He stepped back, throwing his hands up. “Sorry. Geez.”
My cheeks flared. Okay, maybe right now I’d be embarrassed.
“He’s ready to see us if you’re done eating each other’s faces,” Blake said.
One of these days, I was going to do more than seriously harm him.
Reaching down, I took Kat’s small hand in mine, and we followed Blake back through the maze of people. I took the time to get my head on straight. Namely, start thinking with the head on my shoulders, which wasn’t easy, considering.
When Blake went to knock on the door at the end of the hall again, the one marked Freaks , it opened before he could rap his knuckles off it.
The room was large and the air scented with vanilla. Several couches lined the walls, and one of them was occupied. A younger boy with shoulder-length brown hair was stretched out on the center couch, legs crossed at the ankles and his fingers flying over a handheld game. Around his wrist was a silver cuff that held a black stone with a reddish-orange flame in the center. The stone also had flecks of blue and green.
The kid glanced up, and purplish-colored eyes drifted over us, lingering on Kat for a second and then moving to the blond-haired man sitting behind a desk covered with stacks of money. The silver-eyed guy was definitely a Luxen, and he was shocked to see me there.
I stepped forward, and the Luxen male stood. “What’s going on?” Kat asked.
From the couch, the kid coughed out a laugh as he tossed the game on the cushion beside him. “Aliens. They have this wacky internal system that lets them sniff each other out. Guess neither of them was expecting to see the other.”
Kat twisted toward the kid.
He sat up, swinging lanky legs off the couch. “So, you crazy kids want to break into Daedalus stronghold and you want my help?”
My head cocked to the side, and I almost laughed out loud. Luc, the person Blake had dragged us here to meet, was practically a toddler.
Chapter 10
Okay. A toddler was pushing it, but he couldn’t have been older than fourteen or fifteen years old, and right now, our age difference felt as vast as the damn universe. This was who Blake brought us to see? Who could help us get into Daedalus?
A tween?
Luc smiled. “Surprised? You shouldn’t be. Surprised about anything, that is.” Standing, I was shocked to see he was almost as tall as me. “I was six when I decided to play chicken with a speeding cab. It won. Lost the coolest bike evah and a lot of blood, but lucky me, my childhood friend was an alien.”
I eyed him, not sure if I believed the story he was spinning, because there was something about him that reminded me of someone else. Couldn’t put my finger on it, but I immediately knew something wasn’t right.
“How…how did you get away from Daedalus?” Kat asked.
Luc walked over to the table. “I was their star pupil.” His grin was unnerving. “Never trust the one who excels. Isn’t that right, Blake?”
Leaning against the wall, Blake gave a lopsided shrug. “Sounds about right.”
“Why?” Luc sat on the edge of the desk. “Because eventually the pupil becomes smarter than the teacher, and I had some really, really intelligent teachers. So”—he clapped his hands together—“you must be Daemon Black.”
I arched a brow. “That would be me.”
“I’ve heard of you. Blake’s a big fan,” he said.
Blake raised a middle finger.
“Glad to know my fan club is far-reaching.”
Luc tilted his head to the side. “And what a fan club—oh, my bad, I didn’t introduce you to your fellow Luxen all-star. This guy goes by Paris. Why? I don’t know.”
The Luxen smiled tightly as he extended a hand toward me. “Always nice to meet another not bound by old beliefs and unnecessary rules.”
I shook his hand. “Same. How did you fall in with him?”
Luc laughed. “Long story for a different day—if there’s a different day.” He looked at Kat. “Do you have any idea what they will do to you if they realize you’re a fully functional hybrid?” He tipped his head down, grinning. “We are so very rare. Three of us together is actually quite amazing.”
“I have a good imagination,” she said.
“Do you?” Luc’s brows rose. “I doubt Blake has even told you the half of it—the worst of it.”
She glanced at Blake.
“But you know that.” Luc stood and stretched. “And still you are willing to take the huge risk of going into the hornet’s nest.”
“We really don’t have a choice,” I said. “So are you going to give us the codes or not?”
Luc shrugged as he ran his hands over the stacks of money. “What’s in it for me?”
Kat exhaled roughly. “Other than pissing off Daedalus, we really don’t have much to offer.”
“Hmm, I don’t know about that.” He picked up a cluster of hundreds secured with a rubber band. A second later, the edges of the bills curled inward, paper melting until the scorched scent filled the air and nothing remained.
Really?
“What can we do for you?” Kat asked
“Obviously money’s not an issue,” I added drily.
Luc’s lips twitched. “Money isn’t needed.” He brushed his fingers off on his jeans. “Power isn’t either. Honestly, the only thing I need is a favor.”
Blake snapped off the wall. “Luc—”
The young boy’s eyes narrowed in warning. “A favor is all I want—one that I can collect at any time. That’s all I want in return, and I’ll give you all you want to know.”
Kat frowned. “O—”
“Wait,” I cut her off, not liking this. “You want us to agree to a favor without knowing what that favor is?”
Luc nodded. “Where’s the risk if you know everything?”
“Where’s the intelligence if we don’t?” I shot back.
The kid laughed. “I like you. A lot. But my help doesn’t come without its own peril for exchange.”
“God, you’re like the preteen mafia,” Kat muttered.
“Something like that.” He flashed a bright smile, and it was clear he was enjoying himself. “What you—all of you—don’t understand is there are things much, much bigger than a brother’s girlfriend or a friend…or even ending up under the Man’s thumb. There’s change brewing behind the winds, and the winds are going to be fierce.” He looked at me. “The government fears the Luxen, because they represent mankind’s fall from the top of the food chain. To fix that, they’ve created something much stronger than a Luxen. And I’m not talking about ordinary little baby hybrids.”
“What are you talking about?” Kat asked.
Luc didn’t answer.
Paris folded his arms. “Not to be rude, but if you’re not willing to deal, there’s the door.”
I looked over at Kat, seeing she shared my concerns. She’d nailed it. It was like we were making the deal with the mafia, the hybrid mafia, and we didn’t have all the necessary info.
“Guys,” Blake said. “He’s our only chance.”
“Christ,” I muttered, but he was right. “Fine. We owe you a favor.”
Luc’s eyes gleamed. “And you?”
She sighed. “Sure. Why not.”
“Awesome! Paris?” He held out his hand. Paris bent over, grabbed a small MacBook Air, and handed it over. “Give me a sec.”
I watched him punch away at the keyboard, his brows drawn in concentration. A door behind the desk opened and a young girl peeked in.
Luc’s head jerked up sharply. “Not now.”
The girl frowned, and for a moment I thought she was going to refuse, but she closed the door.
Kat’s eyes widened. “She’s the—”
“Don’t finish that sentence if you want me to continue,” Luc said, eyes fastened on the screen again. “All deals will be off.”
Okay then.
After a few moments, Luc placed the laptop on the desk, facing us. The screen was split into four sections, black and white, also grainy, like security film. One image contained woods. Another was of a tall fence and gate, another was of a security booth, and the final one showed a man in uniform patrolling another section of fence.