Destiny (Experimental Heart Book 1)

by Shannon Pemrick

  I ground my teeth together. “In your dreams.”

  He chuckled and pushed on the slab more. The pressure forced me to cough in pain, and blood splattered against the wall.

  The sound of a far-off gun sounded again, but nothing came of it. “Do me a favor, baby, and tell your little man toy he needs to brush up on his aim. He was way off.”

  “Whoever said he was after you?” a low voice growled. “Now get off her!”

  Raikidan? The weight of the slab was lifted as Raikidan tossed Raynn away and picked up the slab. I slid to the ground and turned in time to watch him throw the slab at Nioush. Nioush was so preoccupied with Seda and Ryoko, he didn’t see it coming. The slab crashed into him, pushing him back, but he recovered quickly and pushed it away with his psychic power.

  Raikidan helped me up. “Are you okay?”

  Coughing up a little more blood, I looked at him and wiped some of the blood that had dribbled down my lip. “I’ll be fine.”

  The team board pinged and another member of Raynn’s team was eliminated.

  “Doppelganger is finally down,” Argus sounded in. But just as he did, the sound of bullets rang through his headset, along with his own scream of agony. The team board sounded once again.

  “Argus…” Seda whispered.

  A pang of pity for her shot through me.

  “Oh, did that particular death upset you, baby sister?” Nioush said. “I’d hoped so. I planned that one especially for you.”

  You sick shit. I knew the two never got along, but this was a new low. His satisfaction in her pain sickened me.

  Raynn chuckled as he sat up. “You’ll never win. Even if you manage to get rid of me and Nioush, you’ll never see your death coming. Just give up.”

  That made me even angrier. I aimed my finger gun at him and shot him twice in the legs.

  Raynn screamed in agony. “You bitch!”

  Slowly I walked over to him and grabbed him by his hair. I raised him up until he was at eye level with me. I was in no mood for games, and although I would have wanted a better fight from Raynn, this was good enough.

  “Any last words?” I asked.

  He chuckled. “Just a few. Bye-bye, Ryoko.”

  He pulled a small cylinder with a red button on the top from his back pocket and smirked before pressing it. My eyes widened, and I looked over at Ryoko. The ground below her burst and she, too, screamed in agony. The team board sounded for the fourth time.

  “Ry…oko…”

  I couldn’t believe it. Raynn had planted a bomb and had been able to use it on Ryoko, of all people. Numbness fell over me. My grip tightened on Raynn’s scalp as something stirred in the back of my head. I knew what it was, and I wasn’t okay with its dark presence. Raynn’s actions awoke it, and now it hungered for blood.

  “Kill him.”

  “Laz!” Rylan called in. “The other teammate Raynn brought in is—”

  He was cut short by the sound of bullets and agonizing screams of pain. The team board pinged. I couldn’t hold it back now. First Ryoko and now Rylan. Someone needed to pay, and Raynn would be that person. My shoulder convulsed, and I thought I could hear the laughter of the presence inside me.

  “Kill!”

  My pupils dilated, and my other shoulder convulsed. I looked into Raynn’s fear-stricken eyes and saw the reflection of my crazed look. My mind fogged, and I chuckled. “You’re going to pay, Raynn. Now die.”

  I lifted up my hand and thrust it through his face. Blood gushed everywhere. Only when I pulled my hand out did his body pixelate away. Slowly I turned and faced Nioush, his body posture rigid. Although I couldn’t see the fear in his eyes, I thought I smelled it. After that display, who wouldn’t be afraid?

  I chuckled again and moved closer to the two psychics. “You’re next, Nioush.”

  I could feel it trying to claw its way out; it wanted blood so badly. It wanted to be let out, to kill with pleasure like it had always done in the past.

  “What… what are you?” Nioush demanded.

  I grinned and threw my finger gun to the ground. It was useless to me now that it was covered in blood. “A failed experiment, just like you.”

  Taking my carbine off my back, I threw it on the ground. I would have no use for it against him. Instead, I drew the dagger that was still sheathed to my arm. Nioush looked down at the ground where the dagger I dropped earlier lay. Using his psychic ability, he threw it at me. I readied myself to block it, but as soon as it came in range, Raikidan grabbed it.

  “I don’t know what’s up with you,” he whispered. “But if it’s going to shut this bastard up, I won’t ask ‘til later.”

  I chuckled and took my dagger from him. Grinning, I looked at Nioush and then at Seda.

  “I will follow your lead,” she told me.

  Looking back at Nioush, I charged him. In response, he hovered higher in the air, mistakenly thinking it would help him. Turning quickly, I threw one of my daggers at him. He easily dodged, as I had expected. Picking up my pace, I veered left and used the room wall to launch myself into the air. I threw my other dagger at him, but this time he stopped it and forced it back at me. Catching it, I threw it once more, sacrificing the air I had gained. Landing, I jumped to the side as he threw it back at me. I went to rush him again, but he held out his hand and I could feel my body stop. I struggled to move. Only my eyes and mouth were unaffected.

  He chuckled. “I don’t know what is going on in that head of yours, but I don’t care. I’ll make you take out the last two of your teammates and kill you nice and slow in the process.”

  “Not going to happen.”

  He smirked and clamped his hand into a fist. My body responded by binding up in a straight position. His grin widened and a large amount of pressure pulsed at the front of my mind. Closing my eyes, I tried to force it out. He was powerful. Seda had told us Battle Psychics were strong, but this was nothing like I had ever expected. Forcing it away was incredibly painful, and I gritted my teeth as the pain increased.

  “Don’t be so impatient, outsider.” Nioush chuckled. “You’ll get your turn, if you can muster up the courage to kill the poor woman, that is.”

  “Never,” Raikidan growled.

  I opened my eyes to see Raikidan being hovered in the air. “Rai…ki…dan…”

  “Hmm, you’re much more resilient to my methods than I thought you would be. My sister taught you well.” Nioush chuckled. “No matter. I’ll just have to be more forceful.”

  I clenched my teeth and shut my eyes as the pain doubled, but I refused to give in, and refused to cry out. What was worse was that the presence was still there. It still wanted to get out. I opened my eyes when Seda yelled forcefully. A large wall slab flew in the air at Nioush. He maneuvered around it and threw Raikidan at her, sending them both through a few walls. Nioush put his focus back on me, and the pain in my head increased even more. I let out slow, labored breaths, but I was too stubborn to give in.

  “Tenacious bitch,” Nioush muttered.

  “Kill him. Spill his blood.” My eyes shut tightly as I tried to shut out the presence’s voice. “Annihilate him!”

  Then it hit me. I snickered and Nioush frowned. “What’s so funny?”

  “You…” I grinned. “You want in my head so bad. Well, so be it!”

  “No, don’t do it, Laz!” Ryoko screamed through Aurora’s communicator.

  I looked directly at him as I welcomed him into my mind, but that wasn’t the only thing I did. I let the presence loose. I could feel my face contort, and laughter escaped my lips. Although Nioush had a hold on my body, my shoulder muscles convulsed regardless. Smirking, I let every horrid memory flood through. All the pain. All the bloodshed. Every ounce of hunger for blood the monster inside yearned for. The monster fed off these and clawed about, trying to free itself completely.

  Nioush moved back, fear flooding off him in waves. “W–what… what the hell?”

  “What’s wrong, Nioush?” I snickered. “Afraid
of what you see?”

  His grip on me was fading, and I used this opportunity to gain control of my body.

  “Say when,” Seda stated.

  Nioush’s control on me was all but gone now. In one pressing force, I pushed him out of my mind for good. Crouching down, I drew a sheathed dagger from my leg. Pulling it close to my face, I breathed a little fire and lit the thin oil coating. The fire lit up the blade and I rushed Nioush.

  I sent the dagger flying through the air, but Nioush gained his composure and dodged, only to be forced to repel a blast of fire from Raikidan. Using Raikidan’s distraction to my advantage, I grabbed a discarded dagger from the ground, and I leapt skyward and attempted to slice into Nioush while he was distracted, but he easily dodged when I came near. Turning as I fell to the ground, I threw the dagger at him, but instead of it making contact, he caught it by the hilt with his hands.

  “Seda, now!” I ordered.

  My dagger in her hand, she came at Nioush from behind. He turned to face her and was struck in the heart.

  “You…” He coughed up blood. “Bitch…” Seda’s face was expressionless, and then it twisted in pain. Nioush had taken my dagger and thrust it into her back. “You’re pathetic. You weren’t strong enough to take me on… your own. You needed… your friends… to help.”

  “At least… I have friends,” she spoke softly.

  He chuckled softly. “I don’t need friends, especially if they’re anything like that woman down there. She’s not… a trustworthy one with what is going on inside her.”

  “You do not know… what you are talking about, Nioush,” Seda said. “What you saw… is what I have known for a long time… and that is not even scratching the surface of who she is. I trust her.”

  He grunted. “Trust… No one is worthy of that.”

  His grip on the dagger lessened and his body pixelated away, from the dagger wound out. The team board pinged.

  Seda looked down at me. “I am… sorry, Eira. I cannot help you anymore.”

  “Don’t worry. You’ve done your job. Raikidan and I will handle this last bit.” I smiled. “Also… it’s Laz.”

  She smiled and then she, too, pixelated away. The team board pinged again. It was just Raikidan and me now.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Raikidan approached and looked at me expectantly. I pursed my lips in confusion. “What?”

  “I said I wasn’t going to ask ‘til later. It’s later,” he stated.

  “Don’t tell him.”

  “Forget about it. It’s nothing,” I insisted.

  “Don’t lie to me. You went nuts back there and scared that psychic to death. That’s definitely not nothing.”

  I glared at him. “I don’t want to talk about it, okay, so lay off!”

  Brushing him aside with my shoulder, I walked away and grabbed my discarded carbine and then pulled out my spare finger gun.

  Raikidan followed a little ways behind as I slung my carbine over my shoulder. “You want to ask something else.”

  “Why did you tell Seda to call you Laz?” he asked. “You told me to only call you Eira because it was your name.”

  I didn’t look at him. “Ask a different question.”

  Raikidan grabbed my arm and forced me to face him. “What are you hiding from me?”

  Yanking my arm away from him, I moved my face closer to his and narrowed my eyes. “Everything.”

  My visor snapped over my eyes, and I walked a little ways away from him, ignoring his confused look. “Aurora. Aurora, are you there?”

  Static answered me.

  My brow furrowed, and I called in again, receiving the same response. Something wasn’t right.

  “I don’t like this,” Raikidan said.

  I nodded and looked up at the team board. There were three of us left. Raikidan’s face and my face were up there, but where the image of Raynn’s last teammate should be, there was a black square. “It’s all too convenient.”

  Raikidan looked at me. “You think Raynn is behind this?”

  I spat on the ground. “No, I know he is. Rylan knows who this last enemy is, so that means Aurora and the others know now as well. Now that our focus is on this last member, they’ll do anything to make sure we don’t find out.”

  “So, what do we do?”

  I sighed. “The only thing we can do is search for him on our own until we can make contact with the others.”

  He looked around. “Should we find a lookout?”

  I shook my head. “There’s no point.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “What do you know?”

  I closed my eyes and sighed. Placing my hand on his back, I urged him to walk with me. It wouldn’t get us anywhere to stand around. “I can’t be certain, but I have a suspicion of who we’re dealing with.”

  “Go on.”

  “This enemy doesn’t appear on the scanners, but it’s obvious he’s moving. He doesn’t appear on a heat sense, although he’s living. I only know of one experiment that can avoid both of those types of detections.” I looked up at the team board. “If I’m right, his name is Chameleon.”

  “Chameleon? As in the animal with color changing abilities?”

  I looked up at him through my lashes. “Yep, except this guy doesn’t just change color. An assassin-type experiment, the makeup of his DNA allows him to fuse with just about any object, becoming undetectable. This maze is a playground for him. He can move anywhere without being detected as long as he’s attached.”

  Raikidan narrowed his eyes. “How do we fight an enemy we can’t see?”

  I shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. I’ve never had to fight him before, and when I’ve watched Raynn’s team fight in simulations in the past, if Chameleon was on the team, they always won. No one has ever beaten him.”

  “But it’s not impossible.”

  I looked at him. “Nothing is impossible, really, but I think I remember hearing he had a weakness. Just like Doppelganger can’t always have copies out, Chameleon can’t stay hidden forever. He has to change back to his original form, but I don’t know the time frame he has to stay out or can be in, especially now that his ability is being boosted.”

  Raikidan pulled out his pistol. “Well, that gives us a better chance. So, what’s the plan?”

  I opened my mouth to speak, but was cut off by a blast of light that crashed through the maze wall. “Run!”

  We picked up our pace. Looking back, I hoped to catch a glimpse of Chameleon, but luck wasn’t on my side this time. We kept running until we hit a dead end. The beams of light had stopped by this point, but that didn’t mean we were in the clear.

  “What in Lumaraeon were those?” Raikidan demanded to know.

  I shook my head. “I think it was a type of plasma gun, but not sure.”

  “You can’t be sure? How can you not be sure about your own technology?”

  “I’ve been gone a while, okay? Things change at a rapid pace in this city, especially technology. When I left, plasma guns were still in the prototype phase.”

  “Fine, I’ll go with that, but what are we supposed to do now?”

  “How well do you do with scaling walls?” I asked as I looked at the walls.

  He looked at me funny. “What?”

  Without explaining myself, I backed up a little and then, with a running start, I scaled the wall. I crouched at the top and looked down at him. “You coming, or what?”

  “How the hell did you do that?” he yelled up.

  I grinned. “That’s a secret. Now get up here or I’m leaving you behind.”

  “Looks like I won’t be saving your ass anytime soon,” he muttered.

  I chuckled and watched him jump up to me. I frowned. “Show-off.”

  Now it was his turn to chuckle. He jumped when a bullet hit the wall near him. We didn’t need any other invitation to jump down.

  “You’re lucky he has cruddy aim.”

  With a grin, he pushed me. “So, what now?”

 
I shrugged. “The best we can do is to keep moving. It’d be best not to split up as well.”

  “You sure about that?”

  I nodded. “With the connection problems with the outside, I don’t want to worry if these communicators will stop working once we split up.”

  He gave a curt nod. “Okay.”

  I furrowed my brow and looked around. Someone was watching us.

  Raikidan pushed me. “Watch it!”

  I turned as I fell and observed a figure with a combat knife quickly lunge out of the wall and merge with the adjacent wall face. I didn’t get a good look at the figure, but I didn’t need to. It was definitely Chameleon. I got back up on my feet and took off. “Let’s go!”

  Raikidan didn’t have to be told twice to follow. We sprinted down the corridor and took any turn that came up, in hopes it would throw Chameleon off for even a moment.

  “Watch it!” Raikidan shoved me into a side corridor unexpectedly.

  I fell to the ground just as bullets flew through the air, and my carbine clattered on the ground. Scrambling to my feet without thinking about grabbing my weapon, I took off again, with Raikidan close behind. My pace quickened every time Chameleon reared his head in some form. I didn’t stop running until I was tired enough to need to catch my breath. “Raikidan, we nee—Raikidan?”

  I looked around for him, only to find myself alone. Inadvertently, in my attempt to flee from Chameleon, I had also managed to lose Raikidan. This is just great. Now we’re going to be easier targets. This had to be what Chameleon wanted.

  A bright beam blasted through the wall near me, and I continued on. It’d be nice to know what that weapon is. Shaking that thought out of my head, I focused on the issue at hand. Raikidan and I were separated. We could only speak through the communicators, and it was going to be harder to formulate a good plan to take Chameleon out together.

  The wall behind me disappeared when another bright beam broke through it, and I pushed faster, reminding me that the plan to take him out wouldn’t happen if I couldn’t survive. I quit running when the light beams finally stopped, and I leaned against the maze wall. My breath came heavy, and in ragged bursts. This is so stupid! I had no idea where I was, and I couldn’t be sure where Chameleon was now. He could be toying with me, for all I knew, or he had given up on me and gone after Raikidan.