The Brightest Night (Origin #3) - Jennifer L. Armentrout Page 0,137

could practically feel Luc gearing up for a biting response, but this was my battle. I rose, and Luc didn’t stop me. “I know that whatever I am, it’s not like her. I don’t think I’m programmed like her and the other Trojans.”

“You don’t think?” she questioned.

“Yeah. I don’t think I am. I didn’t kill that one.” I nodded in Hunter’s direction. “Even though he really wanted to kill me.”

“That is true,” the Arum muttered.

Luc turned his head in Hunter’s direction, and the Arum rolled his eyes as he pulled his legs down off the table.

“And I owe her an apology for that,” Hunter grumbled. “I’m sorry.”

My brows lifted. Before I could respond, his wife leaned around him. “And I was reaching for my gun. She didn’t attack me.” A small, sheepish smile appeared. “And I, too, am sorry about that.”

“It’s, uh, okay.” I blinked, never thinking I’d be in the position of accepting an apology from two people who had wanted to murder me the day before.

“But what does that tell us, really?” Zouhour asked, and there was a genuine curiousness in her tone.

“From what we understand, the Trojans were trained to sense a threat, a challenge, and then eliminate it. They wouldn’t have backed down from that,” I explained.

“So you were able to show restraint this time?” Jamie said, arms crossed over her chest.

I met her stare. “I was able to show restraint, take out the Trojan who most likely would not have shown restraint after she attempted to turn me into exactly what she is. I stopped her from hurting anyone, and I did all of that without harming a single person. That’s what I did this time.”

“You blew up a whole, entire house,” she returned.

“But did you die? Did anyone other than the bad guy die? No.” Luc leaned forward, hands on his knees. “Does that answer your question, Jamie?”

She didn’t dare look Luc in the eye as she said, “All that being said, it still doesn’t mean she won’t become a risk next time around.”

“She’s been working on controlling the Source,” Eaton said, stretching out his left leg. “She and Luc. She’s been using the Source.”

Breathing a little easier, I nodded. “It’s not that I don’t believe they didn’t try to make me just like the others, but I don’t think it worked. Viv—Dr. Hemenway—thinks it’s because I was given three different types of serums and having the other two in my system could’ve somehow interacted with the Andromeda serum.”

“Those are theories,” countered Cekiah.

“One of those Trojans killed my brother, and you all know—” Hunter sucked in a breath. “You all knew him. He was not weak. He put up one hell of a fight. So did Sin and I, but that Trojan showed no restraint. It came at us as soon as we left Lotho’s place and came aboveground.”

Lotho?

He’s the leader of the Arum, answered Luc. And he’s a little eccentric.

A little eccentric? Interest bloomed. Speaking of Hunter, I want to talk to him. I want to know how he sensed either Sarah or me.

Already on it. He’s available later today.

I seriously hoped there was a later.

“It was like it was waiting for us. Between the three of us, we were able to injure it, but he was still alive when he escaped.” A muscle worked along Hunter’s jaw. “Never have I seen anything like that. I’ve never seen anything like her, either, but what we came across in Atlanta, it’s different from her. I see that now.”

My breath caught. Atlanta. We were there, Luc.

I know, came his quiet response.

I closed my eyes. Took no leap of logic that the Trojan had been there, looking for us—for me.

“The Trojan we faced down showed no restraint,” Daemon chimed in. “We barely were able to get the upper hand, let alone kill it. The Trojan reminded me of…” He trailed off, shaking his head. “It’s hard to explain. There was something entirely inhuman about it.”

“The one I saw reminded me of that one liquid robot from the Terminator movies,” Hunter said.

I frowned.

“The T-1000?” Beth asked, and when several pairs of eyes shifted to her, she shrank back a little. “What? I loved that movie.”

“Yeah, that one.” Hunter ran a hand through his hair. “That blank, robotic expression that lacked all emotion. There was no fear. None whatsoever.”

Dawson was nodding. “Agreed. The one we came across could’ve been the perfect T-1000.”

“I have no idea what a T-1000 is,” Zouhour murmured.

The male hybrid next to her patted her