The Cure

by Teyla Branton

  I fell asleep then, waking up only to check periodically on Benito and Cort, though Dimitri was on the job. He and Mari played cards, apparently too keyed up to sleep. We’d barely passed into U. S. air space when Jace stumbled from the cockpit.

  “We just talked to Ava,” he said, looking pale and ill. “It’s Bronson. He’s dead.”

  AS THE SUN ROSE OVER the freezing city, our subdued group arrived at Stella’s apartment. A moving van sat out front, and Mari, who’d shifted the moment we landed in Portland, was helping our mortal guards carry boxes from the apartment. Time to leave. It had been inevitable, but coming so soon after Bronson’s death, the idea made me weepy.

  I kept my mind tightly closed now that my headache was gone because whatever had sent that white-hot pain through my skull when I’d stopped Benito had also unlocked something else in my brain. I felt the others differently now, as if their shields were not as strong as before. Or at least not strong enough to keep me out for long. As soon as everything calmed down, I’d test the theory.

  Inside, Ava met me with a hug. “Where is she?” I asked.

  “The bedroom.” She hesitated before adding. “Bronson’s still in there. She thought you might all want to say goodbye, especially Chris’s kids. She says it helps children deal with death if they can spend some time with the body.” Her eyes filled, but she blinked the tears away. We lived with death every bit as much as we lived with life, and it never seemed to get easier.

  Dimitri was behind me and she turned into his arms. “Thank you for bringing them all back safe.” Her words hinted at what it had cost her to stay behind.

  “Always, Ava.” As he kissed her cheek, I moved away. Whether they were still oblivious to each other’s emotions, or simply too afraid to act, I might never know.

  I went into the bedroom, my shoes quiet on the soft carpet. Stella lay on the bed next to Bronson, her head on her own pillow, one arm thrown across his chest. He looked at peace for the first time in months, and I let out a breath of relief.

  Stella jerked and opened her eyes, coming to a seated position. “Erin,” she whispered.

  “I’m so sorry.” I went around the bed to sit on her side, away from Bronson.

  She caressed his cheek. “Isn’t he handsome? Even now?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m going to miss him so much.” Tears started down her cheeks.

  I took her other hand and murmured, “I know.”

  “All these years I didn’t have a child. I saw the pain other Unbounded endured when their children grew old and died, or when they were murdered by the Emporium. I buried all my sister’s children, who were as close as my own. I knew the risks—I’ve always known the risks—and I did it anyway. I was glad. But now . . .” She paused, a loud sob escaping her throat. “I’ll never have anything of Bronson’s. He’s gone, and so is my baby.”

  There was nothing I could do but hold her. Hold her and help her say goodbye. Help her bury her husband.

  “You have Mari,” I reminded her. “She’s incredible. You should see her shifting in and out like a pro.”

  Stella gave a short laugh, which surprised me. “So I hear.”

  “Then there’s Oliver and the rest of us.” I blinked through my own tears. “I can never repay you for saving Kathy and Spencer, but I’m going to try. I know Chris feels the same. He . . . Kathy and Spencer . . .” What more could I say? She’d exchanged her baby’s life for theirs.

  She hugged me tight. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be okay again,” she whispered, “but I will never regret saving them.”

  How could she know how much I needed to hear those words? I’d come to comfort her, but in the end, it was she who gave me what I needed.

  A soft popping came from behind me. I turned, reaching for a pistol that was probably still lying somewhere in the Maya ruins. “It’s just me,” Mari said.

  I shook my head. “You’re going to have to stop that.”

  “Sorry, but I thought you’d want to know right away. Keene’s here, and he’s not alone. He’s got that Unbounded with him. You know, the black man who was with Justine. Ritter almost killed him right outside! Anyway, the guy’s asking to talk to Ava. Ritter called her and she said to bring him up.”

  Stella dived for the drawer in her nightstand, bringing out a gun and racking it. I grabbed another one and did the same. We hurried down the hall to the living room, where Keene was coming through the outside door into the apartment. He nodded at me, his eyes running over my body as if checking for signs of injury. “Good to see you all made it out.”

  “We could say the same to you.” Warmth spread in my chest at his stare. I told myself it was because I hadn’t caused his death by revealing his relationship with Tom, but the tiniest part of me wasn’t exactly sure.

  Keene edged further into the apartment, giving me an infuriating grin, as if he knew exactly what I was thinking. I returned this with a scowl as Edgel and Ritter appeared in the doorway, Ritter’s gun pressed against Edgel’s head. Jace and Chris were close behind, weapons also drawn.

  “Why have you brought him here?” Ava demanded of Keene. She didn’t have a weapon in her hands, but the sharpness in her voice cut deep. “How dare you compromise our safe house.”

  Keene shrugged. “You’re leaving anyway. So that makes the point moot.”

  “I know for certain none of my people gave you this location,” Ava pressed. “How did you find us?”

  “I’m not completely without resources.” Keene’s gaze didn’t waver.

  I wondered if he’d followed Ava and the others here the night after the attack on the palace, or if he’d planted his own tracking device.

  “Anyway,” he added, “I brought Edgel because he has a request to make.”

  “What do you care about his request?” Cort lurched up from the couch where he’d been recovering. “I can’t believe I’ve been lying here consumed with anger at Ritter for letting you go after Tom and Justine on your own, and here you waltz in with this murderer.”

  “I gave him my word. He helped me get away from the Emporium at the ruins when I went to find Tom.”

  Cort blinked, slowly sinking back to the couch. “What happened?”

  Keene’s expression flashed pain, but it was gone again just as quickly. “I arrived at the ruins where Erin found Justine. Tom was . . . he was—” He broke off.

  “Spit it out, man!” Jace said impatiently.

  It was Edgel who answered. “He killed Justine.”

  Mari gasped. “Really and truly killed?”

  He nodded. “When our men found Tom and Justine, they revived him. She was still unconscious, of course—probably would have been for several days—and somehow in the excitement Tom got hold of a sword. He went crazy, screaming something about patterns and how he wouldn’t let her destroy his plans. Her men were too late to stop him, but they’re loyal, so they turned their own swords on Tom. He didn’t survive.”

  I could imagine the horror all too well, though the reality of what it meant to me was hard to comprehend. Justine and Tom were permanently gone. I’d never have to worry about them reappearing in my life. I’d never have to worry about them murdering my friends or feel guilty for all the lives they would have taken. I didn’t know whether to scream with happiness or weep for all that we had lost. I glanced at Ritter, who surely must be experiencing a similar disbelief and shock, but his face was impassive, his attention riveted on Edgel.

  “That’s when I happened on the scene,” Keene said. “Too late to stop his final blow or the resulting anger from her men.” The tightness in his voice was painful to hear, telling me he felt he’d failed Tom. “Fortunately Edgel stopped them from killing me as well. In exchange, I agreed to bring him to you. I also gave him my word that you would let him go.”

  “Yeah, right,” Cort said. “The only place he’s going is to our prison compound.”

  Ritter lowered his gun. “Don’t be too hasty. I suspect he’s rigged himself.” />
  “That’s right.” Keene flashed Ritter a bland smile. “It was my idea. I don’t like to be made a liar.”

  Edgel held up a small mechanical device in the palm of his hand. A thin wire snaked down his wrist and disappeared into the sleeve of his coat. “Sorry that it’s necessary. There are enough explosives here to take out this building and several of the nearby ones as well, though I do assure you I’m not suicidal.”

  So he said. I wanted to strangle Keene, but at the same time I was curious as to why Edgel was so intent on seeing Ava. The explosives indicated that he wasn’t trying to defect to the Renegades.

  “Go ahead,” Keene said. “I believe you, but they might not.”

  Edgel wet his lips with his tongue, the first indication that he was nervous. “I’m here to ask for a copy of the research from your Mexican lab.”

  “What makes you think we have it?” Ava glanced at Stella and then back at Edgel.

  “Justine put it on her laptop. She may have had it elsewhere, but that was the only place I saw it, and now that she’s gone, I don’t know where it is. No one does. I was depending on that research.” Edgel’s gaze went to me. “You guys obviously took it when you found Justine, but the laptop was empty. I figured you erased it, and that means you must have a copy.”

  “You think we’re just going to turn it over?” Dimitri took a step closer. “Do you know what that research almost did to all those school children?” He snorted. “There’s not a chance in a thousand worlds that we’d ever give it to you. You’re as insane as she was to even think it.”

  Edgel shook his head. “That’s not the part I want. I want the other research, the cure for autoimmune diseases.”

  “Why should we believe you?” I asked.

  Again Edgel’s gaze shifted to me. “It’s my mortal daughter. She has an autoimmune disease. She’s already bedridden. The doctor gives her less than three months before her body destroys itself.” His gaze went back to Ava. “Please. She has two young children. The Emporium was going to suppress the cure, but they were going to let me have it. They didn’t know why I wanted it, but that was the promise. They don’t know about my daughter.” His brow furrowed. “Now, I have nothing.” No mistaking the misery in his voice.

  I pushed hard at his mind shield, and almost immediately his surface thoughts became apparent. He was telling the truth. “You killed that scientist,” I retorted. “You murdered him in cold blood. If you hadn’t, he could have helped you. But after what you did to him, you don’t deserve it.”

  His jaw tightened. “I was a soldier following orders. I always follow orders. Besides, we had the research. What did I need him for? Killing him meant no chance of it being duplicated. For us it was the right thing to do.”

  “He was innocent!” I almost lunged for him, but Ava’s hand on my arm stopped me.

  Edgel lifted a brow at the gesture. “Maybe you’re right that I don’t deserve it, but my daughter does. Please. I’m begging you. She knows nothing about the Emporium or Unbounded. Please.” His dark eyes searched mine and then each of the others in turn. No one spoke. His was a dilemma we all understood only too well. Yes, his daughter was innocent. Should she pay the price of her heritage like so many of our descendants? The Emporium would say yes.

  Ava and Dimitri exchanged a long look. Finally, Ava spoke. “I personally don’t believe you deserve this, and while your daughter may be innocent, she could have more children who might become Unbounded and eventually work for the Emporium. Of myself, I would say no. But the decision is not mine alone. I will let Stella decide. Your interference in Mexico has cost her the most. As a technopath, she is also the only person who can make sure that we give you only the final recipe and none of the actual research, in case you try to recreate the other drug.” Ava looked around at us. “Do you agree?”

  We all nodded. I was sure Stella would send him away, and maybe Ritter could even get rid of him permanently by detonating his explosives when he was far enough from the apartment. The man was never going to switch sides, and we’d have to face him again in the future. So what if he loved his mortal daughter and kept her a secret from his leaders? It didn’t mean much in the face of our own loved ones.

  Or did it?

  Stella released a long sigh. “Let him have it. No one—not even him—should have to feel this pain.”

  I choked back a gasp. We all stared.

  “Erin.” Ritter nodded at me.

  I pulled the thumb drive from my pocket where it had been since I’d taken it from Benito on the plane. I handed it to Stella. Any way I looked at it, Justine’s and Tom’s deaths meant our mission had been more of a success than we’d known, especially after losing Bronson, but giving the cure to Edgel seemed to diminish everything we’d achieved.

  “Will you get the laptop from my spare room?” Stella asked me, moving toward a box of equipment salvaged from the palace. By the time I returned, she’d found one of her headsets and put it on. Plugging the drive into the laptop, she began transferring files. One minute. Three. Six. We all waited. A single tear slid down Stella’s cheek.

  In ten minutes she was finished. She took out the drive and handed it to Edgel. “I swear to you that this is all we have. I’m really sorry about your daughter.”

  Edgel’s hand closed over the drive, swallowing hard, his jaw clenching and unclenching with his emotion. “Thank you. Thank you so much.” He backed toward the door, and we all let him go, watching until he jogged down the road out of sight.

  Ritter’s voice broke the silence. “Fifteen minutes and we’re out of here. It’s too dangerous to stay. Leave whatever we can replace. I’ve already sent Marco and the others to the storage unit to get what we need there.” He strode to a box of electronics, hefting it. “Grab something, Keene. You owe us.”

  “Owe you? Ha. I’ve done enough of your dirty work the past few days.” But Keene grabbed a box and followed Ritter outside. Dimitri, Jace, and Chris lifted more boxes and hurried after them, Chris with an uneasy glance over his shoulder at Stella.

  Stella’s arms wrapped around her stomach. She looked lost and alone. “I’m sorry,” Ava said, going to her.

  “Poor man.” Stella’s voice was scarcely a whisper.

  “I don’t see what’s poor about him,” Mari retorted. “He’s getting what he wants.”

  “My thought exactly,” Cort said from the couch.

  Stella sighed. “No, he’s not. He’s going to have to reap what he has sown. I only let him believe I gave him the research so he didn’t blow us all up.”

  “You mean . . .?” While I hadn’t wanted to help Edgel, this cruelty seemed unlike Stella.

  “I mean the drive didn’t contain the cure or any medical research, and I knew he’d never believe that.” Her arms dropped from her stomach and her shoulders straightened. “However, the drive did hold numerous Emporium files, which together may be the single most important piece of intel we have ever managed to recover. Names, dates, locations. It may even be enough to turn the tide permanently in our favor. There were too many for me to analyze in such a short time, and some are encrypted so I’ll need to break their codes, but even the unencrypted files should prove useful. At least one is clearly related to us.” She paused, her expression less somber now. “It tells the location of our people they took prisoner in the New York raid.”

  A smile lit Ava’s face. “Where?”

  “They’re still in New York.”

  “Ritter’s going to flip,” Mari said.

  I nodded. “Better tell him after we finish loading the van.”

  “No,” Stella said. “We’d better get someone out there now. I transferred all the files from the thumb drive and reformatted it, but by now they’re going through all of Justine’s personal effects and recovering what they can from her laptop and any other computers she owns. Depending on where she kept her files originally, or where she copied them from, they might figure out exactly what information was on that thumb drive. I’d be a
ble to. They’ll change protocols and identities and whatever to mitigate their losses, and it won’t matter because we’ll still be able to use much of the information. But if they suspect we know where the kidnapped Renegades are, they’ll move them again, and we can’t allow that to happen. Two months is a long time to be held by the Emporium.”

  Even two days was too long in my opinion. “I’ll get Ritter.”

  I hurried out the door, passing all the men except Ritter on the stairs as they returned for more boxes. Keene’s grin grew wide when he saw me, but I didn’t stop to give them the news—Ava and Stella could fill them in. Knowing how much it meant to Ritter, I wanted to tell him myself.

  I found him organizing a mound of boxes and duffels piled inside the back of the van. My shoe hit the edge of the metal opening, clanging loudly as I pulled myself inside. Ritter turned, his hand going to his pistol, stopping short when he saw me. He looked strong and powerful and dangerous—and incredibly sexy, though I probably shouldn’t have noticed that at the moment.

  Our eyes met across the dimness. I felt the burning in him and the echoing fire in my own veins. Before I could get out a word, he dropped the box in his hands and crossed the space between us. Pushing me up against the interior wall of the van, his mouth fell on mine, a heated contrast to the cold metal at my back. Flames ignited everywhere we touched, and he pushed closer, or I did.

  “Told you it wasn’t over,” he whispered hoarsely against my lips.

  “What makes you think that?” My mouth opened to his, my hands going around his body to pull him even closer. I wanted to forget the thumb drive and lose myself in him, but we were in every bit as much danger as we had been in the jungle, now that Edgel knew our location. The thought brought me back to my senses, and I pushed him away.

  He uttered a muffled groan, casting a quick glance at the opening of the van, where there was still no sign of the others. His black eyes returned to my face, glittering in the weak light. “You didn’t bring a box,” he said, his voice still rough. “So either you came out here to drive me crazy, or something happened.”