The Brightest Night (Origin #3) - Jennifer L. Armentrout Page 0,197

thing for people to get into that city without us knowing.”

“Nothing is impossible,” Grayson replied.

“Didn’t say that it was, but we would’ve seen them,” Daemon replied.

“I’m not suggesting it’s the Daedalus. I’d hope you all would be able to see that,” Grayson replied. “Doesn’t mean that these kids aren’t going to be a problem.”

“Have you even been around kids?” Eaton asked as he laid a map out on the coffee table. “I’m thinking not, because they are always a problem.”

Grayson’s eyes narrowed. “I’ve seen kids. There’s one right there.” He gestured at Adam.

“That’s an infant,” Luc explained. “Vast difference between that and an actual kid, my friend.”

“I know that.” Grayson folded his arms. “Whatever. Let’s go play Big Brothers, Big Sisters of the Alien World.”

“Uh-huh. You see this?” Eaton tapped a line highlighted in blue. “This is the metro system. Runs aboveground mostly, but there are underground access points that lead to the walking tunnels about twenty feet below the downtown area. Those tunnels connect about ninety-five city blocks. Now, the wall cuts through one of the tunnels built below the metro,” he explained, and I remembered him mentioning the tunnels the first day we’d talked to him. “One of the first things we did is close that tunnel off from the inside. We blew that section of the tunnel. It would take years for anyone to remove all the debris to make it remotely passable, and we would’ve seen activity coming from outside.

“We may have made some mistakes, but we’ve done our best to cover our bases. Now.” Eaton moved his finger to the left, tapping a line labeled Westheimer Road. “This is where the Galleria is. It’s in uptown, and the quickest access point from there is the warehouse. You’re going to get on the 610. Daemon knows the quickest way to get there. The Galleria is right off an exit. In a car, with a clear road, it would take a good thirty minutes, but we’ve gotten most of the highway cleared enough that travel on foot or in a vehicle shouldn’t be an issue.”

“It will take us minutes,” Daemon said, fixing the sock on Adam’s foot. “The hard part is to get the kids back here.”

“Jamie and Viv are going to meet me at the warehouse. They’re rounding up every available vehicle that still runs,” Eaton explained.

“We’ll keep them moving,” Emery assured. “And when we’re ready for you guys, we’ll send a signal.”

“We’re going to light up like—” Zoe stopped herself as I raised my brows. “We are going to light up in a manner that will not scare the kids.”

“Then we come in and get the kids,” Eaton finished. “Do you know what side they will be on once they’re at the Galleria? That place is the largest mall in all of Texas. Three levels and a skating rink below.”

“He said they’d be near the main entrance,” I said.

“That’s close to the tower—the big building you can see from here. Well, one of them,” Daemon said when Eaton looked to him. “I know which side that’s on. We can get right onto that one street. What’s it called?”

“I think it was Hidalgo,” Archer answered.

“That’s it.” When he saw my expression, he added, “We were in and out of the mall for a while. Got a lot of really nice supplies from in there.”

“Ah, yeah.” A dreamy look swept over Dee’s face. “That’s where all the Chanel came from.”

Kat grinned at her. “I think—”

Without any warning, the map lifted up in the air and spun.

“What in the world?” Eaton leaned back and looked at me.

“It’s not me!” I threw my hands up.

“Luc?” Archer asked.

He shot the older Origin a bland look.

“Sorry. It’s Adam.” Kat patted his back as Daemon snatched the still-spinning map out of the air and handed it over to Eaton. “He’s been doing a lot of that lately.”

“That must keep you on your toes,” I said, thinking that I had, in fact, more control than a baby Origin.

“It does.” Kat kissed Adam’s cheek. “Especially when they’re sharp items.”

“Oh my,” I murmured.

Luc slid his hand over my back as he looked out the window. “It’s dark,” he said. “It’s time.”

* * *

The six of us walked past where Eaton waited outside the warehouse, along with Dee and Archer. Soon others would join them, and hopefully, the group that would wait wouldn’t be in vain.

“The terrain through here isn’t bad, but it’s uneven,” Daemon said. “When we hit the highway, you want to stay in