The Brightest Night (Origin 3)

I shook my head. Focus on one WTF at a time.

Luc must’ve picked up on my thoughts, because he said, “Onyx and diamond mixtures have no effect on Origins. I imagine it will be the same for you.”

“Diamonds?” I hadn’t heard anything about diamonds before.

Luc nodded. “Diamonds have the highest index of light refraction. It won’t hurt a Luxen or hybrid, but in large quantities, it can drain them of the Source.”

“But opal is entirely different.” Hunter let his head rest on the back of the chair. “It refracts and reflects specific wavelengths of light, changing the speed and direction. For anyone with Luxen DNA, it’s a power booster. And for an Arum, if we have one, it gives us more power and limits how much we have to feed.”

“Do you have a stray piece of opal lying around?” I asked Luc, hopeful.

He shook his head. “Ever since President McHugh took office, opal has been hard to come by. Most of it has been seized or destroyed.”

“You don’t have a stash of it?” Surprise filled Hunter’s tone.

“I did,” he replied dryly. “Two places, actually. One of them I had to leave rather unexpectedly from, and the other is quite the distance from here. Trust me, if I had one, Evie would be wearing it.”

“Well, then, that’s a shame.” Hunter’s gaze slid to me. “Feed or sleep. Those are your choices.”* * *“There is no choice,” argued Luc. “You need to feed.”

Hands planted on my hips, I glared at where he was all but sprawled on the couch, one arm tossed along the back of the cushion, a bare foot resting on the edge of the coffee table. He looked mighty comfortable for someone who was five seconds away from getting smacked upside the head.

We’d been at it since we’d stopped by to see the doc, which was right after we’d left Hunter’s place. I’d wanted to see if she thought there was anything I could do. Like, I don’t know, a diet of all red meat or raw veggies. Maybe she had some vitamin B shots lying around. Luc humored me with the visit. There was nothing Viv could do or suggest. Apparently, she hadn’t seen an Arum who didn’t feed before. All the ones here, which weren’t many, had willing Luxen donors.

Which had led to me asking Luc on the way back, “Who is Hunter feeding off?”

“You know, I don’t want to even know,” was his answer.

Like Luc, Viv had been annoyed that she hadn’t picked up on the fact that since I had Arum DNA in me, I may need to feed. But who would’ve guessed that? Trojans were brand spanking new, and I was even uniquer.

I had learned on the walk home that the other stash of opal was at Luc’s “small villa” in Greece, so no help there.

“I don’t get why you’re so worried about this.” Luc kicked his other leg up, crossing them at the ankles. “Hunter explained how to do it.”

And that had been as awkward as it sounded. The Arum had thoroughly amused himself, giving step-by-step instructions while repeatedly referencing “Luc or someone else who is willing.”

To be honest, I was surprised Hunter was still alive.

When Hunter explained how to feed, he made the whole thing sound easier than I’d imagined it to be. Claiming that my body would know what to do, he admitted that he was shocked I hadn’t already unintentionally fed on Luc. And then he explained how he’d accidentally done that with his wife, and frankly, that was just TMI for me at the moment.

“He also said it doesn’t have to be painful,” Luc continued. “And even if it were, I’d still be down for it.”

I frowned at him.

“Look, I’ll do anything to make sure you’re okay—”

“I’m okay now.”

One side of his lips twisted. “You just ate again and you’re still hungry. How long before you start to feel dizzy and then pass the hell out?”

“I don’t know.” I threw my hands up. “I’ll make sure I let you know when it’s about to happen.”

“It’s not going to get to that point.” Luc thrust a hand through his hair. “You slipping into what is equivalent to a coma is not an option. The fact that you even think it is actually boggles my mind.”

“Boggles? Really?”

“Yes. Boggles. The. Mind. You were unreachable for almost four days. I had no idea if you’d ever wake up, and knowing that you will this time around doesn’t make that any easier,” he went on. “And what if something happens while you’re sleeping?”

“That’s a title of a movie, by the way.”

His expression turned bland. “I know. It was one of your favorites,” he said, and my heart skipped. I knew I had never told him that as Evie. “What if we’re under attack here? Or what about when we’re out there, fixing the world, and you have to replenish what you’ve used? You just going to take a time-out and sleep?”