He rubbed Val's hair. "Finish your crepes, son, and let's head out."
Val smiled and did just that.
"I did have that one question for you, Val."
"What's that?"
"Why didn't you just call me from the gate?" He flashed a bemused grin. "I know how good you are, but an old friend with quite a lot of experience in the field helped me implement the security after that unexpected and, it turns out, unlawful search and seizure. How on Earth did you bypass all of it?"
Val swallowed, crepes suddenly losing all flavor, heart roaring in his ears. He looked down at his plate, syrup and lingonberries splattered over the remains of his breakfast, insinuating far more brutal deaths by his hands. He pushed the plate away. "I woke up to a man trying to kill me. Whatever my body looks like, I was baptized in the struggle of life and death from the moment I opened my eyes." His gaze speared into his father's. "For all I know, men are hunting for me, even now. When you didn't answer either burner, I feared the worst. For all I knew, I was walking into a trap or ambush. And even if you were completely unaware, if I had reached out to you through normal channels, I could have doomed us both. I knew there was only one way I could discreetly see you."
His father nodded. "The back door. The moment Andrey got in touch with me, I knew. I had hoped to hear your voice, panicked and uncertain or calm and confused, and I would have been there by your side in a heartbeat, an army of lawyers just a phone call away if anyone tried to nail you for the shitstorm that had occurred at ESI after the fact. But... nothing. A mysterious power outage and alarm at the hospital and you had vanished, nothing but a turned over bed and traces of blood in your wake." His father flashed a bitter smile. "It hit me then, how I had played god, injecting minimally tested compounds into a wounded victim, and how chilling the results were, to find your genes blended in with those unlike any we had seen before."
Val smiled. "Frankenstein coming to avenge himself upon his maker."
His father smirked, shaking his head. "I had the strangest feeling, Val, when you were coming close. Somehow I wasn't surprised that neither camera nor sensor picked you or anyone else up. It didn't make me doubt my feeling. If anything, it reassured me. I unlocked all but the one deadbolt. If it was you..."
Val swallowed. "I would never hurt you, dad. Never."
His father nodded. "Thank you, Val. You know I feel the same."
"But if it hadn't been me... if it had been some bloody horror..."
"Let's not even go there, son."
Val chuckled ruefully. "Thank all the gods I'm not some hideously mutated monster."
His father's expression turned pained. "And the fault would have been mine."
Val smirked, rolling up his jeans. "What do you not see on my legs dad? Or my face? Whatever the hell Christine injected me with, it worked. Thank god for that."
A relieved nod at that. "Still, I'd love to know if there is a flaw in our security system."
Val frowned, closing his eyes, trying to remember the feel of it. "No, dad, it worked fine. I think. It's the oddest feeling. It was like, I had lost myself in my run, totally zoning into my journey, becoming as hyper-attuned to the environment as I ever did back when, well, you know..."
Val swallowed and looked away. "I can only tell you how it felt. When I'm part of the night, everything just clicks. I know where the infrared beams are oriented, where the cameras are facing, and exactly how and where to flow over the fence, so much so that as soon as I think it, it's done. And our dogs know me, of course, but I think I would have shadowed right past them either way, believe it or not. I approached downwind out of long habit."
"A damned useful talent, Val. That's all I can say."
Val grinned. "So, we're going to the Petrovskys then?"
His father nodded. "Come on, let's head to the car." He looked on the verge of reminding Val to bring his pills, then stopped, both of them sharing a smile.
"Thank god I don't need those anymore. Right, dad?"
Val's lingering concerns for privacy were easily assuaged by the tinted windows, and his father said not a word when he raised his hand before they opened the doors, doing a quick, thorough inspection of the car, his dad handing him some rubbing alcohol and a cloth to clean his hands once he was done.
"Good instincts," was all he said as they drove off, and Val leaned back and let himself slip into a doze, enjoying the play of shadows and light as their car wound its sedate way through their neighborhood of picturesque homes, mansions as much as houses, neighbors as likely to be business executives as not, always with insightful tips for kids working on their school projects, and the holiday parties all the kids celebrated together had always been exceptional. Val found himself appreciating as he never had in childhood just how lucky he was to have come from such affluence. He would never let it define him, but in that regard, he had been fortunate indeed, for all that he had been fighting for his life just the day before.
Val flinched when he first heard the seagulls by Lakeshore Drive, the view peaceful and serene as they rode past rich green fields and trees, their leafy branches rustling in a gentle breeze. "I've been meaning to ask, dad..."
"What's that, Val?"
Val swallowed. "How long was I away?"
His father said nothing for a time and Val closed his eyes, just enjoying the moment.
"Almost two years, Val. From the time you went missing to the time you finally woke up from your coma? Almost two years."
Val shook his head. "So I'm actually 22, now."
His dad shrugged. "Chronologically, you're 22. Experience wise, 20. Biologically? You look almost exactly as you did when you joined. Maybe a little younger. Of course your features were never so perfectly symmetrical, and no one's skin is normally that free of blemish."
Val grinned. "I guess Christine found the fountain of youth. I hope she lets your company patent it."
His father chuckled. "We'll need a hell of a lot more data before we dare make any claims like that. And you can rest assured that Christine plans on giving you a full diagnostic workup monthly, screening for any blood-based biomarkers that will give us a heads-up right away if there's something we need to get a handle on. I nearly lost you once, Val. I'd rather not risk your life over something as silly as failing to get you regularly screened. Cancers caught early have a fantastic cure rate."
Val nodded. "I'd be stupid to argue the point, as much as I've had enough poking and prodding in the service to last me a lifetime. And as far as me being in the clear, that's my priority right now."
His dad nodded. "Making peace with Dominic was a smart play. Hopefully he'll come through, but I don't want you making contact with his man without backup."
Val frowned. "I don't want you risking your neck, dad. That would throw me completely off my game."
His father smiled. "We'll figure something out, don't you worry. And here we are."
Val smiled as security waved their car through the gate, loving the scenic view of the lone manor on top of the flower-strewn hill, knowing the home and property were worth an absolute fortune. His eyes were drawn to the lush bed of crimson and ivory roses just outside the elegant Tudor home they had driven up to, a cherry red convertible parked by the entrance. Val felt a curious sense of deja vu as he stepped out of the car, stretching and taking in the park-like grounds all around him, carefully tended flowers giving off rich floral scents as they rustled in the breeze.
The front door had been opened in the time it took Val to turn around, butterflies in his stomach, at a sudden loss for words.
A beautiful girl with short cropped auburn hair wearing a tight-fitting blouse and shorts was in the doorway, forest green eyes gazing at him so intently, and Val knew instantly who it was. Julia Petrovsky. For all that her features had been stamped by the trials she had endured, her beauty was no less exquisite for it. She no longer looked like an innocent child, but rather a young woman who had faced and overcome bitter hardships, rising above them, and Val coul
d only hope they didn't haunt her still.
Val swallowed as she approached, her gaze locked upon his own, ruby lips blossoming into a smile far more tender than he deserved. His heart began to race as she boldly faced him, a burning question in her gaze.
Val's father took one look at them before quickly striding forward to greet the Petrovskys just then making their way to the front entrance.
"You must be Valor Hunter," Julia said.
Val smiled. "Last time I checked."
Intent green eyes flecked with gold studied his features. "You look different than I thought you would. Less hard. Your scar is gone."
Val shrugged. "I was in a coma, and rather rudely awakened. This is the face that greeted me when I looked in the mirror."
Julia nodded, gazing into his eyes. She swallowed, and Val could tell she was gathering the courage to ask him something.
"Do you remember, Val?"
Val blinked. "What?" He winced. Could he have said anything stupider?
The beautiful redhead shrugged, lowering her gaze. "Anything?"
Val sighed. "I'm sorry. I, I'm afraid I don't know what you mean." He then blinked, catching the flash of sunlight shimmering against a discreet chrome socket just above her forehead that her short, spiky hair didn't quite hide.
Julia sighed, gazing down the gentle slope that showcased her family's grounds so elegantly. She hardly seemed to see the flowers waving in the breeze, or the glimmer of sunlight flashing from the pond in the distance. Val frowned, noting a second chrome port in the back of her skull.
Val blinked as a tentative hand clasped his own. "Thank you," she said, still looking off into the distance.
"You're welcome," Val said, both flattered and confused, but content to savor the moment, for whatever it was worth.
"So you just woke up yesterday?"
Val nodded. "Not exactly a pleasant awakening, but I'm here now, and that's all that matters, I guess."
Julia smiled. "Every day you can count yourself hale, healthy, and among the living is a blessed day to be grateful for, my mother always says. No matter the demons that haunt us, no matter how badly you ache for that which you dare not have, the trick to happiness is savoring the beauty inherent all around us, and letting the past stay in the past."
"I'm sorry. For whatever horrors you were forced to endure, I truly am sorry."
"I didn't suffer any horrors, Val, but the most awful of raptures. Constant. Unending. Frying into my brain, even as they took something precious and vital away from me." Julia sighed. "Not the least of which is my ability to feel simple joy and happiness without this constant weight of melancholy crushing me. Even now that the worst of the cravings are finally gone."
Val nodded, at a loss for words. Julia laughed bitterly. "You should have seen me, those first couple of weeks. Or rather, thank god you didn't. I was twisting and sobbing, wracked by nameless aches and the most wretched despair, this hideous craving burning through me. And there was no way I could assuage it, no way I could ease that agony." She shuddered. "I'm ashamed to even think of the things I would have done to find relief. But there was nothing. I never experimented with hard drugs, or I can only imagine how I would have searched for relief."
Haunted eyes caught his own. "But there was nothing, Val. And my mom, she had to give up volunteering shifts in the hospital so she could take care of me, full time. She was a saint, and I, this desperate screaming monster." Julia took a deep breath, gazing out at the well-manicured gardens all around her, inhaling deeply of the perfumed air, finding a measure of peace, it seemed.
"Eventually, it got a little better. Day by day. And every day Mother takes me on her little garden walks, and how I would carry on, even though I did feel better after every walk. Still wrong, still haunted by that awful ache... but it did bring relief. The beginnings of peace."
Val nodded. "You have a beautiful home, Julia. And a couple of incredible parents."
Julia nodded. "They are. And I have incredible friends who did far more for me than any girl nerding it out in front of a computer has a right to expect."
Val swallowed, feeling his cheeks flush.
She grinned, gently rapping his forehead, a feather-soft touch. "Even if they don't remember, so shy it takes them forever just to call me by my name."
Her gaze locked with his own. Val felt a curious roaring in his ears. Julia's smile turned impish. She grabbed his hand once more. "Come on, let's say hello to my parents. Then I have something to show you."
Colonel Patrovsky's short hair was near the same length and shade of his daughter's, his rugged good looks and powerful frame belonging to a man twenty years younger. He smiled wholeheartedly as he caught Val's gaze, wrapping him in an unexpected hug, as any brother in arms might share. He stepped back, clapping Val's shoulder, smiling with warmest approval. "It is good to see you, Val. Damn good. And if you don't mind me saying, you look fantastic. How are you feeling?"
Val couldn't help grinning back. "Excellent, sir." He saluted, which made the colonel grin and shake his head.
"None of that, lad. None of that. Come, say hello to my wife. I know she'd also like to greet the hero of our household."
Val turned to greet a woman both elegant and beautiful, gorgeous green eyes so like her daughter's, golden blond hair flowing freely down her shoulders, pale skin smooth and free of any lines. She was, in a word, exquisite. An elegant beauty whose eyes hinted at a wry humor and piercing intellect, the smile she honored Val with touched his heart. It was a mother's smile, filled with love and gratitude.
Val swallowed and bowed his head, having no doubt that the man who would one day capture Julia's heart would be blessed with a woman whose beauty and elegance would only heighten as time went on.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Petrovsky. Thank you for sharing your research with my dad. It probably saved my life."
She chuckled softly, wrapping him in a fierce, unexpected hug. "It is I who thank you, Val, from the bottom of my heart. Whatever it was you did... thank you."
Val blinked, cheeks flushing with a rueful smile. "You're quite welcome. Whatever it is I did. I hate to say it, but I woke up without a clue as to what's been happening these last two years."
She nodded sadly. "I know."
The colonel then gestured for them to come inside. "Come in, Val, Johnathan. Please make yourselves at home."
And without further ado, Val found himself enjoying a hearty lunch of perfectly done steaks seared in butter and garlic with a pesto salad on the side. Breakfast aside, he suddenly felt famished, devouring his meal with gusto, peripherally taking in the conversation around him.
"And as boldly as 007 himself, our boy Val here infiltrates that den of vipers, sends us proof of their crimes, and helps us shut down that facility for good," Andrey concludes, giving what Val sensed was a much-abbreviated story, for all that Val appreciated being filled in.
Julia frowned. "Of course all you caught were a few pawns, all the serious pieces protected by foreign governments or dirty politicians here at home, and it was you and Mother and a bunch of lawyers who had to fend off those vultures trying to arrest and make an example of Val's dad for trying to rescue me!"
Her father sighed, locking gazes with his daughter, her fists clenched in sudden heat. "It's an imperfect world we live in, love. I'm sorry. We do the best we can. It's all we can do."
Val's father nodded. "We've taken steps. Footage of that day, and exceedingly incriminating evidence of any number of vices involving those we think most likely to be involved. All safely in the hands of a number of private parties. Those bastards know the stakes if they try to move against us again."
Julia shook her head. "Those bastards should all be rotting in jail!"
"No one's disagreeing with you, honey," her mother soothed. "We managed to hinder their Chicago operations, at least, and when our digging started to uncover secrets no one wanted out in the open..."
"They agreed to leave us alone, after some obsc
ure conversation you had with one of your Washington contacts acting as a middleman." Julia said it like an accusation.
"Yes, Julia, that they did." Her mother squeezed her hand. "Whatever happened when you and two hundred others were released, we know it weakened the hand of whoever was behind all this."
Val's father nodded. "And certain people once in favor are now definitely being kept in the periphery. Something has shaken those bastards to the core, and the true power brokers have stepped back. I'm not saying it's justice, Julia, but knowing that you and Val are both safely home, that both of you have a chance to live normal, healthy lives, is worth far more than petty vengeance in my book."
Julia's parents nodded solemnly at that. Julia shook her head, sharing a rueful smile with Val.
Solace is fine, but nothing's wrong with a hot cup of your enemy's tears. Right, Val?
Val grinned and nodded his agreement, a sentiment they had shared when gaming together, uniting along with Finn and John against guildmates that had betrayed their own. Val had admired how ruthless Julia could be, underneath her perfect sweetheart college-bound exterior, understanding at last why she gamed as hard as they did on the nights she could. It was a safe way to blow off steam with all the pressures of trying to be the perfect girl living the perfect life. She might be a sweetheart, but once in game, she was as ruthless as any PVPer.
Then Val blinked, frowning at Julia. She winked. Val swallowed.
She hadn't said those words aloud.
Julia abruptly got up from the dining table. "If you'll excuse me, Father, Mr. Hunter, there's something I'd like to show Val." With that, she waved for Val to follow her.
Val shared a quick glance with his father, seeing only a bemused smile.
He turned and bowed his head to their hostess. "Thank you for the lovely meal, Mrs. Petrovsky."
She smiled warmly. "I'm glad you enjoyed, Valor. And please, call me Christine. Now go keep my daughter company while I handle the dishes."
Endless Online: Oblivion's Price: A LitRPG Adventure - Book 3 Page 8