The Cure

by Teyla Branton

  Pivoting, I sent a jab to the wound in his chest. He grunted in pain, but his fists were already coming at me again. No, they would come at me. I knew how to avoid them. I also knew it wasn’t my ability that warned me of the coming blow, but Edgel’s own combat gift.

  Dimitri was right. Maybe it was his suggestion that made me aware of what I was doing. Because I’d felt this before when sparring with Jace.

  Edgel’s next two punches missed me, but there was no way to avoid the third. I landed two myself. My shoulder ached where he’d hit, and I suspected something had cracked or broken. Even borrowing his ability, I wasn’t going to win. Edgel had too much training—not to mention six inches and forty pounds on me. But I could distract him enough to reach for the Ruger at my ankle.

  I threw another knife from the sheath at my thigh, knowing he would dodge. I reached for the gun.

  Too late.

  A soft sound whizzed toward me and my right arm burst into fire.

  “THAT’S QUITE ENOUGH,” CAME A silky female voice.

  I wanted to curl up and cry at the pain, but I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction. Clenching my jaw, I turned to meet her. “Justine.”

  She stood pointing a gleaming silver pistol at my chest, her face mocking. Blue eyes, small nose, high, prominent cheekbones. She looked exactly the same as when we’d been best friends, before I’d heard about Unbounded or the war between the Emporium and Renegades. When I’d thought she cared about me. When I’d thought Tom’s love was real and not engineered by his so-called sister. Only her hair was different. Instead of the dyed blond, it was a rich brown—her natural color, which she’d once hated. Like me, she wore all black, but her jeans ended with pointed, high heeled boots.

  Behind her, Tom stood, his face impassive. His eyes appeared dark, so unlike those belonging to the man that day on the cliff that it was like looking at a stranger. The Unbounded certainty made him far more compelling and attractive than when he’d been mortal, average. If he had already Changed when we first met, I guessed I wouldn’t have hesitated to accept his proposal as I did after our bike ride to the cliff.

  “What a nice surprise running into you.” Justine gave me a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. She tossed her head, making the long locks glisten under the lamplight. “No, Edgel,” she said, her eyes going past me. “You had your chance. Don’t feel too bad for losing. Remember her heritage.”

  My heritage? Coupled with what Edgel had said, that could only mean she still thought Stefan Carrington was my biological father and that I was gifted in combat. Which in turn meant Tom hadn’t told Justine the truth about my ability or my parentage—and yet he’d known about both.

  “You’re looking good. I like the hair,” I told Justine. My arm throbbed and it was all I could do to make my voice sound bored. “How did you know I was here?”

  Justine scowled. “We were actually expecting that traitor Keene, but it was very kind of you to show up, too. Once I realized you’d come with him, I knew it was only a matter of time until you tried to follow Tom. So we waited until you did.”

  I hated being predictable, especially to Justine. I pushed at her mind, but it was tightly locked. Still, if I could find a hole, maybe I could inflict a little damage that would help me escape. Unfortunately, my head pounded from my previous effort, the customary dull aching, interspersed with searing flashes of lightning that threatened to bring tears to my eyes. Well, I needed to learn what they knew anyway, and it wasn’t like Tom would let me go easily. I could also sense Edgel behind me, ready to use any excuse to make me pay for his humiliation in front of Justine.

  “Sorry to disappoint you,” I said, pretending to scan the area. “Keene doesn’t seem to be here. I could give him a message, if you like, the next time I see him.”

  Justine chuckled, and this time her eyes showed genuine amusement. “Ah, Erin, I’ve missed you.”

  Something caught in my chest, a feeling I didn’t want to experience. I missed Justine, too. Finding her and Tom at that low point in my life after leaving law school had saved me. Or so I’d thought at the time. That was before I knew I was being manipulated.

  Justine’s eyes roamed over my outfit. “Edgel, get her weapons and check her for more. Hand them to Tom.” She spied the machete as Edgel retrieved it from the ground. “Wait, what’s that?” She laughed. “Why, Erin, how native of you.”

  “It was a gift. I’ll take it back if you don’t mind.”

  “Funny.” She handed it to Tom.

  Edgel relieved me of the machete’s sheath and found my extra gun and the knife I wore at my ankle. He glared at me the entire time, his hands rough during the search. I ignored him.

  “She’s bleeding,” Tom said unnecessarily.

  The flow of blood from the bullet hole halfway between my elbow and shoulder was actually slowing a bit, which was good because I was feeling rather dizzy and nauseated, though whether from blood loss or overusing my ability, I couldn’t say. It was hard to think between those flashes of agony in my brain.

  “Yes, I can see that.” Justine stepped toward me, carefully avoiding the blood pooling on the ground beside me. “We have something to ease the pain. We call it tonic. Would you like some?”

  Similar to our curequick, I was betting, and much more aptly named. Cort and I had an ongoing argument about how stupid curequick sounded. “I’m good,” I said. “That stuff’s addictive, you know.” Another searing pain made me wince, which ruined my show of strength.

  Justine studied me for a full thirty seconds without comment. When she spoke, her voice was silky and compelling. “Who else are you here with? Where are they?”

  The words held the promise of untold sexual pleasure and the fulfillment of every wild dream. Well, not the words exactly, but the pheromones accompanying them. She wasn’t a hypnopath like Tenika, compelling people with speech, rather her ability to emit pheromones attracted others and made them want to please her. Pheromones worked on everyone regardless of gender or sexual orientation, but it was a weak ability because once you were aware of the manipulation, you could resist it—if you wanted. Justine hated that aspect, though I’d observed enough people around her to know that many never became immune. Take Edgel, for instance. He was old enough to know better, yet he hung on her every word like a teenage boy with his first crush.

  “I’m here alone,” I said, shifting my position so that the pain in my arm increased. Something to focus on instead of the desire to please her. I wouldn’t let her pheromones fool me into thinking I mattered to her as anything other than an incubator for her Unbounded grandchildren. Pheromones might be undetectable to the conscious mind, but I recognized their presence by my reaction to them.

  “You’re lying.” Her voice became hard and the pheromones thicker. “We know Keene has an informant at the Emporium. Sweet little mortal receptionist. We fed her information about our intentions toward the senator, knowing Keene wouldn’t be able to resist getting involved. He’s been fouling up quite a few of our operations these past few months. How convenient to bring you along, though. Couldn’t have planned it better myself. Two birds with one stone and all that.” She stepped around me, close enough that our shoulders brushed. I could smell her spicy signature perfume. With her boots, we were about the same height, and she leaned and whispered in my ear. “Tell me where Keene is, Erin. You can trust me. Tom and I care about you.”

  My gaze went to Tom, whose eyes hadn’t left my face. I wondered how he really felt about me. Not that it mattered. “Then let me go.”

  Justine laughed softly, her breath warm on my ear. “Don’t be ridiculous. You and Tom need some time alone. I know you have a lot to talk about. But first, we need to see who might be looking for you. Did you and Keene bring any more of Ava’s motley clan? That might upset things a tad. Why don’t you make it easy for everyone and tell me right now?”

  Cort had said the Emporium agents didn’t seem aware they were being followed in the jungle, but surely they’d known w
e’d come once we heard of the fire. Maybe they hoped we’d think it was an accident. With only a few survivors, which they were doing their best to mop up, how would we ever know?

  Wait. Had she said “any more of Ava’s motley clan?” Because that sounded like she was aware of at least some of them.

  “She’s not going to tell you,” Tom said.

  My eyes flicked back to him. “Oh, so you can speak.”

  “I’ll get her back to the room,” he continued, ignoring me. “You go grab those supplies. That clerk should have them here by now. Hurry, I’ll need to check in with the senator before he goes to sleep.”

  “What senator exactly?” I asked. “How does he work into all this?” I really wanted to ask about the agents who’d stolen the research, but mentioning them would warn Justine that we were onto them.

  “Don’t play stupid,” Tom growled. “You know what our plans are, or you wouldn’t be here with Keene.”

  “The senator has nothing to do with me,” I retorted. Was it even remotely possible that he and Justine were here only for Senator Bellars and weren’t connected with the lab? I didn’t think so.

  Tom arched a brow. “Then why are you here?”

  “Vacation. I hear they have some wonderful ruins around here.”

  Justine snorted impatiently. “Watch her. I’ll meet you back at the room.”

  I waited for her to hand over the gun, but Tom pulled out one of his own. The way he handled it told me he’d been practicing.

  “Edgel will go with you.” Justine’s trust in Tom apparently did not extend far.

  Tom didn’t protest. “There’s more than we’re seeing here. A lot more. There’s a pattern I can’t quite make out.”

  A pattern? That had to be something related to his ability.

  Justine smiled at him as though he’d said something brilliant. “Great. Try to figure it out, would you?”

  Tom shrugged off his suit jacket and tossed it to Justine. “Drape it over her shoulder.”

  “That’s right, can’t have her bleeding all over the place in front of the other guests.” Justine positioned the jacket and then kissed the air near my cheek mockingly before striding away. All of us watched her swaying back and forth until she was out of sight and the pheromones began to dissipate.

  Tom put his hand with the pistol in his pocket to hide it. “Let’s go, Erin.”

  I considered running, but Edgel loomed nearby, his stoic face belying the anger that exuded from the taut lines of his body. Every place he’d hit me ached—my cheek especially—and my head was growing fuzzy. The worst was the gunshot; I was pretty sure the bullet was still deep inside my flesh.

  Holding my right arm with my left to minimize the pain, I preceded Tom back inside the hotel. “So, what’s your plan?” I probed. “Are you going to kill someone?” I tried to make it sound ludicrous, but the attempt fell flat. I glanced over my shoulder.

  Tom frowned. “I have a duty to protect the Emporium’s interests.”

  “Don’t you mean the Triad’s interests?”

  “Same thing.”

  “I don’t think so.” I stopped walking and waited until a foursome passed us in the otherwise deserted hallway. “Do you really believe in their vision of utopia? Because it sounds to me an awful lot like Unbounded ruling the world.”

  Tom laughed. “What’s wrong with that? Look, Erin, I spent years investing money for rich people who were ahead in this world only because they’re rich. I have a chance now to be one of those people, and I’m not passing it up. The mortals don’t really matter to me. Their lives are too short to make any impact. Now get going.”

  He propelled me ahead with a gentle shove that felt like a baseball bat to my shoulder. “Sorry,” he muttered when I winced, but he didn’t sound repentant.

  We marched toward the senator’s wing. When I realized the direction we were heading, I began hoping we’d run into Keene. I even sent my mind searching for him, but my thoughts didn’t seem to get past the pounding in my head. I was having problems seeing now, and the urge to vomit was growing.

  I stumbled on the stairs to the second floor, but when Tom reached out to me, I hurried ahead blindly—only to run into a wide man in a white linen shirt and a thick gold necklace. Both of which I saw very close up, since my nose hit his chest. Agony from my shoulder made the rest of him a blur.

  “Too much to drink,” Tom apologized, scooping me into his arms. Blackness ate at the edges of my consciousness. The arms around me felt familiar but far from safe, unlike when I was with Ritter, though as far as I knew, Tom had never killed anyone and Ritter had killed many times.

  Where was Ritter now? And Keene? The worst was not knowing if Justine and Tom had discovered Mari and Hertenstein. If we didn’t recover the research, the doctor was Stella’s only hope at recreating the formula for Bronson, and Mari’s ability made her invaluable to the Renegades. If Justine found them, I’d never forgive myself.

  My sight was clearing a bit, and I could see Edgel reaching to unlock a door. Now, I thought. Twisting, I slammed the palm of my hand into Tom’s chin. With enough force, apparently, to make him drop me. Liquid fire erupted from my wound. I heaved twice, but nothing came up except the sour taste of bile.

  A sound behind me. I lashed out a foot, felt it connect and heard a satisfying grunt. I scrambled to my feet and half stumbled, half fell down the stairs.

  “Get her!” Tom’s voice.

  That I made it to the bottom of the stairs was small comfort. I turned to see a fist coming straight at my eyes. I crumpled from the impact.

  “Guess I made it here just in time.” Justine stared down at where I’d fallen. For someone who looked so feminine, she had a fantastic right hook.

  By the time Edgel scraped me off the floor, Tom had the door to the room open. Inside, Mari sat on a chair, her hands tied and her eyes wide. She’d been crying, and there was a fresh cut on her bottom lip.

  I glared at Tom as Edgel set me inside the door and shut it behind me. “She has nothing to do with this!”

  Tom arched a brow. “Uh, you’re the one who brought her.”

  Ignoring him, I went to Mari, anger fueling my strength. “Did they hurt you?” Something about her expression wasn’t right, though she hadn’t retreated into herself as she had before.

  She shook her head, a sob coming from her throat. “They broke in. We hadn’t even eaten yet. And the doctor . . . they . . . they—oh, God, help us! They shot him!” Her voice rose hysterically, and I could barely understand her through her convulsive sobs. “There was bl-blood everywhere. All o-over the bed and . . . the wall. It was horr-horrible!”

  I hugged her with my good arm. “It’s going to be okay,” I whispered in her ear. “Just don’t tell them anything. Nothing at all, got it?” What if she’d already told them about Ritter and the others? If she had, it might become impossible for them to retrieve the research.

  I was yanked from Mari before she gave any response, pain bursting through my body at the sudden movement. I twisted to see Edgel grinning at me.

  Justine watched us with a half smile on her face. “It was the Mexican.”

  I blinked. “Benito’s yours?” Though I’d suspected the coincidence of his appearance, I didn’t want to believe it.

  “Of course he’s not ours,” Tom answered with a little shudder.

  Justine laughed. “No, but he was the reason we found you. Half the staff here is on our payroll, and they’ve looked closely at every single new guest since our arrival. Benito did fool us for a bit, but there aren’t many lowlifes dressed like him at a place like this, much less ones using business credit cards. The clerk checked him out like all the others and reported it when our automated checks showed the credit card came from a dummy corporation. It was easy enough to verify everything with a listening device on the room service cart.” Justine smiled. “Of course, we wouldn’t have been watching at all if we hadn’t baited Keene in the first place. You are all just icing on the cake.
”

  She walked over to the mound on one of the two beds, ripping off a blanket to reveal Benito, whose unnatural position for a moment made me suspect he was dead. “Wake up, you.” Justine jabbed at his shoulder. “Get into that bathroom and clean up. You stink, and I won’t endure another minute of your presence.”

  Benito struggled to a sitting position as she shoved a plastic bag of clothing at his stomach, nearly toppling him again. He groaned but pushed doggedly to his feet. His face was mottled black on the left cheekbone, his right eye black and puffy, and he limped as he passed. He hesitated near me. Was that relief in his eyes? Poor thing. There was nothing I could do to help either him or Mari.

  “And use soap,” Justine shot after him. She nodded at Edgel. “Keep an eye on him.” Taking a few steps toward Mari, she squatted down beside her. “Judging by her healing face, I’d say she’s Unbounded.” Glancing over at me, she reached out and stroked Mari’s hand. “Tell me, dear, what is your ability? Who are your ancestors?”

  Pheromones swirled around us, making me feel dizzy and wanting. Was it my imagination or could I actually smell the faint scent of musk? Justine might have been too busy earlier laying a trap for me to get much information from Mari, but she wasn’t holding back now. With everything Mari had been through the past few days, she wouldn’t be strong enough to resist Justine. She wouldn’t even know what pheromone manipulation was.

  Mari’s gaze shifted to me and just as quickly back to Justine. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Yes, you do.” Justine’s voice crooned. “You can trust me. I’m your friend. Who else is here? Did you come with others?”

  Mari’s nostrils flared. “Go to hell.”

  I had never been more proud of anyone than of Mari at that moment.

  Justine’s slapped her hard across the face. I lunged to stop another blow, but someone moved behind me. Pain exploded in my brain and blackness filled the world.