Dark Swan

by Showalter, Gena

  If Trinity had taken her . . . harmed her . . .

  Motions jerky, Lilica dressed in a black leather vest and a pair of black leather pants.

  “It’s time.” Dallas emerged from the bedroom. His dark hair stuck out in spikes, and his clothes were torn, as if he’d ripped them off and put them back on a hundred times. His tortured expression gutted her.

  “If Bride is with Trinity, I’ll bring her back,” Lilica told him. “No matter what I have to do.”

  “There’s been a change of plans. You stay. Jade goes alone.”

  “What? Why?” she demanded.

  “Trinity is out for blood. You’re not going to do anything but anger her.” He cared more about Lilica’s welfare than Trinity’s demise? When had that happened?

  “I’m going, and that’s that. I have to do this.” She closed the distance and hugged him tight before returning to the couch. In a tug-of-war, only one side could win. She’d tried to work both sides. Trinity, then Dallas . . . Dallas, then Trinity. Well, no more.

  A thousand and one things could go wrong tonight, but she finally had a clear goal: the safety and wellness of the world and the innocents who populated it. She would start with the safety and wellness of Bride.

  She blinked, and suddenly she was standing in the center of a thick white fog with Jade at her side.

  —Dallas?—

  —Yes?— His voice drifted through her mind, fainter than ever before.

  —I’m with Jade.—

  A pause. —Be careful, sweetheart. If anything goes wrong . . .—

  —I know. Save everyone, then run like hell.—

  —No. Hell, no. Save yourself.—

  “Is John here?” she asked Jade, forcing thoughts of Dallas to the back of her mind.

  “Yes. He’s hidden deep in the mist, where he’ll remain unless something goes wrong.” Her voice grew louder on the last few words, directed not just at Lilica but at John, wherever he was.

  “So, what do we do now?”

  “Now I take us to Trinity. I’ve been practicing with John. I can find her while also anchoring you to this realm, allowing you to exit the mist without returning to your body. Come.” She linked their fingers and led Lilica forward. Though they moved step by step, the apartment and then the outside world whizzed past at a dizzying speed, leaving Lilica unable to track the path they took.

  By the time they stopped, they were in an underground tunnel, dark and damp. Rats—among the only animals to survive the war—scurried along the edges, toward a wall of cages. Fifteen people were trapped inside, all otherworlders.

  Trinity’s captives provided another hated blow to the memory of the sister Lilica had cherished. Her gaze landed on the dark-haired beauty crouched in the back of the middle cage, and acid filled her stomach. Bride.

  I’m doing the right thing. Trinity cannot be allowed to roam free.

  Waves of fury and fear pulsed along the bond. —I found Bride. Trinity has her, and a handful of others. No one looks to be infected, and there’s no taint of the Schön disease in the air.—

  —Thank God.—

  —I think . . . I think Trinity stole their abilities, though.— Why else would she have taken them and not infected them?

  But. If she had taken Bride’s voice voodoo . . .

  Did she know the ability wouldn’t work on Lilica or Jade?

  —Thanks to John, we’ve got a lock on your location.— Dallas’s voice again. —Devyn and AIR are already on the move.—

  “Our sister is a grade-A bitch,” Jade said, her hands fisted.

  “Shhh.”

  “Why? No one can hear or see us.”

  —What the—Lilica, the Schön have invaded my building.— Dallas’s voice filled her head once again, fainter than before, barely audible. —You have to . . .—

  Silence.

  Panic turned her blood to icy sludge and her skin to smoldering coal.

  “What’s wrong?” Jade demanded.

  Her throat was as dry as the air in No Man’s Land. “Trinity sent the Schön to Dallas.”

  Her sister paled. “Did she send her people to John? Without his spirit, he’s—”

  “I don’t know, but he can handle himself.” And so could Dallas. There was no need to worry. He’d probably slipped into silence because the bond was weakening. They’d made it through the worst of the animal hunger without having sex.

  Sorrow joined her fear. Going to lose him.

  “They’ve trained for situations worse than this,” Lilica added.

  “But John is vulnerable. A body cannot move or fight without a spirit.”

  “He knows it. He would have taken measures to protect you both.”

  Jade rallied quickly. “You’re right. Of course you’re right.”

  “Now, where’s our infamous sister?” Lilica camouflaged herself out of habit, even though she was hidden by mist, and walked toward the cages, amazed by Trinity’s capacity for evil. She’d taken men, women, even children. The children were scared and sobbing, the women doing their best to remain strong and unaffected, calming influences. The men—those who weren’t cowering in back—were murmuring about ways to escape.

  Two half-naked men—guards?—strode from behind a series of boulders. Those boulders were a block to another room in the cavern, she realized. The two men carried a naked male between them, who didn’t have the strength to hold himself up, his legs dragging behind him. The scent of the Schön accompanied all three, a mix of sweet, salty, and rot. Each of the three sported at least one open, oozing wound.

  “I hate this,” Jade said, a tremor in the words. “I hate the woman Trinity has become.”

  “I know.”

  The trio stopped at the last cage, the only empty one, and placed the man inside. The guards turned their attention to the cage with the most women, licking their lips as if they were starved.

  Brave Bride marched to the forefront and smiled a cold, hard smile. “I’m going to enjoy killing you.”

  “We’re already dead.” The guard reached through the bars to pinch a lock of her hair. “Soon you’ll join us.”

  She yanked the strands from his grip. “How sad for you. You just guaranteed you’re going to lose your hand.”

  “Quiet.” Trinity strode out from around the boulders, tightening the belt at her waist to cinch her robe in place. Her pale hair was tousled, her skin pink with health, her eyes glittering with far more power than yesterday.

  Lilica pressed her heels into the ground, stifling the urge to leap across the cavern and smack her sister silly.

  Trinity stopped before the cages. Searching the masses for her next victim? Then her shoulders squared, her spine as straight as steel. Slowly, so slowly, she turned, her gaze roving here . . . there . . . everywhere. Had she sensed her invisible audience?

  “Welcome, sisters. I’m so glad you’ve arrived.” She smiled just as slowly, though her gaze never locked on Lilica or Jade. “I expected you earlier. No matter. Let me tell you how this is going to work.”

  Oh, yes. She’d sensed her audience.

  “Jade, you’re going to pull me into the spirit realm. If you fail to return me within five minutes—and trust me, my men will be counting down—everyone in the cages will be decapitated. If I return and my prisoners are gone, I will infect the entire city. I’ve found a way. . . .”

  No. A lie! If she’d found a way, she would have done it already.

  —Dallas, you there? Trinity is threatening to infect the city if we don’t do what she wants.—

  No response. As if the bond was already gone.

  Her gut tightened in fear, and her fingers curled into fists. For the first time, she knew she could kill her sister.

  She had to try one more time. —Dallas?—

  Again, silence.

  “What
should I do?” Jade asked her.

  Split-second decision. “Exactly what Trinity demanded. Pull her into the spirit realm.”

  Jade closed her eyes before nodding. She approached Trinity . . . reached through the girl’s body and yanked out her spirit. Suddenly there were two versions of her: the body and the spirit. One unmoving, the other gloating.

  “How can you be so cruel?” Jade took a step back.

  Trinity flicked her long mane over her shoulder. “I told you. I’ve learned I can only ever rely on myself. You would do well to learn the lesson yourself. Now. You’re going to give me your abilities, strengthening my own. And you,” she said to Lilica, who allowed herself to appear. “You’ll do the same.”

  Voice voodoo. Bride’s voice voodoo. No, Trinity didn’t know her blood relations were immune.

  Trinity had done many terrible things, but this might be the worst. Planning to steal her sisters’ powers, leaving them helpless in an unforgiving world.

  Jade played along, holding out her hands as if complying helplessly with Trinity’s command. Trinity linked their fingers, initiating skin-to-skin contact.

  Sensing what Jade wanted her to do, Lilica clasped her forearm. A second later, Jade whisked the three of them to a new location, preventing Trinity from reentering her body.

  A thicker cloud of mist surrounded them, nothing else visible.

  With a screech of fury, Trinity ripped free of Jade’s hold. “Take me back. Take me back, or you will suffer in ways you can’t even imagine.”

  “Lilica?” Jade asked, unsure now.

  “No,” she said. To Trinity, she added, “You should have done your homework. Compulsion doesn’t work on family.”

  “You aren’t my family!”

  The words cut at her. “I suppose we aren’t. Not anymore.”

  Trinity wasn’t done. “This is your fault! You should have used your gifts to free us from the institute rather than sentencing Walsh to death. After that day, they kept us so drugged we couldn’t even think straight. If I’d been free, I never would’ve had a worse doctor see to my care. I never would’ve been forced to absorb the Schön. I never would’ve done any of this.”

  So much resentment . . . Am I truly at fault? “Is that why you wanted me dead?” Lilica whispered.

  “Wanted?” Trinity laughed without humor. “I want you dead, and I want to see it happen.”

  Cutting deeper, making her bleed inside. “Surely you don’t hate me so violently because of something I did as a child.”

  Trinity hissed, “You’re the ugly one. The one they didn’t want. And yet here you are, the one bonded to Dallas. The object of his fascination. But he’s mine. I have plans for him.”

  Her sister was . . . jealous? Trinity wanted Dallas to be her man.

  Rage . . . “Your plans just got canceled.” Her sense of possession flared. “He’s mine, and I’m keeping him.”

  With a screech, Trinity launched at Lilica and knocked her to the ground. A bundle of fury, Trinity punched, scratched, and kicked her, and Lilica let her do it, accepting the abuse as her due. Punishment for her sins. Trinity was right. At least in one regard. Lilica should have worked on escape rather than retribution.

  But the next thing she knew, Jade was there, pulling Trinity off her and . . . not letting go.

  Trinity began to tremble. “No. No! Stop.” A scream parted her lips. “Noooo!”

  “You don’t get to hurt my sister.” Jade finally released her, and Trinity went limp.

  “No,” Lilica said, shaking her head. “Jade! Tell me you didn’t—”

  “I did.” The green-skinned beauty eyed her with a devastating mix of determination and remorse before grabbing her hand and yanking her to her feet. “I stole the Schön life force. Took what I could, anyway. She’s weakened, and we . . . we have to act fast.”

  14

  Lilica woke up crying, and it broke something inside Dallas. Resistance, maybe. Or a link to a past he would rather forget, where a little boy feared losing the people he loved and did his best to remain detached.

  This beautiful, strong woman should only ever laugh . . . or moan with pleasure.

  When more than twenty Schön had swarmed the apartment building, Dallas had remained by Lilica’s side. He and the agents positioned nearby had put their SS guns to good use, bagging and tagging every soldier. Trinity had planned ahead, but so had he. No one had reached Lilica’s vulnerable body. He would have died first.

  Now he gathered her in his arms, needing contact the way he needed air. She buried her face in the hollow of his neck and wrapped her arms around him, clinging to him as she sobbed, her hot tears trickling over his skin.

  He combed his fingers through her hair, some strands black, others honey brown. “Trinity’s men had orders to hide her body the moment her spirit left it. AIR was able to free her prisoners, but not capture her. Not at first. John followed her and was able to lead us straight to her. She’s now in custody and on her way to a holding cell.”

  “Good. I’m glad. But Jade . . .” Shudders racked Lilica. “She stole a portion of the disease, as well as a portion of the otherworld abilities Trinity acquired.”

  Silence. Such oppressive silence.

  “She’s going to be all right,” she said. “Yes? She’s never kept what she’s stolen. Ever. She’s never been strong enough. The abilities have always returned to their owners.”

  “I don’t know. Nothing like this has ever happened before.”

  “I want to see her. I need to see her.”

  “She’ll have to be locked away. For her own good,” he added before she could protest. “For yours too. For everyone in New Chicago.”

  Her nails dug into his shoulders. “I don’t care. I love her, and I have to know she’s being treated well.”

  “Yeah. I thought you’d say that.”

  He made some calls before driving her to the facility in No Man’s Land, where AIR had also locked away the rest of Trinity’s victims. Lilica stared out the window, her features blank. The worst part? He couldn’t feel her emotions through the bond.

  Why couldn’t he feel her emotions?

  As soon as he was parked in front of the warehouse, he gave her a mask and gloves to cover every area of exposed skin. The filters in the nostril holes would prevent her from breathing in the acidic air.

  “I used to live out here, you know,” she said, her voice soft and yet heavy. “The institute is only a few miles away. From one prison to the other.”

  Wind whistled as it swept over the car, and sand pelted the doors. Ping, ping, ping. An eerie soundtrack. The only one audible within the thirty-mile stretch of desolation and ruin. This was no place for a child.

  “Your life is better now,” he said, squeezing her hand.

  “Is it, though? Both of my sisters are suffering.”

  The words haunted him as they raced inside the building. Armed guards were hidden throughout the terrain, and the number of ID scans had tripled. After decontamination, Dallas and Lilica stripped off the extra gear. He took her hand, holding on tight. Too tight. But he couldn’t help himself. He felt as if he would lose her. As if he was already losing her.

  Mia was there, staring into Trinity’s cell. “I can’t believe we have her.”

  Trinity huddled on the floor, despite the cot in the corner. Her pale hair was tangled, her skin smeared with dirt, but she bore no sores.

  Dallas said nothing, following Lilica.

  “Lilica,” Trinity called. “Lilica!”

  Lilica paid her eldest sister no heed, moving past her cell to stop in front of Jade’s. John was there, silent but not stoic as he watched her pace from one side to the other. Fury pulsed from him.

  Lilica trembled as she flattened her hand on the glass. The room had all the comforts of home. A soft bed with even softer covers. A toilet hid
den by a privacy screen. A minifridge. Even a holoscreen TV. Jade noticed her and rushed over, pressing her palm against Lilica’s. Unlike Trinity, she was covered with open sores. Her once silky hair was now limp and dull.

  “Why did you do it?” Lilica demanded.

  Tears welled in Jade’s red-rimmed eyes. “It was the only way.”

  “It wasn’t. The disease is going to return to her, but part of it may stay inside you, your own personal infection. You might have done it for nothing. Nothing!”

  The hurt Lilica projected, the pain . . . as if she’d finally been crushed. The doctors who’d raised and tortured her hadn’t been able to break her, but her sisters had managed to do so. Tears burned the backs of Dallas’s eyes, and he had to blink them away.

  —Everything could work out for the best. Let’s not give up hope.—

  He pushed the thought into her mind, but seconds passed . . . a minute . . . and there was no response. Could she not hear him anymore?

  Frowning, he dug through her memories, the ones the bond had stored in hidden corners of his mind. Determined to find the reason, and the solution. To his consternation, many of the memories were no longer as clear, as if the corners they’d been stored in had been flooded, the boxes ruined. Even so, he found the answer he sought.

  He and Lilica hadn’t had sex, and the bond was fading. Soon he would have no tie to her at all.

  Every cell in his body shouted a denial. He wasn’t sure when he’d stopped resenting the bond, or when he’d come to rely on it, expect and need it, but he had. It had happened, and he didn’t want to go a single day without a tie to her. She meant something to him. More than he’d ever thought possible.

  But . . . did she mean enough for him to make things permanent?

  How did she feel about him?

  “What are we going to do if you remain sick?” Lilica whispered.

  Jade offered her a sad smile. “We’re going to say good-bye. The Schön will die one way or another—because you’re going to kill it.”

  “Kill you, you mean.” Lilica slammed her fist into the wall. The glass was bullet-, pyre-, and shatterproof, and she hissed, her knuckles crunching, her skin splitting.