Kade (sci-fi romance - The Ember Quest Book 2)

by Arcadia Shield

  “Not anymore?”

  “Not so much, not since the State found us. But we’re discreet. And so long as those who wish to use the dome remain happy, we can stay.”

  “The State uses you in experiments?” Kade hissed in pain and glared at Heath.

  Anastasia nodded. “They do. And from what I know of your work, you experiment with dragon DNA, as well.”

  “You do know your stuff.” Lincoln nodded his head at Anastasia. “Done any research on me?”

  Anastasia’s nose wrinkled. “I have no interest in you. But what you do makes us interested. We have our own plans for returning dragons to power.”

  “How you going to do that?” asked Kade.

  “We assess hybrid strength based on abilities and pair them with a hybrid of similar strength.”

  “Like your fire-breathing trick?” asked Honor.

  “It’s not a trick,” said Anastasia. “We’re the real thing.”

  “Honor struggles with that knowledge,” said Kade.

  “I only struggle because it’s rubbish.”

  Anastasia shrugged. “Someone in the State found out what we were doing and sent a team to investigate. They gave us two options; be destroyed, or be used by the State. I was against the pleasure dome, but it’s our only way to survive. The State does what they like with us, and some of the men, and women, who run things, get off on our talents.”

  “So you’re saying this is a brothel?” asked Honor.

  “For some, it’s about the sex. But others get hot for our scales, or talents.” Anastasia’s hand gripped the front of her sheer dress. “And some of us can manipulate thoughts and heighten pleasure.”

  “I’d be interested in that.” Lincoln smiled. “How would you heighten my pleasure?”

  Anastasia shook her head, clearly ignoring Lincoln. “Now the State knows about us, we’ve not been able to progress our breeding program. They watch too closely.”

  “You don’t want to stay anymore?” asked Kade.

  Anastasia glanced over her shoulder. “It’s time to start again. Find a new safe place and build another refuge.”

  “I’ve done what I can.” Heath stepped back and inspected Kade’s injuries. “How do your ribs feel?”

  “Good as new,” lied Kade, feeling like a giant hand was squeezing his middle and stopping the air getting into his lungs. “I’ll be running marathons again before you can blink.”

  “You’ve never run more than a hundred yards in your life,” said Lincoln.

  “I’d beat you any time. Just give me a day to recover.”

  “More like a month,” said Honor. “No running for you.”

  Lincoln chuckled. “No arguing with your girl.”

  “What’s the best way out of here?” Kade asked Anastasia, ignoring Lincoln’s comment.

  “You came in through the barbed wire fence?”

  Kade nodded. “We’ve got a truck back there.”

  “I’ll get the girls to cause a distraction so we can leave.”

  “You don’t want to take them with us?” asked Honor.

  “Not now,” said Anastasia. “But I don’t want to leave them here for long. When the State discovers one of us is missing they’ll punish everybody. And it’s not the girls’ fault I’m abandoning them.” Guilt flashed across her face. “Me leaving is the best thing. I can get reinforcements and come back for the others.”

  “Let’s go.” Kade pulled himself to his feet and took one more drink of vodka before Arlo snatched the bottle out of his hand.

  “You might be injured, but we all have needs.” He winked before taking a drink.

  “This way.” Anastasia led them out of the storeroom and back along the corridor. “Get outside. I’ll meet you in a minute.” She vanished into the shadows before anyone could stop her.

  The group hurried to the exit. Lincoln and Arlo brought up the rear, keeping watch for any militia from the bar.

  Reaching the door first, Heath cracked it open and looked outside. “All clear.”

  “What if this Anastasia is double-crossing us?” said Lincoln.

  “Then we make a run for it,” said Kade.

  “You can’t run,” said Honor.

  “Then you carry me.”

  “I would if I had to.”

  They waited in the shadows for what felt like hours. Kade’s grip tightened on Honor, as the darkness seemed to grow thick with menace.

  “Over here,” whispered Anastasia from nearby. “We need to hurry. The girls have set the stage alight, so it’s chaos inside.”

  Kade looked behind them as they sped away from the dome and saw a faint wisp of smoke coming out the main doors.

  They reached the barbed wire and dashed through the opening and back to the truck.

  “Everybody on board,” said Heath, as he hopped into the driver’s seat, Annie next to him.

  Lincoln and Arlo jumped in, followed by Anastasia. Kade eased himself onto the bench and felt Honor slide in beside him. Despite the vodka and his injuries making him woozy, he could tell she was angry. And she had every right to be. He’d almost gotten her killed, dragging her to this weird place full of hybrids and dangerous State militia.

  Honor’s fingers brushed down his arm. He opened eyes he didn’t realize were closed. “We have a lot to talk about when we get back.”

  “I know.”

  “No more hiding things from me,” said Honor. “I have to understand what’s going on or I can’t help you.”

  “One step at a time.” Kade lurched against her as the truck reversed and sped off into the night.

  “I need to know it all,” said Honor. “And I will start with those bones we found in the cave. I want to know why someone is willing to kill us for them.”

  HONOR WAS EXHAUSTED, but had refused to sleep. Once they’d gotten to the bunker, she’d insisted Kade get treated and rest. Only when he was settled in his quarters, had she slipped away to the research lab and set to work on investigating the bones.

  She’d worked on the analysis for hours. Her eyes stung and her stomach grumbled with hunger, but she still refused to believe what she was seeing as she ran another test. The results showed this bone was from the same species she’d already identified. This strange, unknown species of lizard. The word dragon whispered through Honor’s head, but she dismissed it. This was some kind of weird fluke.

  Rolling her shoulders, the muscles protesting from where she’d been hunched over the desk, she stood from her seat. Anastasia, too, was another puzzle. Her fire-breathing ability had to be a trick. She’d seen people do it before, using flammable liquid and a spark to make it look like they breathed flames. But what about her red eyes? Maybe contact lenses that changed color?

  She needed to talk to somebody about these findings, to make sure she wasn’t going crazy. Honor knew her way around lab equipment, but needed more finds to analyze.

  Slipping the bone fragment she’d carved out into a glass vial, she placed a lid on it, before leaving the lab and heading to the communications room, hoping to find Annie.

  When she got there, she was surprised to discover Heath, Lincoln, and Kade sitting around the table, their heads close together.

  “I thought you were resting?” Her gaze stopped on Kade.

  “I got a couple of hours,” said Kade, giving her an apologetic shrug. “I’m feeling better.”

  She shook her head but could see there was at least color back in his cheeks. “I need to discuss the bone finds. I’ve been analyzing what we’ve got.” Honor slid the bone fragment out and placed it on the table. “It’s the same DNA as that lizard.”

  “Lizard?” Heath’s eyebrows quirked up.

  “Yes. The thing you’re looking for,” said Honor. “I was thinking we could go back to the cave and find more. See if I can figure out what this creature is.”

  Kade shook his head. “That site’s destroyed. We’ve been running analyses on the caves to see what’s left. It’s not an option for us.”

>   “No more lizard bones?” asked Honor, sinking into a chair at the table.

  “There are other sites,” said Lincoln. A smile slid across his face. “Plenty more lizards to find.”

  Heath nodded. “I’ve been meaning to send a team to the Bromley Burrows.”

  “I want to try Cheddar Gorge,” said Lincoln. “Lots of deep caves.”

  “I want in on those investigations,” said Honor. “I’m not sure what you’re looking for, but I can help.”

  “No more expeditions for you,” said Kade, his gaze snapping to Honor.

  “I’ll go if I want to.”

  Heath and Lincoln shared an amused smile.

  “Kade could do with a hand with DNA analysis,” said Heath. “You’re welcome to help with that.”

  “I can do that work in my sleep,” said Honor. “We need more complete finds. Then I can get a fix on what you’re studying. You’re just best-guessing what you’ve got in the lab.”

  Heath rubbed the back of his neck, the amused look on his face growing. “Our best guesses are accurate. We know what we’re doing. And we know what we’ve found.”

  “You need a complete skeleton. Or better still, an egg, complete with membranes, albumen, and yolk.”

  “That would be nice.” Heath cocked his head at Kade. “Any suggestions here?”

  Kade sighed. “You don’t need to go into the field to retrieve eggs, bones, or anything else. That’s what the others do.”

  “And it’s what we’re good at,” said Lincoln. “We don’t best-guess our way in the field. And as you can see from the mess Kade got himself into, he’s no good at the grunt work. Leave it to the guys with the muscles.” He flexed a large bicep.

  “I can still kick your ass,” growled Kade.

  “Not in that condition, you can’t,” said Honor, tapping her fingers on the table. “If you won’t let me go searching for new material, what do you want me to do?”

  “Take a rest,” said Kade.

  “Don’t need it. But I need something to test. A living specimen.”

  “What about Anastasia?” said Lincoln. “She’s got abilities and is very much alive.”

  Heath nodded. “She’s with Annie. They’ll be joining us in a minute. Honor could work with her, run tests and see what she discovers.”

  Lincoln grinned. “Might be in for a surprise when you do.”

  “I could.” Honor wrinkled her nose. “Her DNA could have the same quirks as the subjects we tested at Intergen. Although not sure how that’s any good for what you’re searching for.”

  “You do know what she is, don’t you?” asked Lincoln.

  “A human with a few good tricks,” said Honor.

  “Run the tests. Have some fun.”

  “Stop messing with Honor,” said Kade. “We don’t need tests to tell you what Anastasia is.”

  Lincoln chuckled quietly. “The sooner she believes, the better.”

  Honor frowned. “Kade, you said no more secrets.”

  “I actually said one step at a time.” Kade eased back in his seat. “But Lincoln’s idea of testing Anastasia isn’t so dumb.”

  “Thanks, bro.” Lincoln hurled a ball of paper at Kade.

  “Providing she agrees to it.” Kade batted the paper aside. “Sounds like she’s had a rough time at the pleasure dome. We don’t want to push her.”

  “We won’t force anything on Anastasia if she doesn’t want it,” said Honor.

  “What don’t I want?” Anastasia stood in the doorway, with Annie by her side. She wore clean, black slacks, and a loose-fitting white shirt.

  Honor jumped in before anyone could stop her. “I want to run some tests on you. Figure out how you can breathe fire and just what these Ember brothers are hiding from me.”

  Chapter 14

  Anastasia’s eyebrows rose and her gaze went around the room. “And what if I say no?”

  “Then you don’t do it,” said Kade. “We’re not like the State.”

  “I’m free to leave?” asked Anastasia.

  “You can leave,” said Kade. “But we’d like it if you stayed. You could be a help to us. And we can offer you protection.”

  “Help the Ember brothers.” Anastasia walked into the room, an amused smile on her face. “I’m honored.”

  “You won’t get far without our help,” said Lincoln. “The State will have a bounty on your head as soon as they discover you’ve escaped. And I bet they’re just dying to get their hands on your DNA.”

  Anastasia scowled at Lincoln but then nodded as she dropped into a seat. “I’m in no hurry to leave. And I want nothing to do with the State again. One condition of our so-called freedom at the dome was that we didn’t leave without permission and an armed escort. The second anyone stepped outside the dome boundaries, we became fugitives.”

  “You’re welcome to stay here as long as you need to,” said Annie, as she sat next to her. “All believers in dragons—and especially dragon hybrids—are welcome.”

  “I appreciate that.” Anastasia inclined her head, her gaze on Honor. “So, about these tests...?”

  “Only if you want to do it,” said Honor. “And I should warn you, I don’t believe in dragons. Kade and the others have shown me evidence but I can’t get my head around the possibility.”

  Anastasia sat back in her seat. “It’s not the first time I’ve heard that. Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you.”

  “I can run the tests?”

  “You can.”

  Kade let out the breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. With Honor occupied by Anastasia, she’d forget about going on another mission, risking her life for something she didn’t believe in.

  “I’d like to run the tests as soon as possible,” said Honor.

  “Use my lab.” Kade used the table to help himself stand. He’d received a shot of strong painkiller from Sophia, but every time he moved, his ribs reminded him of how close he’d been to death.

  “Shall we get started?” Honor looked over at Anastasia.

  “Fine by me.” Anastasia looked around the room. “I’ve already had a bunker tour, thanks to Annie, so there’s nothing left for me to do.”

  “I can think of one or two things.” Lincoln grinned at her.

  “Not into flyboys,” said Anastasia, her gaze running over Lincoln slowly. “I like men I can rely on.”

  “I’m reliable.” Lincoln sat up straight.

  Anastasia smirked as she left the room with Honor.

  Kade watched them go, the tension leaving him. Honor was safe and out of harm’s way. “We should head back to Viller Town and try to find out more about what they’re doing.”

  “You don’t want your girl on this mission?” asked Lincoln.

  “I don’t. But she can handle herself,” said Kade. “She escaped from a locked room and had already punched a guard when I rescued her from Intergen.”

  “About that,” said Heath. “Do it again and I’ll put you on kitchen duty for a month. Or better still, have you slumming it in Lion’s bar, cleaning out the slop buckets.”

  “You can’t do that,” said Kade. “I’m the only one who can break through the firewalls you need cracking.”

  “Not if Honor’s staying, you aren’t,” said Heath. “You took a stupid risk going to get her.”

  “I’m not sorry,” said Kade. “She needed help. You’d have done the same for someone you care about.”

  “You care about Honor?” Lincoln grinned at his brother.

  Kade ignored the poke.

  Heath tipped his head back and sighed, also ignoring Lincoln.

  “You’re right,” said Kade. “The base has to come first.”

  “It was a big risk to take,” said Heath, leveling a hard stare at Kade. “You know the rules.”

  “It was worth it.”

  “If she stays, she’ll be a huge asset,” said Lincoln. “But she will need her memory jogging before that happens.”

  “When she’s ready, we’ll discuss it.�
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  “She sounds ready now,” said Lincoln. “You should give her the option to remember.”

  Kade shook his head. “How’s Sophia getting on with the herbs Clarissa brought with her?” On one of their recent missions, they’d met a dragon seer who’d used herbs to weaken the hypnotic suggestions and return true memories. Since then, Clarissa had remained at the bunker with her brother, Malachi, and was formulating healing salves and serums using hybrid dragon blood. The results were astonishing.

  “They show promise,” said Heath. “But they’re far from ready.”

  “Then we wait until they are,” said Kade.

  “Huh. Anyone would think you’re worried about Honor’s safety.” Lincoln grinned at him.

  “What if I am?” Kade ran a hand tiredly over his face. He wanted to keep her safe, but it was more than that. He wanted her, all of her. Including the crazy, reckless part that made her dive into caves and save him. She was fearless, beautiful and stubborn. And he wouldn’t have her any other way.

  “I agree about going back to Viller Town,” said Heath. “We have to get the other hybrids out. Like Anastasia said, they won’t be safe now. If we can get them out, it will boost our mission, especially if they’re open to helping with DNA samples for our egg reconstruction.”

  “Can’t see why they’ll object once they know what we’re doing,” said Lincoln. “Sounds like they’re trying methods to bring back a dragon of their own.”

  “It’s hardly the romance of the century,” said Heath. “But I admire them for trying. They might have gotten further than we have.”

  “Let’s go, then,” said Kade.

  “You’re not coming with us,” said Heath. “You need to rest and recover.”

  “I’m coming,” said Kade. “The drugs I’m on mean I don’t even feel my ribs.”

  “You should stay and hold hands with Honor,” Lincoln quipped.

  “You need me out there,” said Kade. “Arlo’s busy, and Jude is on comms.”

  “Tobias is still in the bunker,” said Lincoln.

  “He’s not a snatch-and-grab kind of guy.”

  “He’ll do it if he needs to.” Heath narrowed his eyes. “But you’re right. We are stretched thin. You can come, but you’re acting as our watch. I don’t want you in the action.”