Man (Seven Forbidden Arts Book 9)

by Charmaine Pauls

  A thump on the door made her jump. The backdoor flung open and the alarm blared through the house. A man stood in the doorframe, his sturdy shape filling the exit. In his hand, he held a metal case.

  Godfrey.

  She turned to ice. The noise of the alarm assaulted her eardrums. The man hovering on the step was a threat she couldn’t ignore. Thank God Cain had left when he had. A few minutes later, and he would’ve had an unpleasant run-in with her husband who was now staring at her with a very cold, very angry expression.

  “Turn off the noise.”

  She jerked to action, running for the control panel and punching in the code to deactivate the alarm.

  “What the fuck?” Godfrey said when the alarm went silent. “I had to use my key to get in. The code doesn’t work.”

  She placed a hand over her beating heart. “You scared me. I changed the code.”

  He took one step into the room. “Without telling me?”

  “I forgot.”

  He advanced slowly. “Why did you change the code?”

  “Precaution.” She stood her ground as he stopped short of her. “I should do it more often. Forgetfulness on my side, really.”

  Glancing around the kitchen, his gaze fell on the pot in which the chicken was simmering. He made his way to the stove and peered inside. “You don’t eat meat.”

  “I was making that for you, knowing you’d show up soon.” She crossed her fingers behind her back. “It takes a long time to cook, so I thought I’d prepare it in advance and freeze it. It’s a new recipe.”

  He sniffed the vapors and shrugged. His reaction confused her. It wasn’t like him to be so nonchalant about something he’d normally be suspicious over.

  He cocked his head toward the hallway. “Come.”

  She turned off the gas. Trying to sound calm, she asked, “Where?”

  “To the lab.”

  Two things froze her. One, the statement. Two, the easy way in which Godfrey had answered. He never gave explanations.

  She didn’t budge. “I cleaned the lab like you asked.”

  Godfrey took two more steps in her direction. “Move.”

  When she didn’t oblige, he grabbed her hair. Holding her by the short strands, he started dragging her to the door. She tried to dig in her heels, but her bare feet offered no traction on the tiles. Her heartbeat quickened to a deafening pace in her ears. This was out of character for Godfrey. He’d never used force like this before. He loved playing cat and mouse too much, using psychological manipulation to get her to bend to his will. She yelped and scratched his hand, but her efforts had no effect on him. She stumbled, hitting the floor with her knees, but he simply heaved her along. The pain in her scalp was unbearable.

  “Please, let go. I’ll walk.”

  He stopped abruptly. When he released her, she scrambled to her feet.

  “Godfrey, what’s going on?”

  “You said you’d walk.”

  She looked down the dark corridor. This time, his doctor wasn’t here. What was his plan for her?

  “Don’t make me wait,” he said.

  She stared back at the kitchen where she’d hidden Cain’s phone.

  He uttered a sigh. “Very well.”

  “Wait,” she cried when he reached for her, but he seemed to have little patience for games and manipulation, tonight. Holding the metal case in one hand, he grabbed her ankle in the other, pulling her feet from under her. Her arms flailed in the air as her body tipped backward. Whack! Thankfully, she hit the floor with her butt first, absorbing most of the shock, but a sharp pain shot up her back and neck when those parts connected with the floor, too.

  Unceremoniously, he dragged her by one foot. The grooves in the tiles scraped her flesh. Her head bumped on a step as he pulled her down the stairs. Only her rigorous training made it possible to maintain a stomach crunch as she bounced along, absorbing the impact with her bottom. He tugged her along through the hidden panel and down the cobblestone hallway. The stones chaffed her skin and burned her elbows. She lifted her upper body, trying to grab hold of his arm, but he backhanded her with the metal case as if he was swatting away an irritable fly. The coppery taste of blood filled her mouth. She started shivering as they neared the second door.

  “No, please.”

  Her begging had no effect on him. He glanced back at her without a trace of compassion. Usually, when he was marching her down here, he always got a pained look on his face, as if he regretted what he was about to do. Not so today.

  “Godfrey, please.”

  He opened the second door, hauled her inside, and dumped her with the case in the middle of the floor. The door shut behind them with a click. Godfrey had his own code for the door. It was paired with his retina scan. Even if she knew the code, which she didn’t, she wouldn’t be able to open the door unless she poked out his eye.

  He looked around until his gaze found the gurney.

  “No, please.”

  She scurried back on her elbows and feet, but he easily caught her, lifting her by one arm and leg. Like a piece of meat, he chucked her down on the gurney. Her kicking and slapping only paused him momentarily. Within no time, her arms and legs were secured with the leather straps. Cold sweat drenched her body.

  “Where’s the doctor?” she asked.

  “I don’t need him.”

  “Are you going to kill me?”

  His face remained expressionless. “No.”

  He deposited the metal case on the counter and flicked it open. Her breath caught when he took out a hypodermic needle the size of a knitting needle. Was this what Godfrey was doing to her when his doctor had injected her with a tranquilizer that knocked her out cold?

  “No,” she muttered as he neared, aiming the needle between her legs. “What are you doing?” She thrashed in the constraints, twisting her body away from the instrument of torture.

  “Keep still,” he said with irritation. “I don’t want to puncture an organ.”

  “What?”

  When he brought the needle down, she understood the great mercy he’d granted her before with the tranquilizer. Her screams tore through the room until her throat was raw. Eventually, he either took pity on her or the noise became too much, because his fist came down on the side of her head, turning aching pain to nothingness.

  The penthouse floor of the apartment building Sean had converted into a safe house was armed with motion detection alarms on all perimeters. Cain didn’t go through the lobby to use the elevator, but climbed the stairs on the outside of the building.

  Ivan greeted him on the landing. “Come on in. We were waiting for you.”

  Inside, Alice was curled up on the sofa with a book. A pissed-off looking Maya worked at the dining room table. The view was magnificent, showing the lights shining in the bay.

  “I don’t appreciate being locked up in a glass tower,” Maya complained.

  “I’m not taking any risks. Even if Olivia agreed to work with me, it doesn’t mean Godfrey isn’t tracking her movements.”

  “She agreed to help you?” Ivan asked.

  “Yes.”

  Maya leaned back in her chair. “I thought you wanted to lure Godfrey to the base.”

  “We’ll be ready to attack when he comes, but I don’t want two pregnant women caught up in the middle of a fight.”

  “I’m not fragile. Pregnant or not, I can handle myself.”

  “The answer remains no. You’re on admin duty until that baby is born. In fact, I’m thinking of shipping you home to Tim.”

  “Cain! You can’t be serious. You need me now more than ever.”

  “Your health is my first priority.”

  “My health is fine.” She glanced at Alice. “Eve’s been giving me the serum. There’s no reason why there should be birth complications.”

  “We’ll keep you monitored. If you develop as much as a sneeze, you’re going home.” He turned to Alice. “How are you feeling?”

  “Big.” She smiled. �
�A bit tired, but it’s to be expected. I went from nothing to a whale in a week.”

  “You’re not a whale.” Ivan sat down on the sofa, pulling Alice’s feet onto his lap. “You’ve never been more beautiful.”

  She rubbed his arm. “Right answer, handsome.”

  Cain looked around the room. There were a lot of windows. “Do you have satellite diverters set up on all the windows?” he asked Maya.

  “Of course.”

  “Good. Where’s Eve?”

  “In the lab,” Alice said. “I never thought I’d give birth in a greenhouse.”

  “What?”

  “The guys Sean rented the place from were growing marijuana,” Ivan explained. “Don’t worry. We cleaned the place out.” He pointed at an adjoining door. “Through the kitchen, out back.”

  Cain followed Ivan’s directions and exited on a rooftop terrace. The majority of the space was encased in glass. Solar panels hid the view from the top, and blinds were drawn in front of the glass walls. He pushed the door open. Equipment and monitors took up most of the surface space on a runaround counter. A daybed and examination chair stood in one corner. The floor was covered in immaculate white tiles and a faint smell of disinfectant hung in the air. Bright spotlights illuminated the interior. It was cool inside, thanks to air conditioning. Eve straightened from where she was bent over a microscope.

  “You’ve done wonders with the place in a short time,” he said.

  “I had help from the team. You’re going to want to see this.” She swiveled her computer screen toward him.

  Cain approached and leaned in for a closer look. He stared at what looked like a DNA chain, only much more complex. There were seven strands, each marked with a different color.

  “The seven cells?”

  “Yes. Look at this.” She pushed a button, and the cells started disintegrating.

  “Any six of the seven cells are pretty much useless together. It’s only when the seventh is introduced that the new strand develops. I’ve studied the pattern from sample tissue I took from Ivan. The pattern is always the same. When I mess with the pattern, the molecules break up and the chain disintegrates.”

  “Like cancer?”

  “More or less.”

  “How do you disrupt the pattern?”

  “By implanting a pre-programmed stem cell into the living organism.”

  “So, if we somehow manage to inject Godfrey with one of these tampered cells, the seven cells should self-destruct?”

  “Yes. They’ll feed on each other until there’s nothing left.”

  “What happens to the human host?”

  “He’ll die.”

  “Are you sure this will work?”

  “We’ll only know for sure once we try, but there’s no reason why it shouldn’t.”

  “How do we inject such a cell?”

  “Under the skin or straight into the blood. As easy as injecting a hypodermic needle into muscle tissue.”

  “How fast can you get me one?”

  “I already have it. I had to create it to test it.”

  “What are the implications for Alice and Ivan’s baby? Will the baby be a quantumancist?”

  “Theoretically, yes.”

  “Does that mean she’ll be able to regenerate herself via transdifferentiation?”

  “As long as the seven cells remain intact and the DNA pattern isn’t hampered with. There’s more.” She pulled up another image. “I can explain why Maya is pregnant.”

  “Go on.”

  “Each of the seven cells has their own regenerative properties, meaning that they’ll heal and fix themselves when falling ill or becoming damaged. That explains the forbidden arts practitioners’ vitality and exceptional ability to heal. In Maya’s case, the cell not only sought to heal others of its kind, but also foreign ones, such as Tim’s infertile sperm. Remember the virus Tim infected Maya with and how her body naturally developed anti-bodies? It was because of this phenomenon.”

  He rubbed the back of his neck. “This is major. It means the seven cells can be used to cure human illnesses such as cancer.”

  “Yes. Diseases will be a thing of the past. It will become non-existent as humans are vaccinated with one of the forbidden cells. It won’t turn them into forbidden arts practitioners, but it will strengthen their immune systems.”

  “What about aging?”

  “The process remains unaffected, unless all seven cells are introduced.”

  “I’ll have to inform the board,” he mused. “News like this will go a long way in easing the tension currently existing about paranormals. If humans understand the benefits of integrating them into society, we may face less resistance. How do you cultivate the vaccine?”

  “I need a stem cell. Just a bit of blood or a small skin sample will do. I can artificially grow new cells from those.”

  “Good. That means paranormals won’t be hunted for their stem cells. It wouldn’t help much if the hunt turned from their arts to their body parts.”

  “Clinical trials will have to be run, of course, but I’m more than a hundred percent certain of the results.”

  “Record all your findings. This information is too valuable to lose.”

  “Got it.”

  “How are Alice and Maya doing? Are all the tests normal?”

  “Everything’s fine. I’m giving them the same serum that prevented Clelia and Kat from dying in childbirth. There shouldn’t be any issues.”

  “Thank you. Get some rest. I know you’ve been working around the clock.”

  “Soon. I’ll have a break when I’ve finished writing up my report.”

  “I’m going back to the base to brief the team. Let me know the minute anything with Alice changes.”

  She waved goodbye, already bent over her microscope again.

  The overhead lights buzzed and flickered. Olivia came to slowly. She was lying on the gurney in the lab. Alone. Her hands and feet were untied and the door stood open. She sat up and winced at the dull pain that settled in her abdomen. It was the same pain she always felt after Godfrey’s monthly visits, only now she knew what happened in the lab when she was unconscious.

  Pricking up her ears, she listened for sounds, but the underground room and corridor were quiet. Had Godfrey left or was he still upstairs in the house? She swung her legs from the gurney and kept still for several seconds as dizziness threatened to overwhelm her. Her head throbbed. Her lip ached. She touched her mouth, tracing the swollenness with her fingers. When the worst of the lightheadedness had passed, she climbed off the gurney and made her way to the door, clutching the edge of the counter for support. The cuts on her skin burned. Her body felt battered.

  Step by step, she made her way down the corridor and up the stairs. The house was dark and quiet. She hovered in the door of the kitchen without switching on the light. Sensing only emptiness, she moved to the drawer where she had stashed Cain’s phone. For several heartbeats she only stared at the drawer, willing her hand to reach for the handle. A thought held her back. Did Cain honestly know what he was up against? Did he stand a chance? If Godfrey found out she was conniving with Cain, how many families would pay in blood? And if she didn’t rely on Cain’s intervention, was she capable of killing? Could she snuff out Godfrey’s life herself? Truthfully, alone she stood little chance of getting rid of her husband. Whether she liked it or not, she needed Cain’s help. Besides, she’d given him her word. Her fingers flittered at her side. She lifted her hand to the drawer. Yes, she’d call Cain and betray her husband. The consequences could be dealt with when the time came. Her fingers were an inch from the handle when a voice booming from the corner made her jump.

  “Awake, I see.”

  Godfrey. She spun around. He emerged from the shadows, his hands shoved in his pockets. Breathless with fear, she stood still as he moved closer. He flicked on the lights, basking the room in a bright glow.

  His eyes roamed her face, coming to land on her pulsing lip. “How are you?”
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br />   “Seriously?” she bit out. “You’re going to ask me that after what you just did?”

  He sighed. “It shouldn’t have been like that. God knows why I still want to show you mercy, but I do.”

  Trembling all over, she steeled her voice, faking control and courage. “What are you still doing here?”

  “Am I not welcome in my wife’s house?”

  “What did you do to me?”

  “I extracted an ovum.”

  Coldness engulfed her. “What? Why?”

  “Why does a man need an egg cell?”

  “In vitro fertilization?”

  “I need it for my experiment.”

  “What experiment?” she asked with growing dread.

  “I need an egg for stem cell implant.”

  She stared at him in shock. “You’re trying to create a human being?”

  “Not trying to. I already have.”

  She let out a soft gasp. “Is this a joke?”

  He moved closer. The haughty smile he gave her was more like the Godfrey of old. “Do I ever joke?”

  Shock slammed into her. “You stole my ovum to make a child?” Her voice rose in hysterics. “Without my consent?”

  “Don’t worry. It didn’t live long.”

  She gripped the counter for support. “Are you telling me you artificially conceived our child, and that the baby is dead?”

  “It was only an embryo.”

  She couldn’t believe her ears. “What monstrosity are you concocting?”

  He reached out to touch her face, but she jerked away.

  “Don’t touch me! Don’t you dare lay your hands on me.”

  To her surprise, he obliged.

  “That’s the difference between us,” he said. “You’re a romantic and I’m practical.”

  “This goes way beyond practical. It’s downright crazy. You’re playing God.”

  “I’m not playing, Olivia. I am God.”

  Of all the things that had ever come from his mouth, this scared her the most, not because of what he said, but how. He’d spoken with certainty. There was no doubt he believed himself.

  “You’re mad,” she whispered.

  “On the contrary, I’m the only sane person in a world of madness.”