The guard winked and smiled. “You all right?”
I nodded, feeling guilty for my thoughts. I glanced at Ritter, understanding him better than I wanted to.
The bald guard motioned for Ava. “Okay, I’m done with Rambo, here. You can step through.” Ava did so without a problem, and the man added, “Mr. Halden is waiting for you in the room at the end of the hall. I’ll show you where.”
Following the older guard, we walked purposefully down the hall. Ava was smiling, Stella, briefcase in hand, looked poised and beautiful, but Ritter’s expression was grim. I found a smile and pasted it on my face.
“Smile,” I hissed at Ritter. He looked startled for an instant before his lips moved upward at the corners. The effect wasn’t very convincing, but when he took glasses out of the pocket of his shirt and put them on, I thought maybe he could pass. A computer nerd he wasn’t, but there was an obvious intelligence in his eyes.
I didn’t worry too much about his lack of a weapon. I’d seen him in action, and I knew his body was every bit as dangerous as a loaded gun. He glanced over at me, his eyes sliding down to where the knife was pressed against my thigh. That told me he’d been aware of what had happened with the guard. I wasn’t surprised.
Despite my cool dress and the air-conditioned interior of the hallway, I was feeling rather hot under Ritter’s stare. Adrenaline, I told myself.
Yeah, right.
Ritter’s gaze left me as the guard knocked on the door. I took a deep breath. Without really meaning to, I sent my thoughts out to my companions. All were dark, even Ava, and I took that as my clue to be careful, but I wouldn’t shut myself up entirely unless I felt threatened. If the Emporium was nearby, they would already know we were inside, and this far from their sensing agent we should be relatively safe. Sensing was the reason I was here, after all.
The door was opened by a stocky man with silver hair. He looked like security, probably loaded to the teeth. Another man stood to the side of the door, younger, but also with the air of security. A third man occupied the space by the window, his face turned away from us, and I knew immediately that this was John Halden. He was tall and thin, with coffee-colored skin and close-cropped black hair generously laced with gray. He wore jeans, Nikes, and a T-shirt with a logo I didn’t recognize. When he turned, I saw a kind but unremarkable face with brown eyes that could have belonged to anyone.
Not at all the cutthroat businessman I’d expected.
He came toward us, hand outstretched. I felt more than saw the guards tense as he greeted us, as if they feared that was the moment we might try something.
Strange how sensing had evolved from disjointed flashes to a function as normal as breathing. Like absorbing. A limb I couldn’t do without. For an absurd moment I wanted to laugh with joy for my newfound ability, like a blind man suddenly given sight. I squelched the emotion quickly, refocusing on Halden who had extended his hand to me.
“Nice to meet you,” he said as Stella made our introduction. He had a generous mouth and with his smile, his face was utterly transformed. I was amazed at the difference between the ordinary man I’d first seen at the window and this man whose magnetism radiated sunlight.
I returned his smile. “My pleasure. I’ve heard a lot about you, and I’m pleased we can finally meet.”
“Thank you for allowing us to reschedule, John,” Ava added.
Halden’s smile faltered, becoming a bit hard. “Well, we can’t always predict life, can we?” I was sure there was a double meaning in the words, but his emotions didn’t reveal what.
Halden motioned us to a large oval table that reminded me eerily of the one at the Emporium headquarters in California. “Please have a seat.”
We did as we were told. He’d arranged it so the wide table was between him and us, and that gave me a sense of unease.
“I have been impressed with your project,” Halden began, directing his gaze at Stella. His appeal went beyond power and magnetism; there was also a sensual energy in the lean lines of his body that he seemed unaware of. “You’re right that it will completely revolutionize the entire gaming world. But there are also many other applications—medicine, education, law enforcement. And much more. I’m looking forward to developing it. When you showed me what your team was up to the last time we met, I was very impressed. Even more so with your latest reports. I’ve never seen anything like your work. We’ll have to talk about whether or not you’re paid enough at your current job.” He smiled to show he was joking, though it was clear from his tone that he wasn’t.
Something squeezed my thigh. Ritter’s hand. I shook my head, as if shaking off the rain. I’d been so focused on Halden that I had no idea how long Ritter’s hand had been on my thigh, which was strange because now that I was aware of it, my nerves were screaming at the contact.
Ritter’s chin lifted toward Ava and Stella. The women’s eyes were fixed on Halden, more caught up in him than they should be. Like I’d been. No wonder Halden had been so successful over the years. His magnetism was inescapable.
I glanced at Ritter and saw his eyes go to a second door to the room, located behind Halden. It was slightly ajar.
Something was wrong. Not just the door, but in Halden’s demeanor, in his single-minded focus on his words. He was hiding something. I tried delving deeper into his mind, but besides a high level of anticipation, there was no clue to what he planned. Either he simply wasn’t thinking about it, which I didn’t believe for an instant, or someone had warned him not to think of anything he didn’t want us to know.
But who?
I tried to probe further, but was rewarded only by a dull pain in my skull. I wondered if Ava was having better luck.
“I’m very happy where I am,” Stella assured Halden. I was glad to see his eyes linger on the soft curves of her face. At least he wasn’t immune to her charms. I wondered if there was a woman in his life.
“Too bad for me, I guess.”
Checking first to make sure the guards weren’t watching me, I pulled up the skirt of my dress enough to free the knife and pass it to Ritter. He could do far more damage with it than I could. To my surprise, he pushed it back, shaking his head almost imperceptibly.
“So the trade is acceptable to you?” Stella asked. “Of course, we’ll want reassurances that you will not replicate the identification technology. We will do the same for our virtual reality program.”
Halden hesitated. “I’m sorry, but there has been a complication. I can no longer trade, yet I would like to buy your technology from you. I promise to make it worth your while.”
Ava blinked once as the information set in. “No.”
“That was not the deal,” Stella added. “I didn’t put so much sweat into this project to give it away for money. We need the identification technology.”
Halden arched a brow. “Need? That’s a pretty strong word.” He leaned forward. “And the thing is, it seems you’re not the only ones who need it.”
“You have another offer?” Ava’s voice was curt.
“Actually, I do.” He nodded to a guard, who walked to the partially open door behind Halden and motioned to someone we couldn’t see.
Next to me Ritter’s body was coiled, ready for action. Stella’s face paled, and I wondered if it was fear or if the Unbounded experienced morning sickness. Everyone was standing now, except me. My eyes riveted on the door.
Stefan Carrington was the first to emerge, followed by Justine Carver, my once-best-friend. I should have known. Only Unbounded could have warned Halden about guarding his thoughts. With Stefan and Justine was the large-nosed Edgel who had operated on my leg at Cort’s. They sauntered into the room, confident as though they owned the place. I had the urge to tug off Justine’s auburn wig out of spite, but even if I did, it wouldn’t expose the rot in her heart.
The last person emerged, and I bit my lip to keep from crying out.
Cort!
He looked healthy, though rather frayed around the edges. His
face sported a quickly fading bruise, his slacks were ill-fitting, and his white shirt rumpled. After the disaster at Emporium headquarters, he must have flown all night to get here. But he was alive.
Stefan was the first to speak. “Hello, Erin. I was sorry to hear you left California so abruptly.”
“Guess I didn’t like the idea of being anyone’s puppet—yours or Delia’s.”
“So Cort was right. You do take after your maternal ancestor.” Stefan’s eyes flickered to Ava.
Now that Stefan was in the room, it was hard to decide who exuded more power, him or John Halden. I had the feeling none of this was going to end well.
“So,” Ava said to Halden, “you’ve decided to sell out to this animal?”
“Animal?” Stefan’s lips twitched with amusement.
“What matters here is that he’s the man who tried to kill you this week,” Stella said. “If it hadn’t been for our organization and your own preparedness, you would have died.”
Halden frowned. “Is this true, Stefan?”
Stefan shook his head. “I never heard of an attempt on your life. Did it really happen? If so, maybe you have the perpetrators right here.”
Anger, frustration, and hopelessness flooded through me. “No,” I whispered. “No.”
Halden met my gaze. “You have something to say?”
All eyes turned toward me. “He’s lying,” I said. “You can’t trust him.”
Halden smiled and his magnetism was riveting. “You are in the company of a woman who hasn’t appeared to age in the twenty years I’ve known her. How can I trust her? Or you? How do I know you’re not the one lying? What information do you have that can sway me? Why are you even here? What personal stake do you have in all this?”
“You really want to know?” I asked because this wasn’t about me, it was about the survival of the Renegades, and by extension John Halden and every other mortal in the world.
“I made my empire strong by listening. Try to convince me.”
Many court trials had been won by focusing on the individual, and maybe it would help here. Halden was both judge and jury. At the very least, this distraction might provide an opportunity for the others to make a move. Smoothing my dress to be sure it hid my knife, I stood slowly, calculating my words.
“Last week,” I began, “I had a boyfriend, a best friend I trusted, and I knew who my parents were. My brothers were happy and well. My niece and nephew had a mother. I’d never heard of you. I never cared about computer programs. I was like any other woman in America.” I walked around the table until I stood in front of Justine. “Then I didn’t die when I should have, and my best friend betrayed me by ordering the death of my family.” I reached up and tugged off her wig. She gasped and lunged for it, but I tossed it over the table. We glared at each other for a moment. She wasn’t bald. Like me, her hair had grown several inches; hers was a nice brown without her usual highlights or anything special. She must hate that, as she hated anything normal.
I pointed at Stefan and continued. “I was told this man was my biological father. Then he imprisoned me, and when I escaped in the attempt to save dozens of people from being slaughtered, the man I once thought I loved tried to stop me and . . .” I faltered, my throat tight with the memory. “And I shot him. He died right in front of me, and there was nothing I could do to save him.”
“No!” Justine threw herself at me and started raking my face with her nails. Cort pulled her back.
“Didn’t they tell you, Justine?” I mocked, though the pain in my chest made it difficult to breathe. “Delia used Tom. She did something to his mind so I wouldn’t see until it was too late. I may have shot Tom, but in the end, you’re to blame. You made Tom who he was. You chose to work for people who think they’re above regular mortals.”
“I loved Tom!” she cried.
So did I. “I know.”
She crumpled against Cort, sobbing.
John Halden regarded me coldly. “Is there a point to all this?”
I could see from his thoughts that I’d taken his invitation to tell my personal stake too literally. I matched his aloofness, as years ago I’d practiced doing in mock courtrooms. “The point is if you give this technology to them, you are condemning many people to death—and all their descendants as well.”
“It’s murder,” Ava added.
Stefan snorted. “Like you wouldn’t use it against us.”
“No. It’s far too dangerous.” Ava shook her head for emphasis. “We were going to destroy it.”
Stefan looked from me to Ava and back again. I nodded. “It’s true.”
“And that,” Halden said, the hint of a smile hovering on his lips, “is exactly why I will accept neither of your offers.”
Ava and Stefan stiffened. “What do you mean?” Stefan demanded.
“There is another interested party.” Halden nodded at the older guard, who walked to the door where we had entered. Minutes later he returned with four men, each armed with a semiautomatic rifle. I didn’t know any of them, but I recognized the insignia on their uniforms.
Hunters.
“AFTER I REALIZED AVA DIDN’T age, I did a little research,” Halden said. “Actually, I put a whole team on it, and my trail eventually led to these gentlemen here. They were kind enough to explain the situation and show me the files they’ve collected over the years.” His eyes scanned the room slowly. “With the exception of Erin, you are all in those files.”
Stefan made a growl of disbelief in his throat. The other Unbounded appeared equally shocked. I hadn’t seen any of this coming, either, though I’d maintained a link with Halden’s mind. What he learned, he learned well.
When no one spoke, Halden continued. “These men have been telling me some very far-fetched stories. Interestingly enough, I’m inclined to believe them. After some discussion, they have agreed to completely fund my identification project. I might not earn as much money as I would have with either the virtual reality technology or the communication technology that your separate groups have offered, but it seems I’ll be protecting humanity.”
This attitude of morality was exactly what had caused the Renegades to back Halden, to feed his company technology over the years, but now his very goodness was to be our downfall. His emotions clearly confirmed his words; he believed what he was doing was right.
Silence reigned as everyone waited for what would happen next. I noticed Ritter had also come around the table and was within leaping distance of Halden. It was clear to me that not all of us would leave here alive. Perhaps none of us.
I faced Halden. “So you’re a murderer.”
“I’m not hurting anyone.”
“Is that what they told you?”
The tallest of the Hunters started to speak, but Halden waved him to silence. “What do you mean?” he asked me.
I gestured to the Hunters. “They’ll cut all of us in pieces as fast as they can identify us. All of us. That’s what Hunters do. They don’t care if some of us actually fight for humanity. They don’t care if we hurt or love or have families. They kill us because we’re different, like people once killed your race or the Jews.” I was warming to my topic, presenting final arguments that meant my life and the lives of those I’d grown to care about. I’d been raised to argue, learning from the knees of the man who’d raised me. “They say they’re protecting people, but killing an entire race because they’re different is nothing short of genocide. And what happens when they’re finished? Hatred like that doesn’t just die. It’s directed elsewhere. When they’re through with us, they’ll turn to whoever else might threaten their way of life. It won’t stop with us. Racial targeting never does.”
For the first time Halden seemed uncertain. “You told me the identification would make them go public,” he said to the Hunters. “That it would allow them to live freely among us so they could be regulated like everyone else. You didn’t say anything about murder.”
When none of the Hunters replied,
Ava said, “Oh, John, exposing us would mean the same thing. It will cause a division. Fear. Hatred. Genocide. But you can damn well bet we won’t lie down and let ourselves be killed. My friends and I have been trying to protect humanity from abuses by our kind, but I am certain this move will force us to join hands with those who don’t share that goal. What you are setting in motion today is a war that will encompass the entire world.”
“She’s right.” Stefan flexed his arms, as though ready to pounce. “What’s more, these monsters never planned to let us leave here today—at least not on our own feet.”
“It’s not as if a bullet would actually kill you,” spat the tall Hunter.
“See?” Stefan flashed Halden a mirthless grin.
Halden ran a hand through his hair. Emotion radiated from him, so bright I didn’t even have to try to discern his thought. An image came to me of the guard with the dreadlocks.
Halden’s son.
Halden’s Unbounded son who’d been trained by Renegade Unbounded. A son who’d gone against the advice of his tutors and had confessed his true nature to his father.
I reached out for the son now, stretching, pushing—driven to desperation by the situation. Stella had said Ava could sometimes plant a thought in a non-sensing mind. Was I strong enough? From Ava, I’d inherited the talent of sensing, but my paternal grandmother had it too. Perhaps I had enough strength to reach across the hall that separated us. Delia could reach across five floors. What about me? I strained and struggled. It felt like trying to bend a steel beam.
Nothing.
I tried to use John Halden’s emotion as power to extend my reach, absorbing it like nutrition. It wasn’t going to be enough. Tears of frustration filled my eyes. Soon the shooting would begin. I could tell by the tension radiating from every person in the room.
Then I found him, his shields still in place. I battered at them. Was that a tiny hole? Danger. Your father needs you! There was no answer, and I didn’t expect one, because I’d have to be the one to take it from his mind, and at this distance I simply wasn’t strong enough. I could only hope he received the impression.
The Change (Unbounded) Page 33