The Brightest Night (Origin #3) - Jennifer L. Armentrout Page 0,196

through a lot, many even before the invasion. This wasn’t going to be a Disney movie come to life.

“Yep.” Daemon finished lacing up his boots. I hadn’t expected him to volunteer, but he’d insisted on it. So had Kat.

Luc nodded. “Been ready. Just had to wait for Daemon to figure out how to tie his shoes.”

Smirking, Daemon straightened and then turned to where Kat stood, holding a rather alert baby Adam. He took the small child from her, cuddling him close as he kissed the baby’s cheek. “Can you say, ‘Uncle Luc is a dick’? Huh? Say—”

“Daemon,” Kat admonished, eyes widening.

“First off, I’m not his uncle. I am his godfather, thank you very much.” Luc arched a brow, and I felt like I’d missed that announcement. “Secondly, I’ll teach him better insults than that.”

Kat whipped around. “No, you won’t.”

The kind of smile that crept across Luc’s face said he was so going to do exactly what he said.

I honestly couldn’t even begin to figure out Daemon and Luc’s friendship. They went from throwing punches to joking around like nothing had happened. It had to be a boy thing.

Or an alien thing.

“That kid has no chance,” Archer said from where he sat with Dee. They’d be joining Eaton at the warehouse.

I cracked a grin even though my stomach was in knots. So many what-ifs were circling around in my head. What if Nate changed his mind? What if he couldn’t convince all the kids? What if Morton—

“It’ll be okay.” Luc draped an arm around me, tugging me into his side. “We’re going to get them out. All of them.”

Kat took the baby back from Daemon, and Adam promptly dropped his chubby cheek to her chest. “It’s time to talk about what we are going to do with this guy. If he is using those kids and hurting them? If he’s possibly killed others? He can’t come here.”

There was a reason why everyone waited until Cekiah and everyone else was busy to bring this up.

“I know,” said Luc. “He’s not coming back here.”

“Zoe and Emery are going to lead the kids back here. We’re hoping they’ll go with them,” I said.

Plastering a giant smile across her face, Zoe clasped her hands together. “They will. I have a very trusting face.”

Heidi looked up at her from where she sat on the arm of the couch. “Please do not smile like that when you see them. You’re going to scare them.”

Zoe’s eyes narrowed.

“If not, I’ll have to go with them,” I added, thinking that would be a high likelihood if Zoe did her flailing-arm thing.

“And then what?” Dee asked, her long, dark hair swept back from her face.

“And then we handle Morton,” Luc said. “One way or another, he will not be a problem.”

Kat looked around the room as she folded her hand behind her son’s head. She nodded, and just like that, everyone here, including Eaton, accepted the inevitable.

Blake may not die tonight.

But someone would.

I stopped my mind several times over from really thinking about it. Morton may deserve it. Just like Blake. But killing someone was still ending a life, and a twisted part of me really hoped Morton gave us a reason to do it. Killing someone in self-defense was a whole lot easier to swallow.

“Still not a fan of any of this,” came a mutter from the corner of the room. I didn’t have to look. It was Grayson, the final member of our six-person crew.

Frankly, Grayson was the last person I’d take if I didn’t want to scare anyone.

Luc snorted.

I looked up at him, and he grinned as he said, “I don’t think you’re a fan of much, Gray.”

“We don’t know these kids.” He peeled away from the wall and stepped forward. “Where they’ve been or where they’re from.”

Kat lifted her brows. “You make it sound like they have cooties.”

“Well, there’s a good chance they may have lice,” Luc said, and my stare turned into a glare. “Hey, it’s possible. No judgment here.”

“He’s right,” Dee said, dropping her elbows to her knees. “There’s a lot we don’t know, but you know they’re human, and if this is somehow some sort of trap, those kids are still being used and they still need our help.”

“What kind of trap could it even be?” Kat asked, gently bouncing the baby. “If it was the Daedalus, do you really think we’d be standing here having this conversation?”

Daemon shook his head. “It’s one thing to have kids hidden in the city and entirely another