The Brightest Night (Origin #3) - Jennifer L. Armentrout Page 0,127

me here.

God.

He was probably never going to let me live that one down.

My behavior probably had something to do with the fact that I couldn’t remember who Viv and Zoe were at that moment, and in my weird Source-infested mind, I’d felt safe with Luc because he’d healed me.

I also remembered Viv being rather excited about my behavior, something to do with it giving further credence to her rebooting theory. At that time, I had no idea what she was talking about, but now I did. When I had let the Source take over, it had done so in a way that had been different from in the woods. I had been different but not randomly homicidal. So that was an improvement.

Getting shot, though? Not so much.

I couldn’t believe I’d been shot or that I was alive and felt okay except that the space between my shoulder blades was sore. And I had Luc to thank for that.

I had a distinct impression I would’ve healed without his intervention, but the same instinct was telling me it would’ve been a longer, more painful process. Did I have regenerative abilities? Or was it like how Luc had removed those bullets from himself? He’d thought he could heal himself once he got them out, but those bullets had been different. They’d been modified with a weaker form of the EMP, designed to wound and not kill. Would I have known how to heal myself? I had no idea.

Luc’s chest moved in the deep, steady rhythm of sleep under mine. The fine hair along his chest tickled my sensitive skin. I didn’t remember falling asleep like this, but based on what I did remember, I probably climbed right on top of him. While I was a little embarrassed that others had witnessed me turning into a DEFCON 1 clinger, I wasn’t ashamed that he’d evoked such a response from me while I hadn’t entirely been myself. That was a sign that maybe I was less dangerous than before. At least to him.

But not to that girl.

Not wanting to think about any of that right now, I opened my eyes. A gas lamp flickered softly from the nightstand, casting light across the bed, and another sat on the dresser, pushing at the deepest of shadows—

I zeroed in on the chair nestled in the corner, just outside the reach of the lamp’s faint glow. The chair wasn’t empty, and that wasn’t a shadow shaped like a person.

Grayson.

The breath I took hitched as he rose from the chair and crossed the room, as silent as a ghost. He knelt a foot from the bed, his head turned to Luc, and then his gaze drifted to mine.

He didn’t speak. Neither did I.

And then he did, his voice so low I doubted it would wake even Luc. “He’s not unstoppable, you know. He can weaken.”

My stomach hollowed at the thought. Luc always seemed incredibly larger than life itself, never weak, never tired, but I knew better than that. “I know,” I whispered.

Grayson closed his eyes, and then a golden glow radiated from the center of his chest. The light washed over him as he slipped silently into his true form. A human-shaped being of light so bright it was almost like looking into the sun. His arm rose, and from within the light, I saw his hand, his fingers as he placed them on Luc’s arm, the one closest to him. A ripple of light danced up Luc’s arm, scattering across his skin in a glittering, golden wave. I felt the warmth and the low-level buzz of energy where my skin met Luc’s.

Luc still slept, his breathing even deeper, and Grayson was giving Luc some of his own energy, replacing some if not all of what was surely lost from trying to save Spencer and then healing me.

Grayson withdrew his hand and then stood, gliding back from the bed, his true form fading until he was once more in his human form. He left without saying another word.

* * *

Not too long after Grayson left, Luc’s arm around my lower back shifted, tightening and then relaxing. I lifted my head to watch his eyes flutter open. His gaze focused, meeting mine and holding.

“Hi,” I whispered.

“Hey.” His voice was rough with sleep as he lifted the arm Grayson had touched. He placed his hand against my cheek. “How are you feeling?”

“I feel okay. My back aches a little, but I don’t feel like I’ve been … you know, shot in