The Brightest Night (Origin #3) - Jennifer L. Armentrout Page 0,47

shocked as I was at first.”

“How did it happen?” I asked, hoping I wasn’t being too nosy.

“Short version of a long story, but it can all be boiled down to Daemon healing me one too many times.”

“Okay. That is not even the correct short version. Yes. Daemon healed her a couple of times, but what did it was that Kat was all badass and saved our lives,” Dee jumped in. “Before the invasion and everything, the biggest threat were the Arum.”

“My, how things have changed,” muttered Kat.

“Daemon had taken out this one Arum’s siblings, and the dude was gunning for Daemon and me. Kat and Daemon were like archenemies at this point, and he said some stupid typical Daemon crap to her, and she ended up volunteering to be a human distraction, much to Daemon’s displeasure—”

“Daemon and I didn’t get along in the beginning,” Kat said, grinning. “Actually, I sort of hated him at that point. Okay. I thought he was hot even then, but his hotness did not override his douche-ness.”

“Anyway, she ended up basically sacrificing herself to save Daemon and me. She almost died.”

“I would’ve died if Daemon hadn’t healed me, and it was such a massive healing, it started to change me on a cellular level.” The topknot on Kat’s head slipped to the side. “The rest of what happened is long and convoluted and, to be honest, will just make me mad and depressed.”

“You don’t need to tell me any more,” I rushed to assure her.

Kat’s gray gaze flickered over my face, and silence stretched out between us. “We met a couple of times.”

The next breath got stuck in my throat. “Daemon said as much. He told me you saw me in the club when you first met Luc.”

She nodded. “And I saw you later, during the invasion. Luc had brought you to Malmstrom, an airbase in Montana. All of us were there, including Eaton. Luc tried to keep you hidden from us.”

I frowned. “Why?”

“Have you met Luc?” Dee asked with a short laugh.

“I’m sure you’ve noticed he’s a little protective of you,” Kat said, and then it was I who laughed.

“Just a little,” I said, rubbing my hands over my knees. “Did we talk then?”

She shook her head. “You were … resting most of the time you were there.”

I understood what that meant. It must’ve been while I’d been very sick.

“After the invasion and things settled down, Luc visited us while we were living in Colorado and you weren’t with him. We thought that you’d…”

“Died?” I supplied. When Kat gave an awkward nod, I grinned. “I think in a way, I did. I mean, other than a few brief memories that don’t tell me much, I don’t remember anything about my time as Nadia.”

Kat’s eyes met mine. “That’s probably a good thing.”

My hands stilled on my legs. “Yeah, I’m kind of getting that feeling.” I looked down at my hands. “I mean, I want to know who I was, but I’m thinking it’s a curse and a—” Words left me as a splattering of shimmering black dots spread across the top of my right hand.

“You okay?” Dee asked.

Heart stopping, I blinked. My hand appeared normal a second later. What in the world? I glanced at the girls and then back to my hand. Still normal. Had I seen what I thought I saw? Or was it some sort of trick of the eye? I didn’t know.

Throat dry, I nodded. “Yeah, just thinking about the whole lack-of-memories thing.”

A look of sympathy traveled across Kat’s face. “I can’t imagine what that feels like, not remembering who I was, but I do know what it was like to be trained by the Daedalus and how far they will go to advance their cause.”

That caught enough of my attention that I shoved the weird hand thing aside. “I have … feelings sometimes,” I admitted tentatively, only because I was unsure of how to explain it. “Like emotions tied to those repressed memories. They’re not good, so there’s a part of me that is grateful. A huge part of me, because I think if I did know, I wouldn’t be okay.”

Kat’s hands stilled on her belly. “Daemon told me about Jason Dasher,” she announced. “He tried to keep it from me, but I knew he was hiding something. I can’t believe he’s alive, but in a way, I’m not surprised. Hardly anything surprises me anymore.” She exhaled roughly. “I knew Jason Dasher. He had a way of almost getting you