“You think so, huh? You fight like a girl.”
“You mean like the girl who saved your ass a few days ago? That kind of girl?”
“Nah. You fight like a girl being tickled by her boyfriend.”
Landon coughed into his hand. “Hate to break it to you, Turner. But you’re not my boyfriend.”
“So you keep saying. But you’re making a big mistake—I’m a hell of a lay.”
“I know you’re lying, but thank god I’ll never know for sure.”
Back at the cars, Mitch wondered if the other men noticed the smile on Landon’s face. It was small to be sure, but it was there.
“Stay right here, Turner, and do not do anything stupid.” Landon pulled his buddy a step away to have a whispered conversation.
Carter was leaning up against the car, rubbing his shoulder. He glared at Mitch and Mitch glared back. But that got old quick, so Mitch turned his attention to Landon and his friend. The chubby cop couldn’t keep his eyes off Mitch. Then he shook his head broadly enough to make Mitch wonder if the jiggle of his cheeks was creating its own momentum.
Landon smacked the guy on the back. “Thanks a lot, man. I’ll call you later.”
They all watched him get into his unmarked police car and back out of the alley.
“Okay then,” Landon said. “Where were we?”
“Carter was about to tell us where he finished his recovery. You are recovered, aren’t you, kid?”
“I was,” he grumbled. That was hard to believe. He looked about four breaths away from death.
“You should be more careful—alleys have notoriously bad footing.”
Carter shook his head. “I’ll tell you where she is because I want what’s best for her. I always have.”
Mitch snorted.
“Didn’t I tell you to shut up?” Landon barked at him. “Say another word and I’m putting you in the car.”
Then it was Carter’s turn to snort. Mitch opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it again, biting down on his tongue in the process. The metallic taste of blood brought a sense of justice with it. Maybe it was about blood too. Control, power, blood, and lo— He shut his eyes to be rid of the word. But all that did was bring the image of her to the forefront of his mind, making it clearer and more painful.
“How often is he losing it now, detective? A lot? How much time does he spend in his cage?”
Mitch wished he could close his ears as tightly as he could his eyes, block out the truth of Carter’s words.
“That’s not what we’re here to talk about,” Landon said. “We’re here to find out where The Clinic is and what they’re doing to Eden.”
“She’s safer in there than she would be out here, around him. What did she tell you, Mitch? Did she tell you how close you are to the breaking point? That the asshole will disappear and Hyde will be all that’s left? Hell, maybe we’ll all be better off then.”
“Do you have a death wish, kid?” Landon asked. “I swear to God, I feel like a frigging kindergarten teacher here. Do not speak unless you have something nice to say.”
“I’ll tell you about The Clinic because of her,” Carter said. “But not him. He should take Eden’s mom’s way out—off himself. Or just rot in his cage like her father.”
Mitch’s eyes shot open. And no amount of threatening could stop him from speaking. “Her father? He’s still alive?”
Landon moved fast, stepping between them with both hands on Mitch’s chest.
“Barely,” Carter said from over Landon’s shoulder. “But he’s been very helpful, unlike you. So they’re doing what they can for him.”
Mitch put his palms out, letting the cop know he would be civil…ish. But he needed to know about her father. “Did she see him? Does she know he’s alive?”
A wave of sadness drifted over Carter’s face. He looked at the ground a few feet away, the corner of his mouth twitching as if it had something to say but need to work out the phrasing so it wouldn’t get him killed.
“Talk,” Mitch demanded. Something had happened. Something unpleasant. And he had to know what that was.
“Yes, she saw him, but she…didn’t know it was him.”
“Golly, you mean The Clinic keeps secrets?”
“Sometimes the secret is better than the truth.”
“No. Secrets get people hurt. They wound. Because they never stay secret. Because afterwards…all that’s left is disappointment and distrust.”
“She’s better off not knowing,” he said, shaking his head. “Would you want to spend your entire life pretending your dad was some kind of hero who was forced to leave you behind? And that any day he’ll come back for you? Only to find out he lives in a cage because he’s a monster? And he’ll never, ever be human again? Believe me, that’s not the happy reunion a kid always hopes for.”
He’s a monster. Like me. The words echoed in his head, swinging around like a wrecking ball, knocking over whatever hope of a happy conclusion to this he had left. So she’d been right. What The Clinic had told her was true. He would turn and never come back. There goes the idea of freedom, the tearful reunion, the light at the end of the tunnel, and the motherfucking happy ending.
At least for him.
It took him two seconds to make his peace with it. Time to move on. He’d get her out, make sure she was safe before whatever poison was a part of him took over and annihilated him. She’d be better off. And, let’s face it, no one else would even notice he was gone.
“Where is she?”
“Where do you think?”
“Oh,” he said through gritted teeth. “The next thing that comes out of your mouth had better be an address, or you are fucking dead.”
CHAPTER XXVII
When Eden came to, she was lying on a bed. In cage three. With a headache. Just great. She reached behind her quickly to see if there were any more safety pins in her dress. No such luck. Then she slid onto the floor to see if there were any lose springs in the mattress. Maybe she could configure them into some rough-ass kind of key to get the hell out of here. But the bed was a futon—wooden legs and wooden slats where springs would be. No metal at all. So unless she could whittle a key out of bamboo, she was stuck.
“Hello, Eden.” Across the room, Alex was sitting at a desk piled-high with paperwork. “You’re up early.” Her voice was saccharine-sweet, but the frustration seeped out everywhere.
“Did you get a lot done while I was out?” Eden checked her arms for new injection marks, but for all she knew she’d been asleep for another two weeks. And their tests hadn’t involved needles. She felt her belly, pressing down, hoping to God she’d feel pain if they’d done anything down there. “What did you do?”
“Not enough. The sedative doesn’t work as well on you as it should. You’re more like him in that respect now.” She nodded towards cage number one.
Eden knew she wouldn’t get any answers. Alex held all the power now and would gladly rub Eden’s face into it any chance she got. But Eden could handle a little embarrassment, a little power-play. Especially if it came with a few accidental answers.
“Am I going to be a mommy?” she asked, hating herself for the lightness of her voice.
Alex looked down at the papers in front of her and wrote something.
“Did you breed me while I was unconscious, Alex? I have a right to know. And telling me couldn’t possible make a difference now, could it?”
Alex glanced up briefly. “You were only out for thirty minutes.”
Having no idea if thirty minutes was adequate breeding time or not, Eden didn’t bother asking. She wouldn’t get a straight answer. At least not on that subject. “So, this guy is Hyde-o-one?” Eden asked. “Meaning, he’s the first one you found? The first generation model? How long has he been like that?”
“A long time.”
Eden looked at Alex through the bars of her cage. “So…does this mean I’m not allowed to go outside with Fields anymore?”
Alex ran
her hands across her face, pressing her fingertips into the bridge of her nose. “You know, Eden, this has been so much more difficult than it should’ve been.”
Unbelievable. “Do you have a headache? If you let me out, I’ll go get you some aspirin.”
“I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to cage you up like an animal.”
Eden’s mouth dropped. Was she serious? This was about her? “Geez, I’m really sorry that I caught you in all of your lies, Alex. I should’ve never done that to you. Will you ever forgive me?”
Alex didn’t look up.
“Why does The Clinic have so many women working for them? I mean, I’m all for equal opportunity and equal rights, but don’t you think it’s odd that your bosses keeps hiring women to do their dirty work for them? To be on the front line like you and Jolie?”
She licked her lips. “Women are more efficient than men are.”
“And by ‘more efficient’, you mean, more deadly?”
She put down her pen and sat back. “I don’t hurt people. If nothing else, this study has taught us that women are the more logical sex. Even your Jekyll—the one you used to have—was logical. She had needs and she took care of them.”
“Don’t remind me.”
“It’s not all about sex, Eden. It’s about the now, selfishness, instant gratification. But because of testosterone, the Hydes turn those instincts into violence. They crave violence, enjoy it even. That defies logic. It makes them unpredictable and dangerous. But the differences help us understand your kind. And now, because of you, we have so much more to explore.”
“Great news, Alex. I’m really happy for you.”
Alex continued speaking as if she hadn’t heard anything. “We don’t know why your genetic make-up is different than other Abnormal’s. But, ultimately, why doesn’t matter as much as figuring out how we can manipulate it.”
“For the good of all Abnormals,” Eden said dryly.
“Exactly.”
Was she delusional or simply a liar? This didn’t add up. One look around this place told Eden that. Mitch’s Hyde was number 16, so they weren’t talking hundreds of Hydes running amuck. And this research couldn’t be cheap. Those kind of resources weren’t available for something that only affects a handful of people. Unless they were completely lying about the numbers. No, the lies had stacked up so high, they’d topple over any minute. If Eden could keep Alex talking, that is.
“And how you figure it out doesn’t seem to matter, right? I don’t get a say in what you do to me. How you get what you want from me?”
“We need embryonic stem cells. That’s it. You won’t even know we’re doing it. But we’d like to get them neonatally. We tried collecting them from a preterm fetus, but, at the four-month mark, they didn’t work.”
“With whose fetus? I thought the last Jekyll who got pregnant couldn’t keep it long enough.”
Alex shook her head. “That was a different case. That one was too young, not developed enough to carry a child.”
“Not developed enough? What the hell, Alex, how old was she?”
She scowled. “What you’re insinuating is disgusting. I meant that her Jekyll wasn’t developed enough. If it had been a normal pregnancy, she would’ve been fine. But her system wasn’t prepared for the added components of a full-blooded Abnormal fetus. So we lost it and almost lost her. And in the only other case of pregnancy we’ve been able to monitor, the female was a human who carried the genetic markers of an Abnormal, and the male was a Hyde. But unfortunately, the woman was killed before—”
“Holy shit. You’re talking about Mitch’s sister. Shelly. You were using her to get another guinea pig. But why? She didn’t transform.”
Alex shook her head. “Not as a guinea pig. She would’ve been able to keep her child.”
“You bred her to a Hyde! Did she consent to it, Alex? Or did you have to tie her up?”
“I don’t have people raped! That’s not…” Her head shook wildly, loosening her ponytail so much that thick strands of hair only exaggerated the action. “No one is raped!”
Eden relaxed…a little. Alex’s freak-out at the thought of someone being raped was real. So while Eden had been unconscious, they hadn’t bred her. But what would happen if Eden kept refusing? Would that indignation disappear in the name of doing ‘good’?
“I’m going to be, aren’t I?” she called out. “I’m going to be forced to breed.” The volume and pitch of her voice rised at the same rate. “I do not consent to this, Alex. Whatever you do to me will never be consensual! Do you hear me?”
Her lips held tightly together, Alex stood up, grabbed a few file folders, and went to the door. Then she turned back to Eden. “Neither of us have a choice anymore, Eden.” They stared at each other for a long moment before Alex looked away.
“No one would spend this kind of money to help out a handful of freaks. Of Abnormals,” Eden said to her back. “You don’t even believe your lies anymore, do you? That what you’re doing is altruistic, for science, or that you’re helping us. How well do you sleep at night, Alex?” But all she was yelling at was a closed door.
§ § §
Eden did a fair amount of pacing along the far wall of the cage. Every time Hyde01 made a sound, she felt shaken. And sick. What The Clinic was doing to him was so far beyond wrong, they probably considered it right. Even if they were doing all of this for ‘good’, to cure Abnormals, how the hell did they think they were going to accomplish that?
“Cause it turned out so well in the book,” she mumbled.
Hyde01 responded with a growl.
“I couldn’t agree more.”
Every muscle and hair follicle tightened when she heard someone open the door.
Fields walked in and set a cup of coffee on the desk Alex had just vacated. “How are you doing?” Giving wide berth to Hyde01, he came to her cage and handed a bottle of water to her through the bars. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
She blinked, Alex’s words still buzzing in her head like a bee no manner of shooing will get rid of. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to think about it, it was that she couldn’t stop thinking about it.
Would they be satisfied with stem cells? No. What they wanted was a child to study from birth. And how long would it be until they needed another?
The Clinic wanted to have babies. How fucked up is that? She’d never trusted them, but this? Nah, she’d never seen this coming. She’d been such an idiot. Never thinking beyond what they said. Knowing they lied, but still only hearing what she wanted to hear. Mitch was right. She’d been so focused on the stupid business arrangement that would get her what she wanted that she hadn’t thought enough about why they would agree to it.
She should’ve known better. She’d seen enough evil in her life to know it doesn’t hide. It waits. Patiently. Until you can no longer breathe. And when you finally take your head out of the sand, it’s already too late.
Damn it. “Why are you doing this, Fields?”
“I don’t know what you mean.” But he did. She could tell by the way he wrapped his arms around his chest.
“Do you ever think about what happens if they get their way?”
“You’ve seen the good they’re doing. And there’s so much more they can do.”
She couldn’t even imagine how ‘much more’ they would do. What their endgame was. Didn’t he care that his daughter was part of all of it?
“Hello? Eden,” he said, “stop staring at me.”
“You seem like a… Okay, I won’t go as far as saying you’re a good man. But I don’t understand how you can see what they’re doing and go along with it. Why would you?”
He took a deep breath. “I know you don’t think it’s right. Shit, I don’t even think all of it’s right. But I’m a father. And, believe me, if you ever do have a child, you’ll understand. There’s nothing you won’t do for your kid. Nothing. Someday, when all of this is over, maybe you’ll understand that.”
“Someday? I didn’t think Alex could wait that long.”
“Wait for what?” He looked at her totally confused.
“To have a—” Her mouth hung open, useless. Oh god. “How old is your daughter, Fields?”
“Sixteen. Why?”
“Sixteen is… really young.” She didn’t know for sure, but she trusted her gut. And her gut was telling her there was nothing The Clinic wouldn’t do, regardless of who they hurt.
“Yeah, it is.”
“How many nights have you left her here alone after they asked you to go do an errand or something?”
“A few.” He stepped towards her, suspicion aging his face. “Why?”
Eden didn’t want to look at him, didn’t want to see his face when he realized a truth he’d been afraid to acknowledge. Moments of complete betrayal and anguish shouldn’t be shared, or witnessed. Fields should have privacy once he understood exactly what they’d done to his daughter.
Alex walked into the room and calmly went to the line of cabinets against the wall, pulling out a vial and a syringe.
“Is that for me?” Eden called. “Something to keep me from talking?”
“Why did you ask that?” Fields kept his voice low and glanced at Alex.
“Is that who you were telling me about, Alex?” Eden called loudly. “The pregnant girl who almost died because her Jekyll wasn’t mature enough?”
He looked at Alex, his moves slow and deliberate. “What’s she talking about?”
“I have no idea, Fields.” She rested her butt on the corner of the desk and flicked the cap off the vial. “Why don’t you go home now? I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Fields, I’ve never lied to you,” Eden said. “How confident are you that she can say the same?”
“I…” He glanced at Eden, his eyebrows pressed together. “Alex?”
“I told you to go home,” Alex said, the pitch of her voice screechingly high. “Ignore her. She’s just trying to manipulate you. You know how much I care about Alicia. I would never hurt her.”
Even if Eden hadn’t already known Alex was lying, she would’ve known at that moment. All she had to do was get Fields to stop deluding himself that they were all on the same side. “She wants to breed me, Fields. By force. Did you know that?”
Jekyll, an Urban Fantasy Page 27