A real smile crossed Daemon’s face, and in spite of everything, my insides melted into goo whenever he smiled liked that, because it was so incredibly rare. “I love how your brain works.”
There’s that love-struck thing you were wondering about in Beth and Dawson’s room. Archer’s words floated through my head, and I cringed. Heat enveloped my cheeks as I cleared my throat. “Do you think this will work?”
“How many Arum are here?” Daemon directed the question at the general and Nancy.
One of the biggest things that had surprised us over the years was the fact that Daedalus had been working with the Arum to keep the Luxen in check, for whatever gross, nefarious reasons.
Nancy’s lips pursed. “We don’t have exact numbers, not like with the Luxen who have been assimilated. Many of the Arum went dark when they came here.”
“Went dark?” I frowned.
“They went underground,” General Eaton explained. “Moving from city to city. They’re damn hard to keep track of.”
“And you guys were more concerned about us and the cool things we could do.” Daemon smirked. “Nice.”
“So how many do we know are here?” I asked before the conversation went downhill.
“A few hundred worked for us,” Nancy said.
“Wait.” Daemon’s eyes narrowed. “That’s in the past tense.”
Oh, no.
General Eaton looked like he wanted to strip out of his jacket. “Many of them left when the Luxen arrived.”
“Many?” scoffed Nancy as she smoothed her hands down her legs. “All of them did. None of us should be surprised. They aren’t the most loyal of all creatures.”
That tiny spark of hope started to fizzle out when Archer spoke up. “But they are still here, on this planet.”
“So what?” Nancy challenged. “You’re going to get them to help?”
A mysterious smile trekked across Archer’s face. “Not me, but I know someone who owes someone else a really big favor.”
Nancy rolled her eyes. “Even if you could get them to help, it would be pointless. There’re too many spread out and—”
“Actually, if I may speak up,” came a voice from the middle of the room. It was a middle-age woman with dark blond hair pulled back into a tight, neat bun. She was standing, her hands clasped behind her back.
General Eaton nodded for her to continue.
“Most of the invading Luxen landed in the United States with manageable numbers overseas. We think this is due to the amount of Luxen we already have here in the States. As you know, we’ve been tracking movement over the last ten or so hours. Many of the invading Luxen have been moving east, toward the capital. If our suspicions are correct, they will be joining forces there and becoming a sizable unit,” she said, glancing toward Daemon and Archer. “Some have integrated themselves into the cities we’ve already lost, but if we were able to make a strike against D.C., we’d take out many of them.”
“And that is what we are planning,” General Eaton said.
“But you’re planning to drop an electrical-whatever bomb on the nation’s capital,” I stated, hands clenching at my sides.
“Actually, if an even more sizable mass of Luxen does appear, it will be several e-bombs,” Nancy said. “Enough that most of Virginia, Maryland, and even the I-81 corridor in West Virginia would be hit.”
“Jesus,” I whispered, squeezing my eyes shut. That’s where my mom and my friends were. “What are you doing to the cities already lost—Houston, Chicago, and Kansas City?”
“Over the next twenty-four hours, EMPs will be dropped.” Empathy bled into his voice. “Those cities are gone, Miss Swartz. Most of the Luxen have taken on human form and they have killed the humans they’ve found not suitable. There is little to no contact coming out of them from any source that we trust. I pray for whatever humans are left in those places.”
“All right. Those cities are gone, but nowhere else so far. What if we can stop them?” Daemon said. “What if we can do the same thing without killing innocent people on both sides, and without destroying the cities to the point they’ll be unlivable?”
Nancy choked out a laugh as she shook her head in disbelief.
“Think about it,” Archer jumped in. “You’re going to have millions of Americans completely displaced in just those three cities, not counting L.A., and the more you do this, the more refugees you’re creating. The States would go under.”
A muscle flexed along General Eaton’s jaw. “Do you think this is not something we have thought about or have begun preparation for? Right as we speak, we’re planning for an even worse outcome than losing the major cities. We’re planning for a complete loss in case the EMPs fail in some manner.”
The general described the precautions they were taking, moving computers and other valuable electronic-based equipment into underground bunkers stocked with nonperishable items, and he droned on until I felt like I really was going to hurl.
If I thought the invading Luxen were bad, I’d had no idea. We truly were on the verge of a catastrophic disaster.
“We can get the Arum,” Archer said. “I know we can.”
My heart toppled over. Could we really get the Arum? I doubted it would be easy, and I almost couldn’t believe it when General Eaton said the magic words. “If you can get the Arum to fight, then we will hold off on neutralizing the force outside of the capital.”
“Thank you.” I almost jumped. I almost hugged the dude, and I was glad I didn’t, because that looked like it would be all kinds of awkward.
“But we don’t have a lot of time. We’ve got about six days, maybe seven, and then we have to go to the EMPs,” the general said. “I’ll need to make a lot of phone calls.”
“This is ridiculous.” Nancy stood, throwing her hands up. “I cannot believe you’re even thinking of allowing them to—”
“You forget your place, Husher. Like always,” snapped General Eaton. He drew himself up to his full height, pouring authority into the air. “I, just as the president of the United States, am willing to vet out different tactics.”
General Eaton continued to dress Nancy down, and I thought I’d be happier to see that happen, but I ended up experiencing a mad case of secondhand embarrassment and I seriously wished I wasn’t around to see it.
Daemon, on the other hand, looked positively gleeful as I moved to stand next to him while Nancy did the walk of shame.
Archer started talking about different ways the Arum could maim and kill the Luxen in less than five seconds flat, a conversation I never thought I’d hear Daemon taking part in so enthusiastically.
Eventually, Nancy left to probably go rock in the corner somewhere and plot her revenge, and General Eaton started making phone calls. It was then that my stomach decided to announce that it could use massive quantities of food.
Surprised that I could eat after seeing and hearing what I did, I pressed the heel of my palm against my belly and smiled sheepishly when the boys looked down at me. “Sorry?”
Daemon’s lips tipped up. “Hungry?”
“Maybe. A little.”
“There’s food in the mess hall near your rooms,” Archer said. “I thought I told you guys about that.”
“We didn’t have time . . .” I trailed off and started imagining dancing naked babies so I didn’t think about why we didn’t have time.
Archer’s brows rose. “The hell?”
Cheeks flaming, I turned to Daemon. I needed to get out of there before Archer got a peep show. “I think I’m going to go get something to eat.”
“Okay.” He brushed his lips over my forehead. “I’ll meet you back at the room.”
I didn’t look at Archer as I spun around. Leaving the boys in the control room, I hurried out into the hall. Not only did I need to get food in my tummy, I needed something else to do that felt normal. I considered visiting Dawson and Beth again as I climbed the empty stairwell and entered the wide corridor on the main level. As I rounded the corner, I stumbled to a surprised halt.
Luc stood up ahead, a few doors down from where Dawson and Beth were, but he wasn’t alone. A girl was with him, maybe around his age or a year younger. She was a tiny thing, and he all but dwarfed her. Ridiculously slender, her denim-clad legs were as thin as my arms. Her hair was like spun gold and she was stunningly pretty, with a heart-shaped face full of faint freckles and eyes that were a warm chocolate.
And I’d seen her before.
Back when Daemon and I had gone with . . . with Blake to meet Luc for the first time. She had been on the stage, as beautiful and fluid as a dancer, and then later, she’d poked her head into Luc’s office, and he’d gotten all frownie face about it.
But she looked different now.
A very pretty human girl, but there were dark smudges under her eyes, her cheekbones were sharp, face gaunt and pale, and her entire appearance was overly frail, as if it was taking everything in her to be upright on two feet.
She wasn’t really standing on her own, either. Luc’s hands were wrapped around her upper arms, almost as if he was supporting her weight. I didn’t need to be a doctor to know that she bled some serious illness into the air around her. Not a cold or flu, but something bad.
Something that reminded me of my father.
I bit down on my lip. Luc seemed unaware that I was there as he smoothed his hands up and down the girl’s arms. “It’s going to be okay now,” he said. “Just like I promised.”
A wan smile turned her lips up. “Do you have any idea what’s going on out there? I don’t think anything will ever be fine again, Luc.”
“I don’t care about that right now,” he said in typical Luc fashion. “Remember what I told you about that new drug?”
“Oh, Luc.” She wrapped bony, pale hands around his wrists. “I think we’re beyond the point of anything working—”
“Don’t say that.” Strength and determination poured into his voice. “It will work. It has to work. Or I’ll kick its ass.”
The girl didn’t look convinced, but her smile spread as she leaned forward, sliding her arms around Luc’s waist.
Luc closed his eyes, and his lips parted as he let out a slow breath. “Why don’t you go in there and get some rest, Nadia.” He drew back, smiling down at the top of her head. “I’ve got some things I need to take care of, and then I’ll be back. Okay?”
I so knew he was totally aware of me, and yet I didn’t feel bad for eavesdropping, considering how many times he’d peeped on us.