Immersive

by Becky Moynihan

  This man—this foul creature—had to pay. They all had to pay for hurting my loved ones.

  Lars was on the floor now, bucking and writhing. Like the snake that he was.

  Cool fingers slid over my neck. I winced, almost losing my concentration. Despite a flare of alarm, I didn’t look away from my prey. I had to finish this. One less monster to taint the world.

  I heard a click.

  And then there was pain.

  Slicing hot. Razor sharp.

  I screamed in agony and rage as I lost my connection with Lars.

  More pain seared my wrists, but nothing compared to the feeling of knives shredding apart my brain.

  Someone next to me started shouting. So loud that I squinted my eyes open. It was Bren. Our gazes collided. He was afraid. I was too. Something was wrong, so terribly wrong.

  My head. It hurt. Worse than anything I’d ever felt.

  Like a switch being flipped, my body shut down.

  “State your full name and date of birth.”

  “Brendan James Bearon. August fifteenth.”

  “And why did you come back after your mission failed, Mr. Bearon?”

  A throat cleared.

  “The longer you delay in answering, the more painful it will become.”

  Finally, “To—to complete my mission.”

  “And what mission is that, exactly?”

  Silence. A hacking cough.

  “Be vague, Mr. Bearon. I know about the restraining chip.”

  The coughing hurt to hear. I almost lifted my head.

  But Bren forced words out in a rush. “To destroy you.”

  “Ah, the truth at last. It’s good to finally have that out in the open. One final question since you’ve been so cooperative. Would you do anything to protect my daughter?”

  “No.”

  A light chuckle. “Let me rephrase. Would you do anything to protect my adopted daughter?”

  Pause.

  “No.”

  A grunt of pain and more coughing.

  “Lie. Try again, Mr. Bearon.”

  Long pause. A sigh.

  “Yes.”

  “Thank you. That’s all I need to know. Lune, I know you’re awake. No point in pretending.”

  My eyes cracked open. I waited for the pain to register, the pounding headache and empty pangs in my stomach. Nothing. I blinked, slowly lifting my head to take in my surroundings. The metal gray room was square and unremarkable, except for a long mirror on one wall. We must be in the interrogation room. I caught my reflection and about leapt out of my skin. There was something silver around my neck. And tubes were attached to my body. Bags of liquid hung from a pole behind me.

  Saliva rushed into my mouth. I tried to breathe past the rising nausea and panic.

  Something brushed against my little finger. I looked down to see Bren’s finger stretching toward mine. My eyes traveled over his body, searching for injury. Both of our wrists were still cuffed and scraped raw, but the rest of his injuries must be internal. A round device was stuck to his neck. Did it force him to tell the truth?

  I almost caved to the pull and met his eyes, but I stopped myself just in time. If I did, I wouldn’t have the strength to face the room’s other occupant.

  “Welcome back, Lune. Feeling better?”

  I schooled my expression as best I could before fixing my gaze across the table. For once, it wasn’t his icy stare that grabbed my attention but the white knee-length coat he wore. I’d never seen Renold in anything but a perfectly tailored suit before.

  He laughed lightly. “You don’t have to hide your surprise. I can feel it.”

  My eyes flew to his. The wide smile on his face sped up my heart rate.

  “The time for secrets and tests are over. Now that I have your abilities under control, we can speak openly. Yes, I know all about what you can do, but do you know what I can? I share my family’s Sensor gene, but I’ve managed to simulate Empath and Intellect DNA as well. The only DNA my body doesn’t carry is the Visionary gene.”

  Holy mother of mutant babies.

  He had three abilities?

  Well that wasn’t freaky or anything. It was only a small comfort that he didn’t have my ability to control minds. What troubled me the most was that he knew so much. Dr. Stacey had been working for him, but was Dr. Moore working with him too?

  “And before you get any ideas of controlling my mind,” he continued, “know that the collar prevents you from doing so. After learning that adrenaline fuels the energy needed to project an ability, I installed an electromagnetic pulse into the collar that suppresses the hormone. It’s what you felt before passing out.”

  A growl rumbled in Bren’s throat, which Renold promptly ignored.

  “And I should warn you. Tampering with the collar will emit a strong electrical current that could potentially kill you. Now, let’s get down to business.”

  He rose from his seat to stand beside me. Bren’s knuckles whitened. Despite what I’d just been told, I wanted nothing more than to access my mind-controlling ability. Before I could do anything stupid, Renold placed a round device on my neck just above the collar and retreated.

  He sat, picking up a clipboard with pencil and paper attached. As a whole, the city was illiterate, but I wasn’t surprised to discover that he could read and write. “I’m going to ask you questions, and I need you to be quick and honest with your answers. If you don’t, you’ll receive a very unpleasant zap that seals your windpipe. It’s similar to Dr. Moore’s restraining chip, but I’ve perfected the model. Are you ready?”

  Holy crap, of course I wasn’t ready. This was insane. A sudden sharp pinch at my neck startled me. I inhaled, but the air snagged halfway down my throat.

  “You might want to answer,” Renold prompted.

  “Y-yes,” I stuttered. The pressure eased.

  He didn’t waste any time. “First question: State your full name and date of birth.”

  “Lune Avery. October second.”

  His grip on the pencil tightened. But he jotted down my answer anyway.

  “Why did you return to Tatum City?”

  “To protect Iris.” The answer rang true, even though it was only a fraction of the truth.

  “Who is she to you?”

  Dr. Stacey had no doubt told him already, so I didn’t hesitate to answer. “She’s my sister.” Before he could ask another question, I blurted, “What do you hope to gain by kidnapping children with abilities and forcing women into a breeding program?”

  In all my eleven years of knowing him, I’d never dared ask him such a bold question. But he was already torturing me. Enduring more pain to gain a little control over this interrogation would be worth it.

  Apparently Bren didn’t agree. His leg gave mine a warning nudge.

  Renold simply blinked, no sign of anger in his expression. “I’ll make a deal with you, Lune. Promise to cooperate with me and I’ll explain everything.”

  My mouth instantly dried.

  His gaze hardened when I didn’t speak. “We can be allies in this or enemies. The choice is yours.”

  I wanted to laugh in his face. “When have we ever not been enemies? This isn’t a choice. It’s another way to control me. To weaken me.”

  At that, he almost looked apologetic. More fake benevolence. Sickening. “I may have done some unorthodox things over the years, but I only ever sought to make you stronger. Every decision, every obstacle, was a test. To see if you were everything I believed you to be.”

  I frowned. He truly believed in what he was saying which was the most twisted part of all. But it was his belief in me that gave me pause. “I just need to know one thing before I make a decision. Why me?”

  “You’re what I’ve been searching for. Someone whose DNA mutated in a way I didn’t think was possible. You’re more. With you, I can finally pass on my family’s legacy.”

  More questions than ever battered my brain, but an impatient gleam had formed in Renold’s eyes. I’d
pushed him as far as he would let me. For now. If I was going to free Bren and Iris from this creepy place, then there was only one thing for me to do. I wet my lips before saying, “I need a few reassurances first.”

  “Name them.”

  “As long as I cooperate, you won’t kill anyone I care about.”

  “Done. Anything else?”

  “Bren stays with me.”

  Anger finally reached his eyes, but he simply said, “I’ll see what I can do. Is that all?”

  “I want out of these cuffs.”

  His probing stare sent chills crawling up my spine. If he had the Empath gene, could he hear my thoughts? Crap, crap, crap. I forced my mind blank. After a solid minute under his scrutiny, he set down the clipboard and stood. His gaze never left mine as he produced a key and unlocked the cuffs. He stepped back and waited.

  I raised an arm laden with tubes and offered him my hand.

  “We have a deal,” I said. When his fingers clasped mine, revulsion shuddered through me.

  Because I’d just made a deal with the devil.

  “Are you angry?”

  The private holding cell we were in for the night offered little room to pace, but Bren managed anyway. I sat on the narrow bed, reaching for the familiar comfort of my bear tooth necklace. My fingers found cold metal instead. Sadness twisted my gut when I remembered that it was gone. Forever.

  The pacing stopped.

  Bren crouched in front of me, carefully laying a hand over mine where it gripped the collar. “You’ll hurt yourself. Let go,” he whispered.

  My hold tightened. “Maybe I deserve to feel pain.”

  “Lune,” he growled quietly, squeezing my knee. “Don’t go down that road. It promises relief but it’s empty. You’ll only lose yourself in the end.”

  I shook my head. “But don’t you see? You once said you feared destroying me, but I’m the one destroying you.”

  He frowned. “How so?”

  “I controlled your mind and took away your free will.”

  “Yes.”

  “I left you. Again.”

  “You did.”

  “And now we’re in trouble.”

  “We are.”

  “You should be furious.”

  “I am. I could punch a hole in the wall, I’m so mad.”

  I glared at him, hissing, “Then show me. Yell. Punish me. Tell me how awful I am!”

  His lips thinned. “Would it make you feel better?”

  “Yes! I want to feel your pain so I can comfort you. So I can fix the terrible things I’ve done. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry that you’re here because of me. I want it all to go away. I want—”

  The hand on my knee suddenly slid up my inner thigh, pulling a gasp from me. He slowly parted my legs and settled between them. “You want to forget?” he breathed against my neck, successfully disentangling my fingers from the collar.

  A nod made its way past the haze already crowding my senses.

  “I’ll make you forget.” His thumb swept inside the bottom of my shorts, awakening my desire. “I’ll show you how angry I am.” He bit my shoulder, hard enough to make me tremble. “If you say that you’re mine.”

  I whimpered pathetically, willing to say or do whatever he wanted.

  “Say it,” he said, the rolling timbre of voice doing all sorts of crazy things to my insides.

  “Yes,” I sighed, placing my hands on his chest. “I’m yours.”

  He grabbed my wrists and pushed me back. I bounced onto the bed, blinking up at him in surprise. His leg came down between mine, pressing until I arched against him with a low groan.

  “You can destroy me all you want, little bird. As long as you’re mine, I can endure anything,” he said before pinning the rest of me to the bed and stealing my mind with a scorching kiss. My wrists were shackled above my head. My body unable to move. But in this moment that slowed time and warped reality, I was the furthest thing from a prisoner.

  My leg bounced nervously.

  Not because I was face-to-face with the devil, but because I’d been separated from Bren. Now that Renold knew without a doubt that Bren was a spy, the only thing stopping him from killing the man I loved was our flimsy deal.

  After learning about my restraining chip this morning, he’d ordered a doctor to surgically remove it. Bren was probably having his removed right this very minute. But instead of using our alone time to grill me for information, Renold chose to uphold his end of the deal.

  I sat at the interrogation room table, uncuffed except for the thin silver collar around my neck. Either he was stupid or incredibly confident that I couldn’t take him down with my bare hands. I wasn’t willing to find out which. Not yet anyway.

  “Shortly after I adopted you,” he began, slowly pacing the length of the room, “I knew it was time for the next phase in my plan. I needed more resources, and when I heard rumors of a technology-advanced city, I sent Dr. Stacey, one of my best elites, to infiltrate their stronghold. She quickly learned that they couldn’t be trusted. Dr. Moore has repeatedly tried to gain access to this city’s secrets with the intent to exploit them. None of the attempts were successful until I allowed Mr. Bearon entrance.”

  Did he know that Dr. Stacey was dead? I was tempted to ask, curious how he’d react, but I wouldn’t jeopardize the advantage he was giving me. The more he shared, the more fuel I had to find a way out of this mess.

  “So you knew all along that Bren was a spy?”

  “Dr. Stacey warned me, yes. But with his past ties to the Recruiter Clan, I had to see if you remembered him.” He stopped to pierce me with a look. “Using him to test you failed, though. He’s become your weakness.”

  He clasped his hands behind his back and resumed pacing. “Still, knowledge is power. If I’m to remain in control, I must know my enemy’s agenda. The weak are afraid of change, and Dr. Moore is against the next step in our evolution. Before the Silent War, money and social status ruled the world. But hierarchy balanced on material wealth is easily destroyed. It is the very essence of a person’s DNA that defines one’s worth and ability to rule over another. Which was why we sought to unearth mankind’s true potential.”

  A cold chill snuck up my spine. “We?”

  “My great grandfather was a part of an elite group of scientists dedicated to advancing the human race. Back then, a military branch of the United States funded their efforts, but when the government deemed the project too dangerous, it was shut down. Undeterred by simple-minded thinking, the scientists continued in secret. When the formula was ready, they released it on the world.

  “The timing was convenient. War was already brewing, so when the virus spread, it was easily blamed on the government who betrayed us. Ninety percent of the population died as a result, but with change comes great sacrifice. The virus chose to spare the best of us. Sadly, no one was exempt from the selection, and my great grandfather was the only original scientist to survive. He groomed his son to carry on the family work, and now the cause rests on my shoulders. It’s been our family’s secret for a hundred years, but not even my wife and daughter know. Only the strongest heir earns the right to such knowledge, which is why I adopted you.”

  No. Freaking. Way.

  Renold’s great grandfather brought on the apocalypse?

  That explained a lot, actually. Renold was a diabolical monster. Maybe the trait ran in the family.

  I must have been in shock because I managed to say in a completely calm voice, “Why not Rose? She’s your flesh and blood.”

  He brought his hands forward to study his gold and sapphire rings. “Lineage isn’t everything. Superior DNA doesn’t always get passed down, and Rose was born unchanged. Defective. When my wife couldn’t have more children, I began searching for the perfect heir. Many children have been brought into this city, but none as strong as you.”

  His pale eyes gleamed as they met mine. He was like a teacher basking in his student’s success. A proud father. Never in my life had I experienced m
ental whiplash this severe.

  “If you want me so badly, then why did you let me leave the city? Weren’t you afraid I wouldn’t come back?”

  He flashed a disapproving frown, one I was much more accustomed to. “Fear is weakness, Lune. No, I knew Mr. Bearon would return to Blue Ridge Sector, and that Mr. Jones would bring you back. With Dr. Stacey’s help, the risk of you staying at The Ridge was low. Your connection with Bren assured you’d be allowed access to their training facility, which needed to happen so I could confirm the extent of your abilities. But more importantly, I had to make sure that the girl destined to be my downfall was you.”

  Holy freaking crap, he knew. He knew everything.

  He held up his hands in a placating manner, no doubt sensing a spike in my emotions. “Yes, I know it’s you, but who’s to say we can’t change this premonition? Everything can be bent and shaped to our will. And now that you know the full story, I’m hoping you’ll choose the path of enlightenment. Dr. Moore thinks I’m building an army to unleash war on the world. But as a division of Homeland Security, The Ridge is more likely to wage war than I am.

  “Anything they consider a threat is infiltrated and shut down. They’re ignorantly repeating history all over again, willing to destroy decades of painstaking research simply because they fear change.”

  “How could they not when you impregnate women against their will and kidnap children to contend in a trio of deadly Trials?” I couldn’t help but point out. If he was going to punish me for asking a disrespectful question, now would be the time.

  But his expression remained amiable, putting me on edge. The full might of his persuasive powers were being used to win me over. “I want to show you something. Come.” He rapped a knuckle on the door, and none other than Lars poked his head inside. “Escort us to the research wing, Mr. Cooper.”

  “Yes, Supreme Elite,” he said respectfully, but I didn’t miss the way his eyes narrowed on my bare wrists.

  Oh. Was he nervous? He should be. I made a show of leaving my seat and striding toward the door with confidence despite the tremor in my legs. We walked the halls in silence, running across a doctor and a few guards, but otherwise, we were alone. Then why did I feel like we were being watched? The hairs on my arms stood on end every time we passed a door. Each one had a narrow window, but the insides were dark.