The Change (Unbounded)

by Teyla Branton

  “You didn’t go to Italy to be with your Unbounded relatives?” I asked.

  “I’ve spent some years there off and on, but this is my family now. Besides, I have my sister’s posterity to look after. Two in Oregon are nearing the age of Change. Now that you’re safely with us, we’ll be moving there to keep an eye on them.”

  I looked at Cort, but he shook his head. “No trauma here, either, except that I had no one to explain what was happening to me. My Unbounded ancestors either weren’t aware of me, or they were killed long before I came along. I was born in Germany and lived a normal life—until I stayed young while everyone around me aged. Fortunately, my talent is in the sciences, so I made accurate conclusions rather quickly. I moved to America during the revolution, but it wasn’t until about thirty-five years ago that I heard a story of two high school buddies meeting after fifty odd years and one swearing the other hadn’t aged. That led me to Laurence and eventually to the group.”

  “He was lucky he found us and not the Emporium,” Stella said. “Or that they didn’t notice him first.”

  The scariest thing was that I utterly believed them.

  Not that believing them would stop me from being with my family or Tom. Leaving them behind wasn’t an option, and neither was waiting until we returned from whatever Ava wanted me to do in New York. Tomorrow my mother and father would bury what they thought was me, and I couldn’t let them endure that horror for a second longer than I had to. As for Tom, the idea of him mourning both Justine and me by himself gnawed at me constantly.

  “Erin, are you okay?” Cort took my elbow and led me to the couch, sitting so close to me our thighs nearly touched. “I thought you were going to faint there for a moment. Stella, can you bring her a drink?”

  “Thank you.” I touched his hand in gratitude before easing away from him. Tension winged between us, like a current of electricity I couldn’t see.

  “It’ll take a while to get your normal strength back. Even though you may look and feel well, you’re not a hundred percent. You’ll recover soon.”

  I had the odd sense that he was hiding something, but as I studied him, his face showed only sincerity, his eyes an eagerness to please. Maybe it was his physical closeness that made me uncomfortable, and the odd heat that reminded me of soft sheets and blanketing darkness.

  Or maybe I’d landed on the wrong side of the Unbounded issue. It was possible that the Emporium were the good guys, and I was being set up by the Renegades to do something in New York that I’d regret forever. Something that would hurt not only my family but all humanity.

  Because in all the talk about John Halden and the software, I realized that everyone had carefully avoided mentioning what program we would receive from him in return.

  STELLA RETURNED WITH A CLEAR liquid in a tall glass. “It’s curequick, but this tastes better than the gelatin version.”

  The other had tasted good enough, so I eagerly drank down the liquid, feeling energy seep through my body. “You really invented this?” I asked Cort.

  He shrugged modestly. “I had a little extra time on my hands.”

  My unexpected laugh was cut short when Ava entered the warehouse and strode toward us, unzipping a white lab coat.

  “Well?” Cort asked.

  “Definite tampering with files,” Ava replied. “However, no one at the burn center is aware of anything amiss, and we can’t find a link to Erin.”

  “There has to be a link.” Stella crossed to the desk and clapped on her headset, not appearing to mind the probes that must dig into her scalp. As she sat in front of one computer, the computer linked to the headset also came to life and began running code. “No way it’s coincidence.”

  “Agreed. But I was unable to extract any valuable information from the employees. Dimitri stayed behind to do a little more investigating since he’s the one with the medical license.” Ava’s gaze focused on me. “Feeling better?”

  “I’ll feel fine when you let me go.” I tried to keep my face expressionless like Ritter, but I failed miserably. Ava’s complete self-assurance provoked too much resistance in me.

  She sighed. “How about I take you someplace else? Now that you don’t need around-the-clock supervision, you’ll be more comfortable staying with me until we leave for New York.”

  “What if I don’t want to go to New York?”

  Ava frowned before crossing over to the desk area to stand behind Stella. “For the moment, you have no choice, but I’m confident you’ll make the right decision. Sooner or later you’re going to need us.” Her exasperation was clear, and that slip of control made me feel victorious.

  Stella rose from the computer, setting down her headset. “I’ve given the computer a few search parameters to look for indications of what might have happened at the burn center, but I have to leave in a minute. Bronson made dinner.” Her voice became painfully bright at the mention of her husband. I didn’t understand why, but I liked her enough that I was curious to know the reason.

  “Be extra careful on your way home,” Ava advised her.

  “I always am.”

  Ava set a comforting hand on Stella’s arm, and though the contact lasted only fleetingly, I knew it was genuine. Turning, she said to me, “Let’s go.”

  With a farewell nod at Stella and Cort, I followed Ava out the small door and down the concrete ramp to a white sedan. I had barely opened the passenger side door when Ritter appeared and threw a black duffel into the backseat. It clinked heavily as it landed.

  Great. Just great, I thought as he ducked into the car. His presence would make any escape attempt that much more difficult, but at least I still had the phone in my pocket, and I would use it the moment I had the opportunity.

  As she started the car, Ava said, “I have a late class tonight, so Ritter’s going to stay with you.”

  “I don’t need a babysitter.”

  “But you do need to begin training. Tonight will be your first lesson.”

  “What kind of training?” I tried to keep the resentment from my voice, but I didn’t think I was fooling Ava—or Ritter who hadn’t yet spoken a word from the backseat.

  Ava kept her eyes on the road, shifting down as we approached a red light. “Every Unbounded is genetically predisposed with an ability. Some are good at science or medicine. Some have a way with computers and technology. Languages, combat, patterns, numbers—you get the picture.”

  I rolled my eyes. “People aren’t genetically predisposed for careers.”

  “Oh, but they are. Even among mortals many sons and grandsons follow in their parents’ footsteps.”

  Since I’d wanted to follow my father into law, maybe she had a point.

  “Unbounded really don’t have a choice.” Ava glanced at me and then back at the road. “We often think we’ll go into something different—we may spend years fighting it—but we always end up in the same or similar profession as one of our Unbounded ancestors. It’s tied up with the gene. Most of us develop many different skills over our long life spans, but we are truly talented at whatever drives us, so we focus on our dominant trait. Playing to our strengths makes sense.”

  “Let me guess. Stella’s has something to do with computers.”

  “She’s what we call a technopath—an ability that wasn’t even understood until the past fifty years or so. Not only does she understand anything to do with computers, she can connect directly to them with a neural receiver and, through electrical impulses and eye movements, increase the rate of processing, programming, searching, or whatever by dozens of times. The rest of us see gobbledygook if we try to use a neural receiver, but her brain manages to make sense of the information.”

  That explained the metal probes and the eyepiece. “So what’s our family trait?” With my luck, my ancestors were all chefs. I hated cooking.

  “You will be learning combat.”

  I choked back a derisive laugh. I’d tried a self-defense class once and quit after ten lessons. The relief in the tea
cher’s expression hadn’t been in my imagination.

  “I hope you will apply yourself tonight.” Ava’s voice contained ice. “You’ll be surprised how much Ritter will teach you in a few hours. He’s an exceptionally gifted fighter.”

  From the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of Ritter. His face was expressionless, but I knew instinctively that he found this whole situation amusing. I doubt he’d think it funny when I finally managed to escape.

  “I guess that explains your interest in karate,” I said to Ava, as she turned the car into an area where the houses all had to be worth several million dollars. I would have gaped if my whole world had not already been turned upside down. “But I don’t understand why you waste time teaching. If you’re basically at war with this so-called Emporium, why bother with anything else? A karate class can’t change the world.”

  “It’s actually taekwondo.”

  “It’s still a waste of time.” I had the sense that I’d irritated her, though I could see no sign of it on her face. “What’s the point of teaching self-defense classes when on other days you’re saving the world—a world that doesn’t even know it’s being saved?”

  That it seemed anticlimactic was only part of the issue. As an almost immortal, a demigod, shouldn’t there be something more in her life? At the very least I’d expect prominent positions on important boards or think tanks. Or even a life of utter luxury and indolence.

  When Ava didn’t immediately respond, I glanced at Ritter, who met my gaze without blinking. A shiver of awareness tingled down my spine, but I didn’t know if it was because I knew he was ready for me to make a move, or because he was so frighteningly attractive. I wasn’t imagining his hands running over my body. I wasn’t. There was Tom to think about.

  I gave him my best cold stare and turned back to the front.

  Ava pulled up to a gated drive, rolling down the window and punching a code into a little silver box. The black wrought iron gate swung inward, but Ava didn’t move the car forward. “You really want to know why I teach, Erin? Because there comes a time when the newness wears off, and you will have to decide what to do with the rest of your very long life. Fighting the Emporium is my main purpose and always will be, but there are many days when we simply watch and wait. Stella and a few others like her do most of that, informing us when we need to act. I could concentrate on amassing wealth like Laurence, and I did that at one time—we all did—but each of us comes to a point where we have to find our life’s ambition. To use what we know. To make our lives meaningful.” Her gray eyes had become black shadows in the dimming light. “I like teaching women to defend themselves. Especially against the men in their lives, the men they should be able to trust. If I have the chance to save even one woman’s life in my spare time, I’m willing to make the effort.” Without another word, she edged the car down the long, tree-lined drive.

  Against my will, I felt the tiniest bit of admiration for this woman who claimed to be my relative.

  We rounded a bend and the house came into view. All other thoughts vanished from my mind. To say the building was huge would be an understatement. Nothing short of a mansion, it was many times grander than all the other houses we’d passed. I had the impression of endless manicured lawns, towering trees, elaborate flowerbeds, ornate pillars, and many windows before I was whisked inside.

  “We’ll meet you in the gym,” Ava told Ritter. “I’ll show Erin to the main floor guest room. Will you be staying tonight?”

  “Yes, but don’t bother to make up a room. I probably won’t use it.” Another glance at me had my face flaming. Was his comment related to me and my strange attraction to him?

  “Unbounded can’t read minds or anything, can they?” I asked as Ava led me down the hall.

  Her step hesitated ever so slightly. “A few Unbounded have the ability of being sensitive to others’ feelings, depending on the situation and how well they know the person. Extreme emotion or stress can accentuate or hinder the ability. It’s unreliable even in the best of times, but still helpful, even vital, for many operations. It’s a talent the Emporium most desires, though fortunately their inbreeding hasn’t been successful at giving them enough of what they want.” Two seconds of silence, and then she added, “Why do you ask?”

  “Ritter makes me uncomfortable.”

  She laughed. “He makes everyone uncomfortable. But don’t worry—his ability is combat, not mind reading. Besides, anyone can learn to block a casual reading, and there are other methods we use when going up against the Emporium to protect ourselves.”

  “And I guess they use those same methods against you.”

  “Of course.”

  Some part of me noticed the details of the carved wood panels that bordered the hallway, the elaborate crown molding, the many light fixtures, and the elegant furniture, the exquisite paintings that were probably originals, but for the most part I felt numb to the sensory information. What was opulence when compared to near immortality?

  “Ah, here we are.” She pushed open a door to the guest room, or guest suite, rather, since we entered a spacious sitting room that connected to a bedroom. The walls were papered in here, but they had the same crown molding and elegant furnishings in shades of calming blue. “Dimitri bought you clothes today, and I had the housekeeper put them in the closet. You won’t be disappointed. Dimitri has a good eye.”

  “He’s had enough years to learn, I guess.” I kept my words light, but I was touched that he’d taken the time.

  “Hurry and change into something appropriate, so I can show you to the gym before I leave.” She didn’t trust me. I could tell from the deliberate casualness of her comment, the alert way her body moved.

  “When can I see my family?”

  She sighed. “Be patient. You have a lot of time.”

  “They don’t.”

  She gave me a wistful smile. “No. They don’t. Look, go along with this meeting in New York on Saturday, and then we’ll set something up with your family.”

  “I have no skills. I can’t help you.”

  At that she smiled. “I believe you have the potential to become one of the most valuable Renegades alive today. Your talent just needs to be awakened.”

  I snorted. “Even if fighting is my talent, I’d hardly have the corner on the market. You and Ritter are far more skilled.” Something didn’t add up here. There was more I didn’t understand, more she wasn’t willing to tell me.

  “Don’t worry about your skills, or lack of them. Ritter will prepare you well enough physically. I’ll brief you more thoroughly on the plane to New York, but for now, only a few of us know all the details. It’s safer that way.”

  Safer? Or an excuse to lead me on?

  Keeping my doubts to myself, I took a few steps toward the bedroom door. “Whose house is this? Dimitri’s?”

  “It belongs to a friend of ours.”

  “Unbounded?”

  “Of course. He lent it to us when we came to Kansas.”

  “Yet you also have that house next to my grandmother’s.”

  “You visited her often. It was a good way to see you.”

  Keep tabs on me, she meant. My grandmother probably confided a great deal about my personal life to Ava, as she had to the other neighbors who all knew me by sight. I wondered if Ava had learned why I’d left law school.

  My emotions seesawed again, and I glared coldly at her. “I will never forgive you for making my family suffer any more than they already have.”

  The compassion in her face didn’t ease my anger. “That’s your choice. Regardless, you are my primary concern right now, especially after the anomalies in the burn center records. We closely guard our genealogy, and we don’t think they can connect you to us, but for the time being, it’s vital that your parents go through with the funeral.”

  Vital for the Unbounded, she meant.

  “I could at least call them,” I said.

  “No, because you couldn’t explain. Even on secure lines
we use code. The Emporium has enough technology to make countries like America and Japan look backward in comparison. Please just wait until after New York. This operation is extremely important.”

  “Why?”

  “I can’t tell you that. Not yet.”

  “Because you don’t trust me.”

  She sighed. “Because you haven’t decided yet what side you’re on.”

  Having no answer, I turned and went farther into the suite. The centerpiece in the spacious bedroom was a huge bed with a wrought iron headboard, the mattress so thick I’d need a step stool to climb under the golden quilt. A door on the far side opened onto an oversized bathroom and a closet bigger than the bedroom in my basement apartment. Clothes filled a two-foot portion of one rack, and several drawers held underclothes and socks. Apparently, Dimitri felt our relationship would be long term.

  Removing the cell phone from my pocket, I hid it under the socks. Better to keep it here as it was unlikely I’d have a chance to be alone during the training session. Besides, I hadn’t exactly decided who I’d call and what I’d say. It wasn’t every day I had to inform people I wasn’t actually dead.

  Minutes later, dressed in loose gray sweat bottoms and a red sports bra, I reentered the sitting room where Ava waited. In silence, we went through the house again, going down a wide staircase that opened into a family room. Beyond that was the gym, its floor lined with mats and exercise equipment running the length of the walls. Ritter had changed into sweat bottoms as I had and was on his back lifting weights, his blue T-shirt darkened with sweat, his triceps gleaming with the effort. He was beautiful to watch.