“But nothing bad happened, did it?” Archer leaned against the door, folding his arms. “It worked out in the end.”

“We’re all here.” Beth’s brows pinched as she ducked her chin. “Well, almost all of us. Not Dee. I’m . . . I’m sorry.” She peeked up at Daemon, who was now staring at the wall behind the bed.

“We’re going to get her back,” I said, and dammit, we had to. We just needed to figure out how.

“So . . .” Archer cleared his throat. “Do you guys know if it’s a boy or a girl?”

The change of subject couldn’t come at a better time, and I swore Dawson’s cheeks colored a little. “We don’t know,” he said, turning to Beth. “The doc said something about an ultrasound?”

“This week,” she replied, resting her cheek on his shoulder. “They want to do an ultrasound. It might be too early to tell.”

A small smile appeared on Archer’s face. “If it’s a boy, you should name him Archer.”

I giggled.

Daemon faced the Origin. “They should name him Daemon.”

“Daemon 2.0? I don’t know if the world can handle that.” Dawson laughed under his breath, shaking his head. “Honestly, I don’t think that’s something we’ve really thought about at this point.”

“No,” she agreed. “But I guess we need to.”

Their eyes met then, and it was like they forgot that anyone else was in the room. It was just them. I understood the kind of connection they had. I had it with Daemon, but I wondered if we looked as love-struck as they did.

“You do,” Archer commented softly.

Ah, well, that was kind of embarrassing.

“Yes, it is,” he added.

I shot him a look over my shoulder as Daemon growled, “Get out of her head.”

Archer grinned. “Sorry. Can’t help it.”

Rolling my eyes, I didn’t intervene as the two of them started bickering, and then it was time to give Beth and Dawson some privacy. After leaving their room, we were given a room that reminded me too much of the ones back in Area 51. So much so, I couldn’t repress the shudder that worked its way down my spine.

“There’s basically a town on this base,” Archer said from the doorway. “Houses, a school, shops, and even a medical facility. There’s a mess hall one level up. I grabbed you some sweats earlier and stashed them in the dresser.”

Daemon nodded as he scanned the room, his gaze dipping over the wall-mounted TV, the door that led to a bathroom, and the single dresser and metal desk.

“Is it really safe here?” I asked, trying to comb my fingers through the mess that was my hair.

“As safe as any place is right now. Definitely the best place for Beth, all things considered.”

Yeah, having a medical facility nearby was good for her.

Daemon folded his arms. “Will Luc really kill those kids?”

“Luc is capable of anything.”

Sitting on the edge of the bed, I stretched out my aching leg. I couldn’t picture Luc doing that. Not because I didn’t think he would, but because I just didn’t want to believe he’d do such a thing.

“And he’d really hand those kids over to her in the end?” he asked.

Archer lifted one shoulder. “Like I said, Luc is capable of anything, especially when it comes to getting what he wants. Lucky for all of us, he wants us alive.” He pushed off the doorframe. “There’s a lot more to discuss. So I’ll be back later.”

As he started to leave, something struck me, seizing me up. “Wait. Did you bring any of our stuff with you?”

He nodded. “I brought everything that appeared important, including those papers.”

Those papers. I let out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding. The papers were our marriage certificate and fake IDs. Although the marriage wasn’t technically real, it was legit to Daemon and me.

“Thank you,” I said.

He nodded. With that, Archer stepped out and closed the door behind him. I strained to hear a lock turning, but when that didn’t happen, my shoulders sagged with relief.

Daemon turned to me. “You thought we’d be locked in here, didn’t you?”

My gaze traveled over his striking face, lingering on the faint shadows forming under his eyes. “I really don’t know what to think. I trust Archer and Luc, but I’ve trusted a lot of people and that turned out bad. I hope that doesn’t make me crazy.”

“I think trusting anyone makes us all a little crazy.”

I watched him move around the room, stopping in front of the dresser and inspecting what was inside, then moving to the desk. He raised a hand and rubbed his fingers through the mess of dark brown waves. Each step was filled with strain.

Knowing that his thoughts must be with his sister, I felt an ache in my chest for him. I knew how it felt to lose someone who was actually still around. Not an hour went by that I didn’t think of my mom. “We’ll get Dee back. I don’t know how yet, but we will.”

He slowly lowered his hand, but his shoulders tensed as he turned to me. “If we really are safe here, you’d leave this to go into a nest of vipers to get my sister out?”

“Do you really have to ask that question? You know I would.”

Daemon walked to where I sat. “I wouldn’t want you to put yourself in danger.”

“I’m sure as hell not staying behind if you run off to go find her.”