had come too close to his face. He looked like he was going to say something, but closed his mouth, shaking his head.

A long moment passed, and then Grayson said, “I should’ve known.”

Luc inclined his head. “Would it have changed anything?”

I wasn’t sure what Luc meant by that question, but if he meant if Grayson knowing I was Nadia would’ve made him nicer to me, I was going to go with a big, fat no. Grayson didn’t answer, though. He looked away, a muscle spasming along his jaw.

Luc turned to me and said softly, “Go on.”

I told them the rest, leaving nothing out, but the Luxen kept snagging my attention. Grayson looked furious. Sapphire eyes narrowing with each passing second, lips thinning and jaw hardening.

Part of me couldn’t blame him for being angry.

He’d watched me for years on Luc’s orders, and I thought he might hate me for that, but he never knew I was Nadia—the Nadia.