Origin by Jennifer L. Armentrout Read Free Book Online Page A

least.”
    I turned away, curling my hands into fists.
    “Like I said, we aren’t the bad guys. The Luxen are, and you will see that I’m not lying. We are here to stop them from taking over.”

Chapter 5
    Katy
    The moment Blake and I stepped out of my cell, two military guys surrounded us. One of them was Archer. Seeing his familiar face didn’t bring the warm fuzzies. He and the other guy were heavily armed.
    They ushered Blake and me toward the elevator, and I craned my neck, trying to see around them to get a grasp on my surroundings. There were several doors like mine, and it looked just like the corridor at Mount Weather. A heavy hand landed on the small of my back, startling me.
    It was Archer.
    He sent me a look I couldn’t decipher, and then I was in the elevator, squeezed between him and Blake. I couldn’t even lift my hand to brush away the damp, cold hair that clung to the back of my neck without knocking into them.
    Archer leaned forward, pushing a button I couldn’t see because of his mammoth body. I frowned, realizing I didn’t even know how many floors this place had.
    As if he were reading my mind, Blake looked down at me. “We’re underground right now. Most of the base is, with the exception of the two upper levels. You’re on the seventh floor. Floor seven and six are housing for…well, visitors.”
    I wondered why he was even telling me this. The layout had to be important information. It was like…like he trusted me with the knowledge, like I was already one of them . I shook the ridiculous notion out of my head. “You mean the prisoners?”
    Archer stiffened beside me.
    Blake ignored that. “The fifth floor houses Luxen who are being assimilated.”
    Since the last of the Luxen arrived when Daemon and his family did, more than eighteen years ago, I couldn’t imagine how they were still assimilating any of them. My educated guess was that these were Luxen who they believed didn’t “fit” with the humans for one reason or another. I shuddered.
    And underground? I hated the idea of being underground. It was too much like being dead and buried.
    I wiggled my way out from between them, stepping back as I dragged in a deep breath. Blake eyed me curiously, but it was Archer who planted a hand on my shoulder, guiding me forward so I wasn’t behind them, like I was going to ninja-stab them in their backs with my invisible knife.
    The elevator came to a stop, and the doors slid open. Immediately I caught the scent of food—fresh bread and cooked meat. My stomach roared to life, grumbling like a troll.
    Archer’s brow went up.
    Blake laughed.
    My cheeks flamed. Good to know my sense of pride and embarrassment was still intact.
    “When was the last time you ate?” Archer asked. It was the first time he’d spoken since I’d been with him and Dr. Roth.
    I hesitated. “I…I don’t know.”
    He frowned, and I looked away as we stepped out into the wide, brightly lit hallway. I honestly had no idea what day it was or how many days I had been out of it. Up until when I smelled food, I hadn’t even been hungry.
    “You’re meeting with Dr. Roth,” Blake said, starting toward the left.
    The hand on my shoulder tightened, and even though I wanted to shove it off, I became very still. Archer looked like he knew how to break a neck in six seconds flat. Blake’s gaze went from Archer’s hand to the man’s face.
    “She’s going to get something to eat first,” Archer said.
    Blake protested. “The doctor is waiting. So is—”
    “They can wait a couple more minutes so the girl can eat something.”
    “Whatever.” Blake lifted his hand in a way that said, It’s your problem, not mine . “I’ll let him know.”
    Archer steered me toward the right. Only then did I realize the other military guy had gone with Blake. For a second, everything spun as we started forward. He walked liked Daemon, taking long, quick strides. I struggled to keep up while trying to absorb every detail of where