Averting my gaze, I shut the sheer inner curtains to close out any prying eyes from the neighboring high rises, catching a glimpse of the city sprawled before me as I did, exciting and more than a little intimidating. The sun had risen and it was a glorious day, blue sky stretching as far as I could see until the buildings blocked it from view. So this was New York. I’d always wanted to visit. Too bad I wasn’t here on vacation.
Then again, only one person had tried to murder me since my arrival, and he was lying on the floor of that motel room, never to see another blue sky. Maybe for Unbounded that was as close to a vacation as it came.
Stella was pulling on pants now, and I decided I’d better hurry.
My shower was delicious. I let the hot water run over my body for what was probably too long, sloughing off the dirt as well as the terrors I’d endured the past few days. As I used the hotel’s body wash, my hands running over my skin, I thought of Ritter. I took a deep breath and turned the water a bit cooler.
Donning a soft, luxurious hotel bathrobe, I emerged, feeling energized. Stella was fully dressed in a black pinstriped power suit. Her dark hair was combed smooth and wound into a severe knot at the back. She’d used a light hand with her cosmetics and looked purposeful and competent—and as striking as ever.
“Aren’t you going to be a little hot?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I like to meet powerful men on their own level. Otherwise they get too nervous.”
“That’s because you’re gorgeous.”
“I wasn’t always like this.”
I shrugged to show it meant no difference to me. “So do you have all the software you need to make the exchange with Halden?”
“Some of the others stopped by last night when you were asleep, and we were able to get everything ready. Even after all our technopaths’ work and research, it’ll still take Halden and his team another three to five years to be ready for release. But he agrees that it’s going to revolutionize virtual reality and make all other platforms obsolete, especially those for video games.”
“That’s not going to make the game companies happy.”
“Not our worry.” She glanced at the alarm clock by the bed. “Ava’s going to be knocking on that door any minute now.”
“Anything look good for me?” I eyed the pile of clothing doubtfully as I removed a new pair of white bikini underwear from a package.
“Another suit, a blue dress—nice cut on that, by the way—and this red blouse and black skirt combo.”
I’d had enough red for a while, but the suit looked too confining and hot. That left the blue dress and the tallest blue heels I’d ever seen. I removed my robe and pulled the dress on.
“What happened between you and Ritter last night?” Stella asked.
I grimaced. “Nothing.”
“Well, he’s in a terrible mood.”
I slipped my feet into the blue heels. “Good.”
Stella regarded me silently for a minute before saying. “Maybe he’ll mellow in a century or two.”
I gave a dry laugh. “Maybe.” The idea of waiting two hundred years wasn’t appealing. Last night had been stupid anyway. I should have been throwing up barriers against Ritter, not trying to tear them down.
Stella was staring at the mirror again, smoothing the suit jacket over her hips and stomach, which once again looked flat under the material.
Understanding flooded me. “You’re pregnant, aren’t you?”
Stella held very still. “How do you know?”
I thought about mentioning the tiny swelling in her abdomen, but that was not what had triggered my suspicion. I’d sensed it. I walked up to her, my hand outstretched to touch her suit-clad stomach. She flinched slightly but didn’t back away. I reached out my mind and there it was. So small and fluttering. Gentle. Difficult to explain except that it felt like something resembling trust. “I feel it,” I said softly.
Tears formed in Stella’s eyes. “I’m late this month, but I thought I could have miscalculated.”
“You didn’t.” Of course not. Stella was too thorough, too good at what she did to miscalculate anything as simple as the date of her next period.
“Can you tell what sex it is?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think that happens until later or if I’d be able to tell even then, but there’s definitely something there. A presence.” So faint it was almost undetectable.
She was crying now, and I pulled her into my arms much like Ava had done to me the previous day. A hug of comfort. With our contact, her feelings rushed over me: guilt, triumph, despair, joy, and fear. It was a lot to take in all at once.
“I wanted something of his,” she whispered, “but I don’t know if this is the right thing. I’m . . . I’m afraid.”
Afraid of losing her child. Of watching her baby age and die.
“Death is part of life,” I said. “You’ll have many years to love your baby. Don’t dwell on anything else today. You’ve made your decision.”
She nodded fiercely. “It’ll be such a shock for Bronson. All these years since his vasectomy. The past couple of years I was thinking of asking him to reverse it. I even talked to Dimitri about it, but I was worried the surgery would kill Bronson. He’s so fragile now.”
“I’ve heard of it reversing on its own.”
Stella was quiet for a moment and then, “I think it was Dimitri. Maybe not even on purpose.”
“What do you mean?” What other talents did my biological father hide?
“He can do more than see what’s wrong with someone by looking at them, or how to create the medicine they need. He’s been taking care of Bronson for years, and I’ve seen him give him the will to survive time and time again. He makes a body want to heal. His father was a doctor like him, but his mother could sense like you and Ava, and I think Dimitri ended up with a bit of something extra that enhances his predilection for medicine—possibly a type of biological manipulation.”
Healing by the laying on of hands seemed more in the religious realm than I was willing to believe. Yet I believed in God, so who was I to doubt? After all, I could sense some people’s private emotions, a thing I’d once believed impossible. Why shouldn’t Dimitri have the talent to heal with his hands?
The added knowledge that my paternal grandmother could sense was another interesting thought altogether. I had the ability from both sides of the family. I wondered if that was significant.
There was a sharp rap on the door. “You ladies ready?” Ava’s voice.
Stella picked up her cosmetics and headed for the bathroom. “Tell her I’ll be out in a minute. I have to redo my makeup.”
“Wait, Stella.” She paused and I rushed on, “Have you and Ritter ever thought about—you know. I mean before Bronson.”
She smiled. “I won’t tell you I haven’t been tempted to make a play for him. The idea of a man who won’t grow old and die is tempting. Most days it’s hard with Bronson because so often he can’t give me what I need.” She shook her head. “But Ritter’s too angry, and I don’t know how to live like that. I don’t want to live like that.”
I had no reply, so I nodded and watched her go into the bathroom. Part of me was relieved they’d never been together, but another part despaired. If the perfect Stella, with all her years of experience and logic, had deemed a relationship with Ritter impossible, I might as well give up now.
I opened the door to Ava, who looked cheery in a short-sleeve gold suit. Her eyes scanned me. “Nice fit. You look good. Need a little makeup, though.” She pushed me over to the mirror inside the room and began working on me, using products from her bag.
“We’re adhering as closely as possible to our original plan,” she said as she worked. “You’ll be posing as one of the New York programmers who died last night, which we’d planned to do anyway if you showed an ability for sensing. We need to make sure Halden turns over all the files regarding the identification program, keeping no copies. That’s the deal. Ritter and Yuan
-Xin were originally going in as guards and Tenika as the third programmer, but with so many of the Renegades hit last night, we need them on the outside. So Ritter will be both guard and programmer.”
“It’s just the three of us?”
She gave me a flat smile. “I can’t send you all in there without another trained fighter, so despite the fact that Halden won’t be pleased, I’m going, too. Halden’s finally realized I don’t age, but at least I’m familiar. He’s dealt with Stella and the others before, but you and Ritter are new to him. New makes him more nervous than something he can’t explain. Halden will be wary of me, and I probably won’t get close enough to sense much from him, but between the two of us, we should be able to get the assurances we need.”
I wasn’t sure I’d be much help in a stressful situation. “Unless he decides not to deal at all.”
“Oh, he’ll deal. He wants Stella’s program.”
“What about the Emporium?”
“The rest of our people will be scattered over the area, watching for them. We’ll need every experienced Renegade we have on the outside to keep the Emporium away. Don’t worry. Stella or I will do all the talking. Or Ritter.” Her face contorted slightly. “That reminds me. Did something happen last night between you? Ritter’s in a mood.”
“Absolutely nothing.” Unfortunately. Fortunately. I clenched my teeth together. I’d thrown up my barrier, so Ava probably couldn’t sense any of my confusion. I hoped.
“Humph,” she said, not fooled.
I examined her face. Unlined, clear, with high cheekbones and a nose that spread a tiny bit more than necessary. Familiar because it was my mother’s face when she was younger, or as similar as you could expect with nearly three hundred years separating them. Yet my mother hadn’t been Unbounded. I was. Though I had Ava’s gray eyes and her blond hair, the rest of me looked more like Dimitri—a less-broad, feminine version. When would someone tell me the truth?
Ava stepped back to examine her efforts with the makeup. “That’ll do. Your hair is growing, though. You’ll have to decide if you’re growing it out or keeping it short.” She spoke absently, and I knew her mind had already moved on.
“Any news about my family?”
“I talked to Dimitri this morning. He says Jace was conscious last night and able to sit up with the support of the adjustable bed.”
“My father?”
I’d meant the one who raised me, of course, but there was a slight hesitation in Ava’s reply, as though she’d first thought I was asking if Dimitri was my father. “He’s the same.” She turned with obvious relief as Stella emerged from the bathroom. “Good, you’re ready.”
“Ritter’s here?”
“He’s with Tenika and Yuan-Xin going over last minute security details.”
“It’ll be okay,” Stella said to no one in particular. “We’re going to succeed.”
I waited for Ava to sense the presence of Stella’s child, but instead she said, “Something feels wrong, but I can’t place my finger on it. I wish I’d been able to talk to Halden personally.”
“Why?” Stella headed for the door that led to the sitting room. “Too much distance to get a read on his thoughts even if you’d called him yourself. Any food out there?”
Ava smiled. “Of course.”
With all the absorbing I’d been doing, I wasn’t hungry, but I ate anyway. The fruit was sweet, the hot chocolate rich, and the croissants the best I’d ever had, but Laurence was right when he said that eating wasn’t the same. Lately I received more joy from absorbing than from ingesting real food. But to my view, it was a fair exchange. Almost a high. Why hadn’t he been able to feel that?
We were finishing up when Chris stumbled from his room. “Up already?” His sleepy gaze skimmed past all of us and settled briefly on Stella, a wistful smile on his face. She was alive and vibrant, even more beautiful than ever in her pregnancy. A beacon of hope.
“We have to be somewhere at nine,” I said.
Chris cocked his head to meet my gaze. “Will we be leaving New York after?”
I exchanged glances with Ava and Stella. None of us knew what this day would entail or if we’d emerge whole and alive. “Yes,” Ava said finally. Chris didn’t seem to notice her hesitation.
“I hear you’re going to work for Ava.” I pushed the last of my croissant in my mouth.
Ava met my eyes and frowned. I had agreed to his employment, but I was mentally broadcasting my uncertainty about Chris working for her—for us—in case she’d forgotten.
“Glad you’re okay with it,” Chris said. “I’ll fly you guys wherever you want to go.”
“What about the kids?”
“I’m hoping they can stay with Mom and Dad when I’m gone. Or maybe with you.”
I had a sudden vision of Kathy and Spencer growing old before I physically aged another year. Not my thoughts, or at least not originating in my head. I narrowed my eyes at Ava before realizing that she hadn’t meant to experience the emotions herself, much less send them to me. I forced a smile for my brother’s benefit. “I’d be glad to help out.”
We paused as Ritter threw open the door. He stood framed by the hallway, his face somber. His gaze slid over me, almost a physical touch.
I didn’t look away.
Ava stood. “Guess it’s time to go.”
My heartbeat took that moment to increase its pace. I didn’t know if it was because of Ritter or what we were walking into.
RITTER AND I TOOK THE backseat again, with Stella shotgun and Ava driving. Ritter carried a handgun, though he knew it’d be taken from him before he was allowed to enter the meeting place.
“Do you have a knife in that bag?” I asked. “One with a leg strap, or whatever you call them.”
“Sheath.” One of his eyebrows rose questioningly. “I have two. Why?”
“I’d like to use one.” I waited for a joke as to my competence with the weapon, and when none came, I felt strangely grateful.
He rummaged in his bag and handed me a dark blue arrangement. “This one might work. It only carries one knife, but the other isn’t adjustable and won’t fit you.”
My eyes went to where his thigh touched mine on the seat, sending pulses of heat that I was trying to ignore. Obviously we were nowhere near the same size.
I unfastened the Velcro attachments. “I’m assuming we’ll have to go through some kind of security before we see Halden. Won’t they think it odd that we’re armed?”
Ritter shook his head. “We told them there’d been trouble with pirates trying to steal the software. Besides, I’m playing the part of a game junkie and they love this stuff.”
I lifted my dress to strap on the knife. I tried to hide my smile as Ritter averted his gaze, his nostrils flaring slightly. But then I couldn’t get the sheath to adjust properly, and it was my turn to blush and look away as his roughened fingers made the adjustments. I wavered between slapping him away and begging him to keep his fingers right where they were.
When the sheath was finally in place, it felt strangely comforting against my skin.
We drove to the outskirts of town until we reached an area dotted with manufacturing plants. Small fields of grass and weeds had sprung up between some of the buildings. It was to one of the more isolated buildings we were heading, a squat, sprawling place with only one floor.
Each of us scanned the area as we strode up the cemented walk to the double front doors. At my side, Ritter was especially tense. He looked good in his dark suit, with his hair combed back from the hard lines of his face, but tiny beads of sweat dotted his forehead. Not a breeze in the air gave relief to the heat.
Ava gave Ritter a sidelong glance. “You think the Emporium’s watching?”
“Our people have been in place for the past three hours. There’s been no sign of them. I don’t know whether to be relieved or more worried. They have to be here. With the information they have, it would be stupid for them not to be.”
“Guess we’l
l find out.” Ava opened one of the front doors.
Inside, we were met by two guards and the kind of metal detector I’d seen in airports. We began emptying our belongings into trays. “We’ll have to hold this here for you,” said a balding guard, hefting Ritter’s gun. “Mr. Halden doesn’t allow weapons.” He divested Ritter also of a knife. “Interesting equipment for a programmer,” he commented dryly.
“Game programmer,” Ritter corrected. “I like weapons.”
“Of course.”
Meanwhile, the other guard, an attractive man with golden brown skin and short black dreadlocks, had passed Stella through the metal detector and motioned me over. The machine went off with a loud clang. I stiffened as he approached me. There was something different about him. Something difficult to place. Then I had it. He was Unbounded. Not old Unbounded like Ava and the others—he didn’t quite have that confidence, but he was Unbounded all the same. Newer.
Fear shot through me. Was he from the Emporium?
I glanced at Ava who was awaiting her turn with the balding man, and she nodded at me. Her thoughts were shuttered, but I knew she wanted me to submit to his search. Easy to think, but quite another thing to stand still as the guard waved a wand over me, trying to determine the source of the metal. He found the knife, but to my surprise, he gave a quick flip of his arm and a metal anklet appeared in his palm. “You must have forgotten this,” he said, pretending to unfasten it from my ankle.
“Oh, sorry.” I shrugged delicately.
He was one of ours. My knees felt weak with relief.
The bald man laughed. “Not much of a weapon, but enough to set off the sensors. Better pick it up on your way out, miss.”
“Thank you,” I told the Unbounded guard, stumbling purposefully so I had to reach out and touch him.
He was dark. However new he was, he’d been trained that well at least.
Did that mean he might be a double agent? What if our trust in him was misplaced, as it had been with Laurence? We would have to kill him. If it came down to it, could I kill him to protect the others?
The Change (Unbounded) Page 32