“You didn’t give any indication you know ET didn’t phone home.”

What a little asshole.

“I get that, but this was out of the blue,” Kat argued.

Luc leaned back in his chair, kicking his legs onto the desk. He crossed them at the ankles. “I don’t know what to tell you about that. She may’ve known about the Luxen, got hurt, and some poor sap tried and failed to heal her. Or the Man pulled her off the street like they do at times. And unless you know some darn good torture techniques and are willing to employ them on an officer of Daedalus, I don’t see how you’ll ever know.”

“I refuse to accept that,” she whispered.

He shrugged. “What happened to her?”

Kat’s hands balled into fists. “She’s no longer…”

“Ah,” Luc murmured. “She did the whole spontaneous combustion thing? Sick. Sorry about that. A twisted history lesson for you—you know all those unexplained cases of spontaneous combustion throughout history?”

I grimaced. “I’m afraid to ask.”

“Funny how there’s not many cases known, but they do happen out in the noob world.” He spread his arms wide. “Hybrids—my theory at least, and it makes sense if you think about. Most hybrids do the self-destruction thing in the facilities, but a few do outside. That’s why the occurrence is rare to humans.”

“My friend was wearing a bracelet—”

“Tiffany’s?” he asked and smirked.

“No.” She smiled tightly. “It was just like the one you’re wearing.”

Surprise crawled over his face, and it was the first time I’d seen the little punk caught off guard by anything. “Not good.”

“Why is that not good?” I demanded.

Luc glanced up at the ceiling and then shrugged. “Oh, what the hell. You’ll owe me, hope you realize. But what you see here?” Luc tapped his finger off the stone in the cuff around his wrist. “It’s a black opal—so rare that only a few mines can even unearth these babies. And it’s only these kinds.”

“The ones that look like they have fire in them?” Kat stretched to get a better look. “Where are they mined?”

“Australia, usually. There’s something in the composition of a black opal that’s like a power booster. You know, like Mario gets when he hits a mushroom. Imagine that sound. That’s what a black opal does.”

Now this was interesting, Mario sounds aside. “What kind of composition?”

Luc unhooked the bracelet and held it up in the dim light. “Opals have this remarkable ability to refract and reflect specific wavelengths of light.”

Holy shit.

“No way,” I breathed.

“Yes.” Luc smiled at the stone. “I don’t know who discovered it. Someone in Daedalus I’m sure. Once they figured out what it could do, they kept it away from the Luxen and ones like us.”

“Why?” Kat glanced between us, her brow furrowing. “What? I don’t have a degree in alien mineralogy. Geez.”

I patted her thigh. “It’s okay. Refracting and reflecting wavelengths of lights affects us, like the obsidian affects Arum and onyx affects us.”

“Okay,” she said slowly.

Luc tilted his chin up. “Refracting light changes the direction and speed. Our friendly neighborhood aliens are made of light—well, made of more than that, but let me explain it this way: Let’s say their DNA is light. And let’s say that once a human is mutated, their DNA is now encased in wavelengths of light.”

She nodded. “And onyx disrupts those wave lengths of light, right? Kind of makes them bounce around and go crazy.”

“Opal’s ability to refract allows a Luxen or a hybrid to be more powerful—it enhances our ability to refract light,” Luc explained.

“And the reflection part—wow.” I grinned. Kat still looked unimpressed. I nudged her with my elbow. “We flicker or fade sometimes because we move fast. And sometimes you see us just fade in and out—it’s just reflection. Something all of us have to work at to control when we’re younger.”

“And it’s hard when you’re excited or upset?” Kat asked.

I nodded. “Among other things, but to control reflection?” I looked at Luc. “Are you saying you can do what I think you can?”

Laughing, Luc hooked the bracelet around his wrist and sat back, dropping his legs on the desk again. “Hybrids are good. We can move faster than humans, but with the obesity rates nowadays, turtles can move faster than most humans. Sometimes we’re even stronger than the average Luxen when it comes to the Source—it’s the mixture of human and alien DNA that can create something powerful, but that’s not standard.” He smiled, clearly enjoying himself. “But give a Luxen one of these, and they can completely reflect light.”

Kat’s lips parted. “You mean…like invisible?”

“So cool,” I said, wanting one of those stones like yesterday. “We can change the way we look, but become invisible? Yeah, that’s new.”

“Can we be invisible?”

“No. Our human DNA gets in the way of that, but it makes us just as powerful as the strongest Luxen and then some.” Luc shifted in his seat. “So you can imagine that they wouldn’t want any of us having these…especially one that hasn’t been proven to be stable, unless…”

Kat shuddered. “Unless what?”

The smile slipped from his face. “Unless they didn’t care what kind of damage the hybrid caused. Maybe your friend was a test run for a bigger incident.”

“What?” I tensed. “You think they did this on person? Hooked up an unstable hybrid and sent her out into the wild to see what happens?”

“Paris thinks I’m a conspiracy theorist with a hint of schizophrenic paranoia.” He shrugged. “But you can’t tell me that Daedalus doesn’t have a master plan up their sleeves. I wouldn’t put a single thing past them.”

“But why would she come after me? Blake says they don’t know the mutation held. So it wasn’t like they’d send her after me.” Kat paused. “And, well, that’s if Blake’s telling the truth.”

“I’m sure he is about the mutation,” Luc responded. “If he wasn’t, you wouldn’t be sitting here. See, I’m not sure even Daedalus knows everything that this stone is capable of and how it affects us. I’m still learning.”

“And what have you learned?” I asked.

“For starters, before I got my grubby paws on one of these, I couldn’t pick out another hybrid if one did a jig in front of me. I knew the moment you and Blake arrived in Martinsburg, Katy. It was weird, like a breath washing over my entire body. Your friend probably sensed you. That’s the least terrible probability.”

I blew out a long breath, concerned with what he was saying. Carissa’s going after Kat could’ve been a pure accident. Then I thought of something else. “Do you know if it can enhance the Arum’s abilities?”

Luc’s gaze sharpened. “I imagine it could if they’re bloated on a Luxen’s powers.”

Kat started to sit back, but then jerked forward. “Do you think the opal can, like, counteract the onyx?”

“It’s possible, but I don’t know.” Luc’s lips twisted in a wry grin. “Haven’t played with any onyx recently.”

“Where can we get some of the opal?”

Luc laughed. “Unless you have about thirty thousand dollars lying around and someone who mines opals or want to ask Daedalus for some, you’re out of luck. And I’m not giving you mine.”

Kat’s shoulders slumped. Damn. Having at least one piece of opal would come in handy.

“Anyway, it’s about time for you guys to hit the road.” He tipped his head back, closing his eyes. “I’m assuming I won’t hear from you two again until you’re ready to go to Mount Weather?”

“Is there anything else you can tell me?” I asked as Kat and I stood.

“Sure, I have something else.” Luc lowered his head and looked up at us. “You really shouldn’t trust a soul in this game. Not when everyone has something to gain or lose.”