The Change (Unbounded) (25 page)

Sexual attraction? Well, that explained Edgel’s reaction to her, but I didn’t want to think about Tom’s. Or mine. Or how she might have influenced my relationship with Tom.

“How’d you find me after the accident?”

“Cort is tagged with one of our locators. It doesn’t broadcast anywhere near Renegade strongholds—the Renegades are set up to protect against that like we are—but we can track him everywhere else. Once Justine followed him to the restaurant and saw that you’d Changed, the order went out to bring you and your family in.”

“So Cort’s tag is why you knew we were heading to his place.”

“Yep. And a good thing. Makes it look like he brought you in.”

“Maybe he wanted to wait so he could bring us all in.” I couldn’t keep the bitterness from my words.

“He might still be able to do that.” Keene took my arm and began massaging it. His touch was warm and gentle and surprisingly pleasant. I wondered if this was prelude to an advance, but his next words surprised me. “The Renegades use a similar tagging method for tracking their operatives. They probably put one in you—another reason we needed to get out of Kansas so quickly.” When I stared in surprise, he added, “Guess that’s one more thing they didn’t tell you.” His fingers found something under the skin in my upper arm. “There. We’ll deactivate it first thing when we get to LA, though we have our own signal disrupters in place so it won’t work there anyway. I’d have deactivated it already if I had the equipment, but instead, we’ve been using a portable jammer here at the hotel. Not quite as effective, especially when we’re on the move. We’ll have to leave here before your friends show up.”

The transmitter felt like a tiny square underneath my skin. Ava must have tagged me before I’d regained consciousness at the warehouse. It made sense, but I felt outraged that she hadn’t asked my consent. “I’d have thought my body would reject it, push it out or something.”

“We’ve learned to send electrical impulses that encourage the brain to ignore minor insertions. Lasts as long as your movement keeps recharging the micro battery.” Keene laughed. “Actually, from what Cort told me, you Renegades have advanced further than that. He said Stella changes her appearance using nanotechnology—the one thing that can keep ahead of our natural regeneration. They need constant, multi-level program updates, though, so on a long-term basis using nanites for appearances or things like, say, birth control is impractical for Unbounded unless they happen to be technopaths. And there aren’t many of those around these days.”

“Stella hasn’t always looked like that?”

“Not according to Cort, but who can blame her? If you’re going to live for two thousand years, there’s no point spending that time looking less than perfect.”

I laughed. “You can’t know how relieved I feel hearing that. I really like Stella, but she’s intimidating.”

“Brains and beauty,” he agreed.

We were sitting close together, but these few minutes had actually made me like him, and that was dangerous, so I climbed to my feet. “Well, let’s get on with it then.”

“We won’t be ready to go for another hour.”

“I didn’t mean that.” I picked up my sticks and lunged.

Somersaulting away from my attack, he swooped up his own sticks, blocking me easily. But he was tired and his wound hampered his movements, whereas I felt perfectly fine. That meant I moved slightly closer to giving him a real workout.

After another half hour, I excused myself to use the bathroom down a narrow hallway, though with the amount of sweat dripping from my body, he might suspect there couldn’t be an ounce of liquid inside me. Of course, he’d be wrong because I’d been absorbing moisture from the air. I’d never thirst again.

Inside the small, windowless room, I dug with my fingernail into the skin of my arm, extracting the tiny Renegade transmitter. “Ouch!” I mouthed. Though it was barely under the skin and the pain was nothing compared to a gunshot wound, self-inflicted pain was the worst.

Setting the device on the counter, I rinsed the wound and held the edges together tightly. I waited as long as I dared before going to a stall and flushing a toilet with one bare foot, knowing Keene and Edgel were keeping guard outside. I used my chin to turn on the water for another few minutes. Let Keene think I had a hand-washing fetish. On second thought, still holding the tiny wound, I stuck my head under the water. The cool liquid felt good running down my hot body but was too cold on my scalp and neck. I slapped the hand dryer on and rubbed my scalp under the flow until I wasn’t quite so dripping.

Time had run out. I looked at my arm. A thin line of blood curved along the small wound, but it wasn’t immediately noticeable. Picking up the transmitter on the tip of my finger, and pinching it against my thumb, I opened the door. “Sorry,” I said. “I was hot. And now I’m hungry. You?” Well, hungry wasn’t exactly the right word, but it was what he’d understand.

“Famished.”

Keene led the way back down the short hall to the meeting room where I picked up the sticks he’d lent me and casually dropped them into his bag, flicking the transmitter inside as well. There. With any luck, he’d store the bag away from the Emporium headquarters and Stella and Ritter could track me through him.

It was a long shot, so I didn’t let myself hope too much. If I was going to get out of this, it would be up to me. The best thing I had going for me was that they wanted me alive and cooperating. I could do that. Pretend.

Justine and Tom were waiting when we arrived back at the room, a breakfast feast spread on the table near where they sat. “Join us?” Justine purred at Keene, crossing the room to greet us.

He shook his head. “I need to get things ready to leave.”

“Plenty of time for a shower first.” Her finger ran down his bare arm, still glistening with his sweat. “There’s even a larger one in my room down the hall. I could show you.” Her tone and expression left no doubt as to the meaning of her invitation.

“I’d better see if the plane’s ready.” Either he was immune to her pheromones or he really didn’t like her, which raised him further in my estimation.

She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. They’ll be ready or they’ll be sorry.” She made a shooing motion. “Go ahead. Do what you have to. Just be sure to stay downwind.” She smirked.

Without another word, Keene turned and vanished from the room.

Justine’s mouth tightened. “Fool,” she said under her breath.

“You okay?” Tom asked me as he left the table and joined us near the door.

“No one’s cut me into three yet, if that’s what you mean.” A mean thing to say, but couldn’t he see I was fine? Physically anyway. I didn’t know if I’d ever be emotionally okay again. Thanks to him and Justine—and that wasn’t ever for him to know.

Justine laughed. “Don’t mind him, Erin. He can’t possibly know what it means to be Unbounded.”

She had a point. It was a completely new mind-set, one I’d have never caught onto so fast if I hadn’t died in the fire.

Almost died.

I shivered, trying not to let my emotion show, but Justine regarded me with interest. “Something wrong?”

“I’m drenched.” I shook droplets off my hair to demonstrate.

“Better change,” Tom said. “You don’t want to catch a cold.” His hair had been cut this morning, though it wasn’t yet seven. Justine was taking care of her little brother as she always had.

Her brother or her pet?
My thoughts were too caustic this morning, even for me.

Neither Justine nor I responded to Tom’s comment, though near the door Edgel let out a soft laugh.

Tom’s face hardened. “I guess Unbounded don’t get sick, do they?”

“Of course not.” Justine’s hand fluttered to his shoulder. He looked irritated and I was glad.

“Ten minutes before we leave,” Keene said, appearing at the door.

I picked up my black pantsuit from the night before and went to take a quick shower.

J
USTINE INSISTED ON SITTING NEXT
to me in the small private plane. “I need to tell you about your father before you meet him.”

I glanced at Keene, who sat in front of us next to Tom. They were talking easily, and I envied them. Though they both had brown hair and a similar build, the resemblance ended there. Tom’s face was tanner and more square. Keene’s green eyes were more alert, his body more graceful, and his scar lent a dangerous look to his face. By comparison Tom seemed gentle and innocent. Yeah, right. I’d seen how good he was with a needle.

“Are you listening, Erin?” Justine asked.

I refocused. “Go ahead. Something about my father?”

“Stefan Carrington is one of the world’s most powerful men, for more reasons than one. Not only is he smart, but he’s got sex appeal that won’t quit.”

Ugh, not something I wanted to know about my supposed birth father, but that was Justine for you. “God’s gift to women, huh?”

“Exactly.”

I’d meant it as a joke, but Justine didn’t seem to notice. She rambled on. “You’re lucky to be his daughter. I mean, Stefan has a lot of children, but children mean power, so you’re important to him. Being Unbounded, you can hopefully give him Unbounded grandchildren. I don’t think he’ll force you into an alliance, so if you fight for Tom, he’ll probably give in. With genetic manipulation, Tom’s chances to father Unbounded will be at least as good as if you conceived with an Unbounded who didn’t have gene therapy. And it’s not as if your relationship will have to be for long.”

Her words made my blood feel cold. Tom would grow old and die before I aged another year. Even after all that had happened between us, the knowledge was hard to take in.

“I am not going to have children with Tom,” I said.

“I know you’re mad at him now, but you’ll see he only has your best interest at heart. Always has.”

“Why are you trying to control his life? You could have your own children every bit as much as I could. You didn’t need to interfere with us.”

She didn’t respond for long seconds, her face frozen into the pleasant expression she’d adopted at Cort’s when she told me it didn’t matter what I wanted. I had the sense she was struggling not to lash out at me physically.

I drew back from her, practically plastering myself against the side of the plane. I managed to swallow with difficulty, waiting for what would happen next.

“I care about Tom,” she said finally, her body relaxing. Not a natural process but a conscious effort on her part. At the same time, my senses were flooded with warmth, a desire to please. An urge to make her happy.
Pheromones.
I gritted my teeth and ignored the sensation.

An image flashed into my mind. Justine holding a baby I instinctively knew was Tom. The emotions in her face, the way she cradled him, the mixture of triumph and sadness that filled her heart. My breath came faster as I understood. She wasn’t Tom’s sister, she was his mother.

“I know you love Tom,” I said, letting a conciliatory note creep into my voice. Inside I was numb. I was not the only one who’d been lied to about my parentage.

If I ever decided to bring children into this mad world, which I was beginning to seriously doubt, I would never lie to them. And Unbounded or mortal, I would be the one to raise them.

If I lived long enough.

Still, why me? Justine could have chosen any potential Unbounded to throw at Tom. Why all the effort to force us together without the Triad’s knowledge?

Maybe because I was Stefan Carrington’s daughter. He was a leader in the Emporium, and as Justine had pointed out, his children and grandchildren would have power. Or maybe it was for some reason I wasn’t seeing now. Regardless, I knew that despite the love Justine felt for Tom, he and I were nothing more than tools to get her where she wanted to be in the organization.

Could I really have been so blind? Could Tom? I pitied him now; he had no idea about her ability. For all I knew he imagined himself half in love with her and her pheromones.

Justine began talking again as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. The warmth and desire seeped away, leaving me cold and depressed. I stared out the window, biting my tongue so hard it bled, and let her words flow over me without connecting to them. There didn’t seem to be enough room inside me to contain my hurts, but somehow I didn’t explode.

Find me, Ritter.
I knew he’d come. Somehow he and Ava and the others would come. They wouldn’t give up easily.

I hoped.

Several cars awaited us at the airport. To my relief, Keene ushered me into one of them with only him and Edgel, whom I didn’t like, but who at least didn’t cause my emotions to fluctuate so rampantly.

As we drove through LA, I tried to notice landmarks, but I’d never been there before and the task proved fruitless. I was fascinated with the palm trees emerging from the ground like some alien plant, so different from what I was accustomed to. Definitely, I wasn’t in Kansas anymore.

We reached a tall building, and I looked around again to mark its place, but the building was simply one in the midst of several other tall buildings. Nothing to differentiate it except a tiny variation of gray. An Unbounded man in a suit opened one of the glass doors, locking it behind us. Inside, we went to the reception area where two women—a brunette mortal and a blonde Unbounded—manned the desk.