Origin by Jennifer L. Armentrout Read Free Book Online

anyone, you need to get pissed at him. He put you in this situation.”
    Blake had stunned me into immobility. “You’re freaking nuts. You’re blaming Daemon for this? He saved my life. I would’ve—”
    “He mutated you, knowing that he was being watched. He’s not stupid. He had to know that the DOD would find out.”
    Actually, he and his family hadn’t known about hybrids until I turned into one. “It’s so typical of you, Blake. Everything is everyone else’s fault.”
    His eyes narrowed, and the green flecks deepened. “You don’t get it.”
    “You’re right.” I knocked his hands off my face. “I’ll never get it.”
    Backing off, he shook his head as I climbed out of the shower stall. He reached over, turned off the water, and grabbed a towel, tossing it toward me. “Don’t try to hit me again.”
    “Don’t tell me what to do.” Using the towel, I tried to dry off as best I could.
    He clenched his fists. “Look, I get it. You’re pissed at me. Great. Get over it, because there are more important things to focus on.”
    “Get over it?” I was going to choke him with this towel.
    “Yes.” He leaned against the closed door, eyeing me warily. “You really have no idea what’s going on, Kat.”
    “Don’t call me that.” I dabbed at my clothing angrily and uselessly.
    “Are you calmed down enough? I need to talk, and you need to listen. Things are not what you think. And I wish I could’ve told you the truth earlier. I couldn’t, but I am now.”
    A strangled laugh escaped me as I shook my head in disbelief.
    His eyes narrowed, and he stepped forward. My back straightened in warning, and he didn’t come any closer. “Let’s get one thing clear. If Daemon was locked up somewhere, you would’ve thrown everyone and baby Jesus under the bus to free him. That’s what you think I did. So don’t act like you’re better than me.”
    Would I? Yes, I would, but the difference between us was that Blake was looking for acceptance and forgiveness after he told more lies than truths. And to me, that was bat-shit crazy.
    “You think you can justify this? Well, you’re wrong. You can’t. You’re a monster, Blake. A real living and breathing monster. Nothing, no matter what your intentions are or what the real truth is, will ever change that.”
    A tiny flicker of unrest shone in his steady gaze.
    It took everything in me not to rip the towel rod off the wall and shove it through his eye. I tossed the towel aside, shaking more from anger than the wet coldness seeping through my clothes.
    He pushed off the door, and I took a step back, on guard. He frowned. “Daedalus aren’t the bad guys here.” Opening the bathroom door, he headed out. “That’s reality.”
    I followed him. “How can you even say that with a straight face?”
    He sat on my bed. “I know what you’re thinking. You want to fight them. I get that. I do. And I know I’ve lied to you about almost everything, but you wouldn’t believe the truth without seeing it. And once you do, things will be different.”
    There was nothing in this world that they could show me that would change my mind, but I also recognized the futility of fighting him on this. “I need to get dry clothes on.”
    “I’ll wait.”
    I stared at him. “You’re not staying in here while I get dressed.”
    He glared in annoyance. “Get changed in the bathroom. Close the door. Your virtue is safe from me.” And then he winked. “Unless you want that to change, and I’m so down for that. It does get boring around here.”
    My palm itched to wrap around a very unladylike place and twist. The words that came out of my mouth were my own. I felt them. I believed them.
    “I’m going to kill you one day,” I promised.
    A wry smile appeared on his face as he met my stare. “You’ve killed, Katy. You know how it feels to take a life, but you aren’t a murderer. You aren’t a killer.” He caught my sharp inhale with a knowing look. “Not yet, at