The Brightest Night (Origin 3)

I placed my hands on my hips. “Easier said than done, Luc. I am capable of hurting you, and I don’t know exactly what the limit is.”

“Knowing your limit is easy.” His eyes met mine. “You don’t want to hurt me, then you don’t hurt me.”

My brows lifted. “That may sound like it makes sense to you, but it doesn’t to me.”

White light erupted from his palm, and he lifted his hand. Energy crackled softly as he cupped my cheek. His palm and the Source were warm as he touched me, sending soft jolts of energy skittering over my skin.

“Does that hurt?” he asked.

“No.”

“But you’ve seen me use this to kill, haven’t you? You’ve seen me place this very hand on someone and burn them from the inside out, right?”

Chest tightening, I nodded. “Not like I’m going to forget that.”

“The Source is the Source, Peaches. The only difference is the will behind it—the who behind it. I don’t want to hurt you, so I don’t. You don’t want to hurt me, so you don’t.”

He switched to a much more private form of conversation. The night of the nightmare, you panicked and lost control. You had no will behind what was happening, and when the Source is left on its own, it often just becomes pure, raw destruction.

“Try it,” he said, lowering his hand. The Source flickered out. “Summon the Source and touch me.”

The mere idea of doing that caused my heart to speed up.

“I have a feeling you two are doing that thing Kat and Daemon do all the time,” Eaton grumbled. “Talking to each other the way you all do.”

Luc held my gaze. “Someone sounds jealous.” Try it, Evie. I trust you.

Pulse pounding, I knew I had to try. You’ll stop me if it hurts you?

It won’t. A pause. But I will if it does.

Taking a deep and calming breath, I summoned the Source as I lifted a hand. A mass of churning light and darkness blossomed from my palm. Eaton muttered a sharp curse as the energy licked over and between my fingers. Under the Source, glittering dots appeared like shards of onyx embedded in my skin. I don’t want to hurt him. I don’t want to hurt him. I kept repeating that as I reached out, placing my hand on his arm. Luc jerked a little, and I started to lift my hand.

“I’m okay,” he said. “Keep going.”

Drawing in a shallow breath, I nodded. The energy pulsed around his arm, but it didn’t do what it did before, climbing up his skin as if it were trying to swallow him whole. My gaze flew to his face.

Luc lifted his brows. “Feels like you’re tickling me.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Kind of tingly.” Those eyes of his deepened in hue as tiny sparks of the shadowy-white light danced over his skin and then disappeared, either fading out or seeping into him. “I kind of like it.” He bit down on his lower lip as his eyes drifted shut. “A lot.”

I flushed to the roots of my hair.

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” grunted Eaton. “I don’t want to know what you’re doing to him, but you aren’t hurting him. Let’s move this along.”

Jerking my hand back, I willed the Source to fade out. Luc, on the other hand, slowly opened his eyes, his grin pure wickedness. The taut lines around his mouth had disappeared. “When we get done here, I’m going to make sure you know how to heat up water. I’m really looking forward to a bath later.”

The flush spread, and muscles low in my stomach trembled. Luc and I hadn’t done it since that night. It wasn’t for lack of trying. We spent almost all day working on the Source, and then there was everyone else. Whenever we were alone, it didn’t last. Whether it was Zoe or Grayson appearing or someone who needed Luc for something, which was, like, every evening, by the time Luc returned, I was passed out, and when I woke in the middle of the night, he looked too damn peaceful to wake up.

Though I doubted he’d mind.

“Promise?” I asked.

“Pinkie—” His head swung toward the closed double doors. “We’re about to have company.”

Case in point, I thought wryly, and we weren’t even alone. I followed his gaze, sensing absolutely nothing—

Fists banged on the door. “Eaton! You in there? We got a problem—a big one,” a voice I didn’t recognize called out from the other side of the door. “Like, a really giant one.”

I turned back to Luc. “How in the world do you do that?”

“I’ve got talents,” Luc replied. I was willing to bet whoever was out there was human.

Sighing, the general ambled to his feet, letting the stuffed banana fall to the floor. “When is the problem ever small?” he grumbled.

Luc made it to the door before Eaton took a step, and when the door opened, my early suspicion was confirmed. A young human man with deep brown skin stood there, no transparent aura to be seen. Blood splattered his light gray shirt and olive-green cargo pants.