The Burning Shadow (Origin 2)

Daemon sighed. “I don’t think you’re taking us seriously.” He stepped forward, his smile as eerie and cold as Luc’s. “I think I need to show you just how serious we are.”

“I am being serious!” he insisted, his head swinging around wildly. “They are— We are an organization that was founded—”

“In the original American colonies? Wait.” Zoe shoved to her feet, her nose wrinkled. “The Sons of Liberty were a secret society that protected the colonists’ rights and were against taxation. You know, the whole ‘No taxation without representation’? The Boston Tea Party?”

The room was so silent you could hear a cricket belch.

“God.” She wiped at her cheeks with the backs of her hands. “We learned about them in history class. Unlike some people,” she said, sending me a pointed look, “I paid attention.”

“She’s right,” Steven said, words spilling out of him in a rush. “The SOL was created to protect the colonists. People think the society was disbanded over the years, but it never was. We were active during the Civil War and during the Luxen invasion. We’ve always known that the aliens have been here, because we have operatives in every level of the government.”

“Oh really?” Daemon replied dryly.

“We have members all over the states, and whenever the SOL is needed, whether it be in times of war or strife, we answer the call.” Pride filled Steven’s voice and eyes. “We do so without recognition or record, knowing that we could die on any mission and it would be like we never existed.”

“Like Batman?” Luc asked.

Daemon snickered.

“You don’t believe me? I can prove it. All the members are marked. Pull down the right side of my shirt.” Steven nodded at his words. “You’ll see it.”

Luc did just that. Gripping the collar of the black shirt, he yanked it aside, revealing what appeared to be a tattoo with a snake coiled atop an American flag. It was all one color, shaded in black.

My brows lifted.

“All that proves is you have an ugly-ass tattoo.” Luc let go of the shirt, and Steve slumped back into the wooden chair. “This all sounds like a crock of shit, but I’ve heard stranger things, so I’m listening. Why would the Liberty boys be interested in her?”

Steven worked on another swallow as his gaze flickered between Luc and Daemon. “You think we’re enemies. We’re not.”

“We are,” Luc corrected.

“At least we shouldn’t be,” Steven insisted as frustration rose in his voice. “It’s about to happen, and it’s going to happen fast if we don’t stop it. It’ll be over before anyone knew it even began.”

Cold air teased the back of my neck. “My mom said something similar.” I glanced at Luc. “Right before … She was saying something just like that.”

“Sylvia Dasher?” Steven said her name with a curl of disdain. “She was a part of it—part of the Poseidon Project.”

Dawson groaned as he drifted behind the chair, tipping his head back. “What is it with the Greek names?”

His brother became very still. “What is the Poseidon Project?”

“It was the Daedalus’s greatest achievement,” Steven explained, his lips thinning in pain. “And it was their most horrific creation.”

Stepping back, I rubbed my hands over my hips. “You know about the Daedalus?”

“Of course we do. We monitored them as best we could.” His gaze darted from Daemon to Luc. “We don’t agree with what they are doing. They’re playing God. You all know exactly what they are.”

“Are?” Dawson questioned. “The Daedalus is no more.”

Steven shook his head, and I remembered they didn’t know what we suspected, what we knew. “No, they’re still active, very much so. You thought you took them out,” he said, fixing his panicked stare on Luc. “But you didn’t.”

“Obviously,” Luc muttered.

“Wait a second.” Daemon’s hands opened and closed at his sides. “Are you saying that the Daedalus is still active?”

“We didn’t get a chance to tell you that, because these jackasses interrupted us,” Luc said. “Guys, I know you all want to focus on the Daedalus, and I get it, but let’s deal with one screwed-up thing at a time. So, a little more detail on the Poseidon Project would be great.”

“Wow.” Daemon snorted. “That’s two things you don’t know about?”

Luc looked over at Daemon. “I’m literally in the worst possible mood you could ever imagine right now.”

“So? I’m in a bad mood, too. In case you forgot, your girlfriend just tried to kill me after you tried to kill me,” Daemon pointed out. “And I just learned that the organization responsible for every one of Kat’s nightmares is still functioning.”

Luc exhaled heavily. “I’m beginning to think I shouldn’t have stopped Evie.”

“Nice.” Daemon rolled his eyes. “That’s really helping with my mood.”

“Do I look like I care?”

“Guys, really?” I threw my hands up in exasperation, and half the room ducked as if they expected to be tossed into the ceiling. “Can you all not do this right now?”