The Cure

by Teyla Branton

  “Erin.” He was still next to me, closer than I wanted him to be. I started to step back, but his hand clamped onto my upper arm. “Why are you so angry at me? What happened when I was gone?”

  “What happened? What happened?” Was I supposed to be grateful he’d asked? “Nothing really. Let’s see. I learned how to fight, I helped set up a new headquarters, I spent eight hours every day at a mindless job so I could keep an eye on Mari. Oh, and yeah, I donated my heart to my father so he wouldn’t die. Everyone was in the room when I woke up, except for the person who promised to be there.” Was he really so stupid that he didn’t know? I didn’t want to be the weepy female pining for her mate, but a promise was a promise. How trust was built.

  “So? You’re awake and I’m here now.”

  Did he really just say that? No apology, no explanation, nothing? “You could have been dead for all I knew.”

  His grip tightened. “You’re still thinking like a mortal. A hiccup lasts longer for a mortal than two months for us.”

  His words were a slap in the face. Was that all this was, a misinterpretation?

  He sighed and this time his grip eased. “Anyway, something came up. A responsibility.”

  Was he going to tell me what? Because I was through asking. I met his stare impassively.

  “I have a son.”

  “You what?” My perception of him careened in yet another direction. According to Stella, there’d never been any other romantic attachment since his fiancée had been slaughtered and his own life saved. Then again, two hundred and forty years was a long time to be celibate. Maybe revenge wasn’t always enough. Was the mother Unbounded? Jealousy stabbed through me.

  “A foster son, actually. The great-grandson of a friend who was as close as a brother to me. I took care of the boy when he was a teen.” Weariness settled over Ritter’s face, weighing down his shoulders. “He was in trouble.”

  “Where?”

  “London.”

  “I see.” Pulling information from him was like learning how to throw knives—a ton of effort for not much result. I was debating whether or not to press further when Keene spoke from behind us.

  “You about finished here? Because I’m leaving.” I turned to see him, a dark shadow framed by the dim light of the lantern coming from the road behind him. “What’s the final verdict? You going or staying, Erin?”

  “Going,” Ritter and I said together.

  I started toward Keene, but Ritter, still facing me, stepped closer and grabbed my hand. We stood, arms touching, me facing Keene and the light while Ritter faced the darkness of the jungle. “Be careful,” Ritter said. He hesitated before adding, “Please.”

  I looked up at him. His eyes were holes of darkness but in his mind was a slice of light, a door to his soul. I reached out mentally and was swept up in emotions and experiences. Rushing to the park in response to my emergency call, kissing on the rooftop, drowning in touch, despair at the distance between us. And hope. Hope as new and burning and bright as ever revenge had been. I’d never felt so much in a glance, not even with my sensing at full thrust. Impossible to tell where his emotions left off and mine began. I wanted him. Not just him, but all of his past, his failures, his pains. Heat pulsed through me, enveloping me with sensation.

  In less than an instant it was over. The door slammed shut, the light extinguished. Tension stretched, meeting at our hands like a bomb about to explode.

  He released me. I moved forward at the same moment he stepped toward the trees. “Going to make the rounds,” he said. “Tell Jace to finish the tents.”

  I was grateful he wouldn’t be there to see us off. After what had happened in that moment, I didn’t know if I’d be able to drive away or that he’d be able to let me go. Later we would talk. Later I’d learn about this foster son. Later, I’d forgive him, and he’d forgive me.

  Keene was already heading back to the vehicles, and I had to jog to keep up. “So what was that?” he said in an undertone. “It’s not like you to give in.”

  “I’m the only one who can keep track of you,” I retorted. “So watch yourself.”

  He stopped abruptly, and I banged into his arm. “Do you love him, Erin? Because centuries is a lot of commitment. I know how most of the older Renegade Unbounded are. Old-fashioned to a fault. Like my brother.”

  “Not you?”

  “What does it matter? In sixty years I’ll be dead. I’m not even in the running.”

  I wondered what that was supposed to mean. Emotions emanated from him, ripe for the taking, but my senses were so shaken and raw already that I didn’t dare reach out to determine his real meaning, even though he was apparently extending an invitation.

  We both started walking again. “I’ll need my duffel,” I said.

  “Already in the Jeep.”

  Apparently, I’d been the only one certain I’d be staying.

  “Hope you don’t mind sitting with Mari in the back,” Keene added. “She’s still out and she’ll need to lay her head on your lap. It’ll be tight with you two and Benito in the back.”

  Given a choice, I would have preferred sitting with the Swiss doctor, but Benito was still my duty. I hoped he began pulling his weight soon, or I’d never live it down. “That’s fine.”

  “Oh, and Cort wants a peek at that machete. I told him none of us recognized the metal.” He gave a short, mirthless laugh. “That’s my brother for you. Always the scientist.”

  The others were standing around the Jeep, except for Mari, who I surmised was still inside the Pinz. I pulled the machete from its scabbard and handed it to Cort. “You wanted to see this? The native who gave it to me said it was very old.” I turned to Dimitri. “Anything special I need to do for Mari?”

  “No. She should be a lot better when she wakes up. She’s a strong young woman.”

  “Good.” She’d have to be, or we’d lose her sooner rather than later. “Look, there’s something I need to ask you before you go.” I took a few steps away from the others, and he followed me.

  “Is it about Ritter?” Dimitri asked, his voice teasing. “Don’t judge the boy too harshly. I assure you he’ll mellow in a hundred years or so—if he lives that long.”

  Boy? Only Dimitri could call him that. “It’s not Ritter.” Actually, I’d love to hear more, but there wasn’t time. Besides, though Dimitri had never been anything to me but kind, I wasn’t ready to expose my inner feelings to a man who hadn’t even told me he was my biological father.

  “It’s Mari actually. She keeps appearing in places that she simply couldn’t be. I leave her at Stella’s with Ava and then suddenly she’s with us in the plane. Or one minute she’s in the Pinz and the next she’s back in the plane. She doesn’t seem to know how she got there. I thought the shifting ability disappeared.”

  “It did.” Dimitri glanced back toward the Pinz. “If she has the gift, it will be a huge boon to the Renegades.”

  “But how do I keep her where she’s supposed to be?” The fact that he was ready to consider it told me more than anything that I was probably right. “If she’s doing it without awareness, how can I stop her from getting herself killed?” I felt ill when I thought about her suddenly appearing in the midst of a fight like the one we’d had with the bandits.

  Dimitri’s brow furrowed. “Well, typically shifters are limited to places they’ve visited. Or occasionally they can find certain people.”

  “She’d never been to the plane before.”

  “No, but she spent a lot of time with you. It’s possible you’ve forged a link.”

  “So she was searching for me subconsciously.”

  “Perhaps. Or it might be kind of similar to what happens when you’re sparring with Jace, the way you can sometimes tell what he’s going to do, as if you also have the combat ability. Cort and I were talking on the flight here, and we think you’re doing that because of your close connection with your brother, borrowing his gift, so to speak. We want to do some tests because if it’s tru
e, it may be possible for you to use that in battle, and not just from your brother, but from anyone with the ability, especially if they let you into their minds willingly.”

  “Which would be hard to do if there are sensing Emporium Unbounded around.”

  Dimitri nodded. “There are drawbacks. But all our abilities stem from our brains, even the ones that seem purely physical, so theoretically, a sensing Unbounded should be able to access the abilities of others. If only partially.”

  “You think I used Mari’s ability to bring her to me?” I only wished I could be so strong. “I think I’d know if I did something like that.”

  He shrugged. “Or it could have been all her.”

  Had I been thinking of Mari when we’d boarded the plane? It didn’t really matter because no way was my range that far. She must have acted on her own.

  “Now that Mari’s on her way to recovery,” Dimitri continued, “I think the way to keep her safe is to explain it to her and warn her to be careful. We have no idea what distance or other limitations apply, but it will likely hold to the rules of physics.” He chuckled and added, “Or physics as people like Cort understand it. Once we get home, he’ll be able to set up some short experiments to teach her the basics. He’ll be in heaven with so much new information to record.”

  I stifled a laugh. “That’s an understatement. Just wait until he learns about Oliver.”

  “What about Oliver?”

  I shook my head. “Later.” There was much we’d have to leave for later, including the most important conversation Dimitri and I would ever have. “I’d better go before Keene takes off without me and gets himself killed.”

  Dimitri nodded. “Go.”

  I was both glad and sad that he didn’t warn me to be careful. Did it mean he trusted me, or that I was just one more Renegade to him, equal in importance to all the rest?

  Why did I need more?

  I went back to the Jeep to find everyone who was going with us inside except Mari. I was glad the vehicle didn’t have a top or I might get claustrophobic. Pulling on a lightweight jacket from my bag, I zipped it all the way up. Though the night wasn’t chilly, it was definitely colder now without the sun, and the wind hitting us in the Jeep was bound to lower the temperature further.

  Jace appeared at my elbow. “Take care.” My brother’s voice sounded excited, as though anticipating the fighting that would come.

  I knew it was in his nature, that his ability ached to be used, but I also remembered how he’d thrown up after seeing the dead Hunters, and that worried me. Yet he’d more than held his own in last night’s violent battle with the Emporium and also during our encounter with the bandits.

  “You, too.” It was difficult to leave him. For the first time I wished, however briefly, that he hadn’t Changed, that he was still living an ordinary life away from so much danger.

  We left it at that. Jace and I had always been close; we didn’t need more. Definitely no last minute pleas to be careful—we both knew that neither of us was likely to be overly cautious, so there was no point.

  Cort put away a magnifying glass he was using to study the machete and handed it to me. “It’s been several hundred years since I’ve seen one of these. The last time was in Jerusalem. It’s very rare. I’m not sure how one would appear here, though, or what the connection might be.”

  “What’s it made of?”

  He shook his head. “I couldn’t tell then when I tested it, and I still don’t know. Not even the pattern in the metal is familiar.” That was part of his scientific ability, to see and understand how things acted on an atomic level. “With the equipment we have today, I might be able to learn more.”

  I grinned. “Maybe you’ll prove Ava’s theory of aliens being responsible for the Unbounded gene.”

  “I doubt it. What I can tell you is that there’s a legend that goes along with these blades. They can only freely be given to a new owner. If one is stolen or taken by force, it will eventually turn on its holder.”

  I shuddered, thinking of the man I’d sliced. In his case it had been true.

  “Good thing that old man gave it to you,” Keene said from the Jeep. “Now would you get in so we can go?”

  Cort rolled his eyes. “I wouldn’t put too much stock in legends. They often have origin in a bottle of cheap wine.” Always the gentleman, he helped me into the Jeep.

  Dimitri arrived carrying a blanket-wrapped Mari and settled her between me and Benito. Mari stirred only slightly as her head sank onto my lap. “Let her sleep as long as possible.”

  Cort held his fist out to Keene in farewell. Keene met it solemnly before starting the engine. I waved goodbye.

  We didn’t see Ritter as we left, though I sensed a life force hidden among the trees less than half a mile later. The thoughts were tight and dark, with no readable emotions, but I knew it was him.

  WITHOUT THE SATELLITES, WE HAD to rely on a compass and the Jeep headlights to find our way, backtracking several times when the road petered out or became impassable. Dr. Hertenstein turned out to be a great help, especially as the rainforest thinned and he recognized his surroundings. “We’ll meet the main road soon,” he said. “But there’s a fork up ahead, if we’re on the path I think we are.”

  “Good.” Keene sounded tense, and I couldn’t blame him.

  His tenseness was why I hadn’t told him we were being followed by an animal, who came closer every time we slowed to a crawl. Whether out of curiosity or because we looked like prey, I couldn’t say, but I kept my reloaded Sig close. As we navigated the crater-sized potholes near the fork, I sensed the creature again and reached out my mind, probing—finding an awareness driven by instinct, a consciousness so foreign that it seemed more alien to my experience than the jungle around us. More alien but somehow regal. I didn’t want to have to kill it. I wished there were a way to communicate with the animal. One more thing to research.

  Shortly later, we found the main road. “I hope it’s not too far,” Keene said. “We filled up partway from the gas containers in the Pinz, but all that backtracking cost us.”

  “We’re not too far away now,” Hertenstein answered. “Maybe forty-five minutes.”

  Keene sped up. “We should have enough gas then.”

  Mari was stirring finally, and I switched my attention to her. Now that we were going faster, it was unlikely we could be attacked by some large animal, or even by bandits. I hadn’t sensed any human life forces since we’d left the others, not even the darker signals put out by the natives we’d met.

  Mari lifted her head and gazed around, slowly taking in her surroundings. Her long hair twirled in the wind, though the silky strands didn’t seem to tangle. “Where’s Dimitri?” There was a touch of panic to her tone.

  “He stayed back with the others. They’re following the people who kidnapped one of our scientists. But you don’t need Dimitri now. You’re strong enough on your own.”

  She couldn’t remember much of anything, so I filled her in on what had happened since the attack at the palace. Benito watched us with one eye, his head resting on the side of the Jeep, his stolen fedora clutched in one hand. I lowered my voice. I didn’t really trust him yet, and the way he kept looking at my hand, nearly healed now, unsettled me. I’d have to get Keene to remove the stitches when we stopped.

  “Look,” I told Mari, “you seem to have a very unusual ability. Do you remember how you found yourself in—” I broke off. I had been going to say “the trailer,” but maybe bringing up her husband’s death wasn’t exactly the best idea right now. “In the plane?” I finished.

  She shook her head. “Not really. Well, sort of. I was looking for you, and there you were. It’s kind of like remembering a dream. How did I get there?”

  “You’re what’s called a shifter. I think it has something to do with the way you can calculate all those numbers without a machine. Somehow you’re moving through space. Teleporting. But try not to do it again until we experiment with your ability. Tha
t way you can make sure you don’t end up somewhere dangerous.” I didn’t add that there was no one who could really teach her, that Cort would be using ancient documents and logic to make calculations. Then again, logic and numbers were things Mari understood.

  Wonder filled her eyes. “That’s so cool.” She sounded like her old self again—no, more self-possessed. Her Unbounded genes were taking over, remaking her.

  The wind pushed my hair forward and I pulled it back from my mouth with a smile. “Yeah. It is cool.” I fumbled for the knife I’d restored to the sheath on my calf. “Do you think you can cut these stitches?”

  WE REACHED PALENQUE SHORTLY BEFORE nine. The city of approximately forty thousand was busy this Friday night, especially the closer we got to the hotel district near the interior.

  “There are about seventy or so hotels in the city,” Hertenstein said. “They even have a small airport, though where you landed is much closer to our lab.”

  “So all these people are what, tourists?” Mari gestured to the groups walking along the sidewalk.

  He nodded. “We’re not far from the Palenque ruins. Same name as this city, different place. So a lot of people visit the area. Tourism is a big part of the economy.”

  “I had no idea,” I said.

  “Not many do.” Hertenstein frowned. “Unfortunately, tourism has added to the deforestation that’s been going on in the rainforests, though it’s certainly not the biggest cause. Nowadays, it’s not uncommon to see black howler monkeys sneaking into Palenque to find food.”

  No monkey in sight at the moment, only a bunch of people walking around with cameras hanging from their necks. “So where will we find the senator?” I asked.