The Brightest Night (Origin #3) - Jennifer L. Armentrout Page 0,138

arm. “I’ll fill you in later.”

Cekiah started to speak, but I felt a dancing of fingers along the back of my neck and shoulder blades the same moment she must have. “It appears we’re about to have company.”

The door creaked open a moment later, and Zoe slipped in, along with Grayson. They stopped just inside the door, letting it swing shut slowly behind them.

Zouhour frowned. “I didn’t realize you two were invited to this meeting.”

“We weren’t.” Grayson leaned against the wall and folded his arms over his chest. “But we’re here.”

That response got more than just a couple of narrowed looks.

“What Grayson meant to say is that we know we weren’t invited,” Zoe explained. “But we also know what this meeting is going to lead to, and we wanted to be here.”

“And what do you think this meeting is going to lead to?” Cekiah asked.

“Evie being kicked out of here, or at least you all trying to do just that. We’re here to stop you from making a very bad life choice,” Zoe replied, standing there as if she were ready to go into battle. “And I get why you all don’t want her here. None of you have seen anything like her. She’s different. You think she’s a risk, but I’ve known Evie for years. So has Grayson.”

Wasn’t quite sure watching over someone for years meant Grayson actually knew me, but I’d take any backup.

“She’s a good person who’s been through a lot, and she needs the protection of this community. She deserves it,” Zoe stated, and God, I loved her. I couldn’t ask for a better friend.

“I’m sure she’s a wonderful person, but this isn’t personal,” Quinn responded, and there wasn’t an ounce of dismissal in his tone. I believed what he said. “You’re right, though. We’ve never seen anything like her before. None of us, including her, knows what’s she capable of.”

“And humans had never experienced anything like the Luxen before. They still have no idea what you’re capable of, and their fear of the unknown is why this community exists. Don’t each and every one of you expect to be given the chance to prove that you come in peace and all that crap?” Zoe challenged. “Or do humans and Luxen share that one common flaw?”

“Oh, burn,” Luc murmured as the corners of my lips tipped up.

Those rocking alien DNA paled or drew back from the in-your-face hypocrisy. Jamie, the lone human female, looked less than pleased, but there was even a glint of doubt in her brown eyes.

“Actually,” Grayson cut in with a long-suffering sigh. “Nearly everyone in here, including her, thinks she needs the protection of the community. That’s not true. Not remotely. What is true is that you need her.”

My head jerked around to him in surprise. Was Grayson actually actively defending me?

“She is more powerful than everyone in this room combined,” he continued, unfolding his arms and reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a sour apple Blow Pop. “The Daedalus have more like her, and when they decide to break up this little militia you have going on here, even someone who isn’t particularly intelligent would know what a good idea it would be to have her on their side.”

The world just stopped spinning on its axis. Pigs were flying. Santa was real. Hell had even frozen over.

“But I’m thinking most of you are all too human.” Grayson wasn’t done as his gaze flicked dismissively across the Luxen in the room. “You force her out, you lose Zoe. You lose me. And you also lose Luc. And you’d have to be a unique kind of stupid to not take what that means into consideration.”

Luc smirked as he leveled a stare on every single one of the unofficial but totally official council members. “He does have a way with words, doesn’t he?”

“That he does.” Cekiah tapped her fingers under her chin. “But we’re not completely defenseless here. We’ve done just fine without any of you being here.”

“How will you do without us?” Daemon asked, and another burst of shock rippled through me.

“Or us?” Dawson leaned back, draping his arm over the back of Beth’s chair.

Hunter’s smile was like smoke. “Or without me and every Arum here?”

I needed to sit down.

“And I’m sure Archer and Dee would be right behind us,” Daemon added.

I really needed to sit down before I fell down. Backing up, I plopped into the empty chair that I didn’t think had been beside Luc moments before.

Luc wore the kind