Sole Survivor

by Dana Lyons

  To kill Ivanov now would cheat nature of refining Ivanov’s DNA. Nature decreed, it’s evolution. Only time will show what Lazar has created. Time. By Darwin’s measure? Or Lazar’s?

  Either way, the wolf logic was irrefutable; there was no benefit to the pack to kill Ivanov. The detriment however, was him turning his back on Lazar and Dreya instead of trusting them.

  Dreya, Ivanov’s up here at the stream. He needs help.

  * * *

  In Ivanov’s personal quarters near the lab, Lazar injected him with his third and fourth doses of genetic editing formula while under Stepan’s watchful eye.

  “This is just a sedative so he’ll rest, Stepan, and some vitamins to help him feel better when he wakes up. I suggest we keep him in bed for a while.”

  “He’s lucky he didn’t drown,” Stepan said. “He was half in the water, naked as a bear.” He peered up sharply. “What made him go up there?”

  Lazar checked the IV. “Who knows. Perhaps this fever that caused his seizure also caused a delirium.”

  He stood to leave. “I’ll be back to check on him in four hours. Give a shout if there are any changes.” He reached in his pocket and retrieved a package of cigarettes. “By the way, I found these on the ground outside the lab. Must have fallen from your pocket.”

  Stepan took the pack. “Thanks.”

  Lazar walked out, smiling.

  * * *

  That night Quinn and the pack waited by the stream, ears ready for the human shrieks to begin. The waning moon sank into the darkness and the hours passed.

  Ivanov’s screams never came.

  * * *

  Dreya woke suddenly. A thought rang loudly in her mind through the connection she kept open for Quinn. Can we go home soon?

  Instant hot tears burned her nose and eyes. Yes. Talking to Lazar today about whether to arrest Ivanov or not.

  Staying up here until you tell me otherwise.

  I miss you! We miss you!

  Yeah. Ready to go home.

  She laughed with joy and rolled over, putting her back into Simon’s long warm tummy. He’s coming back, boys. He’s coming back. Simon lazily flexed and closed his paws around her head and licked the back of her neck. About time. Miss the boy.

  Rhys squeaked. Good. I’m tired of doing all the heavy work. He hopped over to join them, putting her in a cougar/raven sandwich. She smiled, loving her family.

  All that’s missing is the wolf, and he’s coming home.

  * * *

  Ivanov woke the next day, eyes batting open reluctantly. There’d been utter blackness for the first time he could ever remember, and his mind was rested with no images to chase him.

  Stepan slept in a chair at his bedside. The clock said 5 A.M.

  What’s happened to me?

  He was weak and wet with sweat, as if a fever had razed his body to ashes. He shook his head with no memory and no understanding. Quietly, he slipped from bed and drew on his slacks. He tucked his feet into shoes and grabbed a jacket as he eased out the door.

  At the lab, he found Lazar typing on his laptop, oblivious as Ivanov entered the first door and punched in the code. The sliding door hissed and he walked in, drawing the doctor’s attention. “What did you do to me?”

  He sat in a chair and leaned forward to hear. The doctor’s smile was fatherly, absurd on a face as young as his. Suddenly, he remembered the woman and how much he admired her beauty and strength. He gasped. “What did you do to me? I have thoughts I’ve never had before.”

  “Do these thoughts disturb you?”

  The doctor raked him with a searing gaze that left him as uncomfortable as his wild thoughts. “No.” He shifted in his seat. “They amaze me; I’m uncommonly intrigued.”

  “Is that all?” Lazar lifted an eyebrow in challenge. “It’s not too late. I can change you back.”

  He jumped forward in his seat. “No!” He clapped a hand over his mouth, astonished at his response. Dismayed, he blurted, “I’m confused. I don’t know what’s going to happen to me.” He shook, adrenaline pouring through his body, pushing him to fight or flight.

  Escape how? Fight what? My own thoughts? My feelings? My DNA?

  He looked up, uncertain, an emotion he hadn’t known since his mother sold him to Nikolay. “Will you help me? Have you made me perfect?” He dared to hold his breath, for Lazar’s smile filled him with hope.

  Lazar patted his shoulder. “I’ve made you as perfect as you can be.”

  13

  The following afternoon, Lazar called Dreya, Rhys, and Simon over to the lab. “I have something to show you,” he announced.

  When they arrived, the unfiltered micro-reads and satisfied smile on his face immediately drew a red flag from her. Warning, he’s up to something.

  As if he could read her mind, a prospect that left her very unsettled, he said, “Come on, Dreya, you’re always so suspicious.”

  “Yeah,” she said slowly. “That’s why I’m a cop. I have this inborn sense of knowing when I need to ask, ‘What are you up to?’”

  “First, evidence.” He flipped the switch on a light board and positioned a film. “This is Ivanov’s new karyotype, taken from blood within minutes of his receiving two doses. See the chromosome?”

  “It’s not short anymore,” Dreya said. “You cured his diabetes already?”

  “Precisely,” he said. “The Ivanov formula is tearing down his DNA as fast as the body can provide the nutrients to rebuild. He’s going to be bedridden for at least two weeks.”

  Dreya considered her arrest warrant. “Can you give a prognosis on his transition?”

  Lazar twitched his lips to one side, making him look all the younger. “What I can tell you is he’s growing a conscience.”

  “Ouch,” Simon grunted. “That’s gotta hurt.”

  She asked, “How’s his new conscience going to deal with his ugly past?” Pride filled his face. For Ivanov and for himself, she guessed.

  “His first order has been to dismantle his organization, and threaten all employees with double amputation if they try to duplicate his works.” He coughed. “I heard that order issued to Stepan, who by the way has given up smoking, among other unsavory habits.”

  All the news was fine and good, but her sense of dread didn’t ease, even when Quinn confirmed he would be coming home. With a chill she recalled meeting Lazar. “I remember the first time I saw you on Draco Station. I asked, where does all this get you?”

  Silence rose, prickly and irritated.

  He moved to sit on the edge of his desk like he did when they first met on Draco. She had an eerie sense of déjà vu, only the players all had new scripts. She tried to lick her lips, but anxiety dried her mouth.

  “Evidence rules the medical and scientific community. Ivanov is my second body of evidence.”

  He said the words as if, by their very nature, they were the answer to her question. She hated talking to someone who had the conversation figured out three lines ahead.

  The instinct telling her to duck radiated into the space around her. Rhys leaned towards her. Simon stepped closer in a protective position. They formed a unified link. With them at her back, she asked, “What’s the first body of evidence?”

  “Why, you are.”

  She closed her eyes. Her head buzzed with a terrifying thought darting around in ragged circles like a fly looking to land. Pressure built as Rhys and Simon’s anxiety joined hers. She opened her eyes and spoke, not because she wanted to know Lazar’s answer, but because she had to stop the pressure. “Who are you going to show this evidence to?”

  “The world.”

  The air in the room turned to concrete. Breath stopped, eyes bugged, hearts pounded with adrenaline, only with nowhere to run. She pursed her lips, hoping her brain would follow with words, but none came.

  “Did you think I wanted to keep all this to myself?” He waved at the lab, at Ivanov’s karyotype, at them. “Do you think I did all this, a normal man’s life work, just to take
it to my grave?”

  The incredible situation he’d turned her life into could easily be turned into a nightmare. All the joy, gone. She remembered from the dock this morning about the sky and a world on fire. Time coalesced into a single point beyond which she feared to tread as the realization struck her dumb.

  My life and happiness are not in my control.

  A thousand questions exploded at once, daring her to choose one. Her ears rang with fear, still she asked, “But what do you intend to do about us?”

  Rhys and Simon separated, stepping to each side. Lazar slid off the desk and took her hand. “The Nobility formula is undergoing changes, adaptations for more specified applications. At some point, I’m going public. I can’t say when.”

  He squeezed her hand. “You’re family. I’d never hurt you. I have hopes Ivanov will become the poster child for Nobility and the future. As far as I’m concerned, you and your team are history.”

  The words were everything she didn’t expect. She stumbled to speak. “You’re going to protect us?”

  “I am. But I can’t speak for others.”

  Rhys and Simon closed in, feeling her fear. Simon growled, “Then you have to protect us from whoever they are. We’re your responsibility, at the very least I am, or have you forgotten what you did to me on Draco Station?”

  Simon was puffed up with anger; she felt transition energy rising in him. Calm down.

  Rhys moved closer, enough to stare down his nose at Lazar. “You don't want us on your bad side.”

  Lazar’s expression expanded not with fear but with joy and benevolence. “You’re all so beautiful. The pack is protecting itself. As a social unit, you’re unbreakable.”

  Simon glanced quickly at Rhys. “He’s not smart enough to be afraid.”

  “Stop,” she said. They were crowding around her, and she had to breathe.

  “I’m destroying all my notes and files on you,” Lazar said. “Including Simon and his transition on Draco Station. I’ll do everything possible to shield you.

  “But understand, genetic modeling is the future, and I intend to lead the way with Nobility; you must prepare. Ivanov, fueled by his drone footage, was able to put together our crossed paths based on our redacted passports.”

  “Maybe we can do something about that,” she said. She glanced at Rhys and they mouthed ‘Stanton’ at the same time. She shook her head. “Ivanov the poster child for Genetic Modeling.”

  “He’s given consent for everything. His organization is completely disbanded, his money is to be dispersed among victims, heavy donations have been made to charitable organizations, his properties sold off or donated. His reversal is stunning.”

  “And painful?” Simon asked.

  “Excruciating,” Lazar answered. “His mental anguish is a deep well. He cries for hours at a time until I sedate him. But Nobility is recreating as well as destroying. His desire to repair the damages he’s caused is exceptionally Noble.”

  More alarms rang in Dreya’s mind as she let that sink in. Rising mischief in Lazar’s face made him look even younger, raising more alarms. Entranced, she leaned in to hear.

  “Imagine what a few drops of Nobility could do for a full house meeting of Congress, or, say a resort hosting the board members of the Fortune five hundred.”

  She glanced at Rhys. His eyebrows shot up. Simon guffawed but quickly covered his mouth.

  “You should know the last idea is Ivanov’s, and he has a resort he’d like to donate to the cause. I’m fiddling with the formula to see if it can be adapted to the situation.”

  A grin fought for the corners of her mouth. She rolled her eyes at Simon. He still had his mouth covered. Rhys looked to be losing the battle to hold it in. At once, they erupted in laughter.

  “Oh my God,” she squealed.

  “Ba ha!!” Rhys belted out.

  Simon bent over and slapped his leg. A grin filled his face. “I should have known.”

  Lazar smiled broadly, pleased with himself. “Yes, you should have. When have I truly let you down?”

  She snickered. “You’d do that to Congress?” By her assessment, Congress was a hotbed of criminality.

  “Ivanov gave me a new perspective,” he said. “I’m not so sure mass inoculations are the way to go. I rather enjoyed this tinkering at the top, or rather, in Ivanov’s case, at the bottom.”

  “But you cured Ivanov’s diabetes,” she argued. “There are thousands who could benefit from Nobility, if just that one disease.”

  “I’m working on it. So, you trust me again?”

  She jutted her chin at him. “You’re a hard man to trust, Doc.” Then softened her words by extending her hand for a shake.

  He took her hand and pulled her in for a hug and a pat on the back. “I’ll be submitting reports on Ivanov’s progress to the authorities.”

  Rhys shook Lazar’s hand and clapped him on the back. “You need any help, you know how to reach us.”

  Simon waited. “Sorry Doc. I’ve been hard on you.”

  Lazar shook his hand. “Nobility’s been hard on you. But in the end, I think we’re both better for it.”

  The helicopter ride back to the city seemed shorter than the flight that took them out. The forest shot by underneath, but it was no longer a threat. She understood the energy, knew she was a part of it.

  At the airport, she had only one desire. “I’m going to the gift shop to get clothes for Quinn while you rent a car.”

  And back to the forest they went to collect Quinn at the rendezvous point where they first dropped him off. She felt like she was coming full circle after making a crazy loop into Lazar-land.

  Every time they saw him, their lives ended up changed in profound ways that were not instantly revealed. The future remained a specter of uncertainty she didn’t want to encounter … yet. She saw they were close to the rendezvous point and she put out the call. We’re here!

  They pulled off the road and Rhys turned off the engine. The motor ticked in the sudden quiet. Next, the noisy silence that comes from a large body of nature settled over them.

  The sounds of insects and birds, even the breeze disturbing the trees filled the empty space. She felt Rhys and Simon open their minds to Quinn. The wild thread that connected them expanded, reaching for him.

  Got clothes?

  “Oh!” She jumped, startled. “You sneaked up on me!” She spotted his big wolf face in the shadows. The sliver glints in his fur gave him away. She couldn’t help but wonder if any little silver wolves would show in the forest next year.

  I heard that.

  She got out and took the clothes. He waited, thumping his tail, and licked her hand when she got there. He transitioned and shook head to foot before taking the clothes. He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss in the lips. “No little silver wolves. You’re my only mate.”

  * * *

  The flight home was commercial instead of the C-130, but just as mind numbing. Jarvis sent a car to pick them up since they left their vehicle at Dulles. They dragged themselves in the house, exhausted, and dropped their bags.

  “Oh my God. I want to die,” Dreya moaned.

  Simon stepped into his room, while Rhys and Quinn flanked her on the couch. “Who’s calling for pizza?” she asked. “I need food, a hot shower, and bed in that order.”

  “Simon,” Rhys yelled. “You’re the pizza man. Call ‘em up.”

  When he didn’t answer, a bad feeling trickled into her belly. She sat up. “Simon?”

  Rhys caught her vibe, and Quinn, and they all joined her. “Simon?” they called in stereo.

  He walked out of his room wearing a fresh change of clothes. He had switched from his smaller travel bag to a full-sized suitcase.

  “Simon?” she asked, her voice soft. He smiled, but tears filled her eyes right away. The perpetual sadness had enveloped him again, stabbing her in the heart.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, looking down at the ground. When he looked up, tears watered his eyes. “But I ha
ve to go.”

  THE END

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  Nobility Dreya Love Book 5

  About the Author

  Dana Lyons was voted one of 50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading in 2015 and 2016. She is multi-published with full length novels and novellas in ebook and print.

  * * *

  Other works by Dana Lyons:

  Transformation Dreya Love Book 1 ~ Surviving attempted murder by genetic modification left FBI Special Agent Dreya Love with a new life. Now she just has to stay alive.

  Transformation Dreya Love Book 1

  Dreya prefers to work alone. But when her friend, a senator’s daughter, is killed, she’s forced to partner with Detective Rhys Morgan, or get assigned to ‘the backside of hell.’ More deaths with bodies matching their first victim brings Interpol Agent Quinn Kingston to the team.

  As their investigation uncovers a secret genetic research program, a government cover-up, and a warning to ‘walk away,’ the case turns deadly.

  The hunt for a killer, a boutique drug, and an unearthly ingredient unite these three in ways they couldn’t imagine. Soon, they discover the truth leads to a hell they never knew existed.

  Transformation Dreya Love Book 1

  * * *

  Blood and Fire Dreya Love Book 2 ~ On a black-ops space station, a blood thirsty dragon shifter goes on a killing spree—until Dreya and her team get in the way.

  Blood and Fire Dreya Love Book 2

  Inhuman? Exceptional? Noble?

  They seek their maker.