Deception (Dark Desires Origins)

by Nina Croft

  He ran to the door and looked out. The building was in darkness.

  Dr. Yang was still huddled on the ground. He went across and dragged her to her feet. “Take me to her.”

  She tried to pull away and he tightened his grip.

  “I don’t know what’s happening,” she mumbled. “Who are you? What are you?”

  “We don’t have time for this. Where is Destiny?” He gave her a little shake. “Do you know?”

  She licked her lips and then nodded. “She’ll be in the medical center. It’s on the third floor.”

  He pushed her in front of him. “Lead the way.” This place was going to be swarming with guards any moment now, and he’d rather be gone before they got there. He needed to find Destiny. What if he was too late and they’d already started the operation? And he’d cut the power and she was lying cut open on an operating table.

  He blanked the graphic picture from his mind. He’d taken a calculated risk. He had to believe she was still alive.

  Already the sound of booted feet was approaching from the front of the building. He followed Dr. Yang in the opposite direction. She took him through a side door that led into a hallway and then through another doorway and into a stairwell. Inside, the darkness was complete, and he raised his wand and whispered a spell. Light flared from the tip.

  She’d said the third floor. Without waiting for her to lead the way, he took the stairs two at a time. At the third floor, he found the medical center and he kicked open the door, then stood for a moment, deciding where to go. The sound of raised voices drifted down from a room at the far end and he hurried, pistol held out in front of him. Slowly, he pushed open the door. The small room inside was empty, but the voices were louder, and he crossed the room to a door in the far wall. Through the glass door he could see a dim light moving about.

  He pushed open the door and raised his wand, taking in the room in a moment. Two gurneys. Three people were crowded around the closest. One of them held a torch, they were working frantically over a body. He saw immediately it was Kinross, and his heart stuttered as he forced his gaze to the other gurney, dreading what he might see.

  Destiny lay on her back. She was clearly unconscious, and he forced his gaze down over her body. His legs almost gave way. They hadn’t cut her open. She appeared to be in one piece, just a needle inserted into her arm, attached to an IV.

  One of the men looked up. “You can’t be here,” he said. “This is a sterile room. You must leave.”

  “Fuck off,” he growled.

  At that moment, the lights flickered on. They must have got some sort of backup system up and running. Time to get out of there. He tucked his wand into his belt, kept his pistol in his hand, and crossed the short space to Destiny. Her hands were cuffed together in front of her. He pulled the needle from her arm and then scooped her up in his arms.

  He passed close to the other gurney. Kinross. They were sewing him back up. At a guess they must have just cut him open when the lights went off. Maybe he should have waited a few minutes longer until they had cut out the bastard’s heart. He aimed the pistol. No way could Kinross be allowed to live. But at that moment the door opened. He swung around, raising the pistol and aiming it at the man who stood in the doorway. Silas Wynch, and his gun was trained on Milo.

  For a moment, they stared into each other’s eyes. Milo’s finger tightened on the trigger.

  Then Silas lowered his weapon. “Get out of here.”

  Milo cast a last look at Kinross. There would be another time. Then he hurried from the room, past Silas. Dr Yang stood by the stairwell. “Is she alive?”

  He nodded.

  “I’m glad. I could have loved her, you know. If I’d let myself. But sometimes you have to make hard choices.”

  He didn’t answer, because she was right. But it didn’t make him hate her any the less. He supposed he would have to take her with him. Destiny wouldn’t be happy if he left her behind, but he wished he could. Right now, they needed to get under cover, and he needed to wake her up, make sure she was okay. He held her tighter.

  They didn’t meet anyone on the stairs and at last they were out of the building and standing in the warm night air.

  He could magic her back to the spaceship. Then come back here. But he was due to meet up with Rico and Dylan to deal with the explosives soon.

  “We need somewhere safe, close by. Any ideas?”

  “My laboratory on the Trakis Four.” She thought for a moment. “I need to go there anyway. I want to destroy my work. I want to make sure Kinross can’t reproduce it. That no one can reproduce it.”

  That sounded like a good idea. What she had done would never be right or justified. “Hold my arm,” he said.

  She frowned but reached out and touched his arm. He whispered a spell and a moment later they materialized at the side of the great ship.

  He shifted Destiny in his arms, time to wake up sleeping beauty.

  At least now he could be sure she wouldn’t be so eager to return and do her duty.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  “Life is a storm. One minute you will bathe under the sun and the next you will be shattered upon the rocks. That’s when you shout, “‘Do your worst, for I will do mine!’” and you will be remembered forever.”

  —Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo

  Destiny felt the soft touch of lips against her own.

  She blinked her eyes open. For a moment the world was blurred and then, hovering above her, Milo’s face came into focus.

  A sensation of warmth filled her, and she realized it was happiness. She’d never really been happy before in her life. She hadn’t expected to see him again. She’d thought it was over. Now she reached up with a trembling hand and touched his cheek.

  “My beautiful warlock,” she murmured.

  He turned his face and kissed her palm and tingles ran up her arm, along her nerves to settle in her heart. She smiled as he closed her palm around the kiss but kept hold of her hand.

  “I thought you would never wake up.”

  She thought back. The injection, then the darkness. They’d been going to operate on her. In that moment, as she had fallen asleep, it had come to her what her role in life was. She’d wanted to scream in denial because she’d been such an idiot. She’d thought herself so important. And with that knowledge had come the realization that it was over. Finished.

  Yet here she was.

  And somehow it didn’t matter anymore. The look in Milo’s eyes was enough to banish the dark thoughts.

  “You saved me,” she said. Her body felt weak and lethargic, but she forced herself to sit upright and lean against the wall behind her, her gaze never leaving his face.

  “Of course I saved you. Did you think I wouldn’t?”

  She nodded. “I thought you would fly away and leave me behind, and I’d never see you again.” She blinked and a tear slipped down over her cheek. She let it fall. “I love you. I know you don’t want my love, but you have it anyway.”

  He closed his eyes for a moment. “I thought you were dead. I thought I was too late.” His eyes darkened and he closed the space between them and kissed her. Closing her eyes, she sank into the caress.

  He drew back way too soon. “I never wanted to love you.” He gave a rueful smile. “My experience of love has not been…something I was eager to repeat. But it was beyond my control. I think it was a lost cause from that moment you first looked at me.”

  As a declaration of love, it could have been improved upon, but it was enough. Milo loved her. She sighed. “It was love at first sight. Just like in the romances.”

  He kissed her again and afterward, she wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his chest, listening to the rhythmic thud of his heart.

  In a second, she would move, because she had a feeling that they weren’t out of dan
ger yet and Milo loved her, which meant she really, really didn’t want to die. So she would put off discovering just how likely that was for a little while longer.

  Finally, she took a deep breath and leaned away from him. Time to get real. Find out if they had a future. She glanced around and recognized immediately where she was. In her old room on the Trakis Four. In her old bed, and she was wearing a pale blue hospital gown that fastened at the front. “How did I get here?” she asked. “What happened?”

  He looked away for a moment and she got the distinct impression that he was trying to work out what to say, and from the frown between his dark brows, he was worried about her reaction.

  She reached out and rested a hand on his arm. “Tell me.”

  “It’s not…good.”

  “I can take it.”

  He considered her; his head cocked to the side. “Yes, you can.” He took a deep breath. “It seems Luther Kinross has a heart condition. He was born with it. He’d had a transplant before he left Earth, but it was already failing. Your Dr. Yang—”

  “She’s not mine,” Destiny said. “She was never mine.”

  “Anyway, she was brought along to find a solution to that problem. Kinross got her taken on as a crew member and places for her daughters on the fleet. Basically, a future in the new world. All she had to do was provide him with a new heart. That’s where you come in. She made you.”

  “I’m a clone, aren’t I? Of Kinross? But he’s a man.”

  “And you’re not. For which I am immensely glad. Apparently, it can be done, something about manipulating chromosomes.”

  She pressed her lips together as she thought it through. “But he’s…horrible.”

  Milo let out a startled laugh. “And again—you’re not. So obviously, that can be done as well. And on the plus side, you have enhanced everything, IQ, physical strength, and some sort of weird shit anti-aging stuff that the doctor had been working on for years.” He studied her some more. “Anyway, I came to rescue you. I appeared in your cell, ready to whisk you away. Except you weren’t there. Dr. Yang was. Handcuffed and gagged.”

  “She tried to kill me. I think she wanted to cut out my heart so Kinross could never have it.”

  “That was my fault. I told her that her family was dead, and it was Kinross who had killed them. I wanted her help, but I guess it sent her over the edge. She told me I was too late. That you were being operated on and we couldn’t reach you in time.”

  “But you did.”

  “I blew the power supply which gave us a little more time. And I got to you before…”

  “Before they cut my heart out and gave it to Kinross. Thank you.”

  He studied her. “You don’t seem as upset as I thought you would be. I expected you’d be devastated by this.”

  “Maybe a few days ago I would have been. Now I’m a different person. I’ve learned so much, come so far.” She thought for a moment, trying to come up with the best way to explain. “We can’t control where we come from, who our parents are, or in my case who we were cloned from, but that doesn’t stop us thinking for ourselves. We can choose what we are. If we can see past the lies that other people tell us.” She pressed her lips together and frowned. “That doesn’t mean to say that I’m not unhappy about this. I mean, there I was thinking I was the hero in some fairy tale, a savior of humanity.” She sniffed. “Instead, I’m nothing but spare parts.”

  “But gorgeous spare parts.” His expression went serious. “You’re the best person I’ve ever met.”

  His tone was fierce and warmed her inside. She grinned. “And you’re the best warlock I’ve ever met.”

  “I’m the only—”

  “Don’t,” she said, still smiling. “Just take the compliment, Milo.” She blew out her breath. “So what are we going to do?”

  “We’re going to kill that bastard Kinross.”

  She thought about his words. Part of her wanted to see Kinross dead so badly it was like a pain in her insides. But the rest of her—most of her—wanted to get away from here as fast as she could. She wanted a life with Milo. That was more important than killing Kinross.

  Except he needed to be stopped. He was evil and wicked and could not be left in charge. He had lied and cheated and used child labor and tried to cut out her heart. He had to die.

  But was it her job to do it?

  Again, she struggled to put her thoughts into words that would make sense. “You can’t make your life about revenge. Maybe Kinross needs to die—but do we need to do the killing? Maybe we can just walk away. Have a life.” God, she wanted that life so badly. Had never really believed she could have one and now it beckoned to her. Just put the whole thing behind her. They could go and explore this new world together.

  He frowned. “You don’t want him dead? I thought that would be the first thing you wanted. Because, sweetheart, right now, he is the number one threat to humanity.”

  And all her life, she’d been told that she had a role to play in the survival of humanity. “Before I met you, I was so idealistic. But only people who are totally isolated from the real world can stay idealistic like that. As soon as you come into contact with real people—or even fictional people in books—the charade of humanity as a whole being something worthy of saving falls apart.”

  “They’re not all bad.”

  “But why should I stand up for them? Why can’t they stand up for themselves?” She shook her head. “Perhaps I am a bad person. After all, I am Kinross. I am everything that makes him who he is. His genetic code is mine. We are the same.”

  “No, you’re not. You’re you. Unique.” He scrubbed a hand over his head. “Christ, I don’t know if God exists. Whether he does or not, there’s something in us all. Call it a soul or something else, but it’s there, and it’s real, and you are not just some offshoot of fucking Kinross. He’s evil, and you’re the best person I’ve ever come across.” He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. When he opened them, he gave her a small smile. “Sorry. I fucking hate him. I’d rip his fucking heart from his chest if I got the chance.”

  “Okay, if we get the chance, we rip his heart out. What else?”

  “We have to deactivate the nukes. That’s nonnegotiable. He’s already threatened to destroy Trakis Two.”

  “I can do that. I researched it. Though we need to take them as well. Otherwise there’s always a chance they could get them functional again.”

  “So we take them to the shuttle and you deactivate them. We can always ditch them in deep space.” He sat back. “Rico and Dylan are meeting us in the tunnels in”—he glanced at his comm unit—“thirty-two minutes. We just have to blow the lab—”

  At that moment, a figure appeared in the doorway. Destiny went still as she recognized Dr. Yang. She waited for hatred to stir inside her, but it didn’t come. Milo got to his feet and she swung her legs over the edge of the cot. She was feeling stronger already, and she pushed herself up. She took a few steps toward the doctor. “I’m sorry about your family,” she said. “You must have loved them very much.”

  Shock flared in Dr. Yang’s eyes, then her face seemed to crumple. “I’m sorry about everything.”

  She could see now that much of Dr. Yang’s coldness had been guilt. She couldn’t allow herself to care for Destiny, because then she wouldn’t have been able to hand her over to Kinross, and her family would have paid the price.

  She smiled. “If you hadn’t done as Kinross asked, then I wouldn’t exist. And I’m very glad to be alive. So thank you.”

  Dr. Yang gave a small nod and stood up straighter. “I’ve set the explosives,” she said. She turned to Destiny. “No one will be able to duplicate my work. This will end now. Kinross’s heart will give out very soon. He’s dying.”

  “Not quickly enough,” Milo growled.

  “It won’t damage the rest of the ship, will it?” Destiny as
ked. All those people still in cryo. She couldn’t bear the thought.

  “No. Just the lab. Though the systems might take a hit.”

  “I think we should wake everyone up,” Destiny said. “Just in case.”

  “And they’ll create a distraction,” Milo said. “Kinross will have to deal with them as well as us.” He turned to Dr. Yang. “Can you do it?”

  “Yes. I’ll need to go to the tech center to access the systems, but that should be no problem.”

  “How long?”

  “Ten minutes.” She thought for a moment. “Go wait outside. I’m less likely to be questioned if I’m alone.”

  He nodded.

  She placed her hands on Destiny’s shoulders. “I always thought of you as my creation, as less than human, and I treated you badly. But it’s not true. You’re more human than anyone I’ve ever met. Good luck, Destiny.”

  She dropped her hold, turned, and walked away.

  Milo crossed the room and picked up a bag. “We found you some clothes. Get dressed. Then we’re out of here.”

  Destiny dressed quickly. Jeans, a black T-shirt, and boots that were a little tight but not too bad. She allowed him to usher her out of the room, then along the corridor, through the docking bay and to the ramp that led off the ship. They paused at the top while Milo did a quick check of the lay of the land. All looked quiet. She was mulling over Dr. Yang’s words. They’d filled her with a sense of unease. As though the other woman was saying goodbye. Why would she say goodbye when she was meeting them here? Any moment now.

  She wouldn’t. Which meant she wasn’t meeting them.

  “We have to go back,” she said.

  “What—?”

  But she didn’t wait to hear any more. She whirled around and ran back the way they had come, with Milo close behind her. As she turned the last corner and approached the lab, she saw Dr. Yang’s small figure disappearing inside. The door closed behind her.