The Cure (30 page)

His jaw jutted forward. “You mean how you shot me in the head?”

“She was using you. Delia was. Don’t you remember?”

“It’s kind of foggy, thanks to you. I’m told it’s normal to have a tiny bit of memory loss with that much damage.”

He was wrong. We aren’t like ordinary humans. All our memories, everything that we are is held in each of the focus points. That is how we are still ourselves after regeneration from severe injury or even temporary death. Tom’s systems should have recovered completely.

Unless Delia had prevented it. She hadn’t told the rest of the Triad about my ability two months ago, and from the reaction of the Emporium agents I’d encountered this week, she still hadn’t shared the information. Which meant she was coming for me . . . eventually. She’d offered me my heart’s desire and made the idea of being a god who ruled over mortals sound logical. She scared me more than any Unbounded I’d ever met.

I glanced at Justine across the room, now examining a glass beaker. Did she know Tom might be a puppet for Delia, perhaps spying on everything she did? The woman hadn’t been in control of the Triad for over a thousand years for nothing. Obviously, there was a lot I could learn from her—though I might not survive the lesson.

“Never mind,” I told Tom. “We can talk about it later.”

He smiled, his voice going soft. “I’d like that. And don’t worry about Edgel. I’ll tell Justine to keep him away from you.”

Away from me? Understanding dawned. He hadn’t been trying to keep Edgel safe from me, he’d been trying to keep
me
safe from Edgel. “Edgel?” I said with a smirk. “He has no interest in me. He’s so smitten with Justine’s pheromones that he can’t see straight.”

Tom laughed as though we were on a date instead of in the roles of kidnapper and kidnappee. “Well, I’d better go find your friend before she scares someone.”

He’d flipped so fast between anger, jealousy, and love that I suspected Delia had damaged huge parts of his mind. How long would it take to heal? Was it possible mental wounds didn’t heal? There simply wasn’t enough information or sensing Unbounded to determine, but whether or not the damage might be permanent was something I had to know before I did any more tramping around in my friends’ minds.

One thing I did know was that when a child in any Unbounded line was conceived, the egg was genetically predisposed to choose the healthiest sperm. That didn’t guarantee that the gene would become active after the thirtieth birthday, or that the child would be born without flaws, but it did help create the best possible combination. Even the mortal offspring of Unbounded had a lot going for them physically and mentally. Tom hadn’t been unbalanced when we were together, so something had changed. Justine and her pheromones? Delia mucking about in Tom’s mind? No way to know.

Across the room, Tom paused to talk to Justine, who was filling a beaker with some kind of amber fluid. Edgel lit the first of several camp stoves sitting on one of the tables.

“Benito,” I said softly. “Your hands aren’t tied, are they?”

“Not yet. I think they forgot.”

Overlooked. But not for long. “When they’re distracted, come down here and untie me,” I said. “Wait until Tom leaves. Then I’m going to make a distraction, and I want you to get out of here. Run into the jungle. Whatever. Just get away and hide. Later, when they’re gone you can ask the villagers for help.”

“What about you?” He shifted position nervously.

Even with Tom gone, there was no way I could take out both Justine and Edgel, but if I could tap into Edgel’s talent, I might be able to distract them long enough to get Benito’s pending death off my conscience. I could also destroy as many of their supplies as possible. Even a delay of a few hours might close the window for any action at the senator’s celebration this afternoon.

Seconds passed in torturous agony. Tom finally turned toward the door, and Benito slid down next to me where I sat sideways in the hammock. I pulled my knees toward my chest, my feet inside the edges of the hammock, my hands in my lap out of sight. Benito did the same. His fingers were surprisingly steady and the rope quickly dropped away from my hands. I took a breath, my nerves tight and anxious to act.

“She’s leaving, too,” Benito whispered.

Better for me, but not so great for Benito to sneak out, since there was only one door and she’d be out there. “You’ll have to get out the door and run around the hut. Fast. Got it?”

“Got it.” He hesitated. “What if they kill you?”

“They won’t. Just go. Don’t make me sorry for bringing you along.”

This time he didn’t reply.

I waited until Edgel bent over the third camp stove. “Now!” I pushed Benito hard, jumping from the hammock myself, reaching around the alcove wall for one of the logs near the wood stove. I hurled it across the room at Edgel, reaching for another before the first hit its target.

Dodging with a graceful move that ordinarily would have awed me, Edgel stepped to the side, deflecting the log with a metal container he swept up from the table. Before I could blink he leapt over the table and came at me, his fists up, an eager grin on his face. Oh, yeah, he was hoping to make up for last night.

I kicked out and he took the hit without flinching, using the added momentum of the blow to whirl himself around to deliver a powerful strike. I managed to block with the second piece of log I’d pulled from the stack, but his foot caught me in the ribs throwing me back into the wall.

Not going well. He had been ready for me, and I suspected he’d “overlooked” Benito’s hands on purpose to have this chance to prove himself. To me? To Justine? To himself? It didn’t matter. As long as he didn’t go for his gun, I wouldn’t complain.

Desperately, I banged at his mental block, but unlike the previous night, I had no weapons to throw at him for a distraction. There was only one way to make sure Benito got free. Pushing off from the wall, I launched myself at Edgel, reaching at the same time for the syringe in my bra.

True to his ability, Edgel had anticipated my move and was ready to meet me. But he hadn’t anticipated the needle. It sank into his eye as deep as it could go. I kept pushing until the syringe disappeared partway into his socket. His mouth opened to scream, and I jabbed my fist into his throat to cut off the sound. I followed with another punch at the syringe, my hand erupting in pain. Edgel’s good eye rolled upward as he collapsed to the floor.

I leaned over for a moment, sucking in a breath, fire burning in my newly broken ribs. “Aieee.” I had at least a few minutes before he healed enough to be trouble—even in Unbounded, the brain was vulnerable—and those few minutes would be all I’d need to torch this place. I could see myself emerging from the jungle when Ritter and the others arrived, having single-handedly stopped Justine’s assassination plan. No need for Ritter to lose himself in revenge. Jace would be disappointed, but he’d also be proud.

From the edge of my vision something moved by the door. I whipped upright to meet this new threat, barely blocking the oncoming blow. Justine laughed, her other fist coming at me before I could react. The blow caught me off balance and sent me sprawling.

“Getting slow, are we?” Justine pulled out her pistol and pointed it at me.

The next minute the grin slid from her face as she crumpled to the ground, a huge rock falling with her. I stared in amazement as Benito stood there, shock on his bruised face. “I found it right outside the door,” he said. “Saw her going back inside. Thought it might be useful.”

I shook my head. “You’re crazy.”

“Let’s get out of here.”

Fear radiated from him, bright and debilitating. I threw up my barriers and shook my head. “I have to get rid of these supplies so they can’t make their drug. Burn it all, if I can. You go. I’ll meet you behind this hut. Hide in the trees and wait for me.”

He nodded once, his eyes sweeping uneasily over Justine and Edgel. I didn’t wait to see him go but started toward the tables. A lighter lay beside one of the camp stoves, and shredding a couple of the boxes that had held the supplies would help create a decent blaze. I began ripping the first one, piling it by the wall.

What could I do with Justine and Edgel? I’d like to examine their thoughts—since they were unconscious, their shields would be gone, or at least greatly diminished—but I couldn’t take the time now. I had no idea when the men that Ritter and the others were following would end up here, but it had to be soon given the eight hours it took to prepare the drug. I didn’t even dare waste time tying them up. At least the fire wouldn’t kill them permanently, and as long as we retrieved them before the Emporium did, we’d be able to question them once they healed.

I’d begun stacking whole boxes in a bonfire pile when a sound at the door broke my concentration. “Benito, I said you should—”

Too late I noticed he was backing in, his hands above his head. Pushing out my thoughts, I felt them, two life forces, only one shielding his mind. The shielding life force was closer, probably the focus of Benito’s terror, while the unshielded life force was several yards away in front of the hut, his unbridled fear choking the breath from my throat.

“Well, what have we here?” A man came into view through the door, his gun pointed at Benito. My jaw tensed as I recognized one of Stefan’s sons, and thus my supposed half brother. He was slightly built, with wispy hair, his face small and crunched, as if his features hadn’t time to fully develop, but his movements showed Unbounded assurance.

“Jonny,” I said.

He laughed, his blue eyes crinkling at the sides. “Hello, Erin. Didn’t expect to see you here.” I started to get up, but he waved his gun. “Don’t try anything. You know how fast I am. I’d hate to have to shoot you.”

His speed was a variation of the combat ability, a poor one in his opinion, though I’d been impressed. Unfortunately for him, he was the result of a forced Changing at eighteen by the Emporium, a semi-successful experiment that ended in the death of at least one of Jonny’s close friends. As a side effect of the experiment, he was now aging at five times the rate of a normal Unbounded. He already looked near thirty, when at his real age of a hundred and fifteen, he should still look nineteen. In my mind, he was a child in an adult body, which was silly, given that he was far older than I was, but it was a perception left over from our first meeting that I hadn’t been able to shake.

“You don’t sound all that sorry,” I said.

He laughed again. “Not really, after the night I had. Look, tie up this fellow before I wake Justine.” He blew out a short blast of air. “Don’t know which of you did this to her, but it ain’t going to be pretty when she wakes up.”

Benito shot me a frightened look.

As if on cue, Justine stirred. Benito stumbled rapidly back from her, falling into the bottom hammock.

Justine pushed to a seated position, shaking her head as though to clear it. “Jonny,” she purred, reaching for her gun. “You’re a bit early.”

He pulled out a thumb drive from his pocket. “We had a little trouble. Caught wind of some Renegades following us. The rest of the gang stayed and set a trap for them, while I grabbed the scientist and came here.”

“Nice. Where is he?” She climbed to her feet. Behind her, Benito shrank into a miserable ball.

“The scientist? Outside on a horse. He’s a little worse for wear. He couldn’t keep up with me on foot, of course, and I couldn’t carry him the whole way, so I hijacked the horse for us a while back. I don’t think he’s ever ridden before. He kept falling off, so I had to tie him on. He should still be there—along with the stuff we took from the lab.”

“He ready to start cooking?”

“Sure. It’s not like he ran for more than a few miles.” Jonny snorted and rolled his eyes. “Actually staggered would be a more accurate term, despite all my pushing. He should have your drug all mixed before the others deal with those Renegades and catch up to us.”

“Good.” Justine glanced at Benito, who lowered his gaze. “You, I’ll deal with later. In fact, I’ve just decided that you’ll play a starring role in my plans this afternoon.”

I didn’t like the sound of that.

Her gaze switched to me. “Ready to give up yet, Erin? You can’t beat me.” She waved me over to the hammock.

I had no choice but to obey. Minutes later, Benito and I were securely tied in separate hammocks, and Justine was administering Emporium tonic to Edgel. I didn’t bother telling her that he’d already received a full dose from my needle. Near the tables, a portly, red-haired scientist wearing broken eyeglasses mixed chemicals with shaking hands. The fear coming from his unshuttered mind was numbing, and I had to close myself off completely.

What sort of trap had Jonny and his friends set for Ritter and the others? Jonny had almost caused Ritter’s death at our past encounter. He was both quick and intelligent, and any plan he’d helped concoct would be a good one. Though he was bitter about the experiments enacted upon him, he was fiercely loyal to Stefan and the Emporium.

“You’re sure you can do this within eight hours?” Justine left Edgel and sauntered over to the scientist.

He nodded. “Seven and a half. That is, uh, if you have all the supplies.” I pegged him as an American by his accent.

“We have them.” Justine studied the doctor through half-closed eyelids. “There are enough pharmaceutical companies around that we were able to buy what we needed.”

His head jerked. “Yes. Th-they’re ruining the rainforest.”

“Don’t be so nervous.” Justine’s soothing voice paled in comparison with the huge amount of pheromones floating around her. I could feel them around me, promising me secret pleasure. “You don’t have anything to worry about as long as you fix this up for us. We’ll have you back home in no time.”

The scientist’s hands stopped shaking. “You’re very beautiful.”

“Thank you.” Justine ran a finger down his cheek, her long nails painted purple like her shirt. Had she planned that in advance or had she found time to visit a nail salon here? Maybe Edgel had hidden talents I wasn’t aware of.

“You’ll do your very best for me, won’t you?” Justine added.