She fixed her gaze on Alyssa. “Together, we can awaken the Hybrids.”
The icy draft cut through Tasha’s red parka as she stood on a stone terrace, brooding. She hoped the frigid air and views of the snowcapped peaks glistening in the moonlight would cool off her temper and soothe her nerves. She rubbed her neck where the woman’s hand had pinned her against the wall. That’s gonna leave a bruise.
She was still reflecting on several objectionable ways of getting even with the woman when the satellite phone rang. Glad for the distraction, she answered.
“Tasha?” Clay piped out. “I’ve been trying to reach you!”
“It’s been… eventful,” Tasha said.
“Are you both all right?” George’s voice sounded equally concerned.
“Yes,” she replied. For now.
“Where are you?”
“Well,” Tasha started. “It’s a bit of a story.”
“Tasha, the first photograph was restored,” Clay said. “I’m sending it to you now.”
“Wait… don’t tell me. The woman in the picture isn’t Alyssa’s mother.”
“Uh, how did you—?”
“Your intelligence report is impeccable, if not as timely as we would have liked,” she replied dryly. She glanced at the picture Clay sent her, her suspicion confirmed.
George cut in. “What do you know?”
“The woman’s name is Nephthys,” Tasha said. “She seems to be in charge of this temple, or research facility, or whatever it is.” She apprised them of the situation.
A long pause followed. “Well, that is certainly unexpected,” Renley said after he found his voice.
“Oh, and she’s a Hybrid,” Tasha added.
“Wh-what?” Clay stammered.
“Yeah, and if she’s an indication of what our girl is turning into…” Tasha rubbed her neck again. “We’d better watch out.”
“What do you mean?”
Tasha closed her mouth when the heavy door opened, revealing Alyssa.
“Well, speak of the devil,” Tasha said.
Alyssa stepped up to Tasha, cringing. “There you are.” She reached out. “How are you?”
“My ego somewhat worse than my neck,” Tasha replied. “Clay and George are on the line.” She put the phone on speaker.
Alyssa filled them in on her conversation with Nephthys.
Tasha crossed her arms. “I can’t believe you’re even thinking about it! We just met her, not to mention your first introduction to this place landed you in a cell. Now you’re thinking about letting this woman inside your head?”
“She said my mind will continue to fall apart. That I will eventually… go mad.”
“Tasha does have a point, Alyssa,” Clay chimed in. “You don’t know if you can trust that woman.”
“But she’s a Hybrid,” Alyssa appealed. “A real Hybrid. She knows what I’m going through and wants to help me.”
Tasha’s face twisted. “I understand your need to believe her. I know what it’s like to feel like you don’t belong and needing something to hold on to, but I have a really bad feeling about this.”
“For whatever reason, the Society has been trying to keep tabs on her,” Clay said. “I’m not sure why they have those surveillance pictures of her. Maybe we’ll find out more when the other ones are repaired. Now that the algorithm completed the first one, restoring the other ones shouldn’t take as long.”
“If anything, the fact that the Society doesn’t trust her gives us even more reason to do so,” Alyssa said. “She prevented them from building a bioweapon.”
“I have never known the Society to be involved in something so overtly aggressive,” George countered. “Using Hybrid blood to extend their lifespan is one thing, but meddling in bioweapons…”
“We’ll never know if I don’t take this chance,” Alyssa said. “Clay, why don’t you continue working on the other pictures. I’m going to see Nephthys.” She ended the connection before he had a chance to reply.
“Don’t do this—” Tasha started. She reached out and clasped Alyssa’s arm.
Alyssa stood still, her teeth gnawing at her lower lip. “I’m losing it, Tasha. It’s getting worse every day.” She gently removed Tasha’s hand and held it. “If there is a chance she can help me, I have to take it.”
“No, you don’t. We’ll figure out another way.”
“I’m doing this, Tasha.” Alyssa turned and stepped back inside.
Tasha unzipped her parka and took a deep breath of the icy air.
Not cold enough.
14 Renley Estate
Clay threw up his arms in frustration.
“Why does she always have to be so… so…” he stammered, unable to find the right word.
“Impetuous?” Renley offered.
“Precisely!” he exclaimed. “Impetuous!”
Renley’s lips curved into a small smile. He put a hand on Clay’s shoulder. “My dear Mr. Obono, it is the dictum of youth that it cannot restrain its own impetuosity.”
“Well, that must mean I’m an old geezer,” Clay said.
Renley chuckled as Clay turned back to the computer. “I’m going to see if we’re getting anywhere with the other images.”
“That sounds like an excellent idea,” Renley said. “And this old geezer here shall retire for the evening. Do not hesitate to wake me if you learn anything.”
Clay plopped down in front of the monitor as Renley left the room. He opened the folder with the images. A couple more icons appeared.
Progress!
He clicked on the first new image. He stared at the display. It looked like the woman, Nephthys, and…
Is that…?
He tapped to the next picture, drumming his fingers on the keyboard as it loaded.
Come on, come on…
Clay inhaled sharply as the image filled the monitor.
No, no, no…
“Lord Renley!” Clay yelled as he reached for the phone.
Tasha picked up the phone. Clay again?
“Where is Alyssa?” Clay’s voice was breathless.
“She went to see Nephthys,” Tasha replied. “What’s going on?”
“You need to find her before she gets to Nephthys!”
“Why? What is it?”
Tasha glanced at the new picture Clay sent her. She paused for an instant then bounded out of the room and sprinted down the corridor to the elevator. She pressed the button, sighed, then turned heel and made for the stairway. She raced up the stairs, taking three steps at a time.
Nephthys lingered in her chair, four black-clad guards flanking her, their piercing blue gazes following Alyssa as the elevator doors parted and she stepped closer.
Alyssa eyed the guards’ hard, dark-skinned faces and chiseled features. If these guys had been guarding me instead of the Flintstone fans… She shivered at the thought and pushed it out of her head.
Nephthys rose when Alyssa stopped a few paces in front of the chair.
“I want you to help me,” Alyssa said.
“And I shall,” Nephthys replied. She closed the gap and held out her hand. Alyssa hesitated, but accepted it and let the woman guide her across the chamber to a spiral staircase carved into the stone.
Nephthys turned to the guards.
“We must not be disturbed,” she said before she and Alyssa ascended the staircase.
Alyssa followed Nephthys, holding her hand, her nose picking up the scent of incense as they continued their climb. A minute later, the spiral staircase opened into a small round room that stood completely empty, save for a thick rug decorating its stone floor. Alyssa pivoted three hundred and sixty degrees, following the seamless view of the mountains through the room’s single curved window and domed glass ceiling. Alyssa realized she was in a glass-enclosed turret at the top of the mountain.
“This is breathtaking,” Alyssa said.
Nephthys stepped on the rug, pulling Alyssa gently behind her. She knelt and motioned Alyssa to do the s
ame.
“Are you ready?” Nephthys asked.
Alyssa nodded. Her breath quickened when Nephthys lifted her hands and placed her palms on Alyssa’s forehead, forming a triangle between her thumbs and forefingers.
“Close your eyes,” Nephthys commanded.
Alyssa obeyed. Her skin tingled and warmed under the woman’s touch.
“Open your mind to me,” Nephthys whispered.
Tasha stormed into Nephthys’s chamber. A pair of guards stood at her empty chair.
“Where is Alyssa?” she grunted between heavy breaths.
“She is with Nephthys,” one of them replied.
“Take me to her.”
“Nephthys commanded not to be disturbed.”
Tasha spotted a second pair of guards covering the base of a circular staircase in the far corner. She darted across the chamber. The two guards at the staircase stepped in her way.
“I’m going up there, one way or the other,” Tasha threatened.
“You will leave now.” The guard motioned to the other pair. They stalked up, surrounding her.
Four on one. This ought to be interesting.
“You guys really don’t want to do this,” Tasha said, relaxing her body and centering her stance.
The guard behind Tasha reached for her. She stepped aside and whirled, kicking the back of his leg. It was like kicking a tree trunk, but he staggered and dropped to one knee.
A second guard charged her. She ducked under his grasp and lunged for the stairs.
She barely felt the pinprick in her back an instant before her muscles caught fire. She writhed in pain, wanting to scream, but no sound came out. She collapsed to the floor, her body twitching uncontrollably. Straining to focus, she glimpsed a black-clad figure holstering a Taser gun before her vision closed in.
Alyssa dreamed again. Only this time, she knew it was no dream. She knew she was reliving a shard of memory. She braced herself for the vision to engulf her mind, to smother her. Instead, the shard drifted into its own place, completing another piece of the puzzle.
She opened her eyes, not remembering falling asleep. Nephthys knelt next to her on the thick rug.
“How are you feeling?” she asked.
“Better,” Alyssa replied. “I think.”
Nephthys rose and offered a hand to Alyssa.
As she stood, a wave of vertigo caused her to stagger. Her knees buckled. Nephthys caught her before she could fall.
“Easy,” the woman said. “This will pass. Now you must rest.”
They descended the circular staircase. Alyssa stopped when she saw Tasha sitting against the wall, her arms and legs bound, surrounded by Nephthys’s guards.
She rushed to her. “What did you do to her?” she glowered at the guards.
“I’m okay,” Tasha said.
Alyssa whirled and faced Nephthys.
“We could not risk any disruption—” Nephthys started.
“Save it,” Tasha interrupted. “We know that you conspired with William Drake.”
Alyssa’s chest tightened, unable to take a breath. Disbelief rang through her.
“That’s right,” Tasha continued. “Clay found surveillance pictures of her and William on the Society’s server.”
“Is that true?” Alyssa seethed.
Nephthys gazed at her for a few moments then laughed, startling her.
“This could have been so much easier on you,” she said. “It’s too bad your friends had to meddle in this.”
A cold wave swept through Alyssa, freezing her to the floor. “What?”
“People are so predictable,” Nephthys said. “William craved power above everything.” She turned her back on them as she crossed the room to the table. “I gave him the location of the Hall of Records, and he passed the information to George Renley… and to your father.”
She lifted the crystal from the table, studying it.
“William’s father must have become suspicious and placed him under surveillance. William told me his father learned of the plan and confronted him. He thought it was too dangerous, too much of a risk for collateral damage. But William’s obsession with the ancient power made him blind. Once he secured enough support from the most zealous members of the Society, he… eliminated the obstacle.”
Tasha gasped in disbelief. “William killed his own father?”
“It was his dream to control the Society,” Nephthys said. “This was the perfect opportunity. With his father out of the way, nobody else dared oppose him.”
Alyssa’s throat tightened, hardly able to produce a sound. Still, heat fired through her words, realizing the depth of the betrayal. “You’ve played them all… Drake, Renley… my father.” Her stomach roiled as she spoke the next words, afraid of the answer. “What about my mother?”
“She meddled in affairs she didn’t understand,” Nephthys replied, setting the crystal back on the table. “And paid with her life.”
Alyssa screamed and charged at Nephthys. The woman slipped aside and flung Alyssa to the floor.
Alyssa sprang up. The guards moved to seize her. Nephthys held up her hand, and they froze.
“Do not challenge me, girl,” she warned, her tone matching the icy glint of her golden irises.
Alyssa snarled and lunged at Nephthys again. The woman stirred, the thin scepter in her hand seemed to appear out of thin air. Alyssa’s body spun through the air, limbs flailing, before slamming into the table, neck pinned beneath the scepter. She thrashed, wheezing, fighting for breath, but the woman did not relent. Alyssa’s vision closed in, every fiber in her body screaming for air. Just before complete darkness surrounded her, the crushing pressure relented. Alyssa gulped great breaths of air as Nephthys shoved her at the guards.
They seized her, twisting her arms behind her back. She glared at Nephthys, panting, then fixed her gaze at the crystal perched on the table.
“I will never help you,” she spat, the words burning her bruised throat.
Nephthys followed Alyssa’s eyes to the crystal.
“Do you think that’s what this is all about?” She let a thin laugh escape her lips. “I told you, you had so much to learn.”
Time slowed as Nephthys lifted the scepter and slammed it into the crystal, shattering it into a hundred fragments.
Alyssa froze, her mind refusing to believe what she had just witnessed.
Nephthys’s eyes burned into Alyssa.
“My plans for you are much greater, girl,” she breathed.
Part 3
TRANSCENDENCE
15 West of Tenerife
The man woke up, gasping for air.
Where am I? Who am I?
The fiery blast.
The cold water.
Strong, rough hands grasping my body, pulling me out.
Paul. My name is Paul Matthews.
He opened his eyes and winced. The dim overhead lamp sliced into his head like a floodlight. He lifted his hand to shield his eyes. The leather cuff strapped to his wrist jerked it back. He froze.
The Valediction… Alyssa!
Slowly, the memories returned, and he put the pieces into place. They must have captured him after he fell into the water. They didn’t let him die. That meant he was more valuable to them alive than dead. Or they thought he had information that could be useful. He swallowed.
He closed his eyes. No swaying. No humming from the engines. Was he still aboard the Valediction? How long have I been out?
The sound of a door lock unlatching snapped him back. He held his breath and squinted at the bright light as the door opened, revealing a looming figure. Paul swallowed again.
Oh, man… I’m royally buggered. I only hope Alyssa is faring better.
Alyssa strained against the leather tresses that bound her arms and legs to the metal examination table. Yuri Korzo approached her, holding a needle and an empty vial. She cowered back as far as the restraints would allow.
“Don’t you touch me, you creep!” she screamed, her
voice sounding much braver than she felt.
“The more you struggle, the more this is going to hurt,” Korzo said, grasping her forearm. Alyssa flailed.
“Stop it!” he barked.
“Screw you!” she fired back.
Yuri sighed then waved to Nephthys’s black-clad guard at the door. The huge man moved to the table.
“This is your last warning,” Korzo said.
Alyssa glared at him but stopped moving. She clenched her jaw as Yuri cleaned her vein with an antiseptic and inserted the needle. Alyssa watched her blood flow into the plastic vial then looked up at his face, again surprised at the bitterness spilling from his eyes.
“Why do you hate me?” she asked.
Korzo remained silent, his face as cold as the metal table beneath her.
“Please. At least tell me the reason.”
“My son is dead because of you.”
“What?”
“You showed up in Cairo with that damn VR gadget. My son volunteered to use it. He wanted to impress Drake, make his mark in the Society. It cost him his life.”
Alyssa’s head spun from the needle in her arm and Korzo’s words. “It—it wasn’t my fault,” she stammered. “The Society captured us—”
“If you and your friends hadn’t built it, my son would still be alive,” he spat.
“I’m so sorry about your son,” Alyssa whispered. “But please understand, we never wished to harm anybody. I only wanted to save my father.”
Korzo lifted his gaze, a crack in the bitter façade. “Your father?”
“He and his team were dying. I was trying to find a cure for him.”
He pressed a piece of gauze on the puncture site and pulled out the needle. He held the gauze against her skin for a few seconds, wordlessly.
“I can’t imagine how you feel,” Alyssa continued, “but this isn’t going to bring him back.”
Korzo pursed his lips, his expression shifting for an instant. “Perhaps if—”
The door opened, and Nephthys entered, shadowed by two of her guards. Korzo’s face hardened again.
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