The Brightest Night (Origin 3)

“Tabby,” Nate called, voice shaking.

She burst forward, her thin legs and arms pumping as she raced toward her brother, not once looking down at the bodies. He caught her in his arms, rising with her in his embrace. Nate didn’t wait around. He spun and took off, and all I could hope was that after, we could find him or he could find us.

My eyes narrowed on Morton.

If there was an after.

There will be, assured Luc, and then he said, “I’m surprised you let them go so easily.”

“I don’t need them.”

“You sure about that?” Luc queried. “Less than a minute ago, you had a hostage. Now there’s just you and us.”

“And this.” He lifted the hand that held the Cassio Wave, and I tensed. “We’ve been waiting for you, Evie.”

“Is that so?” I asked, wondering how quickly I could reach him. I wasn’t exactly skilled like the others at sending bolts of the Source.

Morton smiled. “We knew that eventually you’d come here.”

Grayson shifted from one foot to the next. “So you’ve just been hanging around? Using little kids to go get your food?”

“More like making sure the children would stay away from the others until I needed them to be seen. Tell me, do the people in the community really think the Daedalus has no idea who’s all here?”

“If you’ve all really known we’ve been here this whole time, why wait?” Daemon snarled. “Why not come after us?”

“Why would we waste precious manpower and time?” Morton asked. “What you’re doing is no concern to us. You are no threat.”

My brows lifted in shock.

“No threat?” laughed Daemon. “Okay.”

Morton smirked. “We’ve known this whole time that some of the Luxen Outreach facilities have been fronts for moving unregistered Luxen and supporters to Houston and Chicago.”

Holy crap. They really did know.

“We’ll deal with all of you soon enough, don’t worry,” Morton said.

“Oh, we’re not worried,” growled Daemon.

“Are we all just going to stand around and talk some more?” Luc asked. “Or are you just wasting time until more officers show up? If that’s the case, I hope they’re better at their jobs than the last two batches.”

“More aren’t coming.”

I wasn’t sure I believed him.

“I don’t need any more. I’ve seen all that I needed to see,” he continued. “I knew the moment you ripped that bat out of my hand, you were ready.”

I sucked in a sharp breath. He’d goaded me with that bat to see what I’d do, and I’d exposed at least some of my abilities right then and there. That was so stupid.

You didn’t know, Luc’s voice entered my thoughts.

I didn’t think that mattered.

Morton eyed me. “The Trojan who made it to Zone 3 was a test. I’m assuming that one failed. Shame, but Sergeant Dasher will be pleased to hear how adept Nadia’s become at using the Source.”

Air lodged in my throat as my skin hummed with barely leashed power.

“Do not speak that name,” warned Luc, the air around him crackling. “Ever.”

“What name should I use? Evie? That’s not her real name. Why she still answers to that is strange … and interesting.”

“How about you don’t use either name,” Luc suggested.

Morton laughed under his breath.

“Are you going to tell Sergeant Dasher yourself?” I asked. “You think we’re just going to let you walk out of here?”

“You’re going to show him, you see. The very second I press this button, you will activate.”

Panic and fury seized at my chest. “I didn’t activate last time, but if you’ve been here for three years, I guess you wouldn’t know that.”

“I’ve been updated by one of the men. I think he’s one of those you buried in the ground,” remarked Morton. “This is a new, improved device. You’ll activate, and because I represent Sergeant Dasher, you will listen to me. Do you want to know what the very first thing is that I’ll have you do? I’ll make sure you kill them.”

Whatever air I was getting into my lungs wasn’t enough.

“These two Luxen will try to stop you, but they’ll fail. They can’t defeat you. Then your boyfriend over here will try to do the same, but he, too, will fail,” Morton continued as ice hit my veins. “And then remember the dealing with Zone 3 later? Well, that’s sooner rather than later. I’ll send you there next, and you will take out every single person there.”

My knees started to feel weak.

“Man, woman…” He paused. “And child.”

No.

No.

My gaze swung to Luc. He was staring at Morton, his entire body seeming to vibrate with rage. I couldn’t let this happen. There was no way.

“Why are you waiting, then?” Grayson demanded. “What’s holding you back? If I were you, I would’ve already hit the damn button. You’ve seen what she’s capable of. The fact that you haven’t tells me you’re not all that confident that the Cassio Wave is going to work.”