Avenged (The Altered Series) (5 page)

Nick’s jaw tightened, and his fingers clenched and unclenched at his side.
Cool it. She doesn’t need your anger
. But he showed no other outward reaction when he asked, “What makes you think I’d let anyone do that to you again?”

“You can’t stop them. And I can’t go from one prison to another, Nick. I won’t.” Kitty bit down hard on her lip, then, to stop talking. She’d already said too much. She didn’t know him. Even the people she knew didn’t know her well. Bottom line, she didn’t share her feelings. With anyone. Ever.

Now, she spilled everything—to Nick, of all people.

She closed her eyes, squeezed them shut. She couldn’t stand it if he pitied her. She’d take any barrier she could get. She put her hands to the side of her head and did the only thing she could.

She closed him out.

Her own thoughts were unmanageable. She couldn’t deal with his, too.

This entire time, she’d started to believe he understood. Obviously not.

She glanced around. Realistically, she knew she had no chance if she left him here. She had no survival training. They were miles from civilization. She had a light jacket, in the middle of November. Even if she found the extra shoes and Nick let her go, she had no clue where she was and no idea how to get out of here. She’d just be walking aimlessly through the forest.

She wasn’t prepared for a prolonged hike in the wilderness.

She was trapped. Again. It was a different situation, but she still had no escape.

Sitting there, doing her best not to meet his eyes, she tried to think of something to say. If she were Blue, she might have been able to blow him off or come up with some sharp response. Something that proved she wasn’t beaten.

But even though her mother was gone, she’d drilled the importance of good manners into her, the art of pretending things were fine when they weren’t. So she said, “Thank you, Nick. For getting me out of there. It means…well, it means everything to me.”

“Jesus, Kitty. It isn’t like that…” His eyes were stricken with pain.
I didn’t betray you
.

“You should tell your Martins that Dr. Fields planned to test his drug on the group of soldiers that just arrived at Goldstone. I don’t think they know. I’m not even sure when that was supposed to happen. I tried to…escape, I guess, but I don’t know when that was. Maybe yesterday?” She looked to him. They’d knocked her out. When that happened, she never had any idea how much time passed. His mouth thin, he nodded. So, she must have been right—only the one day. “Yesterday then. But those men don’t know. If you can get word, maybe…maybe your Martins can help.”

He swiped his hand over his face. “Okay. Fine. I’ll text Martins. We’ll talk about the rest of this again tomorrow. I swear it’s going to be okay. We’re both tired, and this will look different when we’re out of here.” He reached into his pocket and removed a disposable cell phone. Before he typed, though, he nudged his head toward her abandoned MRE. “But you need to eat.”

He was right. She did need to eat. She reached for the packet. The only sound in the cave was the tapping of his fingers on his phone. She put the food in her mouth, chewed, swallowed, all on autopilot. She didn’t taste it. After she’d eaten every bite, she lay down. The exhaustion was intense, the most complete exhaustion she’d ever felt.

Months ago, when she was first taken, she’d been unable to sleep, constantly on guard against potential threats. After a while, she’d accepted her fate. Things would happen as they would, she knew that. Worrying was useless.

She closed her eyes in this strange and dangerous place, falling into a deep sleep.

…

Luke Kincaid hunched over his laptop at the makeshift desk in the miniscule apartment he shared with Parker Sinclair and Jack Barnett. The apartment would have been fine for only him and Jack, as they’d originally planned. But Parker had arrived on their doorstep a few weeks ago.

The older man made the place small, both physically and emotionally.

Not that Luke didn’t like Parker well enough. He was a smart guy, and like Luke and Jack, he’d lived though Dr. Fields’s experiments in their hometown of Glory. They were connected, bonded over a shared experience of shit.

But Parker’s philosophies… They could be eccentric. Like, conspiracy theory eccentric.

Oh, well. It wasn’t as if they would turn him out. They were in this together.

Outside the window, the moon had risen over the Mexican coast, shining off the water and making the white sands glow. It had to be nearly midnight, and Luke should be in bed. Instead, he stared at the computer screen.

The chemical components of Solvimine twisted on the screen in front of him.

God, if he’d only studied chemistry or biochemistry in school. Or really any kind of science other than computer science. It would have saved him the past few months of intensive chemistry study. Instead, he’d had to give himself a crash course in it, reading everything he could download, including a virtual stack of college-level textbooks on his Kindle.

Apparently, along with his ability to move things with his mind, he’d also gained the ability to speed-read. He could consume a four-hundred page paperback in less than an hour. Another perk of being special around here.

Whatever. If it helped him do what needed to be done, then he’d accept this bonus gift happily. Because as far as he knew, he was the only one outside of Dr. Fields’s research group that had access to Solvimine.

It was up to him to find a cure.

Except, there
was
no cure, as far as he could tell. The drug caused irreversible changes to the brain, the creation of extensive neural pathways where they hadn’t been before. From his extensive reading into electrophysiology, once the body knew how to create new pathways, it had a hard time unlearning the ability.

Sort of like riding a bicycle.

If his conclusions were correct, it wouldn’t matter if he figured out the entire makeup of the drug. What had been done couldn’t be undone.

At least, it couldn’t be undone through further study of Solvimine. They would need a new drug. Something to block pathways…or destroy them. While he had a huge intellect and the ability to read and decipher material in an instant, he didn’t know much yet about drug synthesis.

Seemed he had a new path of study to trip down. Yippee.

He pushed back from the desk and ran his hands over his face. He’d need another run tonight, it seemed, if he intended to sleep.

He’d started running soon after he and Jack had arrived in Mexico. He’d had to. He hadn’t been able to sleep. The soldier he’d killed in La Junta haunted him. Every time he closed his eyes, Luke saw him, hanging outside that hotel window, his face full of horror and confusion.

So he’d jogged, hoping he could outrun the images. Or, if that didn’t work, at least his body would be so tired that he’d have to sleep.

At first, the short jogs worked. But before long, he’d had to go farther, faster, longer if he wanted any reprieve at night.

Now he’d moved to taking two runs a day.

It was during one of those first jogs that he’d decided that he needed to work with Solvimine. If he could find a cure, maybe he could undo some of the damage that had been done since Dr. Fields decided to turn them into case studies.

Parker had a couple of vials of the drug. He’d overheard him talking to Jack about it, saying he got them from spending some time with Fields. But when Luke pressed him about it, Parker had closed off, only smiling. All he said was, “Brilliant man, Fields. We only differ on the ultimate goal.”

Luke had no idea what the hell that meant, but it creeped him out.

When he’d asked to study the drug, Parker had agreed, saying that the amount wasn’t enough for his plan anyway. Luke didn’t know what Parker’s plans were, exactly, but if they involved large quantities of Solvimine, they probably weren’t going to be good for anyone. Luckily, Parker didn’t have large quantities of Solvimine. But if Luke knew anything about the old man
,
he’d bet he was working out a plan to rectify that.

“Yes. I am.”

Luke closed his eyes. Parker. He’d overheard him. That hearing people’s thoughts gift must be useful sometimes.

“It is.” Parker joined him, leaning on the desk beside him, his arms folded over his chest. “You’re trying to find a ‘cure’”—he made air quotes—“for Solvimine.” He shook his gray head. “But there is no cure, Luke. Can’t you see? This isn’t a disease. It isn’t something that we’ve ‘caught.’” Again with the quotations. “We’ve become our best selves. The selves we are meant to be.”

Luke gritted his teeth. He’d heard some variation of this argument many times over the past weeks. It had become Parker’s gospel. “No, Parker. If this was who we were meant to be, we wouldn’t have needed a drug to make us this way. We’ve been…modified. Like GMOs.”

“No. We’ve been improved. We’ve been given the gift of our full potential. This isn’t a problem, Luke. It’s a solution.”

“It doesn’t feel like a solution.” Luke leaned back in his chair. He glanced around the dingy two-bedroom apartment they were renting. “Look around you. This apartment, this life. This is no solution. We’re in hiding. We can’t return to the United States because we’re afraid we’ll be captured and poked at like lab rats. Like they’re probably doing to Kitty now.” Blue had emailed him after she and Seth had left San Antonio, explaining that Kitty had been taken by Goldstone and they couldn’t find her.

One more thing to add to Luke’s guilt pile.

“That’s because they’re afraid, my boy. They’re afraid of what we could do.” The older man stood. “And they should be.”

Parker pushed away from the desk and headed for the door. Luke watched him go.

He didn’t like the sound of that.

It might be time he and Parker Sinclair parted ways.

Chapter Five

Nick kept watch.

Sitting on his cot, he stared at the cave ceiling, listening to Kitty breathe in the cot next to him. She was asleep—he’d heard her soft snoring earlier—so he could feel free to berate himself without her listening in.

He knew she wasn’t going to like the idea of going to the military and should have come up with a better way to prepare her. But what else could he have done to get her out? Martins offered the only way.

He gritted his teeth. She had to know he wouldn’t have gone to this trouble to get her away from here only to put her in more danger. Didn’t she? After everything he’d done to help, she still didn’t trust him?

He’d hoped he’d grow on her. He did that to his other friends, he knew. He could be overbearing, arrogant even. He couldn’t help it, really. It was in his nature to lead. He was the oldest of six children in an Italian family, for God’s sake. He’d had to take charge, had to be opinionated.

He didn’t let others lead when he knew he could do a better job. Once, when he first joined up, he’d been forced to follow some tool of an officer who’d made stupid fool choices. People had died. After that he decided he’d never be less than the best, and he’d never hesitate to speak when something could be done better. So far, he hadn’t met any true resistance or been called out on insubordination.

Knock on wood.

He knew that could be annoying. He only hoped that when they got out, Kitty would see he had good intentions, that he only wanted the best for her. He’d give her time. Let her get used to him.

He didn’t think too hard about why he wanted her to get used to him.

He tucked his arm behind his head and shifted, trying to get comfortable. But the faint sound of helicopter rotors had him checking his watch.

Only 5:05. Martins told him they’d be there at 5:45, closer to dawn.

The sound grew louder. He sat up, threw the blanket off, and slipped his feet into his boots. Leaning over, he shook Kitty awake. “A helicopter. They’re early.”

She jerked to her feet, and her eyes were as wide as coins in the faint lantern light. She wasn’t fully awake, but even half asleep, she was afraid. “It’s okay. It’s the helicopter. They’re early.” When she looked at his hand on her arm, he dropped it. In the awkwardness that followed, he glanced down. “There are the extra shoes.” He pointed to the corner. “There’s a small backpack. Can you carry that out? The rest of this stuff is disposable.”

She nodded, slipping her feet into the too-big boots, and clopped over to get the backpack. But as she slung it on her shoulder, her brows dropped.

“Martins, you said?” She shook her head. “It doesn’t sound like—” Then she turned frightened eyes to him. If she’d seemed afraid when he woke her, this was a new level of terror. “It’s not Martins, Nick. It’s Goldstone. They’re coming.”

“How?” It didn’t make sense. This was miles from Goldstone’s facility, in dense woods. It wasn’t even on their property. He’d been careful.

“They have someone. Someone like Seth.” Her hand shook as she covered her mouth. “The soldiers. They changed the soldiers.” Her eyes bounced around the cave, as if she was unable to focus in her fear.

Shit. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and sent a group text to Seth and Martins.
Goldstone found us. Soldiers have been drugged and changed.
“How many, Kit?”

“At least five.”

Christ.
At least five
, he added to his text and hit send.

Then he turned to Kitty. “Run. As fast as you can.”

She didn’t wait. She tore out of the cave, and he followed behind her.

As soon as he hit the opening, he knew they wouldn’t escape.

There were already men on the ground. He made out their shadowed forms in the dying moonlight. Kitty was ahead of him, running toward the creek. Smart girl. If she got ahead of them, she could use the water to disguise her footprints.

But she wouldn’t get ahead of them. Because someone was running behind her, like he’d seen Seth and Jack run, so fast that she would never outrun him.

Changed.

Three other soldiers closed in on him, one at each of the compass points. He didn’t even bother to run. But maybe he could keep them busy.

It wasn’t in his nature to give up. So he set his feet in a wide stance, and he pulled out his knife.

Come and get me, assholes
.

…

Kitty heard the soldier as he caught her.

His thoughts were cocky.
Look at her run. Like a rabbit.
She could see herself from his perspective, running and slipping on the wet rocks.

When he moved to grab her, it was easy to dodge. She’d seen his intention a moment before he’d moved. She rolled and swung out with her leg, tripping him. It surprised him. His head filled with curses as he fell.

He was only down for a moment, though. She didn’t run again. The drug had changed him, like it had changed Seth and Jack, making him faster, stronger. With that power from the drug, he had the physical advantage. But they were alone. If she could beat him, maybe she could go again. The other soldiers were still rappelling or dealing with Nick. To them, Nick posed the bigger threat.

That might work in her favor.

She stood in front of him, listening, preparing to use what he thought to her advantage. Add her gift to the remaining night sky, and she might have a chance.

“Don’t be a fool, girl. You’re no match for me.”

“I guess we’ll see,” she said. It was a bluff and they both knew it. But in that moment, she didn’t want it to be. She had beaten him once, landed a lucky kick, hadn’t she? Maybe she could do it again. She listened closer, waiting for any change in his decisions.

He swung, and she moved so that he missed by an inch to the left. Striking out again, he used his other hand, but she dodged that blow as well.

He lashed out two more times, finding empty air. She smiled. She’d never thought of her gift as offensive before. She’d watched the others fight and had assumed she was the weakest link. But this? This could work, if she could stay one step ahead of him.

She jumped over his leg when he kicked out, but she wasn’t fast enough to dodge the second kick. She’d seen it coming, but her body was frail, out of shape. She hit the ground hard, rolling in the stream’s icy water.

Had to get to her feet. Had to move away.

The soldier continued coming, this time smiling. “You might be fast, but I’m stronger.”

“And uglier, too,” she snarled back. She’d have never said something like that before the drug had changed everything. It felt good to talk back—to be strong, if only mentally, even if she would lose.

He dove at her. He was too big, and she wasn’t fast enough to avoid him. They tumbled backward into the freezing water. The cold stole her breath, and she sputtered as he lay on top of her. The water filled her mouth, made her gag and cough.

When they came up, he lifted her, dripping wet, and slung her over his shoulder as if her weight didn’t slow him. Which it didn’t. She kicked and slammed her fists against his back but again, she was weak, small. She knew it wouldn’t stop him, but it helped relieve the sickness and desperation pulsing through her.

She was going back. To Goldstone. She’d come so close to escaping. The bitterness of it sang through her, and it wasn’t only the cold mountain water that chilled her blood.

Stilling, she heard the sounds of three more soldiers attacking Nick.

For his part, Nick had gotten in some good shots, but he knew he would lose. They knew he would lose. They were only trying to keep him from hurting them.

Finally, one of the soldiers had enough. He tugged at the rappelling line with his mind, moving the rope to wind around Nick, tying him down.

He was like Blue then. Telekinetic.

She sagged, reserving her energy. When the one carrying her dropped her next to Nick, she scooted over to sit closer to him, finding comfort in his proximity. Then she did what she could, the only thing she could do.

She listened to them all, looking for a weakness. And that’s when she heard him.

Jeremy.

Nick’s old roommate, the man who’d betrayed her to Goldstone, stepped out from behind the rest of the group. “Hello, Kitty. It’s good to see you again.”
A lot skinnier, but my, my…she’s still is pretty to look at.
“And Nick. Still trying to save the world, I see.”

He smiled at them both and slung his weapon onto his shoulder, crossing his arms. All bronze skin and blond hair, he was every girl’s California dream.

Now, she wasn’t sure why she’d been fooled by that slickness. She’d been flattered, that’s why, and naive. She trusted her gift, her own judgment. Man, had she been wrong.

But the pieces fell into place. “You’re one of the soldiers. You took Solvimine.”

Jeremy shrugged, still smiling. “I can’t say I mind being a superhero.” He flexed his bicep muscle.

“You aren’t a superhero,” she said, her voice soft. “More like the supervillain.”

He covered his heart, feigning offense. “Aw, honey. Not at all. I never wanted to be a mastermind. I only needed a job. I was getting an OTH discharge. I needed to do something.”

“OTH?”

“Other Than Honorable,” Nick filled in. “It’s what they give to guys whose behavior isn’t becoming to the military. In Jeremy’s case, he was sleeping with a subordinate.”

“We were off post,” Jeremy gritted out. “I never expected anyone to find out.”

“Yeah, because you were always stupid.”

“Unlike you, right, Nick?” Jeremy unfolded his arms and readjusted his gun in front of him. “You always make the right decision. A goddamned paragon of virtue.”

The guy next to Jeremy sneered at them. “You guys done with this romantic reunion? Need a chaperone?” Others nearby chuckled. This guy didn’t like Jeremy much. Kitty didn’t need her gift to figure that out. According to Jeremy’s thoughts, the feeling was mutual. “Load them in.”

Two of the soldiers yanked Nick to his feet and another dragged her to stand. She walked along beside them and climbed into the helicopter. As the rotors beat down on them, whipping her hair around her head, she knew it would be useless to fight here. The group was split—three of them possessed Seth and Jack’s enhanced physical strengths and the other three were telekinetic, like Blue and Luke. However, none of them could read minds like her.

Strange. She hadn’t met anyone else who heard thoughts yet. She was a freak, even among freaks.

As they loaded into the chopper, Nick’s eyes held hers, intense amidst the activity around them. His message was obviously for her.
Texted Blue and Seth, too. They’ll come for us.
He kept repeating the words, as if he wasn’t sure she was listening. Or as if he was trying to reassure himself.

She shook her head at him and looked away.

They hadn’t come before, and they wouldn’t come now. But she wasn’t going to ruin this for him. It had been bad enough when her own hopes died. She’d let him hold on to his for awhile longer.

If they were going to escape, they’d need to find their own way out.

When they landed back at the complex, Dr. Fields and his orderly greeted them on the tarmac. As the changed soldiers ushered her and Nick off the helicopter, holding their hands behind their backs, they stopped in front of Fields.

“Kitty, Kitty.” Dr. Fields shook his head, as if he was disappointed in her. “You should know better.” Then he waved a hand at the orderly next to them. Without a word, the man lifted his gun and shot both her and Nick, in quick succession.

As the tranquilizer took effect, she tried to catch one last glimpse of the sky. The sun was coming up, and it had been months since she’d seen it. But her eyes closed of their own volition, leaving her again in the darkness.