She gestured up and down his magnificent body. He wasn’t a body builder by any means, but he was trim, fit, sexy as hell, and all she could think about. Living with nuns for two decades had seriously depleted her opportunities for male company.
“Yeah. It’s me.” Pure male ego infused his words. He pulled her back into his arms, a slow smile creeping up his face. “I knew you couldn’t resist my charms.”
She slapped him playfully on the chest. “You’re such an ass.”
“You love it. You keep coming back for more.”
Mary sighed. That was the Flint she missed. She traced his short beard with her finger, feeling along the line of his strong jaw. His eyes sparkled under his long lashes and she knew in that moment she wanted him with her, always, in all futures. She shivered at the thought of her visions. “Maybe I do, but I wasn’t wrong when I said I had a mission. I’ve seen two futures. One where they’re used for evil, the other where they’re used for good.”
Flint went quiet. Still. Tension creeped into his posture and Mary felt it through his arms. “Flint?”
“Mary. I don’t know if I can help you. I don’t agree with them being used at all.”
“It’s a little late for that. They’re here. They’ve been created. I wasn’t a part of that but if they’re not guided in the right direction, then we’re all doomed. Flint,” Mary pleaded. “This is your chance to prevent more pain. You ignored your instincts once, don’t do it again. Help me save them.”
Her words cut him. Pain flickered in his eyes one minute, gone the next. “But why me? What do I have to offer? I’m useless in relationships, to people. I fuck up and people get hurt. Jesus, part of the reason I chased you was because I knew I could never have you. And now… I don’t know.” He stepped away from her.
She studied her feet. “Since I saw your face in the vision, I’ve asked myself the same thing. I thought, why Flint? Maybe it’s your tech skills, or maybe my feelings tainted the vision. I had a plan that would work fine. I thought I was all they needed, then… in the lift… you smiled at me that way, you boxed me in against the wall and I let you. We touched, and—” Their eyes met. “Something changed between us. Something shifted. Don’t tell me you didn’t feel it.”
“Oh, I felt it all right. And I felt like a complete moron getting a hard-on over a nun.” He rubbed his chin. “I’ll tell you what. It sure feels good knowing I’m not going to hell anymore.”
“Does this mean you’ll help?”
He refocused on Mary. “Tell me about the letter.”
“Letter?” As the word came out of her mouth, a cold pit dropped in her stomach.
“The one that dropped from your pocket in the security line this morning. Someone wrote it in code.”
“How do you know it’s mine?”
An eyebrow arched. “Are you still lying?”
Mary pinched the bridge between her nose. “Yes.”
“Last chance, Mary. I want all your cards on the table. If we want trust between us, it has to be that way. I can’t handle lies. What was the letter about?”
He was right. If she wanted something real between them, she had to go all in. Mary steeled herself. This went against protocol, but she found she couldn’t lie to him anymore. She didn’t want to. Even if he ended up hating her for it. What they had was the only real thing in her life, and the lies had tainted it.
“I have told no one this. Not even Gloria.” Her hand hovered over the queasiness in her belly. Here goes. “It was instructions from my superior regarding the mission. If I can’t get the children to the safety of the Sisterhood Abbey, then… she wants me to destroy everything. Including them.”
His eyes flashed wide. “You can’t be serious. Mary. You’re not entertaining the idea, are you?”
She bit her lip. “This is what I’ve trained for, Flint. I’m their sinner. I don’t like it. But… I don’t know what else to do.”
“Mary.” His voice softened like a caress. “No. You’re not that person, do you hear me? I know you. You’re not evil. You’re the woman who brings me cute little rocks and secretly puts them on my desk. I can see the same collection of pebbles and rocks in there with the children. You care for those kids, I know you do. You have hope for a future where killing isn’t the answer.”
Tears burned her eyes. “You knew the pebbles were from me?”
“I can hack into the camera feed, remember?”
She blushed, blinking away wetness.
“My point is,” he continued. “You’re thoughtful. You’re caring. You’re not a killer of innocents. I don’t care what they call you, you’re not evil. Please believe that.”
“So help me get them out of here. Help us destroy the research so it can’t be repeated.”
Flint didn’t have time to respond. A commotion at the security door brought both their attentions there.
Gloria strode in—actually, it was more like a fierce waddle. Her stomach was so big compared to her thin body, it threw her balance off. Her white lab coat was buttoned over her breasts but flared over her bulge, accentuating the pregnancy.
Mary’s stomach dropped when she saw the man walking in behind Gloria. Julius. A tall, handsome, sophisticated nightmare on legs. Mary saw his face frequently in her visions, always accompanied by blood and tears. She couldn’t look him in the eyes without betraying her emotion. To anyone else, he was a successful businessman, a widow and grieving father, but to Mary, he was the precipice the world balanced on. One push and it was the end.
Eight
Flint sensed the boss-man was in a mood the minute he waltzed into the lab. Cut from steel, Julius’s face was stern, harsh and prepared for battle. Except, what was he fighting for?
Two men followed Julius into the room. One was brown-skinned and wore an official military uniform. A decorated officer. Older, graying on top, sharp lines around his shrewd eyes. The second man was a Japanese businessman, shorter, but no less imposing. He wore a suit that shouted money, and an aura that screamed importance.
Julius barely glanced at Flint and Mary, but followed Gloria to the viewing window. The other two men joined him. They must assume Flint had clearance to be in there.
When Mary touched his arm in a way that suggested they don’t move, he realized he’d been holding his breath.
“As you can see, they’re in perfect health,” Julius said, waving his arm at the window.
“Yes,” said the Japanese man, heavily accented. “But we’re not interested in perfect health.”
“We want results,” the military man concluded.
“Results take time,” Gloria said. “We’ve discussed this.”
“And I think we have had enough time,” Julius said, his voice eerily calm, as though he knew things no one else did. “We’ve had eight years of time and all you’ve got to show are some screaming shit factories who rarely get sick and heal fast. But all we’ve seen are minor scratches and grazes. You promised more, Gloria. It’s time to deliver on that promise.”
“We’ve demonstrated their ability to sense their particular sin with a hundred percent accuracy. You’ve seen them heal. They’re stronger than the average child. They’re brighter, smarter… what more do you want?”
“In your investment proposal, you promised they would develop special abilities from the moment they were born,” the military man said, dark eyes darting as he recalled. “You sited borrowing skills such as shapeshifting from other creatures. Potential invulnerability. Possible psychic powers, poison production, camouflage and there was another animal sampled… what was it again?”
“Electric Eel,” Julius offered.
“Yes. That’s right. Electrical powers. As far as I can see, none of that is there.”
“I know what I promised.” Gloria’s shoulders pulled up tight and her head shook from side to side in a nervous tick. “I’m well aware what was in the proposal.”
“So, what evidence can you demonstrate?”
“It’s not som
ething we can turn on like a tap.” Gloria’s head kept shaking, trembling from side to side. “It’s not on demand. They’re not machines.”
“Gloria, focus,” Julius said, pursing his lips.
She made a strained sound and squeezed her eyes shut. She took deep breaths and calmed herself. When she met Julius’s eyes, her own were unreadable. “The powers will grow with the children. You don’t arm a child with a gun, so we don’t arm them with deadly powers until they’re old enough to handle them. There are protocols. Rules.”
“Cut off one of their limbs,” declared the Japanese man. “If what you say is true, it will grow back. I want to see this fabled regeneration.”
The air solidified in Flint’s lungs, and Mary gasped beside him. Gloria’s face turned a sickly yellow and for the first time since the men had arrived, she looked to Mary for guidance.
Mary’s eyes darkened in a way that Flint had never seen before. Danger thundered in the atmosphere. Her posture stiffened. For the first time, Flint truly believed she wasn’t a nun, and something else entirely. What did she call herself? Like a CIA agent?
Who was this woman he had fallen in love with?
Uncertainty swam in his gut, but she’d told him the truth when he’d asked. That wouldn’t have been easy. For all she knew, he could have exposed her truth the before Flint wearing a suit and tie.
Mary gave Gloria an almost imperceptible nod.
The fear faded from Gloria’s eyes and she jutted out her chin. “I’m not torturing these children.”
“They’re not children. They’re experiments. And we own them,” Julius clipped. “You’ll do as you’re told, otherwise we’ll end this all right now. They have wasted enough resources. We can start again, assess your research, work out what went wrong and… Gloria. Are you listening?”
But Gloria was bending over, clutching her stomach, groaning. Her face had screwed up, and she developed a labored breathing pattern.
“Contraction,” she bit out.
Mary launched from Flint’s side and went to Gloria, smoothly nabbing something from a lab countertop. Nobody else saw, but Flint did. She hid it behind her back in a stealthy move.
“She’s going into labor,” Mary said and shouldered her way to Gloria’s side. “Give her space.”
Mary placed her hand at the small of Gloria’s back and whispered to her.
Julius’s companions grumbled amongst themselves. They glowered in Gloria’s direction, but took a step backward. The Japanese man’s lips whitened around the edges, as though he were suppressing a tidal wave. Then he couldn’t hold it in any longer.
“No,” he said. “We will not be deterred. Contractions can last hours, days even. Once this one is finished, we will continue with the amputation.”
“I agree,” the military man said. “We’ve waited too long. I’m flying out of this God-forsaken city tomorrow afternoon and I have to take news back to the Syndicate. They’ll want evidence of progress.”
“Who is the Syndicate?” Gloria panted.
The military man’s face deadpanned. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Yes, you do. You said Syndicate. That name doesn’t appear in our contract.”
Julius nudged the military man out of the way with a disparaging look. “It’s just another name for investors, you know that. Now, please can we focus on an amputation.”
From the look on Mary’s face, it was clear she didn’t believe him. Gloria made a pained sound, doubling over, rubbing her underbelly.
Flint had stood still until now, too shocked to move. But these men, they were complete and utter fuckwits. His mouth couldn’t form words. Fury licked up his spine, coating his body in trembling waves of heat. The gadget in his pocket felt like the perfect bludgeoning weapon. He could take one of them out, easy. The other two would be harder, but if Mary truly was who she said she was, then between the two of them, they’d be fine.
God, was he even considering this?
Then Flint heard the distinct sound of water splashing, and Gloria’s whimpers became a wail.
“Her waters broke,” Mary said. “Everyone out!”
Julius’s face contorted in rage, and his gaze snapped between his partners. Whatever he’d promised them, he’d have to wait for another day.
“Fine,” Julius said to Gloria. “Tomorrow morning we will return.” Then he stalked toward the exit, not once taking the time to check on the woman about to give birth.
When all three men vacated, Flint rushed to Gloria’s side.
“What can I do?” he asked.
But Gloria stopped panting, stood up straight and gave a big sigh. She patted her head and went to her desk to search through some papers. She calmly picked up the phone receiver and dialed a number. Confused, Flint turned to Mary for answers.
She held up an empty test tube bottle in her hand. “Fake.”
“Yes, hello, Dr. Stilenski, it’s Gloria. I’ve gone into labor, can you please come as soon as possible to deliver the baby? Great.” She hung up the phone and waddled to the medical bed where she pulled out a drip bag and intravenous kit from a cupboard. “I think it’s best we start the oxytocin now. It could be hours before it works.”
Mary went to her side and put her hand on the drip bag to stop her. “No. It’s too risky. We should continue our plan and leave tonight. You can have the baby at the abbey. It will be safe there.”
“Um, excuse me, but what the hell is going on?” Flint asked.
Mary glanced at him. “Flint, we lied about her being in labor.”
“I can see that. So what are you doing?”
“Mary,” Gloria continued, ignoring Flint, “don’t you see? He won’t stop coming. He might even be back this afternoon and if there’s no baby…”
Shit. Flint scrubbed his face. He felt like he was stuck in some alternate reality. How could he have worked for a company that tortured children?
Mary pushed the IV bag down again. “I’ll deal with him then, but running away with a newborn and a woman recovering from childbirth is not good. You could get injured. There are too many variables unaccounted for. What if the birth doesn’t go as planned?”
“This is my eighth child. I will be fine.”
Gloria slipped the bag from beneath Mary’s hands and set about unpacking it.
“Gloria, I can’t condone this. I only saw seven children in the vision. You give birth and there will be eight, making everything I’ve seen about a safe escape null and void. Please don’t do it.”
Gloria hesitated and contemplated the needle in her hand. It was clear she was distressed, her head trembled from side to side, much like it had when Julius tried to force her to amputate a child’s limb. Her brows drew together and she took a shuddering breath.
“It was never supposed to be this way.” Tears welled in Gloria’s eyes. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”
A bang on the observation window drew everyone’s attention. The eldest female child had her palms and forehead plastered to the glass, looking at things she couldn’t possibly see through the mirror. She had long, dark hair like her mother. Flint inched his way closer. He sidestepped a lab station, and the girl’s eyes tracked him. There was no way she could see him, so how was she doing it? Flint made it to the window, and then the girl’s eyes snapped Gloria’s way.
“Despair,” Mary said, now next to Flint. “Even now she can feel our pain.”
A hiss made them turn to find Gloria inserting the intravenous needle into her vein. One handed, she taped it in place and the hung the bag on the hook above the medical gurney before collapsing on it herself.
“No!” Mary ran toward her, but it was too late, the oxytocin flowed into Gloria’s veins, inducing the labor. Gloria’s hand whipped to her stomach and she grimaced, feeling the pull of her first contraction. “Thy drugs are quick,” she whispered, already lost in another world.
Mary placed her hands on the medical bed and bowed her head silently, gathering herself. Despa
ir hit the window again, clanging it repetitively. Flint turned to see a tear sliding down the girl’s face, and his throat closed up. This was all wrong.
“Flint.” Mary’s voice cut through his haze. All traces of her anguish replaced with cold hard determination.
“Yes?”
“We need to know if you’re in, or out.”
He glanced at the observation window. The girl still watched through the mirrored window, and behind, her siblings played unperturbed by what she sensed. A boy stood on the table, and another was on the floor preparing to catch him. There were discarded pillows and blankets all around to act as cushions. The toddlers crawled, putting the pebbles Mary had brought in their mouths. And the nun on duty checked her watch, waiting for Mary to start her shift. A sharp pain pierced Flint’s heart. They were just kids. Goddamned kids who didn’t ask for this.
“I’m in,” he said. “Whatever you need.”
Nine
Mary checked her watch for the fifth time that night as she waited in the observation room for a signal from Flint, and then it was all systems go. Until then, she waited.
It had been several hours since Gloria gave birth to Envy, a healthy little boy. Now both mother and child rested peacefully. Gloria on the medical gurney, and the baby in a bassinet buggy next to her.
As soon as Dr. Stilinski had turned up, Mary left to take over the day shift in the children’s room. Keeping up appearances was essential, especially now. Nobody could suspect their escape, or their plan would be in jeopardy.
After spending hours with the high energy children, Mary was now perfectly primed and ready for the mission. Most people would be drained, but she had trained for this. Instead of exhaustion, she was pumped.
The Sisterhood had filled Mary’s life with rigorous physical exercise and preparation, often under extreme conditions. She’d also been shipped off around the world with other Sinners to learn the Art of Warfare from different cultures, spending up to a year studying under each. She still remembered her harsh endurance training with the Shaolin monks, conditioning parts of her body to be kill-proof. To strengthen her neck to resist chokeholds, she’d hanged from a noose in a tree while completing her postures. She did this for hours a day, weeks at a time. In comparison, looking after screaming children was a cakewalk.
Sinner: The Deadly Seven, Origins Page 5
