He shook his head. “We’re not like you alien freaks, where we mind-meld or know where the others are at every given second.”

“Last I checked, you’re a part of our alien freak family, so . . .”

Kat snapped off a tiny bar and offered it to me. I shook my head, and she popped it between those lips of hers. “So you’ve never met Ethan or heard of him?” she asked.

“There’re a lot of Origins I never came into contact with or haven’t seen since they were transferred to other bases. Daedalus has many set up throughout the world in very powerful positions. If even a few of them are working with the Luxen, we’re really in trouble.”

“Like we aren’t already?” I pointed out.

“Yeah, well, here’s the problem with that. We can pretend to be human or Luxen or even hybrid. We can read your thoughts. You’ve already had your happy ass burned by one you thought was a Luxen. Probably even twice if you count this Ethan you’re talking about, which makes trusting what you think you know or see a real big problem,” Archer explained. “Let’s say a handful of Origins who are politicians, doctors, or members of the military are really working with the Luxen. It’ll turn into a cluster—”

“So what do we do?” Kat scooted off the bed and tossed the wrapper in the trash. “I mean, we can’t be just screwed. There has to be something we can do.”

A hard tension crossed Archer’s face. “Something is being done about it.”

Kat stopped in the middle of the room, her expression a mixture of hope and foreboding. “What?”

Archer glanced over at me, and that one look told me simple words weren’t going to explain anything, and I was so picking up on his vibe that this wasn’t going to be a good thing. “Why don’t you two get changed and meet me out in the hall,” he suggested.

Her little hands balled into fists. “What aren’t you telling us?”

“It’s not that I’m unwilling to tell you.” He pushed off the desk and headed for the door. “It’s just something I think you guys need to see to believe.”

“Well, that’s not unnecessarily mysterious or anything, but whatever.” I stood and reached for the sweats I was wearing. Archer was still at the door, and I arched a brow. “Unless you want to see me in all my glorious nakedness, I’d suggest you go now.”

Archer’s eyes rolled. “No, thank you.”

Kat and I got changed quickly, and the fact that her jeans fit her perfectly had me picturing the all-too-familiar punching-Archer-in-the-face daydream, but she looked good, more like herself in the dark denim and lightweight gray sweater. Her hair had dried in soft waves, and she looked like we were going out to grab something to eat or maybe a movie.

What we were doing was so far from that fantasy it was freaking sad.

Our eyes met after I hooked the button on my jeans. “Are you ready to do this, whatever ‘this’ is?”

She nodded. “I’m almost half afraid to see what he wants to show us.”

“I feel you. At this point, anything is possible.” I stopped at the closed door and extended a hand to her. When she took it, I hauled her toward me. Wrapping my arms around her waist, I lifted her up and gave her a good squeeze.

Her soft laugh that danced in my ear was too rare. “You’re squishing me.”

“Uh-huh.” Putting her back down, I dropped a kiss to her forehead. “No matter what, don’t forget our plans.” It felt important to remind her of them.

Her eyes were a soft gray as she stared up at me. “The wedding plans?”

“Those.” I leaned down and whispered in her ear, “Because when we get shown something absolutely messed up, which I’m sure we’re going to, I’m so going to start focusing on those plans and lifting up your wedding gown and getting down on my knees.”

“Oh my God,” she whispered, and when I pulled back with a chuckle, her cheeks were bright red. “You’re . . . you’re . . .”

“What?”

She shook her head and swallowed. “A lot to handle.”

I smirked as I opened the door. “After you, Kitten.”

As she walked through, I landed a nice swat on her behind that caused her to jump and spin around. Kat shot me a dirty look, and I grinned, totally unrepentant. It was the little things in life that kept me happy.

Archer ignored that, which meant he must value certain parts of his body. We followed him down the hall and then down a stairwell and into another corridor. Up ahead was a set of glass double doors and what looked like a NASA-level command center inside.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“What you think it is.” Archer’s smile didn’t reach his odd eyes when I glared at him. “It’s the base’s command center. They’re hooked up to satellites, missiles, and all kinds of fun things in here.”

Kat scrunched her nose but remained quiet.

Archer opened the door, and I wasn’t surprised to see Luc sitting in a chair at the front, legs kicked up on a white ledge, crossed at the ankles. He had a fruit punch box in his hands.

I shook my head.

Nancy was near the front, arms crossed over her narrow chest, her face tight, like she was sucking on something sour. A man stood next to her in full military regalia with enough shiny buttons and badges to tell me he might be a problem.

The room was staffed with military folk all wearing headsets and wired in to whatever the hell they were doing on the monitors in front of them. A few looked our way when we walked in. None of them seemed surprised. There was a huge monitor on the wall in front of Luc.