Terra Nova (The Variant Conspiracy Book 3)

by Christine Hart

  “Well, what now?” Jonah perused the restrained women.

  “If Irina and Ilya are going to interrogate them, we need to wait for them to wake. And we need privacy.” Melissa nudged one of the harpies with the toe of her shoe.

  “How about the roof of the hostel? We can leave them up there and tranquilize them again after the interrogation is over,” said Josh, peering upward as though we were already back in our rooms.

  “How do we get them to the roof?” I asked.

  “I can handle that.” Melissa swooped her arm and opened a portal.

  “If you can do that, then why let us go through the production of breaking in here?” said Jonah as gestured at the space around us.

  “I can’t open a portal to somewhere I’ve never been. It won’t work if I can’t visualize the space,” said Melissa.

  “And you were up on the roof of the hostel?” said Cole.

  “Actually, yes, I went up there when I couldn’t sleep last night. You never know when you need to make a speedy exit, so I make a point of familiarizing myself with my surroundings, always. You want to discuss this further or do you want to get the hell out of here?”

  An alarm WAAAaaaiiiled from the floor below us.

  “The guard must have woken up,” said Jonah.

  “Not possible. More likely another guard just discovered him,” said Josh.

  “All the more reason to get going,” said Cole.

  He picked up one of the winged women and marched into Melissa’s portal. Josh followed Cole with our other prisoner. Faith, Jonah and Ilya all followed in turn until just Melissa and I remained.

  “Do you think we can really impersonate Rose and Sage well enough to fool Ivan and Tatiana?” I said.

  “I think it’s the best plan we’ve got if you absolutely need to separate your sister from the Krylovs.”

  “Then, tell me you’re ready to risk your safety to free my sister.”

  “You really don’t trust me, do you?”

  “I trust most people to put the human race before their personal quality of life. But do you see the value in reuniting two sisters?”

  “I’ll make you this deal—if I can help get your sister back, I will. But if she fights us, if she’s truly committed to Ivan, we have to let her go. It is possible she’s chosen him with her eyes wide open, fully informed. Unlikely, but possible.”

  “I know, but she’s my sister.”

  “And that’s why I’ll try to help.”

  Chapter 6

  “Traitor!” snarled Rose. The harpy twins were propped up against the wall, bound by pipes, sitting on Cole’s bed in his, Josh’s and Melissa’s double room at the Berwick Hostel.

  If they were awake, it was much easier to tell the harpy twins apart since Rose’s eyes were a darker gray. Sage slumbered away propped next to her sister.

  “I think you’d better look in the mirror before you call us traitors,” I said.

  “I’m talking to her!” Rose violently whipped her head toward Melissa.

  “You never did tell me what convinced you to side with Ivan. When I stayed on after I learned about The Compendium, I thought I was being loyal,” Melissa said. “But, you two ran off to Ilya’s beach. Understandable when the sewer had been your home. But then you ran to Ivan and Tatiana with arms wide open. Why?”

  We all watched Rose’s angry face intently, crowded on what little floor space surrounded the bed. It felt claustrophobic to be penned in so close to a pair of angry and powerful variants who wanted to kill us.

  “You lied to us!” Rose yelled at Ilya.

  “What?” Surprise filled my brother’s face.

  “You told us it would never get better, that Ivan was just going to keep us in the sewer, testing and dawdling and letting us waste away. I would have waited it out if I knew what the real plan was,” Rose said bitterly.

  “I told you what I believed to be true. I didn’t know his whole agenda. Now that I do, I’m trying to stop him. And I’m his son!”

  “How can you possibly think The Compendium is an acceptable plan?” Jonah said to Rose.

  “How can you expect us to keep hiding when there’s a chance to live out in the open, celebrated and admired?” said Rose.

  “Is that what he promised you? Celebrity status?” said Faith. She crossed her arms and glared at Rose.

  “There’s every chance that if variants came out, people would accept us. Especially in this day and age,” I said.

  “Easy for you to say. You’ve never seen the expression on someone’s face when they see who you really are for the first time. People gawk at me like I’m deformed. Then they want to know how my wings are attached. Where does that lead?” Rose’s pale face melted into a plaintive expression. Nobody moved and her features animated with rage again as she fought helplessly within her pipe prison.

  “This is pointless. We’re not going to convince each other of anything,” said Josh.

  “Then why not just kill us?” said Rose. Sage began to stir.

  “We’re not killing anyone unless it’s self-defense. We’re not like you. We don’t want to watch the world burn,” said Cole.

  “You’re going to have to kill Ivan to stop him. And good luck with that,” said Rose.

  “What are we doing here?” said Sage as she came back to consciousness.

  “Ilya, you go first. What have you got?” said Josh, ignoring Sage.

  “Rose wants to get to a phone to call somewhere named The Belgravia Park Hotel. That’s where everyone who doesn’t need to sleep upside down is staying. Except Casey. He’s sleeping on the Evonatura office couch,” said Ilya.

  “What’s our best way in?” Faith stared hard at Rose.

  “Get him out of my head!” snapped Rose.

  “You guys are going to be so sorry. You’ve finally crossed the line with the Krylovs,” said Sage groggily, her head lolling forward.

  “And the rest of The Compendium.” Rose resumed trying to break free, only bouncing on the bed.

  “How do we get inside Evonatura?” shouted Cole, leaning toward Rose with raw hatred on his face.

  “Easy, man. We don’t want anyone complaining to the hostel,” said Jonah.

  “They’ve been working security with Casey and Evonatura’s guy, Gregory. Aside from their CEO Mueller, only those men have keys and the alarm code. The harpy twins here are assigned to the roof, specifically to watch for us.” Ilya couldn’t repress a grin.

  “Did a pretty shitty job of being lookouts, didn’t you?” Faith smiled, but her face had a mix of satisfaction and disgust.

  “Hey, my illusions are bulletproof. We would have fooled anyone.” Ilya raised a hand in mock submission.

  “Should we go in at night? Or stick to the infiltration plan? How much will they expect the girls to interact at Evonatura? A bunch of chitchat is risky,” said Josh.

  “Tatiana’s going to get her way soon. Claude is closing the Evonatura London office. Any day now? Really?” said Ilya, ignoring Josh and curiously leaning in toward Sage.

  Rose wriggled helplessly inside her copper coil.

  “Tatiana is an expert in getting her way. And she thinks we’re a threat,” I said.

  “She’s right this time.” Anger washed over Jonah’s face for a moment.

  “We don’t need the alarm code. I can just short it like any other and Cole can pop the door.” Faith shrugged and shoved her hands in her pockets.

  “No, that’s not going to work.” Ilya shook his head.

  “These two don’t need to hear this.” Josh pulled out his tranquilizer gun and shot Rose in the chest.

  “Asssss . . .” her head dropped before she could finish the word.

  “He’s right. You don’t stand a chance,” s
aid Sage.

  Josh shot Sage next and held his arm up for silence until her head dropped again. “Okay, continue.”

  “If the sisters’ thoughts are accurate, any interruption in the alarm’s circuit and Claude Mueller is personally notified. He’ll contact Casey and Gregory immediately. Gregory lives across the street. All Casey has to do is wake. They won’t call the cops. They won’t slow down. They’ll just start firing. And throwing punches, which for them is pretty deadly too.” “What if Gemma isn’t there when we break in?” I asked without trying to mask my fear.

  “A break in is our back up plan. For now, we stick to plan A, disguises and infiltration.” Josh made a chopping gesture with one hand onto the other, decisive as always.

  “How long should we hang on to these two?” Faith nodded in the sisters’ direction with disdain.

  “Are you ready to replicate them?” Melissa asked Ilya.

  “Yeah, I can definitely swing it now.” Ilya inspected each of them carefully nevertheless.

  “Assuming we do this tomorrow morning, we could just leave them here when we check out,” said Cole.

  “Irina, it’s your turn. See what they saw,” said Jonah, gently touching the small of my back.

  I stepped forward and leaned onto the bed so I could reach Sage’s foot. She seemed like the safer target, closer to me. I put my hand on her calf. She jerked her leg, but I held her. Trying to pinpoint my vision, I pictured Rose and Sage walking past me on the sidewalk outside the Evonatura façade and I closed my eyes.

  I was instantly pulled onto the sidewalk behind Rose and Sage. Ahead, Casey turned into the brown brick and cream stucco building. Rose and Sage quickly closed the distance and followed him up the stairs. Casey punched a code into a keypad on the wall just inside the main door. We got to him just as he’d finished. The door remained armed during the day.

  Rose and Sage followed Casey up the stairs and into a sitting room where Ivan read a magazine. Two men in lab coats were also in the sitting room reading, but they had clipboards and frowns on their faces. Casey and Ivan exchanged a brisk greeting and passed through into a kitchen. Casey continued to a dark hallway, but the harpy twins remained in the kitchen. I paused with them.

  Tatiana’s green hue had not faded as she stood over a small pot of something steaming inside the office’s kitchenette. My sister Gemma sat at a small round dining table picking at a plate of buttered toast. She wore a green tank top that lit up her eyes. She wasn’t smiling this time though.

  “You need your strength, sweetie. The hot chocolate is almost ready. I know it sounds strange, but try dunking your toast in the cocoa. It has to be white toast and real butter. You’ll be surprised how comforting it tastes. My mother taught us that when we were children in Russia,” said Tatiana.

  Gemma gazed up at Tatiana and managed a small smile. Tatiana posed as the caring aunt she never had been to me. Then again, she hadn’t been kind to a single person in my presence. This behavior was part of some game with my sister. Tatiana crossed the kitchenette with her steaming pot and poured hot chocolate into Gemma’s waiting mug, then smoothed the hair on my sister’s head with obvious fondness.

  “What a nice little family we’re becoming,” said Rose as Tatiana and Gemma noticed the sisters’ entrance.

  A tall redheaded woman in a beige pantsuit entered the kitchen from the hallway Casey had gone down.

  “We’ve nearly completed packing. It’ll be a tight squeeze at Chatham, but the lads are ready to shift gears and work on-site for a while,” said the redhead.

  “Excellent. I would please me if today was the last operational day here,” said Tatiana.

  “We’re not ready to move out just yet. We’ve a bit of admin still to sort. I’ve had trouble hiring a van. We should finish tomorrow. Monday at the latest,” said the redhead.

  “Helen, I realize you don’t have to follow my recommendations, but I suggest you come in on Saturday to wrap up if you don’t finish tomorrow,” said Tatiana.

  Gemma thoughtfully dunked a chunk of toast in her hot chocolate as Tatiana gave Helen a sweet smile that chilled me. Helen looked concerned too as she returned Tatiana’s smile. Helen smiled weakly in my direction as a greeting to Rose and Sage before she bowed back out of the room.

  “Rose, Sage, don’t you two need to be on duty up top?” said Tatiana once the click-clack of Helen’s heels had faded. She didn’t wait for a reply from either sister.

  “Don’t underestimate my niece and nephew or their friends. I’d like to leave London with all loose ends tied—properly. Wouldn’t you two like to earn that service bonus Ivan is offering? I’d hate to see it go to this Gregory fellow, keen as he is.”

  Gemma lifted her head and stared right at me. Her inquisitive eyebrows signaled interest, but her mouth rested peacefully, void of the concern I would have expected while someone discussed my assassination in front of her. What had they done to her?

  I released Sage’s leg. I was back in the crowded hostel room with my friends all staring desperately at my face.

  “What did you see?” said Jonah.

  “Ilya’s right, they’re on lookout duty at Evonatura. I saw what happened after they passed us on the street this morning. Ivan wants us taken out. Tatiana is pushing hard to get them moved to Chatham Park. Tomorrow might be their last day in Soho,” I said.

  “What about your sister?” Faith asked.

  “She’s safe. But, she’s totally out of the loop. I need to get some sleep myself.” I rubbed my eyes and then my temples before I left the room. I heard footsteps behind me and knew it was Jonah.

  My head swam as I walked methodically back to our room. I still had to come up with a convincing reason to get Gemma to leave the Evonatura office with me. I would be disguised as one of the harpy sisters, but they didn’t seem to have the bond with her that Tatiana did. Even if I got Gemma away from Tatiana and Ivan, how could I be sure she would stay with me and my friends?

  Should I bring a tranquilizer gun and hope Melissa could help me carry her off? Maybe I could just shove her through a portal if Melissa could come up with a safe escape. Had Gemma been sincerely comfortable with Ivan putting a hit out on me? Didn’t she understand Tatiana’s instructions? I had to believe that my naive little sister Gemma was blissfully ignorant.

  “What are you thinking about?” Jonah closed the door to our room as I sat down on our bed.

  “Don’t overreact, but I’m not one hundred percent sure my sister will side with us.”

  “But, you said she doesn’t really understand. Once you explain it properly, I’m sure she’ll see it our way.”

  “I don’t think she does understand, but I’m mostly giving her the benefit of the doubt. I can’t hear her thoughts.”

  “Well, as soon as Ilya gets near her, we will know how she feels. You know her better than any Innoviro or Evonatura people do. I’m sure you can help her see the light.”

  I frowned, deep in thought. Jonah leaned in and kissed me. I didn’t think it possible, but the urge to connect with him kept getting stronger. His touch sent waves of energy through me as he pinned me to the wall. I worried for a second that something was going wrong again, but it felt too good to stop.

  “Can you feel that?” I asked breathlessly.

  “What?” Jonah broke away from my neck.

  “It’s you, it’s like you’re hypnotizing my body. It’s electric.”

  “It’s both of us. I can feel a rush, like a surge of power when I touch you.” Jonah kissed my lips and pulled back to meet my gaze. His aqua eyes gleamed as he caught his breath. “We’re not normal. I think this is what it’s like to be with another variant, healthy for once. There’s nothing wrong with what we’re doing. You just have to trust me. Trust us.”

  Chapter 7

  We went back to The Lazy
Toad pub for breakfast, but I literally wasn’t myself. Melissa and I had already been transformed into Rose and Sage. We’d left the harpy twins freshly tranquilized and planned to head directly to Evonatura once we had food in our bellies.

  “Melissa and I will leave first, but you should all keep close tabs on us.” Hearing Rose’s voice come out of my mouth unnerved me. Ilya had to concentrate hard to change our voices. I had been skeptical, but I had to concede that his skills were completely effective.

  “Don’t be afraid to take off your jackets, since you’re actually wearing their originals. If you don’t act naturally, you might give yourselves away. I took my time to study the twins’ wings, so yours will look pretty near perfect. I’ll give the rest of us new disguises.” Ilya’s intent scowl rattled me, ramping up my adrenaline.

  “After we’ve got Gemma, we should be on the next train to Chester. It’s the town closest to Chatham Park,” said Cole.

  My heart warmed when Cole said Gemma’s name.

  “Between the Berwick staff finding the harpy twins and the potential release of Terra Nova, there’s no time to waste.” Josh checked his vest again, bulkier now with his second weapon.

  “Leave your bags with us. You can’t risk having anything with you that Rose or Sage might not carry.” Jonah reached out to take my backpack.

  “I’m nervous. Is that weird?” An awkward laugh popped out of my mouth.