EVO Nation Series Trilogy Box Set

by K. J. Chapman

  Leoni embraces him, tears in her eyes. “It’s good to see you, Rafe. You haven’t aged a day.”

  Rafe turns his attention to Adam. “I think I underestimated you,” he says, the hint of a smirk playing at his lips. “And there was I, thinking that it was us tracking you.”

  Adam shrugs, offering his hand to Rafe. “Sorry to surprise you like this, but you had something important to me.”

  “Well, you certainly know how to make an entrance. I assume you took the necessary precautions before bringing a convoy to my doorstep?”

  Adam raises an eyebrow. “Of course. I would have given you warning if I could have linked with Teddie, but as we assumed you have been blocking our link, I had to take a more dramatic approach.”

  “How’d did you know?” I ask.

  Leoni raises her hand. “I remembered that Rafe has a particular talent for blocking thoughts and psychic abilities. It’d make sense he’d try and protect you.”

  Rafe sucks his teeth, composing himself before turning back to Adam. “I have kept my granddaughter safe by any means necessary.” His words are clipped, and he looks to me, daring me to pick an argument. “I have ensured that Teddie’s existence remains concealed for the time being. Just as you yourself would have done, no doubt.”

  “Indeed.” Adam’s curt reply reveals much more than friendly conversation. “I’m not questioning your methods,” he adds, tucking his hands into his pockets.

  “I am,” I spit the words with burning fever.

  Adam smiles at me. “He has kept you safe until I could get here.”

  The pair stare each other out. Both letting the other know that they’re not men to be messed with.

  Rafe is the first to break the silence. “Crow and the team will show you to the combat training field where you can set up base. We have Illusionists, Cloakers, and Technokins at your disposal. There is fresh water from the spring, but do not contaminate it as it is our only clean supply. Once you are settled, there is plenty to discuss. Teddie will come with me. I need to have a private word with her.”

  Adam offers a brisk nod, kisses me once again, and then hands me off to Rafe.

  “I’m going with you,” I tell him.

  Adam shouts orders at the awaiting TORO, and the roar of engines fills the air around us once again. “I’m needed here, but I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he promises.

  “Adam! Where are you going?”

  “Sort things with Rafe. We need him,” he whispers. He holds my forehead to his. “I need to organise my squad, Baby. I’ll be with you as fast as humanly possible.”

  Watching him organising all these men and women is impressive. The way they look at him with such respect doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. I’ve always looked to Adam like that. I don’t even mind that they’re getting his full attention. This is who he is, and considering I’ve waited this long to see him again, a few more minutes won’t hurt.

  “We need all hands on deck,” Adam orders Jude and the others.

  I half expect them to protest, at least Jude and Cooper, but they oblige without hesitation. Saying their goodbyes, they climb back into the van with Crow as their guide.

  Adam hugs his Mum. “Stay with Teddie. I will be back once the squad is settled.”

  Leoni greets Rio, Coco, Kid, and Brick, and then wraps her arm around my shoulder. “My boy loves the bones of you. If he said you were still alive, you were still alive.”

  Resting my head against her, I allow myself to relax for the first time since waking up in The Hive. “Is it really as bad as Rafe says it is out there?”

  “Worse,” she whispers. “We should wait for Adam before I say more.”

  Her reply sets me on edge, but I choose not to press further. For five minutes, I just want to enjoy the fact that they’re all here.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  I asked Rafe to leave my room. Distance is the only thing that can get my head straight at the moment. He has been blocking mine and Adam’s link and lying through his teeth about it. Just thinking about his deceit causes a rage to bubble inside; a rage stemmed from betrayal and hurt. It’s better to cool off than to say something I’ll regret, especially if Adam needs him on side. Leoni stays and clucks around me like a mother hen, even though it is obvious how desperate she is to talk to Rafe.

  I take the opportunity to change into clean clothes and allow Leoni to examine my back. She whispers curses and promises to Towley.

  “It was bizarre seeing Adam in a TORO uniform,” I say, taking the attention from myself.

  She brushes my cheek with the back of her hand. “I’m so proud of him. He had been rallying the TORO since Towley took you that night. None of us realised the extent of his plans. When he woke up at Syndicate’s base after the rally, and rumours of your death were circulating, he went into some kind of zone- so focussed, so intent. When Grayson refused to support his plans, he stole vehicles, weapons, and equipment, and stormed out of the base with all the TORO following his every command. Of course, we weren’t going to be left behind.”

  “I saw at least a hundred TORO today. More than Grayson had taken in.”

  “You were in Towley’s custody for a little over a week, and things shifted up a notch with the intake at Syndicate. Grayson was bringing people in by the truck-load. We believe that there were nearly six hundred TORO created at Facility One, and a surprisingly high percentage escaped Isaac’s attack because that is what they are trained to do. TORO are programmed survivors. You’d be amazed at how many had been keeping other groups of EVO and Non-EVO alive, just like Adam did for you kids at Facility One.”

  “Why would they leave the security of Syndicate to help Adam?”

  “Because Grayson is not fighting back. He is a protector and forbids any aggressive action. He spouts rubbish about safety, but he is cowering. TORO are soldiers, they can’t sit back from a war, and they look to a strong leader. That, and they required manipulation. I’ve erased their memories for good. The memory manipulator from Facility One was sloppy and unable to perform one-off manipulations without the TORO recalling things and un-manipulating themselves in the long run. They required continuous maintenance.”

  I remember Dr Yvette Simmons’ never ending TORO maintenance. She couldn’t take memories long term, and that’s why her leaving Facility One, and subsequently her death, has seen TORO changing back into semi-versions of the men and women they were before. The conditioning treatment they received to make them emotionless stayed with them, casting shadows over their sanity. The government lost all control.

  “This time, they cannot unmanipulate themselves,” Leoni adds. “Those men and women can live normal lives without suffering those hideous memories over and over again.”

  When Adam developed telepathy, he started to unmanipulate himself at a faster rate. The worry was real. Would he have become a shell of his former self once he remembered what they had put him through?

  “Thank God for that. I was worried about Adam’s telepathy and the un-manipu—”

  Leoni shakes her head and chews on her lip. “Adam has refused my interference. He retains all of his memories.”

  Comprehension evades me as I start protesting everything Leoni has just admitted. I know some of the vile things Adam must remember. I saw footage of him in the conditioning station. “Why?” I gasp.

  “Because it drives him, Sweetie. Don’t think that I haven’t pleaded with him because I have, but Adam is strong willed and even more pig-headed. I keep my eye on him, but that’s as much as he allows.”

  “And how is he coping?”

  “He’s been keeping busy.” Leoni sits on the bed beside me. “What the hell was going on before between you and Rafe?

  “He let me think that mine and Adam’s link had broken. I only found out a few minutes before you arrived. In one breath, he asks me to trust him, and in another, he lies through his teeth.”

  The door creaks open and Rafe pops his head in. “Leoni, could you give us a min
ute?”

  Leoni obliges, leaving us alone in the room. Rafe sits on the bed, so I stand.

  “Save your breath. I don’t want to hear your apologies,” I state, turning away from him.

  “Well, that’s lucky because I’m not here to apologise. Look at me, Kiddo.” I begrudgingly make eye contact. “I want you to hear something now- really hear it. I love you. Your all I have in this hellish world, and I blocked your link before you even woke from surgery, before I got to know you. I do what is necessary regardless of who gets their nose put out of joint, because in the end, their blood would be on my hands if I didn’t. I thought about telling you, but what if Adam fell into the wrong hands? What if Towley captured him and had a telepath or memory manipulator working for him? And besides, I knew that when you found out everything would change between us. You’re a Lloyd, and you’ve proven that with your temper on more than one occasion. There was no way that you wouldn’t see this as betrayal. What can I say? I liked the way you looked at me up until today. Your mother and Jude used to look at me like that too, many years ago; a hero, someone who held all the answers. I wanted to hold onto that for a little longer.”

  “Maybe there is a pattern here. Shana, Jude, me…”

  “Oh, there definitely is, and I’m the common denominator. I guess, I hoped that you’d see what I was trying to achieve.”

  “Trying and actually achieving are two different things. Actions over words and all that. So far, all you have managed to do is piss me off.”

  Rafe scoffs. “I see that.”

  “Let’s just hear what Adam has to say. We keep moving forward. If you have any other secrets, now is the time to spill them.”

  Rafe stands, tucking his hands into his pockets. “I have many secrets, Kiddo.”

  “I’m only interested in the ones that concern me.”

  “This whole war concerns you. But as for us, personally, you’ve seen my hand and I’m out.”

  I face him head on, only a step between us. “One more chance.”

  Adam is shown into the room by Kid, and Leoni hovers close behind. He lifts me from my feet, and yes, my back smarts, but his lips on my mouth steal my attention. He stops suddenly, his hands tracing the outline of the scars through my t-shirt.

  “How much did he hurt you?” Adam whispers, his eyes turning dark and stormy at the thought of Towley.

  “Teddie is recovering from life threatening injuries inflicted at the hands of a man who has no business controlling this country. Three broken ribs, a collapsed lung, brain surgery, and extensive back lacerations. Not to mention dislocated fingers and fractured cheek bones. She has had a lucky escape,” says Rafe.

  “I get it, you saved her life when I couldn’t,” Adam snaps.

  Rafe tilts his head in amusement. “This is not a pissing contest, Son.”

  Adam’s back goes rigid and he turns to face Rafe with slow precision “Do not call me son. I can let a lot of things slide because I respect your connection and intent toward Teddie, but never call me son when my father is dead because of you and your poor judgement.”

  “Adam!” Leoni hisses.

  Rafe holds up his hands. “It’s alright, Leoni. The boy has a right to vent.”

  “Boy?” Adam says, half laughing. “I thought this wasn’t a pissing contest, old man?”

  Rafe smirks now, wringing his hands in irritation, but not letting it show on his face. “Only a boy would make the decision to bring a convoy of twenty-nine vehicles and one hundred and seven soldiers to the doorstep of an organisation providing safety to people, risking hundreds of innocent lives in the process.”

  Adam steps a little closer to Rafe. “Only an old man would assume that a boy could not have the brains to effectively trace him right to his doorstep, and then have the nerve to question the boy when he shows him up in front of his people on said doorstep. Unlike you, I don’t leave breadcrumbs. You and your people are perfectly safe. If I was half as reckless as you think I am, I would have been here a hell of a lot sooner, but as it was, I’d rather Teddie here safe with you, then in danger because of me. Not only that, I had the safety of my squad to consider. It wasn’t safe to travel whilst the government were on their swabbing rampage. At first, all major roads had a blockade. I had to wait for the initial uproar to die down.”

  “Wow, it’s reeking of piss in here now,” Leoni says, raising a disapproving eyebrow. “Let’s leave these two to shake and flush, Teddie, and we’ll start on the serious stuff like this damn war.”

  “Quite right,” Rafe agrees, puffing out his chest that little bit more.

  “Lead on,” Adam says, gesturing toward the door. “Age before beauty,” he adds, as Rafe steps from the room. Rafe spins on his heels to find Adam smiling with his hand outstretched. He scoffs to himself, but shakes it regardless. “Best not get off on the wrong foot in regards to why I am here.”

  “I am positive that we want the same thing,” Rafe agrees.

  Adam wraps his arm around my shoulders and we follow Rafe into the corridor. I look back at Leoni with incredulity at the scene we have just witnessed. She simply rolls her eyes at me.

  The foyer is crammed with people. There are a handful of TORO milling about, receiving wary looks from those who have never been in the presence of them before. They do come across as intimidating, even without the helmets. Adam’s military grade boots squeak over the linoleum, and the familiar rustle of the uniform brings back memories from that first week together.

  Crow holds the door to the office open, and the chatter inside dies down as Rafe and Adam enter. Without missing a beat, Adam takes the seat beside Rafe’s chair. He could have sat in the head chair if the fancy took him, but he has to respect that this is Rafe’s domain, and for the moment, he is currently camping in his back yard.

  The room is full with Rafe’s Firsts and Adam’s closest confidants: Jude, Kesh, Cooper, Lizzie, two TORO that I don’t recognise, and last but not least, Leoni. I don’t know whose side I’m supposed to be on.

  “I know you have your own objectives, but we have discovered something that requires our urgent attention. I think our missions are one and the same,” Adam starts, diving head first into discussion. “When my Techs were searching for traces of Shift, we happened upon a highly-encrypted file. Kesh,” Adam gestures for Kesh to speak.

  Kesh pulls a tablet from his bag and gets up to address the room. “I’ve been maintaining eyes on Syndicate for any developments of interest. It was also a long shot that Teddie might make contact with Grayson. Anyway, I found this.” He turns the tablet to show the room. “It is a file that wasn’t there before. It is a file that hadn’t been accessed by Grayson or any of his Techs, not that they have the skill to crack this level of security.” Kesh preens a little.

  “But you cracked it,” Rafe says, indulging him.

  “Better than that,” Adam pipes in.

  Kesh opens the file, and we all lean in a little closer. “It took a while, but I managed to open the file whilst maintaining invisibility. It is a virus of sorts, but where a normal virus would spread throughout, this remains hidden until it is stumbled upon. This virus was supposed to be found and only by Technokins, but Grayson’s Techs would never have found it, let alone hacked it.”

  “What is its purpose?” Rafe asks.

  “It is effectively a tracker and will relay Syndicates location to the Government should the file’s creator not receive their demands within the time period, or if someone attempts to disable it.”

  “So, this is not the work of Towley?” Crow asks. Rafe gives him an ‘I’m the Guv, I’ll ask the questions’ glare, and Crow retreats back against the wall.

  Adam holds my eye contact, and my stomach sinks like a stone. “Kesh traced the source back to the E.N.C. The file can only be stopped using Teddie’s D.N.A. profile. Somehow, they know she is alive and are awaiting proof. It’s that, or the safety of every soul in Syndicate is compromised.”

  A hush falls over the room, only the uncomf
ortable shuffling of asses in seats punctuates the silence.

  Rafe twiddles his thumbs, the cogs behind his eyes turning at excessive speed. “Sooner rather than later I suppose.” Turning to Bo, he says, “Bring in all surveillance teams on E.N.C detail. Have them consolidate all their information on Fernan Rue.”

  “Since when have you had the surveillance teams on E.N.C detail?” Crow asks. “Do you not think that we all should have been clued in on this? You talk about Cub’s exposure, you refused to survey Syndicate even though we have friends there, and yet, you’ve been sending our people to spy on the leader of the fucking E.N.C.”

  “Rein your tongue,” Rafe roars, flying to his feet and stopping just inches from Crow’s face. “The last I checked, you were not acting superior on surveillance teams, so you would not be privy to all the information regarding detailing.”

  He shoves Crow back against the wall with force, and Crow’s face flares crimson in shame, matching Rafe’s hue of anger.

  “It has always been on the cards to approach Fernan Rue, the leader of the E.N.C. We have a common enemy, so for the sake of this war that makes us friends. They have the numbers to aide us. We need an army, and they have one.”

  “How can that work?” Leoni asks. “We will be tarring ourselves with the same brush. They’re murderers.”

  “And we’re not?” Rafe asks, opening his hands in honesty. “None of us are clean of blood, we just conceal it better.”

  Adam gets to his feet. “No, Rafe’s right. If this is Shift’s objective, then my squad wants in. We need the E.N.C. We go ahead with his plan. We give them their proof, but only to form an alliance.”

  “Hang on,” Rafe interrupts. “They must have a profile of their own to match Teddie’s against. How would they have something like that?”

  Adam rests his hands on his knees. “That, we don’t know. The only way they could have Teddie’s D.N.A is if they have some of her blood or a swab. Towley would no doubt have that, but we’ve tried to hack their systems and it is near on impenetrable. We believe the government have back-up systems that wipes out information at the first sign of outside interference. If Kesh can’t get in, no one can. We keep drawing a blank.”