The Descartes Evolution
Page 26
Jenna had suspected all along that it might come to this. She didn’t want to die, and she wasn’t being heroic; she just couldn’t see any alternative. However civilized Lauren appeared on the surface, there was something inherently evil in her, and Jenna would not put herself under the woman’s control. This was a better alternative.
She stepped back to give herself space in case they tried to stop her. Raising the pistol, she pressed the muzzle under her chin, aiming upward toward her brain. She heard the indrawn breath.
Chapter Forty-Nine
“Stop,” Lauren said quietly.
Jenna ignored the word. Her finger tightened on the trigger. She held Luke’s gaze for as long as she could, his expression filled with understanding that sent a stab of pain through her. Closing her eyes, she focused her mind. She’d thought this would be easy, but her whole being railed against it. She wanted to live—just not at the price she was expected to pay.
“Jenna, stop!” Lauren spoke again, her voice filled with urgency. Something in her tone made Jenna open her eyes and look at the woman. Lauren reached into her pocket, and Jenna swung the gun to point at her. Lauren withdrew her hand slowly. She held a small case in her finger and thumb. “It’s the antidote and suppressant.”
“You told me you didn’t have them here.”
“I lied. You can have them.” She waved to where Luke stood in the open doorway. “Save him and yourself.”
This had to be a trap. “You’ll let us leave here?”
“Why not? There’s not much I can do to stop you anyway.”
“Of course. You have no backup waiting outside.”
Lauren smiled. “I always have backup. It’s something you should learn, but you’ll be allowed to go freely. As long as your friend there doesn’t decide his revenge is worth more than your life after all.”
She looked at Luke; he held the pistol she had given him, and it was aimed at Lauren, but his gaze swung to her, and he lowered the gun so it dangled loosely at his side. He nodded.
Jenna turned back to her mother. “Why?”
“Because death is the one sure permanency in this world. Once you are dead, there is no turning back, no other choices.” Lauren shrugged. “Up until that point, there is always a chance.”
Jenna inched closer, and her hand fastened around the small case. She slipped it in her pocket and crossed the space to stand by Luke. His skin shone with sweat, and his eyes were dull with the pain he was trying to suppress. She reached out and touched him lightly on the cheek, needing the contact. “Let’s get out of here,” she said.
At the door, she turned back to look at Lauren.
Her mother.
Something shifted in the other woman’s eyes. Some sense of recognition.
“Thank you,” Jenna said.
Lauren smiled. “There’s a month’s supply in there. After that, you’ll need more. Contact me.”
Well, she’d always known there would be a price. “Of course.”
Jenna drove for five minutes, peering in the mirror constantly to check they weren’t being followed. She could see nothing on the road behind them.
Beside her, Luke coughed, a soft, wet sound, as though he were choking. Glancing behind her one last time, she pulled over to the side of the road and switched off the engine. She turned to study him. In the dim light from the streetlamps, he appeared pale, with dark smudges of crimson at his nostrils and eyes.
“How are you doing?”
“Fine.” He spoke through gritted teeth and coughed again.
“Jesus, sorry—stupid question.” She pulled the case from her pocket and opened it. Inside lay a syringe filled with a clear liquid and a small bottle of tablets. She opened the bottle and shook out one of the pills. It tasted bitter on her tongue, and she had to force it down her dry throat.
Next, she pulled out the syringe and looked at it uncertainly.
Luke rolled up his left shirtsleeve. He held his arm palm up and clenched his fist. “Give it here.”
Jenna handed him the syringe. He pulled off the cap with his teeth and held it up, his hand shaking visibly. He swore softly.
“I can do it.” Jenna took it back. “Just tell me where.”
“Straight into the vein, just below my elbow. You need to insert the needle at about forty-five degrees.”
Jenna traced the dark blue vein. She bit her lip and gently pushed the needle into his skin.
“Hold it,” Luke said. “You need to check you’ve hit the vein. Pull back the plunger just a little.”
She did, and a drop of dark blood stained the clear liquid.
“Good. Do it. Slowly.”
She depressed the plunger until the liquid was gone then pulled out the needle.
Luke leaned back against the seat, his arm clutched to his chest, his eyes closed. “Now, get us out of here,” he said.
Jenna drove. She wasn’t sure where she was going yet, but she wanted to get as far away as possible. The roads were clear, and soon she was heading north out of the city.
They’d been traveling for half an hour when Luke broke the silence between them. Already his voice sounded stronger. “So, you found your mother? That must have been nice.”
She gave a short, incredulous laugh. “You should have been there. It was a real warm, fuzzy moment.”
She glanced at him sideways. His head still rested back against the seat, but he was facing her, and his eyes were open. They were clearer, and some of her tension drained away. At the back of her mind, she’d worried Lauren had lied and there was no cure.
“I’ll bet. You want to talk about it?”
“I just want to forget it, but I guess that’s not going to happen.”
“Probably not.”
“We’ll talk later. There’s other stuff I need to tell you, but right now, I need time to get things straight in my head.”
“Okay, but I’m here when you want to talk.”
“I know.”
He fell silent, and soon after his breathing became deep and even as he slept. Jenna gazed out at the road ahead and tried to think of what her options might be, where she could go from here.
Lauren had told her she could be a source of good. Was it possible to change the Conclave from inside? Or should she work with Luke to destroy them?
She had one month to decide.
There was something else to consider. The Conclave had been doing research into Descartes for years. They were the only place she might get information as to what she was, and she wanted to know.
Searching inside herself, she could sense that part of her that didn’t belong. She recognized it now, realized it had always been there, sleeping but still present, loitering just beyond the edge of her consciousness.
What had they been like, these aliens? Would she ever find out?
She wanted to know, but not at any price.
In the end, she might conclude that killing herself was really her only option. She glanced again at Luke. She didn’t want to die.
Deep in the recesses of her mind, the alien stirred.
It didn’t want to die, either.
Acknowledgments
I want to say a huge thank you to everyone at Sideways Books for all their help with getting The Descartes Legacy to where it is now. Especially my fabulous editors, Liz Pelletier and Lydia Sharp. Thank you!
About the Author
After a number of years wandering the world in search of adventure, N.J. Croft finally settled on a farm in the mountains and now lives off-grid, growing almonds, drinking cold beer, taking in stray dogs, and writing stories where the stakes are huge and absolutely anything can happen.
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Website: njcroft.com/
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