The Change (Unbounded)

by Teyla Branton

  “I’d feel better if you didn’t go at all.” Chris’s voice was haunted and made me recall the horrifying images I’d seen in his mind.

  “I have to,” I said, though thinking of Delia made me shudder. “Okay. I’m ready.”

  “WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN TO Justine?” I asked as Keene and I walked down the corridor. “Stefan said he’d deal with her.”

  If I saw her myself, I might rip her apart, especially now that I’d felt my brother’s anguish.

  He glanced at me but kept walking. “I don’t know.”

  I tried to sense his thoughts, and this time he wasn’t dark, but he really didn’t know. The strongest emotion I felt from him was readiness in case I tried anything, but I could have told that from his body language. His arm was bent so the hand was closer to his gun; his muscles were poised with alertness. It made me smile that I could make him so nervous.

  “What?” he asked, noticing my stare.

  “I’m not going to try to get away.”

  “Why not?”

  “A lot of reasons. But for one, you’re holding my brother and my niece and nephew.”

  “Not me.”

  I glared at him. “You’re the reason I’m here.”

  “If it weren’t me, it would have been someone else.”

  He had a point. The Emporium would have sent someone else, perhaps someone who might not have minded putting a bullet through my heart to make me easier to handle. Even so, I didn’t intend to be nice to Keene for only being halfway decent. “You’re still wrong. Kidnapping people is wrong.”

  He didn’t speak, and I felt maybe I’d been too hard on him. After all, how could he compete with an Unbounded father and brother? Probably he had even more Unbounded siblings, and he was the lowest on the family totem pole.

  “How’s your leg?” I asked.

  He shrugged. “I’ll live.” Again he was telling the truth. He would live, but the pain was all too apparent to me, as was his struggle not to limp. Our workout this morning had obviously not helped his condition, but I had the feeling he wouldn’t have any rest soon. Weakness was not something appreciated or encouraged here.

  “How many sub floors are there?” I asked. From the visit with Stefan, I remembered there were five above ground, but I hadn’t noticed when Jonny had brought me down here how far the basement levels reached.

  He smirked. “Trying to figure out how many floors between you and freedom?”

  “I’m trying to find out about the organization I’m going to be a part of, maybe even run one of these days.”

  The smirk turned into a full laugh. “You gotta be kidding. One minute you want me to release you and the next you’re planning to be my boss.”

  “I told you I had many reasons for not running. My father is glad to see me. I would be a fool to turn down his hospitality.” The lie came so easily it almost scared me. One more change within. If I’d been able to lie like this in law school, I might have actually graduated.

  He gave me a strange look, but said nothing more as we walked into the elevator that was guarded by two men.

  “Two sub levels,” I said, eying the numbers on the control panel. “We’re on the first.” Now it was my turn to smirk—and to realize I was finding our barbed exchange amusing. Was this enjoyment related to the confidence the Unbounded carried with them?

  Whatever. Being here still beat being burned to a crisp in Justine’s little car.

  “What floor is Tom on?” I asked as the elevator doors closed.

  “He’s with Justine on four.” Keene’s eyes pinned mine. “Don’t tell me you still love him?”

  “Does it matter?”

  “I guess not.” He looked away.

  Several moments ticked by before I whispered, “Our whole relationship was based on a lie.”

  He nodded and I knew he understood exactly how I felt.

  We exited on the top floor, where two more guards stood outside the elevator. Not the same guards as that morning, I noticed. We passed the doors to Stefan’s office and rounded a bend. I noticed a door with a picture of stairs on them and a notice reading roof access. Not a place I’d want to visit, not with my acrophobia.

  “What does Delia want with you?” Keene asked.

  “Why don’t you tell me? You’re the one taking me to her.”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  I sensed nothing from him now and took the cue to put up my own mental barriers, though I had no idea how strong they might be. Strong enough, I hoped.

  Keene stopped in front of a set of double doors. “You might be able to block her,” he said in a low voice. “It won’t be easy.”

  “Thanks.”

  He placed his hand on the pad outside the door, which slid open. Delia stood in front of us. “Ah, Erin. I trust you’ve had time to eat and rest a bit?”

  “Yes, thank you.”

  “Come in, then. We have things to discuss.” To Keene, she added, “We won’t be long. Please wait.” Turning, she urged me inside and shut the door in his face. Before he was obscured from view, I saw him watching me, the green of his eyes a stark contrast against the dark bruises on his face.

  Delia’s apartment was nothing like those below or even like Stefan’s tasteful office. Rather it resembled a luxury suite at a plush hotel. The vaulted room she led me into was filled with floor-length windows, and the furniture and carpets radiated color: deep reds and browns, even some orange and green. All boldly and exquisitely decorated. A huge chandelier dominated the ceiling.

  Vastly different from the Renegades’ common warehouse. “My home away from home,” Delia said, seating herself on a red-toned couch.

  “Not bad.” Fear made my words stilted.

  “Sit here.” She patted the couch beside her.

  I’d been about to sit in a chair some distance away. Instead, I moved a patterned throw pillow and sat on the couch as far away from her as I felt I could in the situation, placing the pillow between us.

  “So, Erin, you are special.”

  “I’m Unbounded, if that’s what you mean.” I wished my heart would stop racing and that my mind would quit telling me to run.

  “That’s not what I mean. Of course you’re Unbounded. Like you, I can sense that by looking at you.”

  “What are you talking about?” I said. “I mean, sure the Unbounded have good genes, and they tend to stand out in a crowd.”

  “Oh? Look more carefully at me.”

  I did as she asked. My first impression of her had been that she was striking and had once been a great beauty, but now I saw that wasn’t true. She was no more or less than millions of women in the world. And yet, her bearing, her confidence made her more than what she was. Taken as a whole, she was impressive.

  Belatedly I thought of my half-brother Jonny. He definitely didn’t have anything going for him in the looks department, but I bet ordinary women were crazy about him.

  “The Unbounded do come from the strongest genetic building blocks,” Delia said. “But not always are the strongest genes the most beautiful. It is what’s inside the shell—the attitude, the self-belief, the awareness of immortality that makes the difference.”

  “I see.”

  “Do you?” Her dark eyes glittered as they studied me. “Do you feel the changes in your body? Do you understand the power you have at your fingertips?”

  “What do you want from me?” I felt her touch on my mind, and I shook my head. “If you want my cooperation, do not rape my mind.”

  She cocked her head as if considering. “Very well—for now. As for what I want, you are one of only a few who have an extrasensory ability, a rare gift these days. The Emporium as a whole has been so focused on trying to create more Unbounded, that for a time we lost sight of what abilities we were producing. As our Unbounded have bred together, many of the mundane talents have taken over the special, rare gifts, with combat naturally being the most prevalent because fighting was necessary for our survival. In fact, most vari
ations of the special talents have disappeared altogether, but I believe with careful planning we can recreate them. We’ll be able to recapture lost abilities and perhaps discover a few that even older Unbounded have never dreamed of.”

  Her chin lifted slightly, her face glowing as though she preached a sermon of great religious value. “Of course it’ll take time finding the right combination—a grandfather talented with science, a grandmother with sensing, a sensing mother, a mathematical father. I don’t know exactly what, but I believe we can find the right combination. You will be of great help.”

  Me or my genes? I figured she meant the latter, but I wasn’t about to ask for clarification. Either way I had no intention of being part of her breeding program.

  “Can an Unbounded have both his parents’ talents?” I asked. “I mean, if both his parents are Unbounded.”

  Delia laughed. “My, aren’t we greedy? But no, it doesn’t work that way. Or at least not that I’ve ever known. We are unfortunately limited to one. However, there are some who have several variations within the one.” She shrugged. “I believe it’s really a matter of determination for the most part. We will see with you. You are, after all, very determined.”

  To live, maybe.

  And to protect my family.

  “It’s also possible that a child may develop a talent passed on by Unbounded grandparents if they are duplicated in both the father’s and the mother’s lines, even if the father and mother themselves took after their other grandparent. Genetics is not entirely predictable. But trial and failure eventually lead to success.”

  “And if I don’t want to be your guinea pig?”

  She gave me a flat smile. “It doesn’t really matter what you want, but I hope you will do your part willingly.”

  “For the Emporium.”

  “For the Emporium and for Stefan.”

  Was that a threat? Surely she couldn’t think I felt anything for the man I’d only met once. A sperm donor did not a father make.

  When I didn’t reply, she bent closer to me. I caught the faint aroma of something, an herb perhaps, that I didn’t recognize. “I know you think we’re strong, but what you see here is the largest of only five facilities like it throughout the world. Five, Erin. We have succeeded in increasing our numbers in the past century, it’s true. We have several hundred Unbounded and many mortal children like Keene who serve us loyally. But our encounters with the Renegades, and even with the Hunters whom we once had under our control, have diminished our numbers.”

  “By several hundred you mean what, two? Three? Four?” This was surely something Ava would want to know. Immediately, I stifled the thought in case Delia was already in my mind without my knowledge. I wished I could tell for sure.

  “That isn’t your concern. Suffice to say that we have grown, though not without price. Many of our numbers are in government or political positions and do not work with us on a daily basis. Many are young and have not yet Changed.”

  “I don’t know much about the Renegade situation, but I believe they don’t have nearly that many Unbounded.”

  “We do have the advantage of numbers and resources, but we have come to a crisis.” She leaned back and crossed her legs, causing her gray dress to flutter around her bare ankles. “We learned some time ago that the Renegades plan to develop a new technology in connection with a certain man named John Halden, but only this morning did we learn the importance of the technology.”

  So Cort had finally learned the details of the exchange and passed them on to the Emporium. “John Halden?” I asked. “You mean the man the Emporium tried to assassinate a few days ago?”

  Her lips pursed. “That man has been a danger to us for many years. He has cut into our profits with his inventions, and with several advances he’s made it harder and harder to get new identities. But this latest technology could be the undoing of the entire Emporium organization.”

  “What could be so dangerous?”

  She arose, walked to the window behind us, and stood looking out. I twisted on the couch so I could see her better. The harsh midday light on her profile was not flattering. She looked to be in her mid-sixties, and if she’d become Unbounded at thirty-one, she would be about seventeen hundred years old. The sheer enormity of the number made my mouth go dry. This woman had many lifetimes of experience behind her. I had only thirty-one years.

  “It’s not a faster computer chip or a smart house or a new medicine,” she said. “This is an identification plan that will essentially eliminate identity theft.”

  “Sounds like a good thing.”

  “Not for the Unbounded.” She faced me, framed in the light, looking more ethereal than human. “The general mortal population has no idea we exist, but if the world is forced to use this technology, it will eliminate our ability to create false identities. Some in our organization believe this is the mark of the beast foretold in the Bible, though that is irrelevant to me. What is relevant is that whether it’s a chip put in at birth or an eye scan, if such is required for all commerce, it would be only a matter of time before our longevity is noticed. We’re not ready to go public yet. Can you imagine the panic, the witch hunts that would ensue?” She paused and added, “Having suffered death by fire yourself, you know what that’s like. We will not be hunted as we have been in the past. Not again.”

  I went to join her at the window. “Why would the Renegades develop such technology? It would put them in as much danger of discovery as the Emporium.”

  “We believe they will create hidden side programs that would allow them not only to protect themselves, but to track the identities of our people.”

  Now I finally understood why the Emporium was concerned. They weren’t really worried about the general population but the Renegade Unbounded. If this program became active, they would be picked off one by one until they were all gone or until they were forced to abandon their goals and join with the Renegades. Unless they discovered a way to live outside the bounds of regular human interaction.

  “Anyway,” I said. “It’d take years to enact something like that.”

  Delia waved her hand as if erasing my words. “Child, that is but a blink of the eye in our life spans. We would all live to see it, even if the implementation took a hundred years. This is one of the reasons we’ve fought to keep certain technologies from the mortals.”

  “So you plan to stop the Renegades?”

  “The deal is to take place in New York this evening, and I understand you were to attend. What do you know of the meeting?”

  I shrugged with a nonchalance I was far from feeling. “I was to have helped with security, that’s all. I was never told any details. They didn’t trust me any more than you do.”

  Her thin lips curled in a predatory smile. “So, you refuse to help us.”

  “No, I’m saying I don’t know anything. Smart move on their part—I can’t tell you what I don’t know.”

  “I don’t believe you. But no matter. We will soon have the information we need, with or without your help. Our informants have given us a Renegade safe house in New York where Renegade Unbounded will be gathering in preparation for this deal. We will surprise them.”

  “You’re planning an attack?” I spoke casually, but I hoped she couldn’t sense my real emotions because at that moment my hatred for her and the Emporium burned brighter than ever.

  She nodded, her eyes triumphant. “When our work is done this night, we will not have to worry about Renegades for at least a century, if ever again. We’ll obtain the technology they seek to use against us, and you can be sure we will implement it in their stead. Only then can we protect ourselves forever.”

  I hated Cort even more now. With this new information he’d given to the Emporium, they’d not only slaughter the Unbounded gathered in New York, but they would soon be able to murder every Unbounded anywhere who opposed them. Laurence was right when he’d said that the world was well on its way to being enslaved.

  I unsuccessfully
fought my anger. I knew Delia could see it in my face, and that I was probably mentally broadcasting my feelings by now. They were too strong to contain.

  “You must not resist,” she said softly, stepping closer to me. Her large eyes dominated the tiny face. “I can help, you know. I have the power to smooth out the losses, make it so they do not hurt so much.”

  “Is that what you do for your people?” I retorted. “Is that why they continue to serve an organization that uses them as breeders or slaves?”

  “Their contributions are of their own will.” Delia motioned around her. “In return, we give them what they need to live as gods. But you and I are special, Erin, even among Unbounded. Nothing is out of our reach.”

  “As long as you get rid of the Renegades.”

  Her thin smile vanished. “We’ve been at war with them for thousands of years. I do not think that will end in one night’s work. It will only be the beginning of the end.”

  “I won’t help you. They’re my friends.” I realized that was true. However briefly I’d known them, I’d grown to care for Ava, Dimitri, Ritter, Stella, and Laurence. And even Cort, who’d betrayed us all.

  “Yes,” Delia said. “You most certainly will help us.”

  She was in my mind then, a leap I hadn’t expected. Not a problem, I found myself thinking. After all, the Emporium wanted only the best for all Unbounded. I should be grateful to help them. They didn’t want to replace mortals but only to demand the rights all people deserved without persecution, without having to hide in the darkness or constantly changing identities. It was natural the Unbounded, with their greater wisdom, should assure that humanity stayed on track. It was only responsible to take control.

  I found myself nodding before I realized I was being manipulated. I rejected her message, pushed against it. I’m stronger than that, I thought, but I knew it wasn’t true. I was weak and inexperienced. Delia could teach me to be strong. We would oust Stefan and Tihalt and run the Emporium together, amassing great fortunes; the world would be at our feet. I could have anything, even my family if that was my desire.