The Brightest Night (Origin #3) - Jennifer L. Armentrout Page 0,154

put it back into the air by breathing. You’d surely kill anything with a bit of human DNA in them, including yourself.”

“Oh,” I whispered, looking around in concern as I eased off, letting cracks of sunlight penetrate the darkness. “How long does it take to use up the oxygen in a room?”

“Three minutes if you’re lucky,” Grayson replied. “Maybe a little longer for those with Luxen DNA, but not very long.” A ghost of a smile appeared, and I frowned. “Would be interesting to find out exactly how long.”

My brow creased. God, he was scary sometimes.

The classroom door opened suddenly. Daylight poured in, along with Daemon, who drew up short as the rainbow aura around him faded to reveal that his brow was creased from how high he’d pushed his eyebrows up. “What in the world?”

I lost my concentration, and the mass of shadows lost their intensity, swiftly breaking apart and scattering.

Daemon looked around the room, his gaze landing on Zoe. She’d frozen mid-jig, or whatever she was doing now. “You know what? I don’t even want to know.”

Slowly, Zoe placed her foot back onto the floor and clasped her hands behind her back.

“I was learning how to block out light so no one can see me coming,” I told him. “And apparently, Grayson would like to see how long it takes one of us to die from lack of oxygen.”

Daemon lifted his brows. “Sounds about as I expected.”

Grayson shrugged.

“What’s up?” Luc asked.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Daemon began.

Luc laughed. “Not really.”

“True.” A quick smile appeared. “Eaton said you all were in here. Need to ask a couple of you a favor.”

“Sorry,” Luc stated as I drifted over to him. Without saying a word, he snaked an arm around my waist and tugged me between his legs. “I can’t babysit baby Adam. It’s against my religion.”

Daemon arched a brow. “You would be the last person I’d ask to babysit.”

“I’m not the last person?” Grayson asked. “Shocked.”

“Correction. You’re the second-to-last person I’d ask to babysit Adam.”

“Well, that’s kind of offensive. I’m totally trustworthy,” Luc argued. “And I give great gifts.”

Daemon crossed his arms. “You once tried to gift Kat and me a llama because, according to you and literally no one else, they’d make a great family pet for a baby.”

What?

Luc’s smile turned thoughtful. “They will protect a herd—”

“A lone child is not a herd, Luc,” Daemon sighed.

“One child is an equivalent to a herd of lambs.” Luc folded his other arm around my waist, clasping his hands together.

“I won’t argue that point—wait a minute.” Daemon’s eyes narrowed on the desk. “Is that Adam’s stuffed banana? I’ve been looking everywhere for that.”

Uh-oh.

“You might be having a stroke,” Luc advised him. “There’s no banana there.”

The banana was totally there.

“We’re really not even in this room,” Luc continued.

“What is your favor?” I asked as I reached around Luc and picked up the banana. I tossed it to Daemon.

He caught it. “The favor is actually open to more than just Luc.”

Don’t, I warned Luc, able to tell he was about to say something incredibly sarcastic.

You’re no fun. He rested his chin on my shoulder.

“There are a few med supplies we’re running low on, and we’re going to need to head out earlier than we’d expected,” explained Daemon. “With Archer not expected back for another day or so, and with Jeremy and others going out to escort another package, we’re down several people.”

“You need me to go?” Luc surmised.

“We need a couple of people to go.” Daemon shoved the stuffed banana into his back pocket. “It’ll be an overnight trip. We’ll leave tonight and plan to be back by tomorrow evening.”

“We?” Luc lifted his chin. “You’re heading out so soon?”

“Yeah, don’t really want to, but it was Archer and I who scouted the place, and with him gone, only I know the ins and outs of it. That’s why it’s going to be as quick as possible. Dawson is going, too. We need at least two more.”

“I know you just want to spend some time with me, so I’ll humor you and go,” Luc replied.

One side of Daemon’s mouth tipped up. “Yeah, that’s exactly why.”

“I would if I could,” Hunter said. “But Sin is on his way, and he could arrive at any point. Could be tomorrow. Could be next week. Either way, I need to be here with that happens.”

Daemon nodded. “You need to be here when he arrives. God only knows what kind of trouble he’ll get himself in.”

“I can go.” I pulled away from