The Warrior

by Rebecca Royce

  Chad stuttered. “H-hold on.”

  “Both of you can just shut up. I’ve got something to do. Get out of my way. Or better yet, go back upstairs to Genesis. Neither of you belong down here. You’re like children.”

  Tears had threatened to spill from my eyes and now they came with a vengeance. I wiped them away as I didn’t run but sprinted away from Chad Lyons and Deacon Evans. How could I be so surprised they were different? Rather than being their close friend, or girlfriend, whom they cherished, I fell into the category of mistrusted stranger. And why shouldn’t I? I’d done nothing but lie to them since I’d arrived.

  I rounded a corner, hearing one of them calling my name from behind. I didn’t even know which one of them had shouted. Apparently my announcements had stunned them enough to give me a lead. They weren’t going to catch me.

  I’d never get out unscathed now. One of them would go get Keith and Patrick. They’d demand answers, which they’d never believe. I’d probably end up being locked away.

  How had I gotten into this situation? I should have been ending Jason and figuring out how to destroy Icahn’s operation, not getting into emotional entanglements with people I’d loved so much I’d had to run away from them.

  I pulled open the door at the end of hall. Isaac Icahn could be depended on to make all of his lairs look exactly the same. If he happened to be down in this place, he’d be found inside of his lab.

  He didn’t disappoint me. I flung open the door and stormed inside. The time for subterfuge had passed. He had to know I’d arrived. We’d made way too much noise and taken up too much time.

  Icahn stood with his back to me, staring up at a cage hanging from the ceiling. I’d seen the particular restraining device before. Deacon resided in one while he’d waited to die; that was where I’d found him. The Vampires loved the cages for easy delivery of their food.

  What was Icahn doing with one? I stared at the back of his head. He liked to claim he had nothing to do with the Vampires now, save keeping them addicted to a stimulant making them lazy, thus saving more human lives. I thought the whole thing smelled like a crock of….

  “Rachel. I should have known I wouldn’t have one night of peace here once you arrived.”

  I put my hands on my hips. “You’re so predictable. What is this?”

  I pointed at the cage and walked forward. In general, I didn’t care if someone tortured a Vampire. Technically, they were sick human beings who’d had the misfortune of catching a virus making them the way they were. My own opinion tended toward thinking they were unfixable and should be treated like the monsters they had become.

  A Vampire raged against the cage, throwing himself against the bars. The cage swung back and forth. The hinges had been designed to handle this movement, as it usually held humans trying to get out to save their lives.

  “It’s a personal project.” He shrugged. “I suppose there’s no ethical reason for me to be working on it but as I tend to be able to do whatever I want, I saw no problem in taking a little time off the endless task of saving humanity to see what I could do with Vampires.”

  My ears rang. “Do with them?”

  He grinned, evil radiating from his dark gaze as he stared at me. “The Vampires must have some use. Nature would never allow a creature to form whose sole purpose on Earth seemed to be to destroy humanity. We are Mother Nature’s greatest gift. What does the Vampire do for us?” He shook his head. “Nothing.”

  “They make their human slaves mine coal to keep your research going. You couldn’t run your cloning machine without it. Seems like they do something.”

  He turned the full force of his magnetic stare on me. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear he had Werewolf blood in him. Andon Kenwood had the same ability to hold a gaze. Maybe it came as part of the psychotic-lunatic gene.

  “Rachel Clancy, are you actually advocating for keeping the Vampires alive? Are you suggesting they are worthy of life? I had you pegged in the Vampires-must-die category.”

  “I want them dead.” I walked toward the trapped creature. Without giving it a second thought, I leaped into the air, catching the side of the bars to pull myself up on the cage. The Vampire swiped at my head and I ducked. I had no idea if I could catch the Vampire virus a second time—I’d had a small dose when I’d been scratched a year earlier—and I didn’t want to find out.

  From my back, where I’d hidden it, I pulled out the stake Chad had given me earlier. I plunged it through the creature’s undead heart. It roared for a second before it died. I raised an eyebrow. Usually they didn’t make a sound, but who knew what effects whatever drug Icahn had injected into the Vampire had done to it.

  “I don’t like torture. Kill it if you want it dead. Otherwise leave it alone.”

  I hopped down after taking the stake out of the undead’s chest. No use ruining a good wooden tool like a stake.

  Icahn put his hands on his hips. “Do you know how much time I spent getting the drugs into its system?”

  “No, and I don’t particularly care.”

  “Rachel. I think sometimes you forget yourself. I brought Chad Lyons back to life for you. I put your mother back on the planet. I can take them all out again. We had a deal. You would stop interfering in my plans, and I would let those you loved exist.” He pointed to his chest. “I’m a God to you. I could take you out any time I wanted, and I don’t because I find you entertaining. If it stops being so, you’ll find yourself dead in a matter of seconds.”

  “You did.” I nodded. “You brought them all back. I’ve been wondering, lately, why you did.” I crossed my hands over my chest even though I knew it made me look weak. I couldn’t seem to stop myself. “If I really am, as you say, nothing, why didn’t you simply kill me? Why not end me?”

  “Some days I’m not sure what my reasoning was. Maybe I felt generous.”

  “Or maybe you’re not as invincible as you want me to believe you are.” I dropped my arms to my sides. “You’re losing control of things. You didn’t even know Liam, your son, had brought Andon back into the fold. You must have realized things had shifted months ago, when we first kicked your butt in Genesis.”

  “You’re rather dramatic.”

  His words dismissed me but the tic in his jaw told a different story. I continued like he hadn’t spoken.

  “In Redemption, your sons have taken over things. Your research has all but failed. At some point, whether you like it or not, humanity is going to know what you did. You could still rule here. In Genesis, you remained king. Well, you would if you could somehow set back the clock. Just what you did, in fact.”

  “Rachel….”

  I spoke louder. “Only you wanted me to know. You thought I’d be gone by now. Taken by Jason or killed by him. Why reset someone who keeps messing up your plans?”

  “I may have lost Redemption.” He took his cane and threw it across the room. It crashed with a loud thud against the outer wall. “And I’m not convinced I have. But I will always have Genesis and as long as I do, you will all belong to me.”

  Chad called from behind me. “Rachel?”

  I cringed. They’d caught up with me. Slowly, I turned around. How much had they heard? My explanation would depend entirely on how much they’d silently listened to.

  Chad’s face spoke volumes. He’d gotten two shades paler since I’d last looked at him in the hallway. Deacon didn’t appear much better. His eyes were slanted as if he tried to get a really good look at something but couldn’t quite make out what he saw.

  “Oh yes. Your proverbial heroes.” Icahn stomped to the left of the room and picked up his cane. “I guess I’m going to have to erase their memories again. You make things so difficult. I think I am going to eliminate you now, Rachel. You’ve proven to be much too troublesome to keep around.”

  I didn’t think; I acted. In two strides I’d reached Chad. I shoved him. He fell back before he righted himself.

  “Run. Both of you. Go!” I whirled on Deacon. “You b
oth have to get out of here. Out of Genesis immediately.”

  I’d done what I’d done six months ago and I wouldn’t do it again. The people around me were not toys for him to continuously reboot whenever he didn’t like what happened.

  Deacon responded faster than Chad. He grabbed Chad and tried to move him. Unfortunately, the guy I’d risked everything to bring back from death didn’t budge. I couldn’t blame my former boyfriend for his delay. He’d probably just heard he’d died. That would throw me right off my game, too. I shoved him again.

  “Wake up. You can digest this later. Right now you have to stay alive. You have to run.”

  He stared at me for a second. I don’t know if I would have gotten through to him at all, but Icahn made the mistake of starting to laugh. A high-pitched, maniacal snickering did more to snap Chad out of his stupor than my pounding on him ever could. He shook his head as if to clear it.

  Seconds later, he ran down the hall with Deacon. I took a deep breath. I hoped they listened to me. I hoped they left Genesis and didn’t return. Icahn couldn’t have them if he couldn’t find them.

  As for me, I had no intention of leaving the room. Isaac Icahn had to be stopped. One way or another. I’d been prepared to take down Jason. He needed to be ended and, all of my former feelings aside, he happened to be a Werewolf. Icahn proved to be a different problem. Even crazy, he qualified as human. Could I kill a plain old nonmonster?

  I swallowed and my mouth felt dry. I had no idea. I’d never been faced with the circumstance before. Even the Turtle, the former leader of Genesis whom I’d yet to see this time around, hadn’t warranted killing, not even when he’d threatened me sexually. Or, in the very least, implied it.

  I would kill to defend myself. Did this count? I marched forward. He didn’t need to know how conflicted I felt.

  “I’m not going to let you hurt them.”

  He shook his head. “Even if you could bring yourself to kill me, I’d be brought back within a week. And then I’d make you suffer. Come here instead, Rachel. Let me give you a simple death.” He grabbed a hypodermic off the counter. “One shot of this and you’ll pass out. You’ll never wake up again.”

  “Thanks, but no.”

  This man had made my life hell, many times. He’d doctored my memories when it suited him and ripped the wool from my eyes to show me the truth when he knew I’d be all alone in the universe for knowing. Like the Vampire I’d just staked, he saw me as some kind of experiment. How many times can I mess with Rachel before she breaks?

  Well, I had news for him. I no longer submitted to his games and if I had to kill him to make it so, well then, I’d do it.

  I stepped forward, my stake raised. I’d never killed a non-Vampire with a stake, but I imagined it worked exactly the same way. My heart pounded hard. I could feel it all the way in the tips of my toes.

  I hated this man. But could I end his life?

  My arm wrenched downward a split second before I jerked backward against a hard object. For a second, my brain couldn’t compute what had happened and then I heard Deacon’s voice in my ear.

  “Don’t do it. You’ll never manage and then they’ll kill you.”

  Icahn continued his maniacal laughter as Deacon continued to drag me out of the room. I struggled but he had held me against his chest with my feet enough off the floor to leave me pretty much at his mercy. I didn’t want to hurt him; I wanted him to let me go so I could do what I had to do.

  “Deacon.” I growled. “I thought I told you to run.”

  “I don’t take directions well, Rachel.”

  He pulled me out into the hall, his grasp not giving an inch. “How long do you think you can drag me like this? I’m not a featherweight. You’re going to tire eventually.”

  “I’m really strong. And if I get enough, Chad will take over.”

  “He didn’t run either?” Were they both morons? Had I risked everything to save people who would have preferred to be killed?”

  “He knocked the two guards upstairs out again. He’s standing watch. We’re not leaving without you.”

  My heart swelled and tears filled my eyes. They hadn’t wanted to leave me? Had they remembered? Or were they simply nice? Were...?

  Deacon interrupted my thoughts. “You have questions to answer. We can’t let you die until you do.”

  All of my good feelings plummeted into the pit of my stomach. I arched my back, pulling myself slightly off Deacon’s chest, just enough to get to some leverage. I touched down fully on the ground with one foot and kicked Deacon hard in the shin with the other.

  He cursed and yet still didn’t let go of me. “You’re vicious.”

  “You’re a pain in my butt.”

  “What can I say?” He snickered. “We all have to be good at something.”

  We moved farther down the hall, unpursued. What the hell did Icahn intend to do? Were we going to get to leave with no one bothering us? Or did he intend to send his people after us once we made it out?

  “You know I could bite you.”

  Deacon’s breath came out as a large snarl worthy of any Werewolf. Too bad he didn’t happen to be one, then I could have killed him.

  “If you bite me, I’m knocking you out.”

  I had no doubt he’d do it. The idea didn’t sound so bad to me, if I could have avoided the massive headache I knew would accompany being out cold.

  “You’re such a gentleman.”

  “I’m many things.” We rounded a corner and I saw Chad up ahead. His gaze trailed up and down my body, taking in the scene Deacon and I presented.

  “You couldn’t just ask her to come?” He rolled his eyes.

  “Listen, dead-boy, I caught her two seconds away from offing Icahn. You may not like my methods but I get things done.”

  Chad charged forward, pulling me out of Deacon’s arms. I flopped down onto my knees, the momentum of Deacon’s treatment and Chad’s abrupt handling knocking me over.

  He grabbed Deacon by the shirt, lifting him off the ground. “Don’t call me ‘dead-boy.’ We don’t even know what the hell is going on yet.”

  I rolled my eyes. What was a crisis situation without a show of machismo? It wasn’t like we might not all die or be captured.

  “Would you two just shut up?”

  They both turned to look at me. I stood up, brushing off my bruised knees.

  “You want answers? Fine. You’ll get them, but unlike you, I’m not going to behave too stupidly to live. If you want the truth, come with me. If not, stay here and get caught.”

  I really hoped they’d follow. I didn’t think my heart or my conscience could take much more.

  Chapter Nine

  Then

  “We have to break up.”

  I knew I’d been an absolute coward to tell him this over the phone. Jason and I had too much time invested in one another not to warrant a face-to-face breakup. But he scared me sometimes. I didn’t really think he’d ever physically hurt me. His intensity, however, caused me to worry about his reaction.

  So I’d chickened out. I closed my eyes and leaned against the pillows on my bed. He’d hate me either way.

  I could hear his breath coming in and out over the phone. He hadn’t spoken a word in response and it felt like hours passed. Maybe, in reality, it had been more like thirty seconds.

  “Say something.” I opened my lids and fiddled with the stuffed animal sitting next to bed.

  “No.” His answer sounded fierce and determined. A crash sounded in the background. Had he thrown something? Broken the wall? I almost asked and then thought better of it. Short and awful. I had to keep this horrible conversation brief.

  “No, you’re not going to say something, or no, I’m not breaking up with you?”

  “You aren’t ending this relationship, pixie-girl.” Jason’s tone sweetened up, like he thought he could talk me out of this by suddenly being easygoing. I knew better than to believe it. Jason had many facets and one of them included kindness. The r
est of Jason’s personality triggered our breakup. I had to remember why I was doing this.

  “You don’t get to say no. If I want out of this, then I’m getting out no matter how much you object.” I wiped a lone tear traveling down my cheek. I couldn’t let him derail me simply because part of me would always feel conflicted.

  “Give me one good reason why you’re doing this. Hold on, I’m not talking to you on the phone. I’m coming over there.”

  I sucked in my breath. “No.”

  “You don’t get to say no.” He threw my own words back at me. Jason lived right down the street. He’d be over before I knew it.

  In two seconds, I’d hung up the phone and darted from the room. “Dad,” I called out loudly hoping they weren’t already asleep, “Dad. Mom. Please.”

  Their door swung open. My mother wore her bathrobe, and she wiped sleep out of her eyes. Eleven o’clock on a weeknight, she’d been to bed at least an hour. On any other night, I’d feel badly for disturbing them but not then. I needed them.

  “What’s wrong?” My mother grabbed my arm. Seconds later, my father appeared in the robe matching the one my mother wore. They’d bought them together on some trip.

  “Jason.” I let the tears fall in earnest. Somehow I could be brave all the time except when my parents were around. If they were with me, I couldn’t be grown up. I immediately became their little girl who needed them. In this case, I didn’t even want to complain about it.

  “I just broke up with him over the phone. Now he’s insisting on coming over. I don’t want him to. Can you keep him out, please? Mommy? Daddy?”

  I’d completely degraded into preadolescent behavior. In another second, I’d be sucking my thumb and asking for a cookie. Still, I couldn’t seem to stop myself. My father nodded, pulling his sweatpants on as he came out into the hall.

  “I’ll go downstairs and cut him off outside.”

  My mother took in my arms as my father made his way down the stairs. “No, Dad.” I stopped him. “He isn’t going to come through the door.” I heard the slight telltale thump telling me Jason had arrived in my room. My parents never noticed the noise or they thought it something other than my boyfriend sneaking in through my bedroom window.