Cryostorm (32 page)

“Yeah, because he wants to knock you up,” Georgia said.

“I can’t believe The Center. They
made
a man for you? Then threw a chip in there that triggered into motion once you said I love you? Sick. They’re sick sons of bitches,” Scott said.

“Because they knew that if you loved him you couldn’t just kill him. You might give in or something,” Georgia said.

“Whatever. I don’t know what we’ll find out about them, other than what we already know. They’re sick bastards and evil and have ruined our lives. Is Brandon’s team going to strike?”

“They’ve been gathering information while searching for you two. Now that you’re here you can tell them everything. And when Nate is back, he can tell them everything, too. Tim already told him the main location. GEM is formulating a plan of attack there.”

“Plan?”

“They have a lot of political connections, Mandy. Might really be able to get in there and shut it down,” Scott said. “If not, then they’ll have the private sector strike and neutralize the threat.”

“Bev’s operation, on the other hand, they don’t have much info. That’s where you and Nate come in again. You were there. You’ll tell them everything you remember.”

“Nate sped us out of there so fast, I don’t know where it was other than really deep in the desert. He ran us all the way to the California-Nevada border.”

“That helps. We can talk to Jas and see about how far he could maybe run, holding you, if he went straight until the border like that. She ran, alone, to Nebraska pretty fast,” Scott said.

“Oh. Congrats on the engagement.” I threw my arms around his neck.

“I’m so glad you’re alive. I really thought you were gone. Both of you.” He yanked Georgia close and we had a good, long group hug.

“Where are they taking Nate?” I asked Scott.

“Down to their surgical ward.” He glanced in the direction they’d wheeled him.

“You mean he’s going to be sedated until surgeons come here?”

“Jas is talking to them now. She’ll know when they’ll be here.”

“Can I at least sit with him?” I asked Scott.

“I’ll go find out.” He kissed my cheek and peeled out from my embrace.

Jasmine met Scott before he made it to the nurse on duty and they both turned toward me.

“They’re flying in some uber-specialist. He’ll be here in a few hours.”

“Can I go sit with him?” I asked. “He’s all alone down there.”

“Oh, he’s not alone. There are five guards in there with him standing by with trigger happy fingers.” Jasmine shook her head. “No chances with Josiah—er—Nate.”

“I wish everyone would quit calling him Josiah. Bev wouldn’t stop doing that either. I hate that name. He’s not Josiah. He’s Nate. Nate Ashcroft!” I turned and stomped toward the swinging doors. I pushed through them and started looking in each room I passed.

The last one on the left was jackpot, had to be, because a guard stood outside. He tensed when I neared.

“I’m going in.”

The guy’s gaze went past my shoulder, toward the nurse type person at the station I hadn’t even realized I passed. Tunnel vision for My Nate I guess. She nodded and I moved on in.

Nate lay there, hand cuffed to the guard rails, head tilted to the side, and mouth slightly ajar. His face was smooth from deep sleep, and his body was covered with a sheet up to his waist. They’d cut off his shirt so his brands showed. I rested my palm over them, and the heat of his body warmed me to my core.

I thought
I’d
been through so much. Complained as often as I could about it, too. Yet he, someone who’d been through so much more than me, well, not more, just different and more dramatic things, never complained.

He’d accepted he was created from a concoction The Center had made up. Grew at miraculous rates and even had a hand in killing my parents with the missions he designed.

But yet he never complained. Only looked out for others. Saw freedom as a chance to do good things with the powers The Center gave him. And then gave it all up to protect me and Georgia by killing us off and watching over us while trying to figure things out.

Then we finally got close enough to one another to utter the three magical words—well I uttered them—and this was our reward. I leaned over him and pressed a kiss on his left eye. It would soon flicker with My Nate’s amber-flecked brown color. No red. We’d remove that chip and I’d get my boyfriend—er—husband back.

God that sounded so weird but totally amazing.

Tears stung at the thought of surgery not working. What would GEM do? What would I do? I wasn’t sure I could be with Robo Nate if that was only option. Could I learn to love him?

Warmth slid down my face. Robo Nate had called me his soulmate, said he was made for me. While he literally was, I was starting to think I was made only for My Nate.

So, maybe we really were soulmates. Destined to be together. Because the thought of being without any version of Nate hurt my heart so much I couldn’t breathe. I glanced around the room and other than the IV drip of the drug keeping him asleep, nothing else was in the room. TV up on the wall, a chair beside the bed, but that was it.

I climbed up onto the bed, pushed his arm out as far as I could, and curled up beside him, beneath his arm of protection, just how I loved doing before. I brushed my lips against his.

“I love you, Nate Ashcroft. I love you so much.”

Although he gave no hint of hearing me, I decided to believe that he did. And if he couldn’t, then I hoped he could feel it. He wasn’t alone here. I was with him and wouldn’t leave him, no matter what.

I rested my cheek on his bare chest, letting his body heat warm me, and put my hand over his markings and closed my eyes. Hopefully when I opened them next, I’d find this all to be a horrible nightmare.

But it was unlikely.

“Mandy.” Georgia’s voice trickled through my sleep-hazed mind and warm fingers grasped my shoulder.

I snapped my eyes open and lifted my head. Nate lay in the same position, and judging by the sharp pain radiating down the side of my neck, I’d been in the same position, too. For way too long.

“Yeah. What’s wrong?” My voice cracked. I straightened out my arm, and it may as well have been trying to straighten crooked steel. “Ow. Ow. What time is it?”

“Almost eight o’clock.” Georgia curled some hair behind my ear. “You fell asleep.”

“Why are you waking me?” I sat up, keeping my hand on Nate’s steadily rising chest.

“Doc will be here in about a half hour. They’re going to get Nate ready for him.”

“Okay. I’ll be out in a second.” I lay back down.

“I’ll be right outside. Then I can take you to our room.”

I nodded into Nate’s chest.

A few seconds later the door clicked shut. I wove my arm around Nate’s waist and nudged his neck with my face. “Okay, Nate. Here’s how it’s going to go.”

I swallowed the tears threatening to choke me.

“They’re going to do their thing in your head. They’re going to yank out whatever Robo Chip is in there and patch you back up.” I drew in a deep breath. “Then, you’re going to sleep it off, wake up, and be back to normal. Okay?”

Silence.

“You’re inside there shaking your head in agreement, right?”

Silence.

I kissed the soft, smooth skin near his jawline, just below his ear.

“I love you with everything I have, Nate. Everything. I’m with you no matter what. I won’t leave you. No matter what happens. You hear me?”

Squeezing him close, I propped myself on my elbow for a better view of him. Chestnut hair rested against his forehead, framing his pale face.

Tracing my finger along his temple, I said, “Remember how much I love you, Nate. Remember our wedding. That I’m here waiting for you to take me on that honeymoon to someplace warm with lots of sand.”

I pushed myself up and scooted down the bed until I reached the end. I gave one last look at him, then hopped to my feet. Two steps brought me to the door, and I yanked it open. Georgia stood, leaning against the wall across from the door.

She smiled a half smile and pushed away from the wall. I fell into her arms. She held me for quite a while before she asked, “Hungry?”

I nodded.

Georgia pointed things out as we wound through the halls, but everything blurred into a dull brown haze. Eventually we were at our room. Two beds, one atop the other in a sturdy wooden bunk bed set up. Two desks, one facing the other off to the side. A wall, with the upper half of windows was above the desks.

It was snowing.

Great. Let’s get stranded again. Or worse, the doctor. That’d be par for the course, wouldn’t it?

“So, this is where we’ll be staying? Going to Mutant University?” I said, squatting down in front of the tiny fridge below the TV. Georgia had it filled with pudding packs, soda, and yogurt. I snagged a Pepsi and a cup of chocolate.

“Yep. We’ll start in January when classes resume. Everyone’s pretty much gone for Christmas break.”

“Well, actually,” I sat on the edge of her bed as I opened the pudding. “I’m going to need my own room.”

“Wait… what?”

“Not my own room… more a room in… married housing.”

Georgia coughed, and I swore a flame came out of her mouth. “Married… housing?”

I told her the story of my quickie wedding to Nate, and my deal with Robo Nate. I wasn’t quite sure she breathed… at all.

“I—well—I’m not sure I know what to say.”

“I married Nate, the love of my life, maybe congrats?”

She hurried over to me and yanked me into her arms. Once again, I started bawling. Would I ever be over crying and just… be happy?

“Georgia?” Jasmine’s voice leaked through the door followed by a loud knock.

I let go of my sister and went searching for some tissue on her desk.

“Yeah. Open,” Georgia said as she wiped her eyes.

Jasmine strode in, followed by Tim, Martin, and Scott. “Hey,” she said. “Doc’s here. He’s getting everything ready.”

“How long?” Georgia asked while I busied myself with finding tissue. Did she not have anything to use? I was a snot-mess crazy person right now. I sat on the floor, back against the bottom bunk.

“Few hours. Depends. But Jose says they have enough to move forward on The Center.”

I turned around. “Who’s Jose? And what do you mean by move forward?”

“Yeah, his legal eagles are filing papers and junctions and stuff all over the place. But they have a tactical team in place as well, monitoring.”

“Monitoring.” I huffed. “What about Bev?”

“Not yet. But with what you told us they’ve narrowed the area down. They’ll find it soon, I’m sure.”

“Then what. Observe and monitor?”

“At first, yeah. These guys are good, Mandy. Really good. They’ll get it done.”

“If not. We will. Like we did in Cali?” I nodded, looking at Georgia, then Jasmine and Scott.

“I’d rather not,” Scott said. “I don’t want you three in that situation again. Not after I just got you back. You’ve been dead for months.”

“We have to do something, guys. Look what they’ve done to Nate. Bad enough they created him from a cocktail those psychos threw together. Yeah, it created an amazing person. But then, the chip.” I sipped my soda to help swallow the emotions. “It took over. It made him into a different person. It—”

“They’ll get it out,” Scott said.

“If they don’t, then what? I need My Nate back.” I pitched my empty pudding cup and plastic spoon into the trash.

God, I was angry. I needed to pound something. And hard. I hopped up to my feet and clapped my hands. “Georgia. You want to blow off some steam while we wait?”

“Always.” She got up, skin glowing already. “There’s a sweet spot out back and down toward the river. They do their training out there.”

“Training?”

“Field ops.”

“Wait, Mandy.” Jasmine stepped forward. “They gave me all of Nate’s personal items.”

I stopped, staring at the bag she held.

“What’s this?” She pointed to the wedding band.

Martin, despite his massive size, stepped further into the room. “Is that what I think it is, girl?”

Jasmine’s focus dropped to my finger. “There’s an extra ring of diamonds on that since I last saw it.”

Scott’s eyes popped wide, and Tim smiled. “You married our boy, didn’t you?” Tim stepped forward. “Holy shit.”

“Mandy?” Scott asked.

“I can’t do this.” I looked at Georgia. “Will you tell them and I’ll meet you downstairs?”

She nodded.

“Jas, do you have an extra phone for me so you can call me when the docs are done?”

“Take mine,” she said. “I’ll get another.”

Yeah, I
so
needed to go knock a few trees down and toss some snow or I’d go bonkers waiting.

Chapter 47

I
leaned into my stream of ice, battling Georgia’s fire. The sizzling heat and steam plumed in the air.

“Colder,” Georgia yelled. “Come on. Bring it, sis.”

I turned it on, my entire body went ice age. My cold ate up her flames so fast it slammed against her and launched her up about five feet. She planted her palms out and shot skyward like a rocket.

“Wow, look at you,” I yelled up after her.

“Getting pretty good. I was out here a lot while you were gone. Going out of my mind.” She floated downward. I pelted her flaming aura with snowballs, and they sizzled. “Can’t figure out how to shoot flames while flying, though. Need the arms.”

“Yeah. I know.”

“So, how’d they take it?” I conjured another snowball, nervous to hear her answer.

“Fine. Really, we’re all super happy for you. Just a little scared.”

“That I won’t get My Nate back.”

“Yeah. Not scared at all about the being married to him, thing. You guys are epically meant to be together.”

“Not sure what I’ll do if they can’t get the chip out, G.”

“We’ll cross that road when we meet it, okay? No use worrying about it until it’s a reality. Nate’s strong. He’ll beat this.”

A team of snowmobiles zoomed toward us, lights flickering. I immediately tensed. “Please tell me they’re friendlies?”

“Yeah. That’s how they get around quick.”