“Thank you,” I said. “And you look amazing, by the way.”
“I feel like a ten-ton truck drove through me, and I’m exhausted.” Her gaze drifted to Luc and her child. “But I’m absolutely loving it.” She reached out, straightening the little sock on one of his feet. “Do either of you or Viv know why you slept for a few days?”
Actually relieved that she’d asked, because I was beginning to really wonder what kind of bizarre stuff these two had seen that they hadn’t questioned it yet, I told them what we knew. Then Luc chimed in after Daemon retrieved his son, explaining Viv’s theory.
“Damn,” Daemon murmured. “All of it sounds insane, but it also makes sense.”
Kat was toying with Adam’s foot again. “I saw some of their labs while I was at one of their compounds. Dasher showed them to me, actually.” She smiled at her baby. “There is nothing I don’t think they’re capable of, so coding a mutation to act like a dormant virus doesn’t really surprise me.”
Daemon’s jaw hardened. “But if Viv’s theory is right, and those additional serums changed the game, that would explain why you didn’t attempt to head back to the Daedalus and why you didn’t recognize us.”
“You were rebooting,” Kat said. “And something that Luc said or did either sped up the process or snapped you out of it.”
Something had been said. I could almost hear it. Whatever it was, it bloomed on the fringes of my thoughts and then slipped through my fingers like smoke as I stared at Kat. My brain did cartwheels trying to recapture it, but I couldn’t.
“You’ve used the Source since, right?” she asked.
“Yes,” I told them, refocusing. “I used it to retrieve a shirt. I think it’s going to make me lazy.”
Kat sent me a grin. “Girl, when I first I got control of the Source, I used it for everything.”
“Is it possible that the whole sleeping thing was possibly the final reboot? Or update running?” Daemon asked.
“It’s not impossible,” answered Luc. “We won’t know until, well, we know.”
Daemon handed Adam back over to Kat. “And working with the Source isn’t the same as doing what you did in the woods.”
“I know.” I met his stare. “But we’re starting out small, and I guess eventually, we’ll go full throttle. Luc has a way to, um, ensure I don’t get too out of control.”
“He does?” Kat sounded surprised by that as she returned to the chair. Sitting, she placed the baby so he was resting cheek-down on her arm. He looked super-happy there. “How?”
When Luc didn’t answer, I did. “He can basically shut me down by taking control. Knocking me out without, you know, actually knocking me out.”
Kat’s gaze shifted from me to Luc as she rubbed her hand up and down Adam’s back. “That sounds extreme.”
“What would happen if he doesn’t will be way more extreme.” I met Kat’s eyes, willing her to remember the warning she’d given me before, and she must’ve, because she nodded.
“I want to be there when you go full throttle,” Daemon announced.
My brows flew up. “Uh, I, um, don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
“Same,” Luc stated.
“I think I need to be clearer.” Daemon then fixed those ultrabright green eyes on Luc. “I want to be there to help make sure it doesn’t get out of hand.”
Quiet, Luc tilted his head, and then after a small eternity, he said, “Okay.”
Okay?
He’s being genuine, Peaches. His voice echoed in my thoughts without warning, jolting me. He wants to make sure that nothing bad happens so something really bad doesn’t go down.
I thought that over. You mean so I don’t end up ticking off Cekiah and getting booted from the zone?
You will never get booted from the zone. “I’ll let you know when we’re ready.”
“Good.” Daemon folded his arms, looking like the badass Luxen I knew.
“Good,” Kat whispered and then louder, “Dee’s going to be thrilled to hear you’re awake and doing okay.”
“Surprised she’s not here.” Luc picked up what appeared to be a stuffed banana and frowned. “I got him better toys than this.”
Daemon ignored that. “She and Archer are out. She has several interviews.”
My little old ears pricked right up. “With that stupid senator?”
“Among other stupid people.” A brief grin appeared, but it quickly faded. “Remember that Sons of Liberty guy? Steven? He was talking about a flu?”
“The one weaponized with the mutation,” I said. “He said it had been released in small batches.”
Daemon nodded. “Well, it appears it’s been released more widely. A lot of people are getting sick. Some are acting violent. Some are dying.”
My stomach dropped, and immediately, I thought of James, of everyone I’d seen day in and day out at Centennial High. “How widely?”
“From what Dee has learned, the initial outbreaks in Kansas City and Boulder have spread. I don’t know how many are sick, but it’s enough that people aren’t able to leave or enter the cities,” Daemon said, and I pressed my hand to the center of my chest. “There’s been another in Orlando, one in New Orleans, and…”