“World domination?” Ethan chuckled. “That’s so cliché. So damn silly. I don’t give a damn about ruling this planet or any planet.”
I raised my brows.
“My parents were killed, Daemon. But you probably already realize that, since you know exactly what I am and I’m sure Nancy told you . . . Well, told you half of the truth.” Ethan folded his hands in his lap. “I was a part of the first group of Origins, before Nancy stepped in at a young and tender age to spearhead Daedalus.”
One of the first groups? Yeah, if what Nancy had said about them was true, the first group really didn’t have a great go at things.
“When they realized that my father had mutated my mother, they captured them. Started doing experiments. Whatever love those two might have had for each other was destroyed by the things they did to them and made them do, including my creation,” he explained without a drop of emotion. “I was a part of a limited group of Origins, and I grew up in a lab.”
“That sucks.”
That tight smile appeared. “You have no idea. I lived for years knowing that they could end my life if I did one thing wrong. Over and over, I watched other Origins, too young to really understand what they were, get taken away and never seen again. They were killed. And then I watched them murder my parents for an infraction that I committed.”
My hands, hell, my whole being itched to end this. “Like I said, that sucks, but I really don’t get why you’re telling me.”
“You don’t?” Ethan laughed, and for the first time, real emotion spread across his face. “I lived in Daedalus’s lab until I was old enough to be placed outside, into a controlled position. Not like some who were placed as senators or doctors. No. I was placed within the Luxen community, ordered to keep an eye on them.” He chuckled. “As if I would help them with anything. Or any Origin of my class would.”
“Class?”
“Yes. There’ve been roughly five classes. I was a part of the first. Your friend outside was in the second batch, and there have been three more.”
I was guessing that the last two were the ones including Luc and those freaking kids. “Are all the Origins from your group like you?”
“Like me,” he huffed, shaking his head. “You mean do they want what I want or are they no longer under the control of Daedalus? The answer is twofold. No Origin can truly be controlled by anyone. We are practically the closest things to gods.”
Wow, mouthed Kat.
“And those who are left of our class, which are few, want just what I do.”
Kat sat forward, sliding her hands off the table. “Few? There aren’t many left of your . . . uh, class?”
His gaze slid her way, and I didn’t like it. Not one freaking bit. “When you two escaped from Daedalus and Vegas happened, Daedalus began cleaning up—eradicating the Origins.”
Her brows pinched. “They said they started that when the Luxen arrived.”
“And you believe anything a human says? Of course you do, because that is what you are.” He sneered, his disgust evident, and he was really starting to piss me off. “They started cleaning house when you all decided to take down Vegas. All across the country, we dropped like flies, and it simply became time to end this.”
“End this.” I was so beginning to see where this was heading. “You found a way to communicate with the Luxen who hadn’t been here.”
“We’d been working on a way, and let’s just say we opened the doors for them. It was perfect timing.” He spread his hands wide. “And here we are. Most of the Luxen, both here and those who’ve arrived recently, answer to me.” His smile went up a notch. “I can be very convincing.”
Kat stared at him. A second ticked by. “You hate humans.”
“Loathe them,” he confirmed. “They disgust me. They are weak and fragile. They are fickle and dangerous. They deserve everything that is coming to them. The Luxen want to rule them, and they will. They already are, and that’s fine by me. I don’t care what they do, as long as humans suffer and experience everything that I have.”
“All of this . . . all of this is because of what happened to you?” she asked, shaking her head slowly. Disbelief colored her tone. I didn’t blame her. I was also shocked.
Taking over the world was at least something to aspire to. This? This was just nasty hatred and revenge and . . . yeah, crazy. How he managed to get so many Luxen behind him was beyond my understanding. How could they not have seen through what he was? Though hell, I had never seen him for what he was.
“You’re doing this just because of what was done to you,” Kat repeated.
“And what they did to others of my kind.” His eyes flashed again. “And what they would’ve continued to do, even after dismantling Daedalus and their projects.”
“But there are people who would’ve never done anything like that. Who would’ve welcomed the Luxen,” she argued. “You can’t judge an entire race of beings on what a small percentage of people have done.”
“Already have,” he replied.
Jesus. There were no words for this.
“That’s insane!” Kat’s cheeks flushed with anger, and damn, she was right. “That’s worse than how the Luxen feel about the Arum and vice versa. That’s absolutely—”
Ethan moved faster than even I could track for a moment. One second he was sitting, and the next second he was right beside Kat, his fingers curled around her throat.
I shot up from my chair, knocking it over. My form began to shift. Let her go.
His grip tightened on her neck. “Take one step toward me. Shift or summon the Source, and I will snap her neck. Let’s see if you can heal her from that.”
My heart—dammit—my heart stopped in my chest as I stared at them. He had me by the throat because he had my whole world in his hands. I forced the shift to back off and said one word I thought I’d never utter to the bastard.
“Please.” I swallowed hard, but the words came out easier than I could’ve ever imagined. “Please don’t hurt her.”
Ethan sneered into her face. “You beg for a human who wouldn’t do the same for you?”
“I’d do anything for her.”
“And I would do . . . the same for him,” Kat gasped out, her hands curling inward in her lap. “And I would . . . never be as batshit crazy as you.”
“Kat,” I warned.
Ethan’s fingers tightened, and she jerked. “Excuse me?”
“You are worse . . . than the Luxen. You’ve judged billions of people for something they didn’t do.” Her voice cracked. “You hurt my mother. She never did anything to you, and you probably don’t even know her name.”
“That bitch?” Ethan spat back. “She isn’t even worth knowing her name.”
Several things happened at once. Blue light flared from the outside, a halo that lit up all the windows and danced over the walls. The sound of giant wings beat at the roof. There were shouts from almost every direction.
Ethan lifted his head, brows furrowing in a look of confusion.
Kat kicked her chair back, swinging one leg up. Her foot connected with Ethan’s midsection. She wrenched back and he stumbled against the table. I shot toward her, grasping her by the shoulders before she could fall. I hauled her up and away from Ethan as I shifted.
The windows facing the front yard, over the sink, exploded. I spun Kat behind me, blocking her from the shards of flying glass.
Men in black with face shields landed in the kitchen like something straight out of an action flick, their boots crunching on the broken glass. Well, I assumed the military had arrived or a SWAT team had just busted up in the wrong house. The massive weapons they hoisted—PEP guns—told me my first assumption was correct.