Reset: Part 1 (The Awakening Book 4)
Page 1
Reset
PART 1
Keri Armstrong
Highland Publishing, LLC
Reset, Part 1
The Awakening Series, Book 4
Copyright © 2018 Keri Armstrong
Highland Publishing, LLC
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
For permission requests, email: info@hpllc.org
Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.
Reset Part 1/ Keri Armstrong. -- 1st ed.
When the body is irreversibly altered, can the mind stay the same?
Nathan is back in Chicago, and so am I.
At least, we’re here in body. Not sure about our minds. His is completely gone, while mine is still in Arizona with his sister and my friends. At least, when it’s not busy trying to pretend I’m fine and not angry with everyone in my life.
I still haven’t adjusted to my extreme makeover—courtesy of the Awakened—and trying to restore Nathan to sanity is straining the fragile hold I have on my own reason.
With everything that has happened, it will take a miracle to come through this in one piece.
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Contents
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The World of the Awakening
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Knight Shift Excerpt
Acknowledgements
About the Author
The World of the Awakening
Series Order:
1: Mutts Like Me – Available now
2: Reluctant Gods – Available now
3: Nightingale – Available now
4: Reset Part 1 – Available now
4.5: Reset Part 2 – Coming soon
5: Midnight Ink: Gabriel – 2019
AWAKENED CHARACTERS:
Groups:
Awakened/Sleepers – An ancient race of highly advanced, gifted humans, dating back hundreds of thousands of years and spread over many continents. They were technologically advanced beyond our modern world and were the originators of genetic experimentation. Throughout history they’ve been called gods, demons, Anunnaki, aliens and more.
Their philosophies split between those who believed genetic manipulation and enslavement of lower species—including less developed humans—was justified, and those who disagreed.
In advance of a world-wide catastrophe many millennia ago, they put themselves into stasis and appointed a few trusted Watchers to protect their sleeping forms. It was the Watchers’ duty to awaken them when the earth would be habitable again.
Some were awakened earlier than others. During those time periods, they caused great advancements in civilization and technology, such as during the Renaissance.
The greatest awakening began in 1900, with ever more numbers growing from the 1930s, which caused the most advancements in technology to take place within only a few years, after millennia of human history.
Those still in stasis are called Sleepers.
Watchers – Genetically or technologically enhanced creatures or humans who protect the Sleepers and awaken them at the appropriate time.
Mutts – The hybrid offspring of the genetic experiments the Awakened created and humans, or Awakened and their own creations.
Resistance – Mutts, and those among the Watchers, Sleepers, and Awakened who oppose the others’ plan to rule the earth and enslave humankind and hybrids.
Individual Characters, Books 1 and 2:
Alejandro – m. Mutt. Alpha werewolf, father of Marti; introduced in Mutts Like Me. Helps train and lead a gang of Mutt resisters who are fighting the Awakened.
Alex – m. Mutt. Vampire/Kitsune trickster hybrid, cousin of Toshio. Introduced in Mutts Like Me.
Alison (Allie) – f. Classification undetermined. Friend of Phoebe, Sara, and Caleb; introduced in Reluctant Gods.
Ammon – m. Son of an Awakened and a human slave; a Watcher who loved Izzara, an ancient princess. Introduced in Reluctant Gods.
Azkuran – m. A powerful member among the Awakened; was considered by humans to be a giant at over 7 feet tall. Introduced in Reluctant Gods.
Caleb – m. Mutt. Witch/werewolf hybrid, twin to Cassandra, mother is Nia, a witch. Father unknown. Is a talented and powerful witch but has trouble shifting.
Cassandra – f. Mutt. Witch/werewolf hybrid, twin to Caleb, mother is Nia, a Witch. Father unknown. Is a strong shifter but has trouble casting spells.
Cian – m. A giant member of the Awakened. Introduced in Reluctant Gods.
Gabriel (Gabe) Lara – m. Chupacabra/Vampire. Business owner and business partner of Laurent (Jean Marc Laurent). Introduced in Mutts Like Me.
Gina and Lysette – f. Mutt / Harpies. Introduced in Mutts Like Me.
Jean Marc Laurent – m. Awakened turned Vampire. Business owner and business partner of Gabriel Lara. Introduced in Mutts Like Me.
Julie – f. Mutt. Witch, introduced (but not named) in Mutts Like Me. Reappears in Reset.
Kiya – f. A giant member of the Awakened. Introduced in Reluctant Gods.
Liang – f. A giant member of the Awakened. Introduced in Reluctant Gods.
Marti – f. Mutt. Daughter of werewolf father, Alex, and human mother. Introduced in Mutts Like Me.
Mia – f. Classification undetermined. Toddler, natural daughter of Allie, adopted daughter to David and Brenda Myers (deceased). Introduced in Nightingale.
Nadia – f. Mutt/almost pure shifter. Blind sister of Nathan. Introduced in Reluctant Gods.
Nathan – f. Mutt/almost pure shifter. Friend of Phoebe, brother to Nadia. Introduced in Reluctant Gods.
Nia – f. Mutt. Powerful witch. Mother of Cass and Caleb, and close friend of Marti’s father, Alejandro. Introduced in Mutts Like Me.
Phoebe – f. Witch. Cousin of Sara, heir to ancient artifacts. Phoebe’s story is told in Reluctant Gods.
Sara – f. Witch. Cousin of Phoebe, joint heir to ancient artifacts. Introduced in Reluctant Gods.
Sunjoo – m. Dragon shifter. Introduced in Mutts Like Me.
Toshio – m. Mutt. Fox shifter, cousin of
Alex, friend of Marti, Cass, and Caleb. Introduced in Mutts Like Me.
Weston – m. Mutt. Cat shifter. Introduced in Mutts Like Me.
Chapter One
NATHAN
September
Chicago
It burns.
The pain. The screaming, the nightmares.
Relentless anger. Confusion. Rage.
A sound. A touch.
Father?
Not father.
Who?
Soft hands.
Darkness once more.
Chapter Two
PHOEBE
Late October
Chicago
I shut the door to the room where Nathan lay chained to the bed and wondered how much more he could take. Three months gone and he was still in agony.
“He ripped the flesh away from his eye again,” I whispered, and shuddered at the memory of the wires beneath his skin.
Gabe’s worried gaze landed soft on my face and I looked away.
“He didn’t even use his hands. He scraped it off against the bars on the bed.” My voice cracked and a flash of sympathy crossed Gabe’s face.
There was nothing more to say.
We had noticed something was wrong as soon as we’d arrived. Nathan had been sedated for the trip home. Alejandro, who had been held prisoner by the Awakened more than once, had expressed concern about Nathan having been abruptly taken out of stasis. He was right to worry. I’d known in that cold, white-tiled room that something was wrong. Apart from having been beaten and chained to a wall, Nathan hadn’t recognized his sister Nadia. Or me.
A twinge of pain accompanied the memory. I hated that I still felt more than anger whenever I thought of Nathan. He’d betrayed my cousin Sara, and I wasn’t ready to forgive that. Even if he had done it to save me.
There was another betrayal I had yet to deal with. Caleb. He’d known about us all along, and hadn’t said anything, and had been willing to sacrifice Nathan—possibly even me, as well—to save Sara. I didn’t think she knew, and I hadn’t had the heart to tell her.
Gabe squeezed my shoulder and I flinched, startled from my thoughts.
“You all right there, kiddo?” he asked.
“Kiddo?”
“To an old guy like me, you’re still wet behind the ears.” He tweaked my earlobe then mimed flicking moisture off his fingers.
“Eww. Thanks for the imagery.” I wrinkled my nose.
He grinned. “I try to be descriptive. Find it helps with clarity.”
“That was pretty clear. And gross.” Chuckling, we walked away from the clinic area.
Thank God for Gabe. He’d been my rock and my teacher for the past eight weeks. The red-faced, tongue-tied crush I’d had on him for over a year had settled into plain old hero-worship and adoration. He wasn’t just my Gibraltar; he’d been holding us all together since Laurent and Allie had been held captive, and were undergoing who-knew-what.
My stomach clenched. Allie. With a child. Guilt sledge-hammered me. I’d been half out of my mind in Arizona. Too caught up in my own grief and drama to see what was happening around me. Now, like everyone else in this cluster-F, I just wanted to rescue our friends, but the leaders wanted to hold off. Most of the time, the Mutts and I were ready to revolt and damn the torpedoes, but then some sane part of my brain would say Gabe and Alejandro were right. They’ve been doing this a lot longer than our little rag-tag band of Mutts have.
Still, it’s hard. Apart from Sara, Allie was my best friend.
I’d thought Caleb was too.
Stopping, I tapped Gabe on the arm. “I’ll catch up with you in a bit. I just remembered something.”
He nodded and gave me space.
Again, thank God for Gabe. He didn’t question.
There just wasn’t enough space in the universe for me since Arizona. Some days I wished for galaxies between myself and every other human … or part-human. My wound-licking hadn’t stopped even though the physical wounds had healed. I went quickly down another hall in my rubber-soled, steel-toed boots. I hurried to a training room, which, if there were any mercy in the world, should be empty. I could kick punching bags to my heart’s content.
The heavy doors squeaked open to reveal darkness cleaved only by a band of small, yellow track lights around the room’s perimeter, and I heaved a sigh of relief. The Mutts and new recruits were likely tucked up snug in their dorms, and the rest gone home.
Not bothering to flip the main lights, I made my way to the metal bleachers and sat, fatigue heavy on my shoulders. After seeing Nathan, my plan had been to wind down by beating up a few punching bags. Instead, I sat in almost total darkness, wiping the tears streaming down my face.
An upright punching bag loomed to my right and I lamely kicked at it, missing by a few inches. “I’m not crying. You’re crying,” I whispered in a failed attempt to cheer myself up.
“No, I’m pretty sure it’s you.”
A deep voice from the shadows sent me leaping from the bench. I’d developed a habit of talking to myself over the last year of living alone, and I was fairly certain that voice wasn’t mine. Or the bag’s.
I whirled to find Luke Terran, Gabe’s mysterious new assistant, stepping from the shadows.
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you,” he said.
Now that my eyes had adjusted to the dark, I could make out the ‘Sorry, not sorry’ smirk on his face.
“I didn’t realize the room was occupied,” I said stiffly, walking away.
“You want a sparring partner?” he asked as I struck the bar on the door.
I hesitated. The last few months, I’d been practicing boxing and various martial arts with Gabe for self-defense training. Luke was smaller than Gabe, and since I’d heard he had neither magic nor any other supernatural ability, I figured I could handle him.
Turning slowly, I sneered. “Why, you looking to get your butt handed to you?”
His teeth glinted. “Bring it on.”
I hit the light switch and blinked from the sudden change. After a moment of adjustment, we went at it.
A few minutes later, I learned to not be so cocky. Luke might not have been a shifter or a mage, but he was smart and he was quick. And strong.
I accepted his hand to pull me up from one of the bright blue mats that covered the wooden floor. “That’s just the warm up,” I huffed.
“Uh-huh.” He smirked as he bounced away and crouched, his fingers motioning for me to come at him. “Let’s get to the main event.”
Harnessing all the fear, anger, and confusion from the last several months, I tried to wipe the smile from his face.
My house and beloved car were gone. It was too dangerous to return. The Awakened would be waiting. Punch.
Caleb and Sara were coo-coo, kissy-face and she still had no idea he’d been willing to give Nathan and me to Ammon to save her. Swipe. Kick.
Nathan had been willing to do the same for me with Sara. Sucker punch.
Punch after punch and kick after kick, Luke blocked me from every angle.
Sweat trickled between my shoulder blades, making my back itch. I made a small twist to ease the sensation, which gave Luke an opening to swipe my legs out from under me.
I landed on the mat with a thump, breathless and having to admit that I may or may not have had my own butt handed back to me. Stifling a moan, I let him help me up from the floor. I wanted to blame it on my lack of proper fight attire but knew that wasn’t the case.
“Nice to see you don’t hold back,” I said.
“I never hold back. Don’t care who, or what, you are.” He tossed me a water bottle.
Taking a swig, I nodded. He obviously didn’t care I was a female with a prosthetic hand. He kicked my ass anyway.
I could respect that.
Lifting the bottle in salute, I thanked him and he inclined his head.
“No problem,” he said. “If you need a partner who won’t hold back, let me know. I always give as good as I get.”
He grinned and left as I stood there, wondering. Neither he nor Gabe said much about Luke’s background, other than he was there under Laurent’s orders. That was all anybody knew, or all they were willing to say. I supposed it was enough.
I took another long drink of water and rolled the stiffness from my shoulders. I was covered in sweat, sore in multiple places, and more than ready to shower and sleep. It was great to be too tired to think. Too tired to care.
On the way out, I pitched the now empty bottle into a recycling bin, turned off the lights and pushed through the metal doors.
Only to see Caleb again crossing the hallway ahead. He saw me and gave an anemic looking smile I didn’t return. We’d been fairly successful avoiding one another but that wouldn’t last forever. Sara already suspected something was up, but I’d kept her questions at bay for the time being.
As Caleb walked away, my MMA-induced sense of peace fled. I slouched toward my room, Luke’s tempting offer still in my ears. I wanted to beat the crap out of everyone these days whether they deserved it or not.
It didn’t take an oracle to see a lot of gym time in my future.
Chapter Three
ALLIE
Late November
Arizona
Breakfast with Mia, her grandfather (God, I still couldn’t believe it!), and Liang began my by-then familiar everyday routine. In the beginning, the occasions had defined the words “awkward” and “tense”, but over the past couple of months, they had turned into something else. Cozy, almost. If cozy meant struggling with guilt, anger, grief, love, joy, and pain on a daily basis. Mia asked for parents, David and Brenda, every night even though she was fine during the day. Liang helped keep her entertained as did Azkuran—now a. k. a. Gwanpa Ash. The horror on his face the first time she called him that almost made it worth hearing. He still looked nonplussed each time; although over the weeks, a bit of sap had been added.
I glanced at Liang, who smiled as sappily as Azkuran, while she watched Mia smear syrup on the big guy’s face. I wondered if this was what Liang had planned when she taught Mia to call him “grandpa.” Though I had protested, Mia had been enchanted by the idea. She’d seen enough television with David and Brenda to know she’d been short a set of grandparents, so she had gleefully recruited “Gwanpa Ash.”