Honorable Rogue

by Linda J. Parisi

  “Yes.”

  “You know, I know someone who tried to do that with human cells. She couldn’t get the mitochondria to slow down.” Tori began thinking out loud. “That had to intrigue the people over at CoRRStar. Maybe they figured they could use the gene manipulation to stop the cell aging once they used the trigger. And we all know a particular someone who’d only want to know the first part of the process, not the second.”

  “A very good possibility.”

  Adrenaline rushed through her veins. Now she had something solid to work with. “You’re a genius, Jonas.”

  “I’d like to think so,” he preened. “Ness and I will continue to hunt around. I’d like to see if we can track back through the finances and maybe find out where Casperian is hiding. Money always leaves a trail.”

  “Great. That would be excellent. Thank you.”

  “Not necessary. Ness always pays her debts. Tenfold.”

  Tori hung up and practically ran around the lab. Her mind raced ahead of her. If they could create another location in another part of the mitochondria to work from once the cell “turned on,” the cell could bypass the out-of-control phase and slow down. God, that would almost be like a fountain of youth.

  “Tori? Are you all right?”

  What was Sam doing here?

  “You were shouting again. I don’t really sleep, but you pulled me out of my rest and kind of woke me up. What’s going on?”

  “I’m not positive yet. But if I need those ‘arrangements,’ how fast can they be made?”

  Sam grinned. “As fast as you want them to be made.”

  “Good. I’m going to need cash. Lots of cash. I asked Vanessa to pose as an investor. But we may need to try to buy out Cordell Stuart and his company.”

  Sam frowned, obviously wondering who Cordell Stuart was, but Tori didn’t have time to explain. “Why would we want to buy out his company?” she asked.

  “To stop him from creating Nirvana.”

  “Are you certain of this?”

  “Not yet. But if I’m right?”

  Sam shuddered at the picture Tori created in her mind. Thousands of rogues. “Consider it done.”

  “I also need to make a phone call.”

  “Then I won’t keep you.”

  Sam left, and Tori dialed one of their sorority big sisters, Dr. Morgan Kent, a cellular kineticist. “Hi, Morgan. Good morning. I hope I didn’t wake you up. It’s Tori. Tori Roberts. I need your help.”

  “Wake me up?” A baby screamed in the background. “Not possible. Not with twins.” Another scream pierced the background. “Please tell me this is about something other than diapers, bottles, and lack of sleep.” Morgan paused. “Jeez, I’m sorry Tori. I didn’t mean…”

  Funny, for the first time in two years, the stab through her heart didn’t hurt as much. “Don’t worry, Morgan. I’m okay. But I’ve got this problem and I need your help.”

  Tori rattled off the issues and where her investigation had led. Suddenly, she didn’t hear anything. “Jack has them,” Morgan told her. “Damn the man. He can get them to do anything. They’re actually sleeping for a change. At the same time.”

  There was a long pause on the other side of the line. “I worked with mitochondria,” Morgan continued. “You know how well everything went down.”

  True. Morgan was able to get the mitochondria to speed up but not slow down. “I know, but CoRRStar is working with colocation. Gene manipulation.”

  “CoRRStar?” Morgan asked. “Cordell Stuart’s company?”

  “Yeah, it is.”

  “I heard of him. Brilliant. But a playboy.” Morgan paused a moment. “What’s he doing playing with mitochondria?

  “I don’t know,” Tori lied. She had to. To protect her friend. “Haven’t been able to find out. All I’ve read are the papers he’s published.”

  “Well, you can take my word for it. Doesn’t work,” came Morgan’s emphatic reply. “I tried it. I couldn’t get anything to slow the cells down once they sped up.”

  Tori knew all about the problem with out-of-control cells. And the possibility that Cordell Stuart had figured out how to fix this particular problem. But right now, Tori needed to cure Hunter. “What about using a neutral cell?” she asked.

  “You mean, like, stem cells?”

  “Yeah. Reprogram the cells, and let them replace the ones that are out of control,” Tori answered.

  “Jeez. You know, that just might work. New mitochondria. They could slow the process down.” Morgan sounded excited as she asked, “You need my help?”

  No, Morgan sounded more than excited. But a third human knowing about vampires? They would truly be pressing their luck. Unless she could convince The Council otherwise. “Maybe. Down the road. If I could just stay in touch for now?”

  “Okay. You going to tell my why you need all this?” Morgan asked, sounding very disappointed.

  Tori hated disappointing her friend. In her opinion, there was no one better to help. “Sorry. I can’t. Nondisclosure agreement.”

  “God knows I know all about those damned things,” Morgan muttered.

  “But if it makes you feel better, I’m helping a friend,” she added.

  “Then that’s good enough for me. There are plenty of places selling dental pulp stem cells.”

  Who’d have thought her next problem could be solved so easily? “Thanks. Stem cells are exactly what I needed.”

  “My pleasure. And if you want someone to continue the research later, I’d be much obliged.”

  Tori laughed. Morgan sounded like she needed something more than just parenting. “Gotcha. You’ll be the first person I contact. Promise.”

  “Good luck.”

  “Thanks again,” Tori replied as she hung up. She was going to need it.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  For Hunter, becoming a vampire had been easy. Remaining human? Now this seemed to be the hard part.

  He stood looking out the window of his office and knew without a doubt this was his home. He thought back on his life—but this time without shame or regret. This time he reflected with the understanding that each and every moment, each and every action, right or wrong, had led him to this place, the only place he wanted to be.

  After being made, Hunter had remained in chains, fed at the will of his new master. He’d remained a gladiator and a slave. But where Casperian had been cruel, Antu Si-Tayat had taken the word to new heights.

  Vampires were stronger than humans. They could bend metal and break locks. But his new master had known exactly how thick the bars needed to be. He’d known exactly how strong the chains around those bars needed to be. And he’d known exactly how to feed Venatorius so he could function but not break out.

  Antu had forced him to fight human gladiator champions from around the world. The game had been that he’d had to fight like a human and not show his true power until the end. Then, at a signal, he could finish the match.

  Clearly no match at all.

  His reward? Just enough blood to sate his hunger from the dead and the dying.

  Aside from being locked up, his guards had been vampires. Soon, though, Hunter had learned the extent of his new powers, and his guards had been no match for his fighting skills, for he carried the power of royal blood in his veins.

  You were sloppy with your last kill, Venatorius.

  “No more.”

  Antu turned to him in surprise. “Did I hear you correctly?”

  Venatorius nodded. “No more.”

  With a roar, Venatorius pulled apart the links of the chains that bound his wrists. His master watched with an amused smile.

  As soon as the iron parted, he attacked. Only his hands closed over thin air. He turned to see Antu smirk. Venatorius knew better than to fall into a game he couldn’t win. He waited a moment and sprang again. Same result. Then he simply he stopped trying.

  Venatorius closed his eyes. He listened to the wind. He decided if he was going to die this night, there should
be peace in the act. Once he let go of the baggage, Venatorius was able to hear everything. He felt the slight shift and heard the tiny rustle of air as Antu attacked, and he avoided the sword thrust just in time.

  “I belong to no one,” Venatorius raged. “No one shall ever belong to me. You will never understand.”

  “What could you possibly know that I do not?”

  He refused to answer. He simply knew he had to get out of there. He would never know what fortune guided his steps, for just as he turned to run, the blade of a knife grazed his cheek. He slid sideways, jumped, and rolled.

  Scrambling to his feet, he flew with Antu’s laughter mocking him. His master was letting him go. There would be another day when they would meet.

  Had that day arrived?

  Hunter touched the skin of his cheek where the knife had cut. His maker could have killed him at any moment. But hadn’t. Why?

  A game? Something to rend the tireless ennui? Could the answer be this simple?

  They were all pawns. Pieces. Hunter. Casperian. Even Sam.

  “I always thought you would understand,” she told him as she walked stoically into his office. Still, he heard and felt the guilt, the concern, and the tiny touch of helplessness.

  “I always have, Sam.” Such a sad truth. The time had come to hear the entire story.

  She turned and closed the door. “Where do I begin,” she asked. His mouth quirked. “All right,” she continued. “At the beginning.”

  She paced, as she always did. He found the action comforting. “To the Ancients, we were…what? Amoeba? All right, not that bad. Babies, at the very least. We were playthings, certainly. Pets? I’m not sure I’ll ever know. But one thing I do know. The Ancients loved being worshipped.”

  She let out a millennial sigh. “They taught us so many things. Language. Mathematics. Engineering. The pyramids weren’t built by chance.” She flashed him a wry smile. “But as time went on and we learned, they grew bored with us. Maybe they got tired of being teachers. Perhaps we were simply too young, and we weren’t growing at an acceptable pace. Our unpredictability kept them around a while, but even our capriciousness grew predictable as time passed.”

  “Time has a way of becoming the same, doesn’t it?” he asked, knowing the inimitable truth of his statement.

  “It does,” she agreed. “Anyway, before they left, they made arrangements to leave their mark on our world. They chose the best of us, and they gave us the gift of their blood so we could be like them in all aspects. They gave us the gift so we could teach the rest of humanity throughout the generations.”

  Sam’s face grew sad. “After a surprise attack in the temple killed all the vampires made by the Ancients, Antu and I were chosen as the high priest and priestess. You know, I still wonder how it all happened. I’ll never know the exact truth either. I was told it was robbers. I mean come on, humans defeating vampires? Really? Even the best trained ninja can’t match our skills. However, when I found out Antu had been injured, something we both know to be nearly impossible, I let go of the worry and questions. But they still haunted. I couldn’t reconcile what I knew to be fact and what had happened. I began asking again until I found out the truth. Antu had been behind the attack.”

  Hunter moved slowly to sit behind his desk, watching Sam rub her face with her fingers, then let her arms fall to her sides. She didn’t sit across from him. “What happened?”

  “He broke our most sacred law. The Ancients forbid the abuse of human life. They were there to worship us, serve us, and feed us. They were not meant to be played with or tortured.”

  Hunter knew all about that last part. “You’re not to blame, Sam.”

  “Yes I am. I chose not to fight him. I chose to let his actions play out. You can’t begin to understand what a mistake my cowardice became. He created his own children to guard the temple. But they were really chosen for only one purpose: to guard him. Then he began to play.”

  “Play?”

  Horror seeped into her gaze. She turned very pale. “Games, Hunter. Terrible, horrible games of deceit and torture. You know him. You know what he’s capable of.”

  Hunter did. He shivered.

  She sighed. “I always thought he was dead. Until I ran into you,” she added with a wry smile.

  “I know.”

  “Mad with power,” she muttered. “Drunk on the damned stuff, Antu simply didn’t know how to control himself. And if the games he played weren’t bad enough, he became a despot toward our humans.”

  Hunter sighed. “They weren’t ‘your’ humans.”

  “I know that now,” she replied, inner torment lacing her tone. “I didn’t then.”

  “Go on.”

  She shuddered. “I warned Antu. I cajoled. I begged. Finally, I was forced to trick him.”

  “You couldn’t know what would happen. With some, absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

  “Power,” she repeated, a terrible sadness in her voice. “No, Hunter, the culprit wasn’t power. It was time. Things changed. We weren’t the Ancients. We weren’t as strong. We weren’t as beloved. And our humans—sorry, the people grew up. They worshipped us, but they didn’t need us anymore. I adapted. Antu didn’t.”

  She stared at him, her gaze begging him to understand. “I swear I didn’t know he was alive. You must believe me. He must have known what I was planning. The tomb was sealed under tons of rock. I thought he’d simply let go. I would have. I assumed. And look what’s happened now.”

  “Should I repeat myself?”

  “No” She half smiled.

  “So how did he survive?”

  “I spent months trying to figure it out. He couldn’t have survived for two thousand years without feeding, even with the sleep. There must have been an escape route built into the tomb.”

  “Was this why you were so frightened when I told you my story?”

  “I had no idea he’d survived.” Sam frowned and looked very worried. “I have a direct connection to him. And yet not one sign, not even a hint of him since the day I tried to bury him alive. Until now.”

  Troubling. More than troubling as he thought about it. “Do you think he figured out how to shield his mind?”

  She shrugged. “I can’t think of any other possibility. How else would he have managed to remain hidden all these years?”

  How indeed? Hunter asked himself.

  If Sam heard, she didn’t acknowledge. “He’s very angry with me, Hunter. He has the right. I tried to kill him. But he’s not stupid. He knows an army of rogues would decimate the human population.”

  Hunter rose and walked slowly around the desk. He clasped Sam’s shoulder and squeezed. She looked up at him, confusion, regret, anger, and fear swirling in her gaze.

  “He might not care.”

  “Or, as we both know, Antu might be playing at another game. Games are what he does best.”

  Ahhh. “I thought there was someone else behind Casperian. That bastard is clever but not as bright as he thinks.”

  “I know.” She cocked her head. “For now, leave Antu to me. The key to all of this may be as simple as taking care of Casperian.”

  Hunter nodded. Sam was still hiding something. But he trusted her, so he let it go.

  Sam held out her wrist. Hunter lifted her arm, licking his lips. The bile rose, but he swallowed hard. Then he sank his teeth into Sam’s flesh.

  A few moments later she told him, Tori is coming.

  I need more.

  The door opened. Tori locked gazes with him. He expected disgust. He read confusion as she retreated and closed the door. Hunter continued to feed until Sam was forced to pull away. “This should keep you going.”

  “Yes. Thank you.”

  A surge of strength flowed through his veins, one not felt in a long time. “Go after her,” Sam urged. “Tell her how you feel.”

  He shook his head, filled with uncertainty. “I’m not exactly sure what those feelings are.”

  “No?” Sam smiled. En
igmatic as ever. But even he could see the strain in her features. “I let you drink more than I should have. I must rest and feed myself now. I know what you’re thinking, my friend. Don’t. Trying to fight him would be suicide.” She turned to leave.

  “Not if I win.”

  “You’re a fool, Hunter, but not foolish. I can’t stop you. One of the most crucial gifts the Mother and the Father gave us was free will.” She paused as she reached for the doorknob and turned. “You’ll do what you think is necessary. You always have. Just don’t forget.”

  “Forget what?”

  “Love is necessary too.”

  Was it? Or did caring only cause pain?

  Funny, Hunter didn’t even have to go after Tori. Not long after Sam left, she came back. “I’m sorry,” she hesitated. “I didn’t mean to barge in.”

  The sight of her, vulnerable and unsure of her feelings, warmed his heart. “Did my feeding bother you?”

  “Bother me?” she echoed. “No. I’m glad Sam decided to allow you to drink from her again. I wasn’t sure she would.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because we still don’t know what we’re dealing with here.” Her gaze raked him from head to toe, the consummate doctor. “How do you feel? Any problems with movement?”

  “I still get an out-of-body feeling when I move too quickly, but it passes.”

  She nodded. “Sam’s blood seems to be a temporary fix. I’m not sure if this is because she’s reintroducing the necessary transcription factors or from something else.”

  “Transcription factors?”

  “Not important,” she dismissed with a shake of her head. “But you need to remember, her blood is a Band-Aid, not a cure. And you’ll only feel good for as long as her blood is fresh in your system.”

  “I understand.”

  He stared at her. What was wrong? Why was she so edgy? “There seems to be a giant elephant in the room. Care to explain?”

  “Back in the lab Sam gave me the impression she’s not in love with you. Are you in love with her?” she blurted, looking extremely uncomfortable now that she’d said the words.

  Hunter started. “What?”

  “You heard me.”