Strain of Vengeance (Bixby Series Book 3)

by Michelle Bryan

  “Looks like he’s having some sort of fucking seizure,” Dom yells over his shoulder as he bends over Sam. I bite back the “No shit, Sherlock,” on my lips, because I think I know deep down what’s happening to Sam. I just don’t want to voice it. Saying it out loud makes it much more real.

  “Umm, guys. More leeches inbound.”

  Gordo’s right. The sound of gurgling and pounding feet rebounds down the tunnel, drawn by the noise and smell of blood.

  “Grab his feet,” Luke orders Dom as they lift Sam’s still quivering body and carry him through the door, Amy and I stuck to them like glue.

  Gordo shuts the door behind us and slams the metal latch down just as a volley of thumps ricochet off the door. The leeches launch themselves against it in a frenzy to break through. Gordo stumbles back in fear, and I catch him before he falls down the metal stairs behind us.

  “Sammy.” Amy’s cry pulls me back to the crisis at hand. Luke and Dom lay Sam at the end of the metal walkway, away from the shock filled eyes of the survivors below us. I catch Cookie below in the glow of the lanterns. She’s pacing back and forth in the front of the huddled group, taking care of wounds and keeping everyone calm. She has everything under control. I make my way to where I’m needed the most.

  Sam’s shaking has subsided, although his eyes remain shut and his face etched with pain. I crouch down, oblivious to Luke and Dom’s questioning gazes, and take his hand gently in mine.

  “Sam,” I say softly. No response.

  “What the hell happened to him?” Robyn asks as she joins us.

  “Hell if I know,” Luke sighs and runs a hand over the back of his neck. “One minute he’s taking out those things, next he’s on the ground shaking like a leaf. He wasn’t even near the leeches for them to hurt him in any way.”

  “Like I said earlier, looks like some sort of seizure. Does he have epilepsy or some shit?” Dom’s eyes seek me out.

  I swallow my fear, knowing what I must do right now. None of them are going to like what I have to say. Especially not Dom. I’ll probably have to stop him from shooting Sam on the spot. But I can’t hide this anymore. My crew needs to know what’s happening with Sam. They need to know everything.

  “Gordo, can you take Amy down to Cookie?” I ask as I stand back up.

  “No,” Amy objects as she hovers protectively over her brother. “I want to stay with Sammy.”

  “He’s hurt right now, Ames,” I say to her gently as I tug on a curl. “We need to help him. I swear I’ll let you know as soon as he wakes up, okay?”

  Her tongue protrudes from her lips in that stubborn manner I know so well but Gordon steps in.

  “Come on kiddo, trust Bix. Let’s go see if we can help Cookie.”

  She takes the hand Gordon offers and walks with him down the stairs, throwing a hesitant glance over her shoulder at her brother.

  “It’s not epilepsy,” I say as I lay a casual hand on the knife at my hip and look around at the faces surrounding me. “I think this is a result of killing the hybrids.”

  “What the fuck does that mean?” Robyn’s brow furrows in puzzlement.

  I hold my other hand up, stopping the million questions about to erupt. “Let me explain. There’s something you need to know.”

  My gaze flits to Luke, and he nods at me as if he knows what I’m about to say and urges me on. Only he has no idea of the bomb I’m about to drop.

  “We may have Sam back, but he’s not the Sam we remember. That time he was missing? He was being held in one of those mutating pods. Him and the bunch we found him with at the farm.”

  I wait for their angry replies, but all I get from Robyn is a shrug of indifference. “We kind of already figured that out. We’re not stupid.”

  Dom crosses his arms and narrows his eyes at me. “There’s more though, am I right?”

  “Yeah, there’s a hellava lot more. He has no idea why they didn’t mutate like the other hybrids we’ve seen. He thinks it’s because they were awoken from their stasis earlier than they should have been. Something woke them all up. He described it as being ripped away from something. Maybe the hive mind that the docs told us about? I’m not sure. It’s way too much for my little brain to comprehend. But I do know one thing. That night we both disappeared from the barn on the way back from Ottawa? Sam left first, and I followed him. He met with a queen leech. No, met isn’t the correct word. He was drawn to the presence of a queen leech. He says the leeches have a connection with him.” I take a deep breath and glance around once more, watching the faces harden. “They can get in his head. Control him. I think it happened out there in the subway. They were in his head. I don’t know how he managed to break their control and take them out. I’m truly thankful he did. But I believe he was still mentally connected to them when he did, so their pain became his. It was too much for him to handle, so this was his body’s way of dealing with the pain. It shut down. That’s what I think.”

  A silence follows my confession. They don’t need to say what they’re thinking; I can read them all like a book. My eyes search out Luke, waiting for the look of wounded anger at the secret I’ve been keeping. He doesn’t disappoint.

  “Are you sure about this? You know for a fact those things can control him?”

  “Yeah, I’m sure. Saw it with my own eyes. That hybrid attacked me that night and would have killed me, too. Only luck saved me. Sam watched it all happen, controlled by the leech and unable to help me.”

  “Are you fucking pulling our leg right now?” Dom grounds out through gritted teeth. “Those creatures can get in his head, and you’ve known about it and haven’t told us?”

  I nod and swallow hard, knowing no words can explain away what I’ve done.

  “What were you thinking, you idiot?”

  For the first time ever, I don’t argue with Dom. He’s right. I’m an idiot.

  “She wasn’t thinking,” Robyn adds, and I’m surprised I hear no accusation in her voice. “Not with her head, anyways. She was thinking with her heart. Love makes us do stupid things.”

  “Love?” Luke growls in anger, and I can’t even look his way. I don’t want to face him. “That’s not love. That’s sheer stupidity. She put us all at risk. McKinley has a connection to those things. He’s drawn to them. They control him. We can’t let him near us. Not anymore. He’s a risk to all of us.”

  “Whitman’s right,” Dom agrees, giving me an angry glare. “He has to be dealt with. For all we know, he’s the reason those bastards showed up here today.” I didn’t realize he’d picked up Gordon’s gun after Sam dropped it, but he now lifts it to his shoulder and points it Sam’s way. I step closer to Sam, pulling my knife.

  “Sammy didn’t bring those monsters here.” Amy stands glaring at us, hands on her hips and her usually light eyes dark with anger. In our heated discussion, we hadn’t noticed her come back up the stairs. She points a finger at Dom. “Don’t you dare blame him for that. And don’t you dare hurt him. Those bad monsters didn’t come here because of him. They came because of me. I told them you were coming.”

  Chapter Six

  “Why are you pointing a gun at me?”

  Amy’s declaration had made me forget all about Sam. A wave of relief washes over me as he wakes, but the others aren’t as happy. I tighten my grip on the knife and stand in front of Sam as I glare at Dom. “Put that away.”

  “Like hell I will. If he’s one of them…her too.” The gun wavers back and forth between Sam and Amy.

  “Don’t you point that fucking thing at her,” I growl, tensing to tackle Dom and take him down if I have to, but Sam grabs my shoulder as he gets to his feet. He’s a bit wobbly, but he manages to stay upright with my help.

  “I take it you told them my secret.”

  “Not like I had a choice, Sam,” I huff over my shoulder. “You screamed and passed out like a little girl right after you took those things down.”

  “And since we just found out they can get in your head and control you, y
ou should understand why there’s a gun pointed at you. Did you bring them here? Is Amy covering for you?” Luke’s tone is harsh, and I turn my warning glare on him.

  “Give him a moment to gather his wits. He just had a breakdown of some sort.”

  “It’s okay, Bix.” Sam squeezes my shoulder a little tighter. “They deserve an explanation or at least the side of the story I understand.” His eyes move warily over Dom and the rifle. “But only if you put that thing down.”

  Dom, stubborn bastard he is, keeps it pointed at us, but finally Badger takes it out of his hands.

  “Okay. Yes, they get in my head. I can hear them, quite clearly at times. And yeah, they did control me at first. But not anymore. I can fight back now. I figure taking both those bastards down is proof in itself.”

  “Can’t argue that,” Robyn says, and I stare back at her in surprise again. “Besides, the kid over here is saying she’s the one that brought them here, not him, whatever that means. You guys are one messed up family is all I know.”

  Sam follows Robyn’s pointing finger and his eyes widen.

  “Ames,” is all he manages to get out before she nearly bowls him—and me—over in the process.

  “Sammy.” Amy’s blubbering is muffled as she buries her head in his shoulder, her back heaving with her sobs of joy. Her pure happiness at seeing her brother makes my own eyes mist, and I blink hard, trying to keep the tears at bay. I can’t show any weakness. Not right now. Not with tensions being so high. For a moment, I forget about Amy’s troublesome words and bask in their reunion.

  They hug each other tight, Sam running his hands over his little sister’s hair like he can’t believe she’s actually standing in front of him. Finally, she pulls back and beams up at him.

  “I always knew you were okay, Sammy. I knew it.” She smiles through her tears, and Sam wipes them away with his thumbs on each cheek.

  “As touching as this reunion is, we have a more serious issue.” Luke seems oblivious to Amy’s happiness, and I shrivel a little inside with the realization of how much he’s changed over these past few weeks. “McKinley, you’re lucky we haven’t shot you by now. Give me one good reason we shouldn’t throw you back into that tunnel of leeches.”

  Sam gently pushes Amy to the side and stands up taller, facing Luke. “Because you’d be stupid to do that. You’re missing out on the one key component of this whole debacle. I’m a queen leech detector, for crying out loud. I can tell you when they’re near, so you can avoid them. Good enough reason?”

  “It’s true,” I say, backing Sam up. “I’ve seen proof of it.”

  “Not good enough, Whitman,” Dom hurls at Luke. “He’s too much of a risk. What if those things crawl into his head while we’re sleeping and tell him to slit our throats? You want to take that chance?”

  “It doesn’t work that way, idiot,” Sam growls. “They have to be really near for their control to work, and I can sense them long before that. Plus, they don’t think like we do. I don’t know how to explain it, but their thoughts are not as developed as ours. Theirs are much simpler, filled with basic drives and needs.”

  “Oh, that makes me feel so much better… not.” Dom’s words drip with sarcasm. “By your own accounts, you’re infected. Can you infect us with the same thing? Is your sister infected, too? What did she mean she told them we were here?”

  A murmur from below tells me the others are paying much more attention to us than I thought.

  “Keep your voice down, prick.” I glare at Dom. “We don’t want to cause a panic. And of course Amy didn’t tell the leeches we were here. She just said that to try and save her brother. Duh.”

  Before Dom can reply, Morley bounds up the stairs and points to the door. Thin wisps of smoke seep through from underneath and swirl up to disappear into the gloom above us. “I don’t know what you guys are debating up here, but I think it’s time we move. That fire is not dying out anytime soon. We need to get out in the open.”

  “He’s right,” Luke interjects. “Everyone reload and let’s get our people out of here. We’ll head for the safe house on Tanner Street.”

  “Tanner Street?” I question. “That’s a four hour walk at least. Our people need food, water, medical assistance. Half of them won’t make a four-hour walk.”

  “So what the hell you suggest, Bix? Hunker down here with no food or water and a fire burning on the other side of that door?”

  “I have a solution,” Morley interjects. Dude is fucking full of solutions it seems. “Our base is not far from here. Very little food but we have water we can share. Least we can do in return for you guys helping get our people out as well.”

  Luke nods. “Sounds good to me. All in agreement?”

  Everyone on the walkway nods. I’m just happy to have their attention taken off Sam for a moment. But that relief is short lived.

  “What about him?” Dom points his chin toward Sam.

  “He goes with us, for now. If what he and Bix say is true, then he may just come in handy.”

  Dom doesn’t try to hide his grunt of disapproval, but he doesn’t argue. I, on the other hand, don’t stay as quiet.

  “If?” I ask. “You don’t believe me?” The words are out before I can stop them, and I try to conceal my hurt. Save my shredded dignity. Luke has every damn reason not to trust me, but hearing him say it out loud wounds me, since there was a point in time when he took my word like gospel.

  “If,” he reiterates. “Seems like this wouldn’t be the first time you’ve lied to us.”

  I’m quick to anger, but Sam’s hand on my arm quells my snarky response. “Pick and choose your battles, Bix. Now’s not the time.”

  He’s right. At least they’re letting Sam go with us. Could have been a much worse outcome.

  “Understood. I’ll start getting everyone ready to move out.” My words are cold. Emotionless. If Luke wants to treat me like a pariah, then two can play at this game. Only thing is it’s not a game I really want to play.

  Morley’s base really wasn’t that far from the subway but traveling with our people slowed us down big time. Even Badger, Mike, and Tina had time to catch up with us before we made it there. Luke allowed a few moments for a reunion. At least he hadn’t gone completely emotionless. Tina was thrilled to see her kin, and Badger had been at the Grand from day one. He had a lot invested in these people. It hadn’t taken Badger long to notice everyone wasn’t there, though, and I had to be the bearer of bad news once again. Gunner had taken some of our people away. Not the sort of news one relishes telling.

  While Luke, Dom, and Morley lead the front of the pack of somber travelers and the rest of the crew flank the sides, I stay at the back with Sam and Amy. They are the only two able to look me in the eye right now. Sam’s predicament had quickly been outlined to Mike and Badger, and I can see their questioning looks as they glance back every few feet like they expect Sam to grow claws and attack. The strain of everything he’s been through shows on Sam’s face, and I can’t help my need to comfort him. I reach out and snag his fingers in mine, and he glances over in surprise.

  “You sure you want to be seen touching me? When they finally agree to outcast me, you may feel the residual effects of that.”

  I shrug. “Hey, it’s the least I can do to thank you for saving my life. That QL was not going to let me walk away. You saved me, and for that I’m grateful.”

  He raises a brow. “QL?”

  “Queen leech is such a mouthful, don’t you think?”

  He releases a quiet chuckle. “You’re so weird.”

  “Thanks.”

  We walk in silence a few minutes, watching Amy skip in front of us. She’s humming a little tune and oblivious to the tension of the group, just happy to have all three of us back together. I keep waiting for her to bring up Liv, but so far nothing. Maybe just having Sam around is all she needs for the moment, although I know she’s going to ask sooner or later, and I dread the questions.

  “Sam, what do you thin
k Amy meant when she said she told the leeches we were coming?”

  His stormy eyes search mine. “You said it was to protect me. Don’t you believe that?”

  My gaze switches back to the curly haired girl. “I don’t know. She sounded so sure of what she was saying. Like she really thought she was speaking the truth.”

  Sam pulls his hand from mine and heaves a loud sigh. “Well, I guess there’s only one way to find out. Amy, can you come here please?”

  She turns with a bright smile on her face. “Sure.”

  She wedges her way between us and stares up at her brother with adoring eyes. “What do you want, Sammy?”

  “I have a question for you, and you have to answer it with all honesty, okay?”

  The smile drops from her face and she nods. “I will.”

  “Back at the tunnels when you said you told the monsters we were coming; did you say that just to keep them from blaming me?”

  Her face scrunches in puzzlement. “Why would I do that? That would be lying. I did tell them you were coming.”

  Sam’s gaze meets mine above her head. “But how? Did you talk to them?”

  She giggles. “Kind of, but not really. They don’t talk like us. I don’t know how to say it. It was like I could hear their words and feel them, too. They sound real funny, kind of fading in and out like daddy’s ham radio. Remember using the radio, Sammy?”

  He nods. “What else can you tell us?”

  She screws up her face like she’s thinking really hard. “They were looking for us. I could hear them. Outside the train car while everyone was sleeping. They knew you were coming for us, Sammy, and they wanted to find you. I could feel it as I sat by the broken window, waiting for you to come get me. I told them to get away and leave us alone. I told them you and Bix were coming, and you would fight them for us.” She glances up at me sideways, and her mouth turns down at the corners like what she’s about to say is distasteful. “They don’t like you, Bix. You or Luke or any of the others. They don’t like you at all. As soon as I mentioned you guys, I had this bad feeling. I kept trying to tell them that you guys are really nice and wouldn’t hurt anybody. Much nicer than the people that took us, but I don’t think they believed me. If I had known one of them was going to try to hurt you in the tunnel, Bix, I never would have told them you were coming.”