by Jus Accardo
“A recipe,” G repeated. “We’re not talking about chicken noodle soup, are we…”
Pulling out the chair beside the small desk in the corner, he settled heavily. In that moment he looked so much older. Tired and world worn. It made me wonder what the other versions of him were like. The ones Cade insisted were so different. “The recipe on the flash drive I stole is for the virus.”
“The virus—” I couldn’t help it. I gasped. “The one she put in G’s pod?”
“A slightly different version, but yes. She plans on releasing a contagious strain of it, then selling the antidote only to upper-class families and making it impossible for those lower on the food chain, so to speak, to afford the medicine. Cora was desperate to destroy the second and third tier citizens on our world.” He let out a noise that sounded vaguely like a snicker. “My Cora is a bit of an elitist…”
My mouth fell open, and when I looked over at G, he had the same reaction. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” he roared.
Karl cleared his throat. “Now her desire is to find it and go home to release the virus, then offer the antidote as a way to get back into the president’s good graces—as well as make a fortune and be rid of society’s rubbish. As I said, this is Cora’s plan. One I couldn’t condone—which is why I left and took the recipe with me.”
“Because that made so much more sense than handing her over to the cops?” G bolted off the bed and stalked the few feet to where Karl stood. He loomed over the older man, and even though a part of me knew I should stop him from doing whatever it was he might do in a fit of rage, another part wanted to let things play out. Karl deserved whatever he got. That, and then some.
Karl shrugged, though it was obvious he was uncomfortable with G’s proximity. “There was no reason for me to turn her in. Ashlyn had given the authorities all the ammunition they needed to know about Cora’s illegal activities. I simply hedged my bets on the off chance she managed to talk her way out of things.” He snickered, a faraway look in his eyes. “My Cora could talk herself out of almost anything…”
Thankfully, G kept his cool. His shoulders rose and fell before his fists curled tight for a minute. He backed away slowly, then settled on the bed beside me.
“This is a problem,” I said, refusing to look at him. “Now that we know what’s on that flash drive…”
“We weren’t handing it over to Cora, anyway,” came his clipped response. “But when Anderson gets what he wants, he’s handing it over to us.” G’s gaze swiveled toward Karl. “That clear?”
We had a plan that involved us getting what we wanted and the bad guys getting, well, nothing. But things could go wrong. The plan, or at least parts of it, could fail.
Karl nodded and smiled. It was the kind of smile that screamed I have a secret. “Absolutely. Trust me when I tell you, I will do whatever it takes to keep Cora from producing that virus. Anything.”
I swallowed back the growing unease, extremely uncomfortable with the way he was looking at me. At the way he said, Trust me.
He folded his hands in his lap and relaxed his shoulders. “Anything…”
Chapter Twenty
G
Sera slept fitfully while Karl knocked off like a fucking log. Must be nice. The guy obviously had no trouble sleeping with his demons. Me? I lay awake in the bed all night, a million sins bouncing around inside my head. I decided to tell Sera the whole truth then changed my mind at least thirty times over the course of the night. Arguments ranged from how it would hurt her, to how it would destroy me when she turned away—which she would, there was no doubt in my mind. She’d accepted me when I told her I still retained watery memories of my previously violent life, but what would she say when she knew the whole truth? That I knew exactly what she’d come from? When she heard all the things I’d been hiding from her about the past? In the end, though, I knew that I had to come clean—just not yet.
First, I had to make sure she survived today so she could hate me tomorrow.
“How many hours do we have left to kill?” Sera pulled a hoodie over her head and shrugged into the sleeves. Karl had supplied us with fresh—though ill-fitted—clothes. I didn’t ask where he’d gotten them, but they were all brand new. “Because I’m getting munchy.”
“The young lady brings up an excellent point.” Karl rubbed his belly. “I’m quite hungry myself. Maybe we should go out and find a bite? Or, perhaps we could stay here while you fetch something?”
I ignored him and focused on Sera. Something was bothering her. Her eyes moved nonstop, gaze continually flickering to Karl and away again. Did she think he’d double-cross us? Was she worried this was all some elaborate plot to drag us back? I would die before letting that happen—to either of us.
The clock on the nightstand between the two beds flashed a neon green three o’clock. “A little over an hour now.” We’d spent the day holed up in the room, not wanting to tempt fate after all the bad luck we’d had. Dylan was still here, his frequency line was green, and we didn’t know anything about this world.
But we were all getting antsy, and I found that when that happened, I had a shorter fuse. I had less control over my emotions and tended to lose myself to Cora’s serum. The poison had progressed as well. When I’d woken, the first thing I’d done was steal off to the bathroom with the bag and dose myself with adrenaline—but it wasn’t working nearly as long, or as well, as it had been. Four hours later and the effects were already beginning to ebb.
“So, we’re clear on things, right?” Karl sat in the chair by the door. Other than complaining about his growling stomach, he hadn’t said much. I had noticed him watching Sera, and it bothered me. “We leave here and get you to MaKaden. You give us the flash drive.”
“That was the agreement,” he said with a forced smile. “I’ll gladly hand it over as soon as you get me the tech that will shield me from Cora.”
There was something about the way he said it that made me think he was lying. Or maybe it was the fact that everything that came out of his mouth was a lie. Either way, I stood and took a step toward him. “How about you hand it over now. You know that I’ll keep my word. I’ll get you to MaKaden.”
He stood as well, a wholly fake smile smeared across his face. “I will make you a deal. You go out and get us something to eat, and I’ll hand over the flash drive. I believe that you’ll keep your word.”
Sera snorted. “That’s awfully trusting—”
“What the fuck?” No. There was definitely something wrong here. He’d never just hand over all his cards. “Something’s up with you.”
“Up?” Karl stepped back, nearly tripping over the chair. “What do you mean?”
“That’s the second time now that you’ve tried to get me to leave. Why?”
His eyes darted to Sera, then back to me. “I merely suggested going out for some sustenance. If you’d like, I can—”
“G… I think you’re overreacting. Maybe—”
“No way.” I lunged forward to drag her across to my side of the room, but Karl was closer.
He latched on and yanked her to him, locking her in place by wrapping his arm around her neck. “Don’t,” he said, breathing fast. His smarmy expression was gone, replaced by wild eyes and scrunched up lips. “You don’t understand.”
Sera struggled, but Karl only tightened his grip. “We had a deal,” she cried, fingers still trying to pry his hold loose. “You said—”
“I said that I would do anything to keep Cora from releasing the virus.”
“What the hell does that have to do with us? We promised we weren’t going to give her the drive.”
He shook his head and readjusted his hold on Sera. I could easily dislodge it, but I didn’t want to chance her getting hurt in the process. There was nothing but desperation in his eyes. Desperation made men careless—and dangerous. “To do with her, you mean.”
“With Sera?” I took a small step toward them. “What does the virus have to do with Sera?”
>
“Sera is the virus.” In his grip, her face went pale, the blood draining to leave horror. “Her blood is the key component for the recipe used to create it. Without her, Cora has no leg to stand on.”
“She could just nab someone else from Sera’s home world,” I challenged.
“No,” Karl said. “No, it’s not like that. The serum we gave her to wipe certain parts of her memories changed the structure of her blood. It changed her very physiology. Sera is one of a kind. A true rarity. Irreplaceable. It was an accident, the virus. Something Cora stumbled on while testing the irregularities in Sera’s blood created by the serum.”
Sera pulled against his grip but Karl held tight. “So, you’re, what? Going to kill me to keep your crazy wife from making the virus?”
At least this explained why Cora was so desperate to hang on to her. Another step closer. “Killing her isn’t the answer.”
The guy looked almost sorry. “I’m afraid it’s the only answer. Even if she manages to get her hands on the flash drive, without the girl’s blood, her plans cannot proceed. Think about it.” He shook his head from side to side. “One death to prevent billions.”
“You know I’m not going to let it happen, right? There’s no way you can think I’ll stand here while you hurt her. You have to know that if it comes down to Sera and a billion nameless, faceless people, I’m still going to choose her.”
Karl struggled for a moment but managed to slide his free hand into his pocket. When he pulled it out, he had a tiny syringe. “Take another step, and I’ll inject her with the virus. I don’t want to do it that way, but I will.”
I cursed and threw up my hands, taking a step back instead of forward. “Easy. Just think about this. Cora isn’t going to get that flash drive. You have my word.”
Karl started dragging Sera toward the door. “I can’t take that chance. You must understand that there are far too many lives at risk.”
A familiar feeling bubbled in my gut. “Anderson,” I warned.
He got her to the door, opening it. Before stepping into the hallway, he slowly changed his grip to her forearm. The needle was poised inconspicuously behind his fist. “Struggle just once and I will depress the plunger. Are we clear?”
Sera nodded.
Without a word, he stepped into the hall, eyes still on mine. I followed, trailing just enough so that he wouldn’t perceive me as a threat, but close enough so that he understood I wasn’t going to stand there and let this happen.
Down to the lobby and right out the front door—no one said a word as he smiled and nodded his way through the small crowd. Sera had stopped struggling. Her movements were stiff and forced, and every once in a while, she’d turn and I’d catch a glimpse of her face, still horrified by what Anderson had told us, while at the same time, terrified.
When he reached the edge of the building, he rounded the corner and tucked himself away in the alley between the hotel and another large building. The scent of food wafted from around the front, and my stomach gave an involuntary gurgle.
“Just trust us,” I heard Sera say as I entered the alleyway. “We don’t want to see her hurt anyone, same as you.”
To the bastard’s credit, he did look apologetic—not that it would save him. I was going to rip his damned heart out for this. “I am truly sorry, Sera.”
“Then don’t do it,” Sera said and nodded toward me. “We’re about to skip to Cade’s world. She can’t get to us there. The drive—and my blood—will be safe. You might be a bastard, but you’re not a killer like your wife.”
She must have sounded convincing to Anderson, because he withdrew the syringe a few inches. But I heard the bullshit in her tone; she didn’t believe a word she was saying. Now that Sera knew the truth, she’d be worried about Cora using her to end the lives of countless people, same as Karl was.
On some level, I understood where he was coming from and what must be going through her mind. Sacrifice one to save the many. Blah, blah, blah. But unfortunately, that one was Sera. If it were anyone else, I probably wouldn’t have hesitated even a moment. But her? There was no way in hell. I’d let the world wither and die in favor of her every single time.
“How can you be certain? How can you possibly—” The rest of the sentence was lost to a grunt as Karl flew sideways into the wall, knocked there by the black and gray blur that zoomed into the alley from the other end.
Dylan let out a horrible wail as he positioned himself over Anderson. The old man struggled and thrashed, and at first, I thought he was trying to free himself. But when his hand wriggled free, just after Dylan delivered the first blow, I caught him digging into his side pocket.
As Dylan hefted him off the ground, a triumphant grin on his face, Karl tossed something in Sera’s direction. It bounced several times before coming to a stop right at her feet.
The flash drive.
Chapter Twenty-One
Sera
Dylan struggled with Karl a few feet away, unaware that the future of countless lives now lay at my feet. I wondered how something so small could determine the fate of so many. How the blood inside my own veins could potentially put an end to innocent lives.
“Where’s the flash drive, old man?” Dylan dragged Karl into a choke hold, causing him to grunt and gasp. Our eyes met, and he gave the smallest of nods.
I lifted my foot and slammed it down. The plastic burst and cracked beneath my shoe as I ground my heel around nice and hard, making sure to smash it into as many bits as possible.
Karl coughed and laughed. In fact, he was laughing so hard that Dylan let him go and took a step back. “What the hell is so funny?”
I smiled and lifted my foot.
Dylan stepped closer and bent low to examine the remnants of silver and blue. He nudged it with his toe, dragging some of the broken bits away from the pile. I saw the exact moment he understood what had happened. His face drained of color, turning white then flooding with scarlet. His shoulders shook. The rage on his face and in his features, in every breath, seeped from his pores like poison.
He whirled on Karl, who was wearing a grin similar to mine. “Tell me there’s a copy. That you have a duplicate.”
“Afraid not. That was the one. The files on that drive are now gone for good.”
“What was on it?” he demanded. He grabbed Karl’s shirt and hauled him away from the side of the building. “What the hell did she want with it?”
Karl’s grin grew wider. “Something she will never have.”
His reaction was instant—and fierce. Dylan grabbed both sides of Karl’s head and twisted hard. Just once. The man’s expression never changed; his eyes didn’t get a chance to widen. There was no gasp of surprise or scream of terror. One second he was alive and enjoying Dylan’s anger, the next he was gone. Nothing but a heap of flesh and bone piled on the concrete in a dirty alley.
My breath caught, choking back the air like someone had lodged a rock in my throat. I tried to swallow, to shove the rock down, but my body just didn’t listen. It was too preoccupied with the sight of Karl, previously alive and smarmy, now lifeless. He wasn’t a good man. He didn’t deserve my sadness or pity, but he was human, and no human deserved to die like that. For that…
G came up beside me. He took my hand and squeezed. It was stupid, but that single action, that one reassuring touch, was the fuel I needed to pull my shit together.
I breathed in deep, then blew out slowly. I had an idea and hoped he went with it. I pointed to the mess of plastic and metal on the ground. “Before you decide to turn your anger on us, you need to know something. That was a decoy. I stole the real one from him last night.”
I didn’t expect Dylan to believe me so quickly, but the color returned to his face almost instantly, and his posture relaxed a little. I supposed it made more sense that I stole the flash drive rather than destroying it, since it had technically been the key to my salvation. That was, before I found out what was on it and my role in the whole mess. “Where is it?�
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“Someplace safe,” G chimed in.
“Cora offered you the deal to return you to Ava while we were together.”
“We were never together,” Dylan snapped. “Or did you forget how many times you reminded me of that?”
I didn’t owe Karl Anderson anything, but he’d technically been trying to save lives by stealing that flash drive from Cora. It was the right thing to do. Maybe I could still see it through. Still make this work. For all those innocent people, for Karl, for me…
We’d told Cade we were bringing Karl back to his world, but maybe we could bring someone else instead. “You know what I mean. She made that offer to both of us. We get her the flash, and she gives each of us the thing we wanted.”
“Your point?”
“My point,” I said, “is that we can still do that. I’m willing to let you in on the deal—I get the chip fixed and you get your Ava back, just as planned—if you give me the antidote for G.”
He seemed to consider it for a moment before bursting into a fit of hysterical laughter. “Do I look that stupid to you?”
“She’s not joking,” G said between clenched teeth. “Considering the position you’re in, I’d take the offer and run with it, man.”
“The position—” More laughter. “Dude, you’re the one dying.”
“Dylan,” I tried. I could see I’d lost him, though. In reality, I probably never had him.
He held up a hand and collected himself, making a show of straightening and taking a nice deep breath. “Here’s my counteroffer. You take me to the flash drive. Hand it over, and then I’ll give you the antidote.”
“What about Sera’s end of the deal?”
Dylan shrugged. “I’ll let her tag along. If Cora wants to fix her head, then so be it.”
“No deal,” G said, while at the same time, I nodded and said, “Fine.”
G growled and grabbed my arm. His expression was the perfect mix of anger and fear. “We can’t trust him. What’s to say he doesn’t steal the drive and leave without giving me the antidote?”
