Terra Nova (The Variant Conspiracy Book 3) (17 page)

Chapter 24

We found our van exactly where we left it. I’d thought that the police would have gotten to it. Or that our Karibu Kab driver would be on the scene. But no, our stolen van remained ours if we wanted it.

“We should keep the van. We can’t rely on portals to get us everywhere we need to go,” said Jonah.

“And it’s nice to have shelter. We’re vulnerable in this heat,” I said.

“Hey, speak for yourself,” said Jonah.

A cloud formed over my head and began to rain on me.

“Neat trick!” Josh reached out to touch the droplets.

“Buddy, I didn’t know you could do that.” Cole patted Jonah on the back.

“Yeah, this is awesome.” I sidestepped the personal shower and wiped my face and hair.

Jonah smiled and drew the moisture back into his hands. “Sorry, I’ve been waiting for a chance to do that.”

“If we can’t laugh before the end of the world, then we’re screwed right?” Faith’s tone of extreme irritation far outpaced mine.

“Irina, do you have any other landmarks we can go on? If you can see anything on the horizon, we should leave this van where it is.” Gemma’s green eyes flashed confidently as she adjusted her ponytail.

“The kid’s not wrong,” said Josh.

“Are we more conspicuous in a stolen vehicle or as a bunch of lost tourists?” Cole examined his reflection in the van window and rubbed off some sweaty dirt.

“At this point, I’d rather draw Ivan out. Let him see us,” said Ilya.

“You’re in a rush to get possessed?” I snapped.

“We know that if I get taken, events are finally set in motion.” Ilya sounded surprisingly levelheaded.

“I’m not totally sold on her visions being written in stone!” Faith shoved a finger in my direction.

“Hey, I’ve been praying that I’ll be wrong at some point,” I said. “I’ve also seen Terra Nova ravaging Santorini. Meaning Terra Nova reaches Greece! We flat out CANNOT let that happen.”

“So when we find Ivan, what exactly do we do?” Cole squeezed his knuckles back and forth, demonstrating his intent.

“If Ilya feels he can fight this creature, we could go with his plan to trade his body for their entire supply of Terra Nova. It’s a big gamble though. If he can’t fight the thing in time and they retain any amount of Terra Nova, we’ll need a way to subdue a contagion we already know flashes out of control in minutes,” said Jonah as he swept his palm through the air.

“We’ll make the exchange and rely on Irina’s connection to Ilya to keep us close by. Ilya will guarantee they’ve given us everything by reading their minds. Faith will torch whatever they give us.” Josh ground his knuckles into his eyes.

“Screw that. I’ll torch them all on the spot before they touch him!”

Josh flicked his gaze over to Faith, and then up to the sky. Exhaustion took him for a beat, but he bounced back. “If we’re on hand when that hedge is grown, that’s our chance to destroy it. Once they’ve released those bees, Faith and Jonah will rain hell on everything in that hedge that moves. Irina, you can use your telekinetic ability to help contain it.” Josh accepted a bottle of water from Jonah.

“You and I can run interference if Rose or Sage or anyone else tries to stop them,” Cole said to Josh.

“As far as plans go, that’s going to have to do,” said Jonah.

“No, you forgot something pretty important!” I said. I nodded toward Ilya.

“We’re not leaving Ilya imprisoned in his own damn body!” Faith planted her feet in the stance I recognized as her battle mode.

“It might end that way. If you’ve got to take me out, do it,” said Ilya quietly.

“Shut up! You’re my brother. I’m not leaving you to a demon.”

“I swear I will burn this whole city to the ground before I let you die!” shouted Faith.

“If it’s my life, or the spread of Terra Nova and the death of almost everyone else on the planet, what the hell am I supposed to do?” said Ilya.

“What if she’s right and Terra Nova spreads anyway and you die FOR NOTHING!” screamed Faith.

“We’ve got a plan. It stands a solid chance of working. And after every infected plant and bee is dead, we’ll turn our attention to restoring Ilya,” said Josh.

“Between Josh and me, we’ll hold Ilya, no matter how strong he gets,” said Cole.

“Let’s go before I change my mind.” Ilya departed along the Kibera border and everyone else followed.

I hung back for a moment. Jonah stayed with me. His sympathetic expression misinterpreted me. I held up my hand to keep him at bay.

I closed my eyes and held Ilya’s pendant in my hand. My mind flashed back to that pit where Ilya had just been taken by the alien demon. I pulled back and focused on Ilya, walking ahead of me.

Ilya, I know you can hear
me
, but I need to know if
I
can hear you. I’m not putting one foot in front of the other until I know I can trust this connection. If it doesn’t work now, how will it work once you’re trapped, taken over by that thing?

I waited for a long moment. I opened my eyes. Jonah stared at me. Our friends were getting farther away along the border of the slum.

Test. Test. You didn’t think I was going to punk out on you, did ya?
My brother’s voice echoed between my ears.

So you knew this would work. Did you do this with Faith before? Why didn’t you say something earlier?
I thought hard at my brother.

Faith is already mad that I gave you the medal. Didn’t you see that glare she gave you when I handed it over? If I told everyone we did this all the time, she’d be hella pissed. She’s just crazy like that.

Ilya’s voice ended and I steadied myself. The process of hearing someone inside your own mind was disorienting. It was a wonder he didn’t lose his balance on a regular basis.

This telepathy thing is freaking me out. But we’re going to do one last check when we find Ivan, okay?

You got it, sis. Just don’t lose my medallion. I had to carry that thing for years to charge it with enough mental energy.

I rubbed my temples and sighed at Jonah. He reached out to support my shoulder. “This thing works after all. We just have to hope it’ll still work once that demon jumps from Ivan to Ilya.”

We walked and walked as the sun crept toward the horizon. The intensity of the heat did not relent. We darted in and out of pockets where rooftops and the sun’s angle created respites of shade. I didn’t have the distant view of Kibera’s ceiling that would allow me to see the ring of razor wire that marked the end of our road.

The telltale subdermal heat of sunburned flesh radiated from my back and shoulders even in the shade. My burn kept me from braving the sun for a better glimpse at the top of the structures next to us.

Out of nowhere, Ilya’s hand shot out in a halt gesture and we froze. Each of us stayed silent. I begged Fate to show Ilya some sign of where our next footsteps should take us. My brother beckoned us forward. “We’ll turn in at the next opening. I can hear him, it, the creature. It’s not far now.”

We turned in where Ilya pointed and followed his lead. He took us around the corner onto the first inner street we found.

Two tall, toned men stood guarding a metal gate that led to a corridor. The end of the corridor was the crown of razor wire surrounded by fiberglass rooftops exactly as I’d seen in my vision. My heart leapt up and I gasped. Ilya wasted no time in approaching.

“Hi there, how are ya? We’re here to see my father, Ivan. Aunt Tat’s in there too. Can you go get them? We’ll wait.” Ilya’s calm assurance impressed me.

My heart pounded in my chest. I watched the man closest to us slowly reach for the latch on the gate, not breaking eye contact with Ilya until the last moment. He said nothing as he turned and went into the compound. Faith vibrated with anger and anxiety, turning my skin to gooseflesh as the other guardsman bore into her with his eyes. The guard shifted his glare to Ilya and I actually relaxed a little.

“Come. Just Ilya and Irina,” said a familiar female voice.

I peered past Gemma’s shoulder down the gated corridor. Rose and Sage stood in the doorway ahead.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this. It’s all way too casual,” I said.

“Cole is coming with us. Irina needs protection,” Ilya called through the gate. I knew Ilya meant for Cole and me to leave without him. Panic surged in my gut.

Rose whispered in Sage’s ear. Sage whispered back.

“Okay, Ilya, Irina, and Cole. No one else,” said Rose.

I followed Ilya in through the gate and Cole was on my heels. The first guardsman passed us on his way back to the entrance. I had to trust that my friends were safe out on the street. I proceeded into a far more dangerous place than run-of-the-mill Kibera.

Rose and Sage led us down a narrow hallway open to the sky at the top. The hallway soon opened to a courtyard which bordered on opulent, given our surroundings.

Ivan and Tatiana sprawled on reclined patio chairs under a blue fabric sunshade suspended about ten feet above them. A table of fruit and bread and cheese with pitchers of orange and pink juices stretched along the far wall. Only the razor-lined roof on the other side of the courtyard reminded us all where we were. Rose and Sage walked over to the snack table and helped themselves each to a plate of food. They stretched out their wings and sat cross-legged on the ground to eat. Ilya ignored them and approached Ivan.

“So, cards on the table, Dad. Well, not Dad, I mean, who or whatever the hell you are, we know everything now,” said Ilya. Cole and I stood behind him speechless.

“Is that so?” Ivan sat up to participate in the conversation. His eyes flashed red and I felt a wave of nausea pass through me.

“We know you’re not strong enough to help Aunt Tat launch Terra Nova. We know you need my body.”

“And what do you want in exchange for your cooperation?” said Ivan.

“We’ve come to exchange me for your entire supply of Terra Nova oil. We realize you’re not going to give up the seeds Aunt Tat has already laced with the virus. We want every other drop of what you’ve got here, with your assurance that there is no more Terra Nova anywhere on Earth.”

Ivan and Tatiana both contemplated Ilya with intensity. They eyed each other.

Tatiana cocked her head, and then sat up to consider each of us. “What prompted your change of heart?”

“Don’t you understand that we have to try? Can’t you at least empathize for a moment with the entire rest of humanity?” I said, pleading with my most earnest tone.

“We’re not human.” Ivan’s sly expression suggested he knew more than we did. “You’re not going to stop us. It’s far too late for that now. Why not embrace the new world?”

“You’re right. You’re not human. You never were.” I said to Ivan, and pointed at Tatiana. “But she was.”

“My father is in there somewhere. I want to talk to him too. That’s part of the deal,” said Ilya.

Ivan eyed Ilya carefully. “We can arrange a meeting, of sorts. It’ll have to do.”

“I want to say hello and goodbye to my father,” said Ilya.

“You will,” said Ivan.

“Then I’m ready,” said Ilya.

I rubbed my face with my hands. This was the wrong time for my brother to finally meet our father, even if this was his last chance.

“For what it’s worth, I get why you want to reboot this planet. You’re from somewhere that’s either gone or you can’t get back,” Cole said to Ivan, before turning to Rose and Sage. “And you two, I get it for you guys too, but it doesn’t take much soul searching to realize you’re not more important than everyone else. Most people—most human people—are good and they don’t deserve to die. Those good people would accept and incorporate variants. I know it.”

“I don’t care what they would accept or incorporate. Those people would not survive the world we need for ourselves. Removing them now is a mercy. Witnessing the chaos that would ensue if they died slowly and painfully on New Earth would be more unpalatable, I assure you,” said Ivan.

“Then don’t change the planet!” I blurted. “We can all live here as is. Just let it be.”

Ivan opened his mouth to speak, but paused and read Tatiana’s deep frown. She shook her head and Ivan closed his mouth.

“Okay, we’re at a standstill. We don’t see eye to eye. Now are you going to make this exchange or not?” said Ilya.

“We’ll make the exchange,” said Ivan.

Tatiana shook her head and lay back down.

“Rose, Sage, would you please collect our precious Terra Nova canisters and hand them over to Cole here?” said Ivan.

“And we’ll know if you short us!” I called out.

The harpy twins set their plates down carefully and flew up and over the razor wire. They dove down into the pit.

Scratching and clanging was soon followed by the twins’ reappearance and landing in front of Cole with two sealed plastic bins. He moved to lift the lid of the top bin.

“It’s all there. Ask your mind reader. Every drop of oil we have, anywhere,” said Rose.

Ilya observed the sisters from head to toe and nodded to Cole. I realized it was time for Cole and me to leave. I threw a panicked gawk at Ilya.

I’ve changed my mind. I can’t just leave you here!

Ilya frowned at me.
Get out. You agreed. I’ll be fine.

“Come on Irina, it’s time to go.” Cole touched my arm gently. I shrugged him off angrily. He picked up the stacked bins and waited for me.

I reviewed Ilya one last time and turned back down the hall. Tears flowed. I wiped them off my cheeks, furious.
Stay in touch. If I can’t hear you, I’ll . . . Just don’t lose touch!

I won’t. I promise.