The Burning Shadow (Origin 2)

Dawson’s entire body was taut and stretched as if he were trying to hold himself back.

Luc smirked.

I glared at him until the twist to his lips faded. “That was totally unnecessary.”

“If you knew what they did to him and what he’d give for just a tablespoon of retribution, you’d understand just how necessary that was.”

Blood drained from my face as I glanced at Dawson. He didn’t deny what Luc had said as his eyes met mine. If I had been Jason Dasher’s real daughter or if Luc hadn’t been here, would Dawson have hurt me?

“I don’t want you saying anything to Sylvia,” Luc repeated. “Nothing, Peaches. Absolutely nothing.”

The corners of my lips tugged down. “She works with infectious diseases, and she—”

“And she worked for the Daedalus,” he cut me off, pulling his arm off the back of the couch. “She is the absolute last person that needs to know about what happened here.”

“She worked for them in the past tense,” I reminded him as Kent drew his leg off the chair and straightened. “And she wasn’t a part of the horrible stuff they did.”

“That’s what she says, Peaches. That doesn’t mean that’s the truth.”

Every muscle in my back locked up. “You don’t believe her?”

Luc didn’t respond.

The dark-haired Luxen in the corner did. “I never met this Sylvia, but I knew her husband well, and I also know that maybe, in the very beginning, the Daedalus had good intentions. They wanted to eradicate disease and to better human life, but there wasn’t a single person within that organization that did not know what they turned into. Everyone in the Daedalus was fully aware of what they were doing and how they were developing their serums.”

I pressed my hands between my knees. “She didn’t. I swear. I know she worked for them, but you don’t understand.”

Could I tell Dawson who she really was and what she had done to ensure Jason Dasher wouldn’t hurt another person?

“She can help us at least figure out what happened to Sarah,” I repeated. “And it’s not like tonight was an isolated case.”

“Not going to happen.” Luc rose to his feet once more. “What happened at school is not the same as what is happening here.”

Whatever grip I had on my patience was lost as I glared up at him. “Last time I checked, bud, you don’t get to tell me what I can and cannot do. You don’t get to tell me to do anything.”

Emery’s eyes widened as Luc pivoted fluidly, facing me. “I do get a say in who knows about what happens here, Peaches. That’s not the same thing as telling you what to do.”

“That is the exact same thing as telling me what to do,” I snapped.

“Not in my world,” he replied.

“In my world, which is everyone’s world, it is.” I shot to my feet, throwing my arms wide. “There is no reason why I can’t tell her, especially when she is probably the only person in this entire city that could figure out what happened to that girl—who is still out there, by the way, running around with black snake veins and hopefully not eating someone’s face!”

“For God’s sake, the girl is not a zombie, because zombies aren’t real.”

“But aliens are?”

He shot me a bland look.

“You don’t trust her at all, do you?”

Luc dipped his chin toward me, voice low. “Not even remotely. I wouldn’t trust her with a lab mouse,” he said, and I gasped, because that seemed excessive. “I wouldn’t even trust her with Diesel.”

“Diesel is a damn rock!”

“Exactly,” he retorted smugly.

I shook my head. “You’re being ridiculous.”

“I’m being smart. You should try it.”

“I am!” I shouted. “And maybe you should try not being a demeaning asshole.”

“I’m not being—”

“Think really hard before you finish that statement, because you just said I was being stupid,” I cut him off.

His chest rose with a deep breath. “You’re right. That was wrong. I’m sorry,” he said, eyes flaring an intense purple. “I shouldn’t have said that, and acknowledging that doesn’t change who she is. You might have forgotten that she lied to you and what she took from you, but I haven’t.”

My fingers curled inward, pressing into my palms. “You lied to me, too, Luc, or are you conveniently forgetting that?”

“I haven’t forgotten anything.” His features were set, lips pressed into a thin, hard line. “She took the life you knew from you.”

“You took it from me, too.” I rose onto the tips of my toes, and Luc flinched. “You cannot put it all on her.” A voice I barely recognized as mine left me. “You made the choice to give me to them. You—”

“How in the hell can you say that? I didn’t give you to them, Evie.” His eyes were storm clouds now, churning and dangerous. “Do I need to remind you of that? I did the only thing I could do to save your life. You were dying, and that bastard Jason Dasher had a cure. It was Sylvia who demanded that I stay away from you afterward. That was a deal she forced me to make, because if I didn’t agree, you would’ve died. I didn’t abandon you. It killed me to walk away.”