The Brightest Night (Origin 3)

The world just stopped spinning on its axis. Pigs were flying. Santa was real. Hell had even frozen over.

“But I’m thinking most of you are all too human.” Grayson wasn’t done as his gaze flicked dismissively across the Luxen in the room. “You force her out, you lose Zoe. You lose me. And you also lose Luc. And you’d have to be a unique kind of stupid to not take what that means into consideration.”

Luc smirked as he leveled a stare on every single one of the unofficial but totally official council members. “He does have a way with words, doesn’t he?”

“That he does.” Cekiah tapped her fingers under her chin. “But we’re not completely defenseless here. We’ve done just fine without any of you being here.”

“How will you do without us?” Daemon asked, and another burst of shock rippled through me.

“Or us?” Dawson leaned back, draping his arm over the back of Beth’s chair.

Hunter’s smile was like smoke. “Or without me and every Arum here?”

I needed to sit down.

“And I’m sure Archer and Dee would be right behind us,” Daemon added.

I really needed to sit down before I fell down. Backing up, I plopped into the empty chair that I didn’t think had been beside Luc moments before.

Luc wore the kind of half grin I knew was beyond infuriating to anyone who was on the receiving end of them. “What were you saying again, Cekiah?”

Her lips had thinned. “I don’t appreciate the not-so-veiled threat from any of you. Some of you I’d expect better from. Not you, Luc. I’d expect nothing less.”

“And that’s what you’ll always get,” he replied.

She coughed out a dry laugh as her gaze slid to Daemon and crew. “You would really leave here with a newborn? You’d risk that child’s life by standing with them?”

“You want to hear something interesting?” Kat asked. Baby Adam had woken up, stretching a little hand up. She pressed a kiss to the tiny knuckles. “I told Evie what we would do if she proved a threat. That any of us would risk certain death at the hands of Luc to ensure the safety of Zone 3. And do you know how she responded? She didn’t get mad at me, nor did she yell or break down. She said that she understood, and I believed her. Still do.”

The room had fallen quiet as Kat said, “I don’t want to go out there. Not until the Daedalus is truly destroyed and it’s a world that I’d want to raise my son in. Isn’t that what we’re preparing for?”

Several severe looks settled into the faces of those at the table, but Kat would not be silenced. “We are training every person capable of fighting back to do just that.” Her clear gray eyes lifted to me. “That’s what we’re doing in the Yard.”

Someone, and I think it was Quinn, sounded like they were having a cardiac arrest.

“Kat—” Jamie started.

“Interrupt her and it won’t be pretty,” Daemon replied casually as if he were giving directions. “And it’s not me I’m warning you about. Adam kept both of us up late last night. My girl is cranky.”

Jamie snapped her mouth shut.

Kat’s smile was downright bloodthirsty. “We knew even before we had proof the Daedalus was still operating that sooner than later, those in charge would come for us. They always do, but we will be ready. It will be the last thing anyone who attempts to destroy us will do. Then we will go out there and we will hunt down every single member of the Daedalus and everyone who has aided them and allowed them to put a president in office who won’t just stop at genocide of the Luxen. And oh yeah, he’s totally on our list. Not everyone in this room helped save the entire world when the Luxen invaded, but half of us did, and that’s no exaggeration. We will not allow what we bled and sacrificed for to be turned into something far worse than what the invading Luxen could’ve ever hoped to achieve. The world beyond these walls belongs to all of us. We will make damn sure it does.”

I might’ve stopped breathing at that point.

“Each Luxen and hybrid is being trained to fight with the Source, and every human who is able is being trained to fight hand to hand and then some.” She kissed Adam’s fist again. “Those who can’t are learning how to fight back in different ways, from providing medical assistance to a multitude of other essentials that are necessary.”

That’s what the building blocks of this community were, why they were able to care for everyone, no matter their age or capabilities. Everyone pitched in, whether it was washing clothes or growing food, caring for the elderly or teaching the children, and they all did so with a common goal.