The Brightest Night (Origin #3) - Jennifer L. Armentrout Page 0,88

is the training—purposely using the Source. It was the straw that broke the horse’s back.” She paused, wrinkling her nose. “Wait. That doesn’t sound right.”

“Camel?” I offered.

“Ah. Yes. That’s it! Anyway, working with the Source kicked the mutation into hyperdrive—it’s the bam!” She smacked her hands together again, and this time I saw it coming. “The sleeping could’ve been because of what was going on in your body. I imagine the mutation was doing a lot of work, and I think you’ll probably discover more abilities going forward.”

“Oh.” I tried to not freak out, but my heart was racing. I had to ask, even if she couldn’t answer. “Did Luc tell you about what I’m supposed to be? How I’m coded to answer to one person?” When Dr. Hemenway nodded, the plastic crinkled under my fingers. “When I was in those woods, I had no idea who I was, and when I looked at Luc and Daemon, I didn’t see them as anything more than a threat. If you’re right and the mutation is just now fully waking up…” My stomach twisted with equal knots of dread and hope. “Is it possible that is why I didn’t go with April like she thought I would? And why I’m still myself now? Because the mutation hadn’t fully taken hold then?”

Dr. Hemenway opened her mouth as she sent Luc a sideways glance.

“He can’t answer that,” I said before Luc could say a word. The ripple of charged heat that rolled through the room told me he didn’t like what I’d said, but it was the truth.

“Neither can I,” she said after a few moments. “Even if I had that serum here, I don’t have the expertise or the equipment to determine exactly what it is capable of. This group—the Daedalus? They are light-years ahead of anything I’ve seen in bioengineering. All I can do is make poorly educated theories based on what I do know and what I’ve seen.”

“And what would be one of those poorly educated theories?” Luc asked. “I know you have one.”

Dr. Hemenway leaned back, brows raised as she pulled her lips in, making a popping sound. “Based on what I have seen and on the flare-ups where the mutation seized hold? You may not have remembered who you were at first, and you may have gone after Luc and Daemon, but you snapped out of it one way or another, and during that time, you didn’t feel an overwhelming compulsion to seek out someone else or leave. In a way, it reminds me of a new computer. You buy it and it works for a couple of days or weeks, and then you have all these software updates that need to run.”

I really had no idea where she was going with this. She must’ve read the look on my face, because she said, “Think of it this way. The mutation just came out of its dormant state, and it either was or still is running updates. Your memories, thoughts, and feelings were all there, but the day in the woods just took a little bit of time for you to come back online. Perhaps if the mutation is fully active or once it’s completely integrated, there will be no need to reboot. But I’m guessing that if you’re triggered again, the best thing to do is remove all threats until you can reboot.”

“So, you think I will remain myself?” I asked, half-afraid to allow myself to think that was even a possibility.

Luc’s gaze shifted to me as Dr. Hemenway said, “I think there is no way of knowing for sure what the Andromeda serum has done, even if I had that serum here and all the tools and knowledge necessary to be able to break it down to its very core. I don’t think the Daedalus would even know, unless there were someone just like you.”

“What do you mean?” Luc’s attention snapped to the doctor.

“You haven’t considered this?” She looked surprised as she stared back at Luc, and then she nodded as if she’d answered her own question. “A lot of stuff has been going on, so I can see how this was overlooked.” Her gaze flicked to mine. “You weren’t just given the Andromeda serum. You were given LH-11 and Prometheus before, correct? And while Andromeda healed and mutated you, LH-11 and Prometheus are still in there. How do those serums interact with Andromeda? It would be safe to assume that the previous introduction of alien DNA