Any Price Page 27

  Synth regarded him steadily then bowed slightly. “I must go. Your knowledge is extremely helpful.”

  Then he was gone. Yet now Boris could feel him in a whole new way so he continued mentally. “I still want answers to those questions, Tinker Bell.”

  “I’m aware you’re a curious cat. What I am is not as important as who has Celina and what the fate of our people will be if she is not rescued. The One with you might have a more complete understanding of what we are than I do currently.”

  “Great. You’re a lot of help. This doesn’t make me feel better about trusting you,” Boris snapped as he headed up the castle steps.

  “As I said, opinions vary. Deal with it. Ask the One with you what you need to know. Don’t expect the answers to be a comfort. Real truth rarely is.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  “This isn’t working fast enough!” Lore barked into the conversation between Boris and Synth. The blood drip from his vein into Kenna was working, but the transfer was much slower than his ability to ingest her contaminated blood. He was helping, but not enough. He could feel the poison moving through her.

  “Slow her heart,” Synth replied calmly.

  “Right. How the fuck do I do that?” Panic was clawing at the edges of Lore’s control. He didn’t have time for it.

  “Just do it,” Synth snapped. “Take control of your woman. I suspected you needed instruction on this subject.”

  Lore ignored Synth’s monumental misconception about the strong-minded creature that was Kenna. If he’d had time, he’d have been amused. But there could be nothing else in this moment. Saving the precious gift that was Kenna was all that could matter. All there was left to his life. If this task could not be done there would be no other.

  “Have you done this?” he demanded of Synth.

  “On a human, once. The brainstem is the center of the automatic nervous function. Start there.”

  Plunging deep into her quiet brain, Lore carefully isolated the portion that controlled automatic functions. Going on hesitant instinct, he cautiously attempted to slow functions. It worked but he now had to focus on making sure she breathed enough to get air to vital organs while also taking small sips of blood, trying not to take too much and leave her without enough blood to pump through her body. The delicate balance while fighting for her life consumed him.

  Placing his trust in the others for protection was not just difficult, it was imperative. Lore surrendered it and lost track of time as both he and Kenna battled the demon in her body. He was only dimly aware of others moving around them. Barely checking their signatures as he focused on the flickering life in his arms. At some point he was aware of Julianna putting liquid to his lips and encouraging him to drink. He let her, but that was the extent of the interruption he’d tolerate.

  “Fight with me, baby,” he repeated in ironclad command. “You must fight.” Into her mind he repeated the demand with all the power at his disposal, gripping her life force with his massive will, refusing to lose her as his spirit wrapped around hers. There were no other options for them. He submerged himself in her so deeply that they became one in ways he didn’t have time to consider.

  He became aware he could feel the progress of the poison. It was trying to paralyze vital organs but the infusions of his antibodies into her bloodstream were fighting it hard. Painfully slow though the exchange was, it was keeping her alive. Just barely.

  Abruptly the poison began moving in patterns that made it an even more sinister. It wound through her as if a force directed it. Leaving less vital organs, it appeared to be dividing its efforts in two directions, attacking her heart and reproductive organs.

  Immediately Lore knew he could direct the life-saving antibodies. Anything the dark bastard could do in her, he could do faster with her unconscious consent. The problem was, the full dose of poison was in her. He was struggling to inject her with enough of him to do the job. He had to make a choice.

  Fire laced through his soul as he accepted the responsibility to choose which of her body functions he could save and which he couldn’t. He had no time to debate it, explore the implications. Either she would live, or he had to let her die with their unborn children.

  They hadn’t discussed children. Would she wish she had died? Would she ever understand that choosing her life was his only option? Could he be enough for her?

  If they lived through this, she would be in his mind. There was no possibility he could hide that he’d known he was making this choice. Lore grimly pushed past his doubts and fears. She couldn’t afford them. His choice was life, Kenna’s life. She had to live. He’d give up a lot more to ensure that. If only it were his sacrifice to make.

  After that critical choice was made there was still a long battle.

  Lore knew the moment fragile innocence ceased to be in her womb. The death of the child he hadn’t known was there taught him how to isolate that knowledge, showed him that what he’d known about pain in the past was nothing. Nothing compared to this. The life had only been a bundle of cells. So small, defenseless, dependent on its parents to protect it. He’d betrayed that trust.

  In the darkest hours when no one was sure either of them would emerge from the silent battle for life, Boris contacted Synth.

  “What happens if they die? Do the rest of us return to what we were?” His question was direct and urgent.

  “I don’t know, but have you ever heard of evolution reversing itself?” Synth responded absently, obviously concentrating on something else.

  “Could you be a little helpful, Tinker Bell? And what have you got so far? Celina is moving away fast. Are you?”

  “I know she is. We have to go.

  “About what happens next…we are not repeating any history I know of. This is new ground. Nature is always in motion, evolving or regressing. I’ve never witnessed the tipping point when a living entity goes from evolving to regressing. I suspect it does not occur when the evolving part is happening at an aggressive rate. You are not exactly what I am. The human element in your DNA gives you an evolutionary path that is unique. Humans have been evolving at an aggressive rate for some time and Keepers are currently doing so in great leaps.”

  “What the hell do you know for sure?” Boris snapped in irritation at the obscure answer he was coming to realize was Synth’s habit. “How did anyone mistake you for a god?”

  “I know that if they die, there is no replacement for the power lost. The Keepers’ future would be very difficult indeed,” Synth responded with forced patience. “Your Asp has a powerful follower among you. He was able to ensure the departure of a private jet with no interference. I can move swiftly but I can’t outdistance a plane. I have secured a jet but at this distance and speed I cannot track your sister like you can. I need your assistance.”

  “I’ll be right there. Who is the traitor? Do you have a name?” Boris was already moving, sprinting out of the castle to his car.

  “No,” Synth responded “Warn Lore’s second-in-command that they must be careful. Appearances are always deceiving. Do not disclose our means of following the Asp.”

  Boris relayed the information to Yuri as he left the castle, also informing him that he would be gone for a while.

  “You have proof of this?” Yuri demanded in harsh tones. He wasn’t questioning Boris or questioning his leaving. He’d been expecting it. Yuri was relieved to have a clear target to go after. Yet there still had to be physical evidence.

  “No. The information comes from our new Tinker Bell,” Boris supplied.

  Then to Synth. “Why am I telling them? You’re the guy with the information.”

  “I’m being a good servant, Sir Cat,” Synth replied. The dark humor in his use of that title was clear.

  Boris felt Synth’s reluctance to communicate with the many. There was no clear reason Boris could pinpoint, but it was obvious Synth was using the new bond between them as a shield in some cases. Taking the huge being’s blood had connected them in ways Boris susp
ected he would not always enjoy. Boris let it go as he parked at the airport and followed his connection to Synth. Instructions were not needed. He knew exactly where Synth was, which private jet to board.

  They didn’t take a human pilot. Synth sat at the controls and handled the jet with casual familiarity.

  Boris strapped in the co-pilot’s seat and frowned at Synth. “So you’re a real pilot, right?”

  Synth let a muscle tick in his cheek. It wasn’t a smile but it could have been if more of his face had cooperated. “Naw. Flying looked like fun. Thought I’d try it today.”

  “Bastard,” Boris muttered as they taxied onto the runway.

  Synth revved the engine for takeoff. “Seriously, who do you think invented planes? Some human who’d die the first time it crashed?”

  “There were these two guys named Wright. Heard of them?” Boris asked as the plane gathered speed.

  “Yeah, they were brothers, I believe,” Synth answered casually.

  After they were in the air and Synth glanced at Boris. “Which way?”

  “East. We’re going to London,” Boris supplied.

  “You’re sure?”

  “Celina is not as unconscious as her captors think. She can hear them talk.” Boris scowled as he concentrated.

  Synth nodded. “I suspected her powers were greater.”

  * * * * *

  It was the late evening when Lore finally pulled out the needle and collapsed beside Kenna’s sleeping form. There were deep lines etched in his face. In the hours he bent over her, those watching were powerless to assist as Lore changed before their eyes. His skin darkened, going from northern European fair to the swarthy hue of a Greek sailor. And he appeared larger. Even lying down he was dark, intimidating.

  Julianna and Yuri sat beside the bed. There was nothing they could do. No assistance anyone knew to give. The medical people had been here but Lore had not let them near the couple.

  His rejection had been swift and nearly deadly. As the doctor had put a hand on Kenna to draw blood, he’d been flung back. There’d been no physical movement from the couple when suddenly the doctor was flying through the air and slamming into the wall. Everyone froze. The message was clear. Touching Kenna without Lore’s permission was forbidden. Into their minds, Lore’s voice ordered them to leave. He withdrew immediately and they quietly left.

  Now, hours later, only Julianna and Yuri remained. Lore could feel them. Feel the weight of their distress as they tried to remain calm. Both of them were actively working at keeping the community calm as they assured the collective that the One and the first daughter lived.

  Lore didn’t move or open his eyes as he lay feeling the swirling emotional turmoil. He accepted that again his abilities had increased. Bitter frustration washed through him as he noted the changes. Abilities he had no idea how to use. It was the equivalent of giving a toddler a F16—a useless armament without the correct instructions. In this case, fucking late as well as useless. Was he now capable of saving everything they had just lost? It was a pointless question but still it sliced across his soul.

  Kenna was deeply asleep. She wasn’t cut off from him but she was unaware of him.

  Pain. It surrounded him. There was no escape, no relief. The conflict was upon them and they’d paid a terrible price. Surviving was a hell of a long way from winning in any battle. Right now the royal couple were the key to Keepers having a chance at freedom. If they’d both succumbed to the poison, the Keepers would have had little hope of escaping this enemy or the world at large.

  It had been a close thing. In those moments when he’d faced the price of living, Lore had almost chosen to go with Kenna and the children they would never have.

  The first casualties of this war were their babies. This was the price for survival as a species. There would be no graves, no monuments, no memorials. Would Kenna forgive him? Could he?

  No, there would be no forgiveness for him. His betrayal of that tiny life was a weight that could not be lifted. That life had been the sacrifice to buy Kenna’s survival, a fact that did not diminish the enormity of the loss.

  She would know as soon as she woke. He couldn’t hide it from her or spare her this pain because it was his pain. Being joined as the One, there was no shielding her from his sorrow. The only way to do that would be to erase the meaning from his heart. If he could do that, it would hurt her more. She would be alone mourning their children and he would not leave her like that.

  Oh God. How would he live with it?

  “Are you well, little brother?” A deep voice rumbled across the connection Synth had established with Lore.

  “We live,” Lore stated harshly.

  “We, those of our kind, are in your debt,” Synth responded calmly. “Your sacrifice is greater than your own life.”

  “You knew?”

  “I suspected,” Synth acknowledged.

  “You said nothing,” Lore accused.

  “What was there to say? A warning would have done nothing but distract you from the task of saving her. Your choice to live had to be your own. None could ask it of you.”

  “Can you fix it? You healed her once. Do it again!” Lore demanded.

  “This is beyond my power. I have some ability to mend what has been broken, but we are truly not gods. We cannot create life where tissue death has occurred.”

  “What the hell is all this power for? What is its purpose? What are we? Weapons? Are we only capable of destruction?” Lore was yelling his questions as he rebelled at the denial he’d already known in his heart.

  “If I had these answers, I would share them.”

  “Who are you? Who are we?”

  “I am a wanderer. I have been seeking these answers for a millennium, little brother. You and your people have brought me more information than I have found in all that time. I suspect your people are the product of genetic engineering by my ancestors, designed to evolve in secret until the time was right to utilize the full measure of your abilities. Time is up. Whatever the purpose for this was, it was not given to me.”

  “Your ancestors? Who the hell are they? Where are they?”

  “I do not know. Over nine hundred years ago I was awakened in a cryo chamber by a dying human woman. There was nothing in the chamber. No information besides the cryo device. That science has taught me much, but it holds no answers as to why I was in it. Who built it? Why they did so?”

  “Jesus.” The bleak emptiness of those statements flashed between them and Lore fully understood Synth’s meaning. Alone in a world he didn’t belong in. A creature so far removed from the humans surrounding him that he was indeed a god but unable to unlock the mystery of his existence. The drives of his nature denied at every turn. “The woman was a Keeper? Didn’t her family have information? What did you learn from them?”

  “I’m sure she was. However, at the time, the Keepers’ genetics had not developed to the degree you now possess. The humans knew almost nothing. They were gifted in small ways but their knowledge as to why they were given the task of keeping the chamber I was in was limited and shrouded in fear and superstition. I was young, lost and angry. It made no sense to me and I made rash choices. By the time maturity showed me the error of those choices, the then first daughter had disappeared and answers were truly lost.”

  The naked truth of Synth’s recounted life flowed between them. Synth believed he’d failed through ignorance. This explosion of the Keeper power was his first indication that there were indeed others related to his kind.

  Synth continued in calm determination. “I should have been guardian to our people. There is no justification for my continued absence from this task other than ignorance. I have no way of knowing what my ancestors intended, nor does it matter. We make the future and it starts here. Agreed?”

  Lore opened his eyes to look at the woman sleeping beside him. In a sense, her future had been murdered, as had his. Yet they were not alone as Synth had been. His choice to seek life for them was about the f
uture of every other being in this fledgling society.

  “Yes,” he responded. “However, we still need answers from the past. Those conflicts have already taken more than we can afford to lose.”

  “Then seek them. I am done looking to the past for my reason to exist. The future is my concern. The unimaginable joy of family is a gift I do not intend to squander. I know what living forever is and it’s worthless when one cares for nothing.”

  Synth’s statement gave Lore pause as he considered what living nine hundred years without family or mate might make of him. “Are you sane?” he asked bluntly.

  “Does it matter? I am willing to die in the effort to protect our people. You have already sacrificed your children on that same altar. If I am insane, so are you. Makes us both poor judges of the other’s mental state.”

  “Let me put it another way. Are you in this for world domination?” Lore kept his tone calm, friendly even.

  “Well, little brother, the few humans who’ve managed it were most unhappy. I wouldn’t recommend it. If I’d wanted that throne, I’d have taken it long before world powers went nuclear.”

  “Right. So what do you see as our objective? If we don’t coordinate the action plan we’ll end up working against each other,” Lore stated. He was tired in a way he’d never been before. His soul felt stretched thin. He’d lost men in combat and knew that sorrow. This was different. The contact with Synth was too important though. The issues passing between them would decide the fate of this conflict.

  It seemed the two of them commanded the same type of power. Though Lore was less skilled wielding it, if they could not work together, they would end up destroying each other and everyone else with them. That outcome would render the sacrifice he’d just made pointless.

  It was a delicate situation. Synth had chosen to come out of the shadows and join the fight. There couldn’t be two leaders.

  “You mean, do I intend to challenge you for command?” Synth countered.