The Brightest Night (Origin #3) - Jennifer L. Armentrout Page 0,179

that much and lives.”

“Apparently, he did,” Cekiah said gently. “Chris healed him, and he was moved to another location to recover. He says it took months.”

Kat rubbed her lips together as she shook her head. “I can’t believe this.”

“He cannot be trusted. The fact that he’s even here is already a huge risk to everyone.” Daemon smoothed his hand up and down her back. “He didn’t just accidentally end up here.”

“We searched both of them. Neither of them have any trackers on them,” Zouhour said. “The Luxen DNA would interfere with any of the bio trackers they’ve used in the past.”

“Not only that, they’ve been vetted,” Cekiah added.

“And look how that turned out last time,” Hunter said.

That was a good point.

“Be that as it may, we still do not kill people,” Zouhour retorted.

“All except Luc,” commented Daemon.

I glanced over at him. He was surprisingly quiet, shockingly so.

“That was a onetime incident none of us plan on repeating.” Cekiah tipped toward Kat and Daemon. “You just spoke about how you wanted what we were doing here to be different—building a world you wanted to raise your son in. I agreed with everything you said. How is killing him going to be a world any different from the one outside of here?”

“Because Blake should not be a part of that world or this world,” Kat said.

The argument continued around us, running in a vicious circle until Zouhour said, “It sounds like he has done enough in his past to warrant a death sentence, but we’re not just talking about him. Chris has been held hostage more than half his life. He has done nothing to any of you. We kill Blake, we kill him. Do any of you want that on your conscience?”

“It’s a weight I’m willing to carry,” Daemon said.

Neither Zouhour nor Cekiah seemed to have expected that answer. I wouldn’t have, either, if I hadn’t seen Daemon’s anger. I still had no idea how to feel about this. They were talking about capital punishment, but without a trial, and I’d always been conflicted by the idea of a life for a life. Part of me thought that some people had committed crimes so atrocious that they forfeited their right to life, but the other part? How did taking a life make things right? But then I thought of Jason Dasher. He didn’t deserve to live.

This was all too real, though. Beforehand, I would never have to seriously consider the idea of being a part of the decision to end someone’s life. Now, I was witness to it. I guessed that was a part of the normalcy of my old life that I missed.

Glancing over at Luc, I saw he was watching everyone, but I could tell he was barely following the conversation. I knew he had no problem with the whole eye-for-an-eye thing, but he also wanted Blake alive, at least for a time. It looked like he’d get what he wanted. Except right now, as I studied his profile, I couldn’t tell what he wanted. His expression was so unreadable.

Luc?

His lashes lowered and lifted. Yes?

Are you okay?

There was a beat of silence, and I heard his response. Yeah.

Heaviness settled in my stomach as I stared at him. I didn’t need to hear his voice or see his expression to know that he was lying. What Daemon had said—what I had said—was still tearing at him. I didn’t need to read minds to know that.

You want to get out of here? I asked.

Actually, I do need some fresh air.

I started to rise, but his voice stopped me.

Alone. I’ll meet you back at the house. Don’t wait up.

And with that, he left the room without a single look back.

36

I did wait up.

How could I not?

Having left shortly after Luc, I waited for hours, but Luc didn’t show. It had to be several hours past midnight before I finally caved to the exhausting worrying that had me pacing the length of the dark house.

At some point, I’d felt the bed shift and the warm weight of his arm settling over my waist. I’d started to turn to him.

“Go back to sleep,” he’d whispered, his arm tightening around me. “We’ll talk in the morning.”

Half-asleep and surrounded by Luc’s familiar scent, the smell of pine and fresh air, I’d done just as he’d requested. I wished I hadn’t. Luc was gone by the time I woke, and it was now past lunch. I hadn’t seen him since, but a box of hair color was