by L. S. O'Dea
“No,” said Viola. “It has to be this one.”
They all looked at Trinity.
“I thought they were after me because I escaped.” She looked down at her feet.
She was hiding something too. He needed time alone with her or Viola. “That was initially why Benedictine was after you, but not Conguise,” he said.
“Wait. Kim may be on to something,” said Viola. “Dad won’t accept another Producer, but we may be able to trick him.” She turned and faced Trinity. “Has my father seen you yet?”
“No. I don’t think so. I don’t know who he is,” said Trinity.
Viola began to pace. “Jethro, the surgery is tonight, right?”
“Tonight?” Jackson leapt to his feet. That was too soon. He had to tell Hugh. These Almightys needed to leave.
“Yes,” said Jethro, ignoring him.
“When do you hand over the Producer?” asked Viola.
“Trinity,” corrected Jethro.
“Sorry. Trinity,” said Viola, smiling slightly at Trinity.
“After the surgery is successful,” answered Jackson. “Benedictine will not turn her over until Jethro walks.”
“My father will want her sooner,” said Viola.
“Benedictine made it clear when we caught her, that she would stay here until after Jethro can walk,” he repeated. Benedictine was not going to back down on that.
“So, she’s to be kept here in this cage for months,” said Jethro, his voice rising in anger.
“No,” said Viola. “My father’s surgeries are non-invasive. They work quickly. I’d say that you should be on your feet in a day or so. A week at the most.”
“I’ll be walking in a week.” Shock, disbelief, and excitement flashed across Jethro’s features. He cleared his throat. “I mean, if we can figure something out. Otherwise, I’m not having the surgery.”
Kim placed her hand on her brother’s shoulder, comforting him.
“Another Producer might give our plan away, but I won’t.” Viola stopped pacing and faced Trinity. “We’ll switch places.”
“What?” cried out Kim and Jethro.
Trinity stared at Viola in shock.
He remained silent. Why would Viola suggest this? Does she know that it’ll never work? Was that why she wanted them to try? Was it a trap? Now, he was thinking like Hugh. He’d known Viola for years. She was a bit arrogant, but not sneaky or cruel.
“That’s a great idea,” said Kim. “Viola and Trinity are about the same size. Trinity is a little taller but we’ll put a cloak on her.”
“It won’t work.” He couldn’t let them try this.
They all turned toward him.
He wanted to groan. The Almightys never fully understood the capabilities of their Guards. “I assume that Trinity will be delivered to your father by his Guards, right?”
Viola nodded. “Yeah. So?”
He looked at Kim. She never saw their differences. She never understood how much lower a being he was than her. This would change that. She would look at him differently, but that was for the best, right? They could not go forward on the path that they’d started last night.
“We can distinguish between the scents,” he explained.
“What do you mean by that?” asked Kim, her brow wrinkling.
“I can tell an Almighty from a Guard from a Producer in one whiff.” He turned away. If he looked at Kim now, he would see disgust in her eyes. He wasn’t ready for that.
Kim walked up to him, but he refused to look at her. She placed a hand on his cheek and turned his head to face her. “You have no reason to be ashamed of who you are.”
There was no censure in her eyes. She wasn’t disgusted. He rested his cheek against her hand for a moment and then stepped back, breaking the contact.
“Our Guards can deliver her and you can explain it to them,” said Kim, looking away from him.
“There will be some point where my Guards will hand her over to Conguise’s Guards,” he said. “I won’t have my Guards punished for this.”
“Then I won’t have the surgery,” said Jethro.
Jethro and Kim began to argue.
He looked up at the ceiling and cursed. Did he dare tell them? He could trust Kim and Jethro, but what about Viola? Of course, if he told Kim she’d tell Viola anyway.
“Stop it. All of you,” he yelled.
Once again, all eyes turned toward him.
“You’ll need to trust me.” He looked pointedly at each of them. “I already have a plan to remove Trinity and deliver her to Hugh.” There. It was done. For better or worse, the plan was out.
“You do?” asked Trinity, clearly shocked.
“No,” said Jethro. “She’s to be free, not Hugh’s prisoner.”
“She’s not safe alone.” The boy wasn’t thinking. Shit, Jethro didn’t understand and why would he? The kid had been sheltered from the truths of life. “Hugh can protect her.”
“And”—Viola crossed her arms over her chest—“I’ll only switch places with her if she’s delivered to Hugh.”
“Then she might as well stay here,” said Jethro. “She can’t go back to one of those camps. They assign mates to them. She didn’t have any friends there. Tell them, Trinity.”
“Hugh won’t turn her over to a camp,” said Viola. “He wants her too, but he’ll treat her well. I promise.”
Viola definitely knew why the Almightys wanted this Producer. Now, all he had to do was get the information from her.
“Are you sure?” asked Kim. “Hugh hasn’t been himself lately and someone did blow up his house.”
“What?” asked Jethro, looking from Kim to Viola to Jackson.
“I’ll explain later,” said Kim.
“Are my parents safe?” asked Trinity.
“Your parents?” asked Jethro. “Were they at Hugh’s?”
“I don’t know anything about your parents,” said Kim, ignoring her brother.
Hugh had the mother before the explosion but he hadn’t seen a Producer earlier when he’d met with Hugh. Of course, she could have been hidden or she could be dead. Either way it really didn’t matter. He had to keep Trinity calm and willing to go to Hugh.
“Hugh has your mother. I don’t know about your father.” He was dead and probably eaten by now, but he wasn’t going to tell her that.
Trinity sighed in relief. “I’m sure Dad is fine. He has a way of landing on his feet.”
He shifted. Why did he feel guilty lying to her? He didn’t owe her anything, and the lie was for her own good.
“Are you sure you want to go to Hugh?” asked Jethro.
“Yeah. I’ll be fine,” she said.
“Then it’s settled,” said Kim. “Jethro, let Dad know that you’ll have the surgery.”
“I don’t think you should do that,” Jackson said. “Your father’s not stupid. He’ll be suspicious if Jethro suddenly changes his mind. If there were a few days in between then he might believe it, but not this soon.”
“You’re probably right,” said Kim. “Let Dad think that he’s forcing you to go for the surgery. Then once you leave, Jackson will escort Trinity to Hugh’s house.”
“The other Guards will have to be sent somewhere else. I can’t risk telling them until she’s safe,” said Jackson.
Kim nibbled her bottom lip. He couldn’t pull his eyes away. If they were alone, he’d do that for her.
“I think I’ll have a break-in,” said Kim.
“A break-in?” He didn’t like it. That would send Martha into a tizzy. She didn’t like her daughter living on her own as it was.
“Yeah, it has to be something big for Mom to send all the Guards,” said Kim.
“What if she sends me?” he asked.
Kim patted the uninjured side of his face. “You’ll have to stay to watch the prisoner. Plus, I’ll tell Mom that I don’t want you at my house.”
“And what reason will you give your mother?” His voice was tight with anger.
“After this, you’ll have to leave here anyway, so what do you care what I tell her?” Kim smiled wickedly.
“I have always liked and respected your mother.” He stepped closer, towering over her.
“Maybe, I’ll tell her the truth,” whispered Kim as she ran her hand down his uninjured arm.
“What are you whispering about?” asked Jethro, craning his neck to see what they were doing.
“Well, that’s that then.” Viola walked over and grabbed Kim’s wrist dragging her away from him.
As soon as Jethro left, he would get another Guard in here to take over for a bit so he could sneak out and update Hugh. There was no way that he was letting another Guard see Jethro’s attachment to the Producer. He trusted his Guards, but gossip like that would get passed around and he didn’t want it getting back to Benedictine. He did not need the Almighty snooping around the barn.
Once the two women were gone, Jethro turned to him. “What did she mean by tell Mom the truth?”
“Nothing,” he muttered. Nothing that you haven’t thought about doing with the Producer.
“If you’ve touched my sister—”
“Jethro,” said Trinity.
The boy turned to her.
“Thank you, for doing this.” She smiled at him.
“I’ll come to see you after my surgery. If it’s okay with you,” said Jethro shyly.
The two whispered together through the bars of the cage, both of them finding any excuse to touch each other, fingers accidentally brushing, moving hair out of the other’s eyes.
“And you worry about me and your sister,” he mumbled as he turned away. “I may be in for pain, but you are in for a world of hurt.” He glanced back at them and Trinity was staring at him, her exquisite eyes filled with sorrow. Damn, she’d heard him. Her hearing was as good as a Guard’s.
CHAPTER 31
IT WAS LATE AFTERNOON and Hugh sat in the pub nursing a drink. Viola’s visit had kept him up most of last night. What if the old Guard hadn’t placed the bomb? He needed whoever had tried to kill him to try again. He’d sent Sue to the cabin and had her send Buddy and Reese home. The two Guards were waiting for him outside, hidden. It would look like he was alone.
He had a gut feeling that Conguise was behind all of this. Benedictine was brutal but not smart. The professor, on the other hand, was highly intelligent and manipulative. Conguise also had access to chemicals that could be used as explosives. However, if Viola was telling the truth, then Jorge did not plant the bomb. Of course, that still didn’t rule out Conguise. He could have sent someone else.
Barney, Professor Conguise’s elderly House Servant, entered the bar and walked directly to his table.
“Sir, may I sit?” asked Barney, keeping his head bowed and eyes lowered.
“Of course.” He pushed out the chair across from him with his foot. It was surprising and sad that it was Barney. He’d always had a special fondness for the cranky, old House Servant.
As Barney sat, the waitress came over and he ordered a pint for himself and a refill for Hugh. The waitress left.
“Thank you for the drink,” Hugh said.
“Don’t mention it,” said Barney, glancing nervously around the pub.
“Expecting someone?” The servant was jumpy. Not exactly a professional killer.
“The professor cannot know that I’m here. With you.” Barney’s eyes darted to the door and then back to him.
“Why are you here? With me?” Let the games begin.
“The professor has Timothy,” whispered Barney.
“What?” He hadn’t expected that. Score one for Barney.
The waitress returned, placing their drinks on the table. Barney paid her and she left. The House Servant took a large swallow from his glass.
He leaned forward, speaking in a whisper. “When did Conguise capture Tim?”
Barney looked around again and shifted closer. “A few hours ago. A pack of Guards that the professor had sent out scouting for Trinity found him in the woods. Tim must have been searching for her.”
“Where’s Millie?” The pub was quiet. No one seemed to pay any attention to them. Was Barney telling the truth or was it a trap?
“I don’t know. Timothy is not speaking, no matter what the professor does to him.” Barney’s hand trembled as he raised the glass to his lips and took a drink, spilling some down his front. He set the glass back on the table. “You have to help him.”
The lines in the old House Servant’s face were more pronounced and there were bags under his eyes. He was truly concerned over Tim, which was odd. Barney had never cared for or associated with anyone as far as he could remember.
“Why do you care?” he asked.
“I suppose you won’t just help me and not make me pull these old skeletons from my closet?”
“Not a chance.” He smirked.
“The longer we stall the more torture Tim is enduring.”
“Then you better talk fast.” His mother would kill him for this, but he had to seem unconcerned. He tipped his glass and took a drink.
“Timothy is my son,” said Barney.
“As far as skeleton’s go, that’s barely a bone.” House Servants were notorious for their breeding if left unaltered.
“There’s more. Before you were born, I used to work at your house.” Barney took another drink. “Your mother and I became very close. Your father was away a lot. Too much. Sarah was young. I was young.”
Barney met his gaze and then looked down at his drink.
The Servant couldn’t mean…“What exactly are you trying to say?” His voice was hard with anger.
“We fell in love,” said Barney.
“No. That’s not possible.” He took a large swallow of his drink. Of course, he knew that it was possible. He had the blood tests to prove it, but not his mother.
“It truly is not impossible,” said Barney sadly. “Sarah became pregnant.”
He shook his head, but a little voice jabbed at him. This explained so much about his mother’s beliefs and his parents’ failed marriage.
“Your father had been away. She could not pretend the child was his.” Barney took another drink. “Of course, once Timothy was born she knew she could not pass him off as an Almighty. He was too much like me.” Barney flexed his hands and his claws appeared. He flexed again and they retracted.
“But…” His head was spinning. All this time, when his mother had been lecturing him on equality of the classes,—she would not allow him to say species—she’d been hiding her secret. Tim was his brother. His half-brother.
“Your father saw how close we were and suspected, but he knew for certain when Timothy was born. He sent me away, but I always managed to come back.” Barney smiled sadly again. “That is, until he sent me to the professor’s. I have been there ever since.”
“But…Tim. He stayed.” Why would his father allow that?
“Yes.” A smile played about Barney’s lips. “Sarah was an extraordinary woman. She threatened your father. She said that she would tell everyone that Timothy was her son. He believed her.” Barney grinned. “And, she poisoned him.”
“What?” He suddenly had a bit more sympathy for his father.
“Just enough so that he knew she could. And would. That’s how she kept Timothy safe all these years.”
He finished his drink, running his hand through his hair. No wonder his father was always so angry. “Holy shit. This explains a lot.”
“You must help. You must save your brother.”
This could still be a trap, but there was truth to the tale. Barney’s green eyes were exactly like Tim’s. He should’ve seen that before. He stood. He’d be cautious but he needed to act. If Conguise had Tim, he had to save him whether Tim was his brother or not. He needed him for his tests. Shit, forget his tests. It was the right thing to do. “Let’s go.”
They walked toward the door.
“Does Tim know?” Had he and Little Sarah been the only ones kept in the d
ark?
“No. Sarah thought it would be cruel to tell him he was half-Almighty when he had to live as a House Servant.”
The waitress walked by. She was a little tall and curvy for a House Servant. Was that all she was? “Are there others?”
“Between House Servant and Almightys?” asked Barney. “Not that I know of. Not living, anyway.”
“What do you mean by that? Is there a higher infant mortality rate for offspring of two different spe…classes?” He would have to run tests on that once he had all his subjects. There might be medicine that could be administered to save the offspring.
“You could say that. The classes generally stay segregated, but it has happened. Most offspring are killed at birth, but if not, they keep their differences hidden. Tim was lucky.”
His gut wrenched. Medicine wouldn’t help infanticide. Another waitress smiled as they passed. She looked like a pure House Servant, small and slender. What if she were attracted to a Guard? Would she kill her young instead of raising a mixed breed? What if it were no longer illegal? What would happen when he made the lack of differences between the classes common knowledge? He had a lot of questions and few answers, but one thing he did know for certain was that this discovery would change everything.
CHAPTER 32
HUGH SAT BEHIND the desk in the hotel room. He hadn’t wanted to take Barney to his mother’s house. It was safer here, more public. Buddy waited in a chair by the door, arms crossed over his chest and frowning. Reese lounged on the couch, drifting in and out of sleep. He shook his head, amazed. She could sleep through anything.
He turned back to focus on the House Servant who was sitting across from him eating a sandwich. This was going to be impossible. He picked up his drink and took a small sip.
“Okay, Barney, explain how you’re going to get me into Conguise’s lab, level five, mind you, so that I can save Tim.”
Barney swallowed and took a drink of water. “Delicious.” He set the sandwich down on his plate. “Yes, well, it’s actually quite brilliant in its simplicity, if I do say so myself. You’ll need to meet me at the Servants’ entrance on the east side of Conguise’s house at precisely eight o’clock tonight.”