“You wanted credit,” I growled. “That was not our agreement. We said no publicity until after a solution was found.” Because then no matter what the Emporium chose to do with the discovery, my father would at least benefit.
The doctor looked miserable, the sagging flesh on his cheeks reminding me of a hound dog. “That’s not the worst—well, it is for me. But someone’s also been following me to work and back. Not the same car every day, but enough repeats that I noticed.” Which, given his absorption in his work, must have been a lot.
So how much money does the Emporium have invested in transplant drugs? I hadn’t thought it would be enough to interest them even if they had caught wind of the doctor’s experiments, but apparently I’d been wrong. Or maybe his research had wider applications that I hadn’t anticipated. Whatever the reason, there was a very real possibility that the Emporium or their agents had followed him here. They might even have put a tracking device on his car.
“We are through,” I said. “Get in your car and drive away now. Fast. You rip up this address, and if anyone asks, you don’t remember it. If you’re ever asked, say you had a flat and had to stop here—whatever. But you don’t know me, and I had nothing to do with that research.”
He stared at me, his round eyes large. “What about your friend?”
“What friend?” I drew my gun.
He stumbled back several feet. “Okay, okay. I really don’t know anything about obstetrics. You can check hormone levels to see if they’re normal, but if she’s going to miscarry, you probably won’t be able to prevent it. Nothing you can do but make her rest and hope the baby makes it.”
“Go.” If my gun hadn’t already been racked, I’d rack it again for the scare factor.
The doctor yanked open his door and pressed himself inside. The engine flared to life and for an instant, I was blinded by his headlights. Then he was gone. I crossed to one of the gate columns and leaned against it. Waiting. If there was going to be trouble, a car would come soon and I’d press the emergency button on my cell phone. The night air was turning colder and already my hand holding the Sig was going numb.
A car came ten minutes later, but it was Ava’s sedan, followed by two others. I breathed a sigh of relief and stepped into view. Ava killed her engine and met me at the gate. “Something wrong?”
I shook my head. “Just a minor complication, I hope.” I explained about the doctor.
My guilt at not letting him see Stella must have come through because Ava put her hand on my arm. “You did the right thing. I can take care of her. I’ll call Dimitri or one of our friends in New York, and they can walk me through what needs to be done. I’ve had enough practice over the years. But I suspect the doctor is right. Only time will tell about Stella’s child.”
I wondered if she was thinking about the babies her first husband had murdered before she became Unbounded. Or the children she had later, who’d grown up and become old and died while she still looked young enough to be their granddaughter. It was a sobering thought.
“Where are Jace and Ritter?” I asked.
“Securing the Unbounded at the airport. They’ll go with you to Mexico in the morning.”
“You’ve heard from Dimitri and Cort then?”
She nodded. “The lab’s been ruined by fire, completely demolished, and several people were killed. But we believe the scientists got away with the records. They’re trying to find them now.” She paused and then added, “Dimitri and Cort are not the only ones looking for the men.”
“It’s Justine,” I said, my throat tight. “She flew down there days ago.”
“I know. I talked with Cort’s brother.”
“Cort and Dimitri will need help. We should leave tonight.”
“Morning’s soon enough. We’ll need to pack some survival gear. Apparently, they’re going deeper into the jungle.”
I nodded. “I’ll dump the van, then.” For a moment I thought she’d protest, but at last she gave a sharp nod. “The kids are in Stella’s second apartment,” I said, turning back to the van. “Just follow the smell of the dog.”
Ava laughed. “I’ll take care of them.”
I knew she would. They were her posterity every bit as much as I was.
I drove, glancing behind me every so often to make sure no one followed. Crossing the Hawthorne Bridge heading west, I traded the van for one of our stashed emergency vehicles. I knew I should go to Stella’s to rest before the next adventure.
Instead, I found myself driving to my parents’ apartment where I let myself in the lobby with my key. Chris, Jace, and I all had one, despite the potential danger if we were caught by the Emporium. I thought of the home my parents had left behind in Kansas not too far from where my mortal grandmother still lived. She had refused to come with us when we’d fled after the Emporium had tried to kill the family, and I didn’t blame her. Her whole life was there, and she was beyond the age of dodging bullets. So far she had remained safe.
My parents had left behind their house, their friends, and my dad’s job. They were in limbo, and I felt guilty for the disruption of their lives, but I didn’t know how to fix it. A part of me hoped that when we moved on, they’d remain in Portland under their assumed names. I told them they would be like any parents whose children lived out-of-town, that we’d just have to be more careful when we visited.
I knew it was a lie and so did they.
I took the elevator, but I didn’t stop on their floor. They’d be asleep now, my father still recovering from his heart surgery. At least I’d given him that. Our relationship had changed since the operation, though I didn’t know if that resulted more from his uneasiness with the knowledge that I’d died for him, or from my own emotions after discovering he wasn’t my biological father. Not that I would ever tell him or my mother the truth of what had happened at the fertility clinic where I was conceived.
Up I continued, until the last floor where I made my way to the rooftop. The building only had six floors, so it wasn’t very tall, but the moment I stepped outside, my heart started pounding, my knees grew weak, and my stomach heaved. It was all I could do not to drop to my knees and crawl. In determination, I walked steadily past several plastic crates and a row of dead potted plants to the edge where a short wall prevented an accidental fall. The corner had a cement post that was wide enough to sit on—if you had the stomach for it. I eased on top of it and let out a cloud of breath into the cold night air.
It had taken two months until I’d been able to get from the door to the edge without crawling, and even now I had to cling to the cement post as I sat on it, pushing mentally at the weight of the black sky that threatened to crush me. One false move and I risked plummeting—not to my death, but to a very painful, if short, recovery.
That I, an Unbounded destined to live two thousand years, should be chained to acute acrophobia was a terrible, ironic joke. An absurdity I intended to put to rest. So far, I’d had no luck. My fear, dizziness, and nausea had not abated one iota. But I had been able to force myself to the edge, and that was progress. The next time I was caught on a roof in an Unbounded struggle, I wouldn’t be at such a disadvantage.
I hoped.
After a moment, I forced myself to open my eyes and look down. My stomach tightened but I didn’t lose my dinner as I had in the past. The fact that I hadn’t eaten real food probably helped. What I absorbed in the course of a day went directly to my blood, not to my stomach.
When my queasiness settled marginally, I began sending out my thoughts, focusing first on the pedestrians below. Except that it was nearing midnight, and there was only one couple, who quickly vanished into a nearby building. Then I pushed further outward, into the surrounding buildings. My head ached horribly, but I could “see” the pinpoints of light that signaled living beings. But this far away, I didn’t get the slightest hint of their emotions.
Despite Ava’s tutelage and assertions that I was making progress, I was nowhere near where I wanted to be. Delia
Vesey of the Emporium Triad had been able to force her way into my mind long enough to plant ideas, and she’d accomplished it so smoothly, that at first I hadn’t known she was in my mind. While I had been able to insert messages into willing conscious minds, I’d had no luck figuring out how to subtly plant an idea in a conscious mind. She’d also been able to exert enough mental control that she’d prevented me from leaving her quarters at the Emporium. I’d succeeded in making it to the door, but it hadn’t been easy. Each limb had felt as if it weighed a hundred pounds. I had no idea how she’d managed that, but I hadn’t been able to control anyone physically for any length of time.
Of course, she had perfected her methods over seventeen hundred years, and I didn’t have the luxury of time to learn. Our battle with the Emporium was ramping up. They owned several seats in congress already, and there were rumors about the vice president’s son—rumors Stella hadn’t been able to disprove. It was only a matter of time before the Emporium wasn’t satisfied with simply assassinating senators they didn’t like.
On the other hand, if what history recounted was true, even Delia’s abilities were weak compared to the old days. Legend told of Unbounded with telekinesis, true precognition, psychometry, astral projection, and numerous other abilities. Now the gifts were much fewer, and some variations almost nil. I didn’t know if my own lack of progress was due to a dilution of the gene or lack of practice. I had to find out. I had to be ready.
Perhaps in this millennia-long battle, when both sides had focused heavily on the combat and scientific abilities, only the knowledge to unlock my particular ability had been lost. After all, Oliver was three generations from his closest Unbounded progenitor, and his illusion had been lifelike with no training at all. The knowledge had been in his genes all along, his terror the key. So sitting in this place where I feared falling, maybe I could not only defeat my acrophobia but access my own key.
A long shot, yes. Irrational, maybe. But I was running out of options.
Frowning, I let go of my death grip on the edge of the freezing cement and rubbed my right ankle, itching now beneath Keene’s bandage. There was no pain. Slowly, I unraveled the gauze and removed the splint, followed by more gauze, saturated with dark blood. Underneath the last layer, the skin had knitted together, leaving no scar or sign of damage. Okay, so there were perks to being Unbounded that I sometimes took for granted.
The night was cold, too cold, and I wouldn’t be able to last out here much longer. While it technically wouldn’t cause my death, I could freeze.
I had one more thing to try tonight. I kept thinking that if I could stand on this cement post, maybe I’d finally conquer my fear. Besides, my backside was so numb with cold I could no longer feel it, despite the warm interior padding of my leather coat. I took a searing breath and held it, inching one knee onto the cement.
I made it to both knees before dizziness forced me back down. I slid into a quivering heap, not on the post, but onto the roof next to it. Drawing my knees to my chest, I curled in on myself for a long moment. Maybe it was time to go home. Well, I had no place to call home now, but I should get to Stella’s. Ava might have news for me.
Except that I was no longer alone on the roof. Someone had breached the door. I could feel the pulsating of a life force, though a barrier over the mind prevented me from receiving any emotion.
Unbounded, I thought.
UNBOUNDED OR SOMEONE WHO KNEW about us, or about me in particular or he wouldn’t be here on this roof. But no one had followed me.
I eased toward a long plastic crate with a greasy exterior. The lid came off easily, and from underneath an old blanket, I withdrew two of the four-foot pieces of especially hardened wood I kept inside. One of these I placed on the rooftop in easy reach—a backup in case I lost the first in battle. I had my gun, of course, but depending on who my visitor was, I’d try to get rid of him the old-fashioned way. It was a lot easier taking a prisoner who could walk than hauling out a limp body. Besides, I’d already killed a man tonight, and I hadn’t even examined my feelings about that. I felt changed somehow—and not in a good way.
My body tingled with alertness. With the curequick and the time that had passed since the fighting, I felt remarkably better. My ribs didn’t even ache. Part of my sudden well-being was the spurt of adrenalin that accompanied me during each confrontation since my Change. As if my body longed for the battle.
I didn’t fight it. Whoever tracked me here was going to seriously wish they hadn’t found me.
A figure came into sight and the urge to fight increased. I knew that shape only too well, despite our time apart. I also recognized the mind barrier now, hard and unyielding. Determined. Yet if I got close enough, it was one of the few I had managed to breach momentarily.
Maybe I wasn’t such a failure after all.
He was going to pay. I jumped up from my crouched position. “So you’re following me now? Guess that means your GPS locator is working.” I meant to sound strong and flippant, but I’d forgotten I was on the roof and my sudden change in height sent my head spinning. I had to get away from the edge. Gripping my stick and picking up the second as well, I took several large steps forward.
“You said we’d talk later,” Ritter said. “It’s later.”
“Well, that’s kind of stupid. Later could mean next year or next decade.” I could see him now, barely illuminated by the light coming from several taller buildings. Unlike me, he’d taken the opportunity to change clothes; though his jeans looked the same, they were no longer stained with blood. The darkness worked in my favor up here because away from the edge I could pretend we were in the workout room instead of on a roof where I might fall. I tossed him one of the sticks. They weren’t quite bo staff size, being shorter and thicker, but close enough, and they did a lot less damage than a handgun. We needed to save some energy for the Emporium agents in Mexico.
I swung a test blow, and he brought his stick up forcefully, knocking me back. He arched a brow. “That’s how you’ve been training?”
The stupid, self-satisfied jerk. “I guess without you around we’re all helpless.” I slammed the stick at him again, whirling and whipping it to gain more power. He barely brought up his weapon in time. Ha, take that! He countered with an attack of his own that my eyes could scarcely follow, but I was ready with a series of moves Jace and I’d worked on for weeks. I feinted, stepped to the side, feinted again, launched into a fancy form that was meant for show, not battle, stopping short to whirl and slam the stick into my opponent. Ritter let out a grunt of pain.
Score!
“Maybe you have learned a thing or two.” His voice told me I was in trouble now. Well, let him do his worst. I might not be able to beat him or even touch him again with the stick, but I wouldn’t give up either.
I barely blocked his next blow and the next. I stepped backwards, scrambling for purchase. I feinted before my next strike and we met solidly, my arms vibrating with the shock. Ouch.
On and on we went, thrusting and parrying. Sweat trickled down my neck and into my shirt. Ritter was poetry in motion. How could he be so fierce and beautiful at the same time?
“Be careful,” he said, holding back on a jab that I wouldn’t have been able to block. “You’re near the edge.”
I glanced behind me, saw the drop, the apartment lights running down the next building. The black sky seemed to crash over me with a weight of a thousand gravities. “Oh, crap!” I dropped my stick and sat down inelegantly. Breathe. You are not on a roof. Breathe.
Ritter sat beside me, and he didn’t speak, for which I was grateful. Otherwise, I might throw up on him, making a bad situation worse. I should have known better than to spar with him here.
What was I trying to prove anyway? It wasn’t like I’d ever be able to beat him.
We sat in silence while our sweat cooled and our body heat became numbness. “We should go back,” I said when I could no longer feel my toes or fingers. “Ava will worry.”
Actually, Ava would know where we were if she checked her GPS locator, so she wouldn’t be concerned. At first being trackable had worried me, but we weren’t in danger of being traced by anyone from outside because each chip emitted a constantly changing pattern programmed and regularly changed by Stella. I sometimes resented the intrusiveness, but I knew where the locator was in my arm—and how to remove it if I really wanted to.
Ritter’s jaw tightened briefly before he spoke, emphasizing the shadow of a beard that was beginning to show on his face. “Why are you so angry? What’s changed?” The cut on his eye was gone, though there was a slight droop below his left eye, not a defect that his Unbounded genes would have fixed, but part of his genetic makeup.
“Angry?” I clenched my fists. “You know what, figure it out for yourself.” I jumped to my feet—well, at least I got to my feet, which given the circumstances was a tremendous accomplishment. Grabbing my stick, I swung, not holding back. His stick went up, blocking.
I retreated toward the door, away from the edge, until I no longer felt the huge pressure of the sky overhead. I still felt like throwing up, but I’d grown accustomed to that feeling and it wouldn’t hamper me too much. It was the main reason I came up here.
He lunged, and I blocked. I lunged, and he blocked.
“Not bad,” Ritter said. “You’ve been practicing.”
No thanks to you. I smirked. “Ava and Dimitri are good teachers.”
“Of course they are. I trained them.”
Leave it to him to take credit, though he’d abandoned all of us.
Our sticks met in a solid clack! I stumbled backward, falling to the cement that lined the rooftop, one elbow in a gutter that ran to the edge. He was on me in an instant, his weight pinning me. I was no match for him. Not even in two hundred years would I be.
The Cure Page 10