I glared at him and tromped down the steps. The lights came on as I descended the last few, and the hallway spread before me. This level was no different than the prior two. More sterile maybe, more metal, colder. More antiseptic, yet at the same time I sensed an overlay of blood and death. I shuddered as the walls spun around me. I remembered these rooms.
Roger’s hands grasped mine and tugged me forward as my steps slowed. “Move.”
I lumbered to the door that opened soundlessly on my right.
How did I never notice the lack of tables up above? Stupid. When I walked in the room, the floor was angled to accumulate the fluids, with drains at every corner, recording devices evident. “Is here where you have been working?”
Roger nodded. “This is where all the work is done.”
“Why is Rezi upstairs?”
“I told you, I did not think he would get that sick.” He took off his glasses and wiped his face before stepping hard in the corner, causing a metal table to rise, with straps at the corners. “Those are the rooms for sleeping. I figured he would get sick later, and I had time to bring him down.”
“Have you been recording everything you have done?”
“Of course.”
I paced the room, avoiding looking at the table. “Where are you placing the files? We have found no records.”
“Where I always record it. To Xade's files. I thought you knew.” When it came down to it, I really don’t think Roger had a clue. It wasn't malice I sensed, it was cluelessness.
I moved toward him and touched his arm. “When did Xade take you?”
“In the 1890s he scooped me up. He said I had a natural inclination to see inside people. Then we came here.”
“How old were you?”
“I was twelve.”
“I thought you were a virologist.”
“Xade took me back home sometimes when he was observing. That is where I met my wife.”
“Were you an experiment?”
“Not until the end.”
“Why at the end?”
“He got mad at me.”
“For what?”
“For the virus on Earth not working. And then he tortured me just like you.” He shuddered. “It was horrible.”
I grabbed onto Roger's lapel. “How did the virus not work? Does this mean that some of my family is alive?”
“The virus didn't kill everyone. There was a mass immunity, and it lasted too short a time. A lot of the humans survived.” Roger wiped his nose on his shirt and kept his eyes down.
My mom could still be alive. How about that. My head spun.
I let Roger go and smoothed his shirt. “Thank you.”
He blinked. “What did I do?”
“You gave me hope.”
After I fixed his shirt, I added, “This is for my family.”
I punched him square in the nose. He let out this satisfying squeak like a balloon deflating when I did it. Plus, I felt a satisfying little crunch.
Roger sat on the floor and glared up at me as if I'd done something wrong. How did he not understand? He killed millions. The thought of that. The thought of what we were doing turned my stomach.
I forced my hands to unclench and shook out my fingers. “Stay here.”
I walked out before I hurt him more, no matter how happy that might make me right now.
Xade waited for me in the hallway with a smile, scalpel in hand.
Chapter Sixteen
Xade looked the same. His pale platinum hair immaculate like the last time we met, skin smooth, eyes wild.
“Ah, Elizabeth. There you are.” Xade’s voice resonated through me. Gleeful and malevolent, filled with this sense of power that almost made you want to obey.
Oh god. Marin! Help me. Xade.
I backed down the hallway, facing him, prepared to run.
Xade mirrored my movements, following me toward the staircase. “Being shy now? I have a proposition for you or more accurately, a counter proposition.”
The words caused a chill down my spine. “What are you talking about?”
“This is your fault. All of this death. None of this needed to happen. All you had to do was get me my grandson. Finn. Now you do not need to worry about me any longer. Texxak is here. He is the strength of the E'mani while I am the mind. It was his plan to wipe out our leading fathers and replace them.”
“Why would he come here?”
“Do not be coy, Elizabeth. You have killed more E'mani in the past year than were lost in the entire civil war. When you pulled that stunt with the hepatitis, it drew his attention. Plus, he had always paid particular attention to you. You know who his son is?”
Of courseI did.
“What happened with the hepatitis? Why did it hurt everyone?”
Xade laughed. “You mean you did not do it on purpose? It was an accident. I didn’t believe Roger when he told me. That is remarkable. Your race, ever so interesting.” He paced closer toward me in a sick dance as I retreated. “So you did not mean to hurt us?”
“Oh no, I meant to hurt you. I meant to weaken the clones. We gave you a disease that should have taken decades to hurt you. That isn't what happened.”
“No, that is not. You see, the brine comes from one source, and the clones, when they are young, they stay in that environment until needed. Once you infected the brine, you took out all of the clones. And the crystal made it worse. It does not recognize disease, only damage. Once the virus started replicating, the crystal healed the damage and let the virus reproduce unchecked. There is little you could have done that would have been more effective.”
“I did not know that.”
“Roger should have.”
My heart thumped once hard. Jesus. “He did it on purpose, didn't he?”
“Oh, most assuredly. And he made the disease that killed your people. Did you know that? Our little Roger, ever so clever. His father died of Alzheimer's. That is why he focused his research on that, but even with our technology, you cannot reverse the damages of time. Roger thought he could, and when he determined that he could not, he focused on making it fast and painless.”
“That was not painless.”
“No, it was not. He was a bit upset about that. But in science there are always casualties.”
“That is sick.”
“But true. Know this: You will wish it was me that you are dealing with once you get to know Texxak. We accepted you, cherished your differences. Texxak will only seek to destroy those same qualities we loved.”
I goggled. “Loved? You tortured us. You tore me to pieces.”
He went from benevolent father figure to fiend in a snap. “We gave you a gift.” His spit spattered my cheek. “We gave you life, we gave you knowledge. We gave you immunity from illness and disease. What more could a father give his children?”
“I am not your child.”
“No, you are Zachary’s child.” He circled around me and cut me off from the stairs.
“I am glad of that right now.”
“You will not be soon enough. You are not so different than us. We cherished you, we encouraged your differences. I realized all those years ago that by making everything the same, I could not find the answer I was looking for.”
“You wanted to cure cancer.”
“No. More than that. I wanted to cure all disease, all hate. I wanted to make utopia. I wanted a better place to raise my children.”
“Then how did this all happen?”
“It grew out of my control,” Xade said. “My friend and I, we conceived of this better world. My wife was sick. I wanted to make her better. Selmay.” His words softened at her name, near wistful. “So I made a copy and did some experiments. But then the copy died. So I made another. And another. And it never stopped. Once I started, I could not stop without my answers.
“Then Texxak found out what I was up to. And he wanted his own copy. Not for health, but for an obedient wife. One that would not cheat on him. One completely under
his control. And then his friends and so on. He was ever so much stronger than I. It spiraled out of control and then I lost Selmay...”
“But you didn't lose Selmay.”
“She might have not left me in body, but I did lose her.”
We both agreed on that. “You tortured her just like you did me.”
“To find the answers! The copies were weaker than she was though; the experiments required her presence.”
“Sometimes the search is not worth the consequences.”
He smiled. “Yes. We see that now.”
“She did love you.”
“We know. We loved her. Only her. And you were our child. If not in body, then in heart.” Xade swayed side to side. I don’t even think he noted he started to talk in the royal we. He slipped into and out of it all the time when he talked.
I needed to get out of here before he really lost it. “Let me go, Xade.”
“We will, but you need to leave Roger here. That way there can be no virus. You will make the deal with Texxak and you will kill him, or I guarantee you will regret it, little girl. I know about the ultimatum he gave you. Agree to it. Take him up on it, and then kill him like you would have killed me. I know you can do it. The rage is there. The power is there. This may be the only way we can get close enough to kill him.”
I shoved his chest, trying to move him out of my way. “I am not one of your damn clones to order around.”
“Exactly. This is perfect. Go to him. And I will give you a gift. In fact, since you are being so attentive, I think I shall give you the gift now.”
“What?”
He gestured to the door, and a couple of clones dragged Finn down the hall and dumped him at the bottom of the stairwell.
Finn had been beaten. Blood oozed from the corner of his mouth, and his hair hung down in thick, tangled waves, the texture thick and rough.
“What did you do to him?” I rushed over and put a hand on his cheek, turning his face toward mine. His eyes remained closed. No response. I glanced downward. His chest rose and fell regularly, but his skin was too warm, and his tattoos appeared faded. The clones dropped him at my feet and backed up behind Xade.
“Not me. Your beloved grandfather had a chat with him. He needs time in a tube to recover. Take him.”
I looked up. “I’m not leaving Roger here.”
“Yes, you are. He won’t even notice. He is quite simple in his own way, brilliant but simple. He did not even realize you did not know I was here this whole time. Getting information from him sometimes can be a challenge. You need to guide him. He just assumes people know exactly what he is talking about. Plus, I already locked the door.”
I stood and tested the entrance. No puff of air and the door remained shut. “So I can just leave?” There had to be a catch.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I need you and Finn alive.”
“For what?”
“Always so many questions.” Xade darted toward me with his hands raised, and I instinctively flinched until the small of my back hit cool crystal.
I can’t believe I cringed from him like a beaten dog. My cheeks flushed as I stepped forward.
He smiled and dragged a hand down my cheek.
I slapped his hand away and squared my shoulders. “What are you doing?” Why did I leave my weapons behind today?
“Do you remember the first thing I said to you?”
“You know I don’t remember that much of my time with you.”
Xade nodded and smiled at me.
I wanted to slap him so badly, but the clones watched closely. I didn’t know if the magic worked indoors, and I’d be dead before I could find out. I knew and yet I still wanted to hurt him. My fingers curled into my palms, and the air heated around me.
Xade’s smile grew wider. “There you are, Beta; that rage is perfect.” He looked to the clones around him, who echoed him in the same, creepy voice. “Perfect.”
Xade backed up with the clones following him down the hallway. “We will win this war. There is no other choice for us. We will win.”
“What war? I never know what you are talking about!”
Xade nodded and his eyes drifted over my shoulder. Maybe one of the clones slipped behind me. Too late, I felt a pinch in my neck. I never should …have…
Chapter Seventeen
The sound of my name being screamed woke me.
“Elizabeth.” Marin’s voice. So close. I reached out and my hand hit rock. Cold stone. I knew this rock.
I shuddered and came awake, flailing. No, not again. My eyes opened. I was in the stairway. Finn lay next to me, his eyes still closed, bleeding less, his skin sallow. I rolled and touched his face. No response.
“Elizabeth!”
I turned my head and the room spun. I raised my hand and touched the back of my head. Oh, now I remembered. I never should have underestimated Xade. He was never alone. Stupid. The basement. I was there.
I remembered now.
Red lights bathed the ground.
I looked up and laughed.
Bright lights and a slash of pain.
A pale dude smiling. “Elizabeth Camden.”
“Who are you?” I cleared my throat. “Who are you?” I repeated louder.
“Who we are does not matter. Who you are, that is interesting. You will help me get my family back, and I will help you get yours. What you do then will be interesting, and we do so love interesting things.”
Tears burned the back of my eyes. I glanced around at dark walls. “Let me go please, let me go home.”
“There is no going back, for either of us.” His hand brushed my forehead.
Someone moved behind him. My breath left my body; an exact copy, smiling, without the gleam in his eyes, but the same. And then another and another. What the hell?
Cold ground, rough under my fingers. A hand in my hair.
Finn’s voice. “Beta.” A whisper.
My eyes cracked open. Another pair of white eyes, not the same. Caring, with little spikes of blue radiating out. “Finn.”
The corner of his mouth crept upward. “Do I look as bad as you do?”
“Worse.”
He snorted and I smiled.
“Elizabeth!” Marin’s voice, far away.
My hand twitched and I glanced around again, gathering myself to move. Oh wow. My joints cracked as I stood and offered Finn a hand.
He waved my hand away and staggered up to lean against the wall. Typical man. I turned to the hallway. We’d been moved. I had no clue where we were but somewhere in the lab still. Maybe the second floor?
Marin shouting my name drifted through the door. “Elizabeth.”
Finn grinned. “You should answer him before he gets upset, Beta. We need help.”
I nodded and reached out a hand to steady myself.
“Marin.” I croaked. Wow, that was a horrible effort. I swallowed and wet my lips. “Marin!” I shouted as I staggered toward the doorway.
The doors slid open as I approached. Marin barreled into the room and without stopping picked me up and held me close. “Elizabeth.”
A fine tremor racked his body. I felt it against my cheek currently being ground against his chest. I raised a hand and drifted it along his face. Marin, male, mine. “I am fine, baby.”
“I thought I’d lost you. I could hear you just barely and you said ‘Xade.’”
He grabbed my face between his hands and kissed me. No small kiss this, this was full body contact, tongue in mouth, licking, sucking. A loving kiss that was not quite appropriate for all audiences.
I pushed back slightly, cheeks flushed. “Save that for later, big guy. I am fine, just a bit banged up.” I turned to the side and gestured to Finn. “It is my friend here that needs help.”
On closer inspection, Finn looked even worse than I thought. Xade had cut his hair. Normally it hung to almost his waist; now it formed spikes to his shoulders. His eyes swirled nearly completely with blue, indica
ting high emotion for him, good or bad. I knew what he went through, so probably bad. My heart twisted.
Marin’s chin dropped onto the top of my head. “I did not notice. Where did you find him?” He looked over his shoulder and called out for Zanth. The Remains tumbled into the room a few seconds later.
“There she is.”
“What happened?”
“What is going on?”
I held up my hands. “Too many questions. For now, we need to get him into a chamber.”
Finn pushed himself backward against a wall. “No! No more chambers. I need to be outside. I need to run. I need—” His breath shuddered out. “I do not know what I need, but hours in there will not make me better.” His eyes shifted wildly from one person in the room to the other as if he perceived threat. A faint growl echoed in the room. He shifted to confront Zanth when he moved toward him. Hair started flickering along his arms, and the growl grew louder.
Zanth glanced over with a raised brow at Marin and me. “What is going on?”
“He is feeling threatened and changing. Leave him be, guys.”
“Since when could he change?” Zanth asked.
I ignored him and faced Finn, scooting forward slowly. “What do you need, Finn?”
“I need out of here. Just out.” He curled and grabbed his stomach. “You will never put me into one of those things again.” His body shook and his hands clenched. I remembered that feeling.
My hand covered his. “I understand. I know that feeling, Finn. No more tubes. We have a camp outside. Are you okay to make it outside?”
“I am. I will make it. I need out.”
Marin pulled Finn’s arm over his shoulder while Zanth copied his gesture on the other side. With Finn between them, they took the stairs two at a time. Once outside, Finn shuddered and staggered to a nearby tree and screamed.
I got goosebumps watching him. I knew exactly what he was feeling. As my gaze encompassed the Remains, I could tell they did too. We circled him. Zanth’s hand drifted near his knife, Marin stepped between me and Finn, while Dela protected Erin. Werner stood next to his brother, and his tongue flicked in and out in a quick staccato.
Finn’s hands clawed the ground, and his body shifted in a quick blur. I cringed at a particularly loud snap as his legs shortened and bent.
Distant Memory: She remembered everything (Solum Series Book 3) Page 10