by Jena Leigh
“Besides that,” she went on, “I need to attempt this jump before my teleportation ability fades any further. I get the feeling that the longer I wait, the more difficult it will be to pull myself out of limbo.”
“You’re still certain you’re making the right choice?” Nate asked. “You could always stick around, you know. Stay here in this time, with us. Take the long way home.”
Even as he spoke the words, Nate could see in Alex’s eyes that her mind was made up.
Alex wouldn’t be taking the long road back. She was determined to attempt the jump to her own time, in spite of the risks.
Whatever Brian had said to her on the phone earlier had convinced Alex that this was the right move; that the choices she made tonight would be the correct ones—and that she now needed to preserve her timeline at all costs.
Brian claimed it was the best of all possible paths.
Nate worried that Alex was putting too much faith in his baby brother’s newly minted precognitive abilities.
He studied her face in the glare of the car’s headlight.
She’d been oddly quiet for most of the night, only speaking to answer questions and to whisper soothing words to Declan in the moments when his pains became unbearable.
It must have been uncomfortable for her. She spent their eight-hour drive lodged in the backseat with Declan’s head in her lap, unable to move more than a few inches in any direction. She was forced to wear her jacket and a pair of gloves at all times for fear that her bare skin might accidentally make contact with Declan’s. But Alex never once complained.
Nate knew her well enough, now, to realize that although her face was a mask of determination, she was struggling to suppress her worry—and her fear. Alex was just as terrified as he and Aiden were.
She was simply proving herself better at hiding it.
Alex walked toward the open driver’s side door. Reaching in, she pulled the seat forward and climbed carefully into the backseat with Declan.
Though he was standing out of earshot, Nate could see Alex’s mouth moving as she sat perched on the edge of the backseat, her hand resting gently on his brothers’ shoulder.
Declan’s eyes never opened, but Alex’s were filled with tears.
Maybe she wasn’t so great at concealing her worry after all.
As Alex wiped her cheeks and continued whispering her goodbyes to his brother, Nate looked away, feeling guilty for having eavesdropped on what was obviously a private moment.
By the time she climbed back out of the car, Alex’s implacable countenance was firmly in place once again.
“It’s almost time,” she said. “Do you remember what to say?”
Nate nodded.
“Don’t offer her everything at once,” said Alex. “Hold out, if you can. Make her work for it.”
“It’s alright, Alex,” said Nate. “This isn’t the first time we’ve been forced to make a deal with the Agency. We can handle her.”
Alex frowned. “This isn’t the Agency you’re negotiating with, Nate. Warped as their objectives might be, they at least have some level of accountability that keeps them toeing the line. Dana Carter, on the other hand, strikes me as the sort of woman who would stab her own mother in the back without a second thought if she stood to gain something from it.”
Nate and Aiden exchanged an uneasy glance.
“And whatever you do,” Alex continued, “in the months ahead, don’t let your guard down around her. And never, under any circumstances, lull yourselves into thinking that you can trust her.”
“We get it, Alex. The woman’s evil incarnate.” Aiden tried for a wry smile, but it fell flat. “We’ll be careful. Promise.”
Alex stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Aiden’s waist. “I know I’ve said it a thousand times by now,” she said into his shirtfront, “but thank you. Thank you for trusting me. Thanks for having my back. Both of you.”
She released him and Aiden grinned, reaching out to ruffle her hair. Alex batted his hand away with a smile.
“Any time, Trouble,” he said, a hint of sadness in his voice. “See you soon?”
“Sooner than you think,” she said, then turned to face Nate.
When their eyes met, he forced a smile. “You can do this, Alex,” he said. “Just keep your destination firmly pictured in your mind. Don’t allow yourself to be distracted. By anything.”
Alex shook her head slowly, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. “Always your favorite piece of advice,” she observed. “Don’t worry, Nate. I won’t lose focus. I was trained by the best, after all.”
They stood there awkwardly for another moment until Nate held out his arms. Alex smiled and walked into his embrace, pressing her cheek against his shoulder and gripping him tightly. He felt her sigh against his chest before finally letting go and taking a short step back.
Standing up on her tip-toes, Alex placed a feather light kiss against his cheek.
She smiled at them then and, with one last, wistful look toward the darkened cab of the Charger, Alex turned on her heel and jogged a few yards in the direction of the woods, coming to a stop at the very center of the field.
In a matter of seconds, the temperature plummeted. The branches of the surrounding trees danced in the frigid wind and whispered in chorus.
Red lightning split the sky and connected with a nearby treetop with a resounding crack.
Alex began her jump home, but not before a flash of violet light briefly illuminated the pasture. It left three people behind: a single, diminutive woman flanked on either side by a pair of men that both towered over her.
The woman stared straight at Alex in the moment before a roar of thunder shattered the still night air and a brilliant red glow temporarily blinded them all.
By the time the light faded, Alex was gone.
Good luck, Alex, Nate thought. He could only pray her jump had been successful. Right now, however, he had other matters to deal with.
The woman’s gaze shifted slowly away from the center of the field and over to where Aiden and Nathaniel stood waiting in front of the Charger.
Nate wasn’t fooled by her small stature. He could read the authority in her posture, the crisp eminence in her pale blue eyes. This was the sort of woman who was used to getting the better end of a deal.
So why had Alex chosen her? Why not approach someone else with similar access and a similar position of authority?
Surely there were others they could have gone to.
The breeze tugged gently at the woman’s light gray trench coat. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared Nate down from across the field.
A long, silent moment passed before Nate blinked and looked away.
Playing the defiant card was probably not the way to go, here.
He couldn’t bluff his way through this meeting. Carter already knew she held the advantage.
He and Aiden closed the distance between the two groups, facing off against the trio of Agents.
“Mr. Palladino,” Carter said. “Mr. O’Connell.”
“Assistant Director,” said Nate. “Thank you for agreeing to meet with us.”
She smiled and Nate swore the temperature outside dropped another ten degrees in response. “Your message intrigued me,” she said. “I thought I should at least find out what the terms of this little exchange you’ve suggested might include. What could you possibly want from me, that your own father couldn’t provide?”
“John Grayson is not my father,” Nate said, struggling to keep the annoyance from his voice.
The jab had been intentional. The growing rift between Nathaniel and the Grayson patriarch was hardly a secret within the Variant community.
She shrugged slightly as if to say, ‘fair enough.’
“I would assume that a clandestine meeting on short notice and in such…” Carter cast a glance over her shoulder at the darkened edges of the forest. “…such a familiar location means that what you seek is rather urgent. If
you’ve sought me out, then your options must be very limited indeed.”
Beside Nate, Aiden scowled at the bodyguard to Carter’s right. The man sneered idly back at him.
“So what shall it be, Mr. Palladino?” she asked. “What do you have to offer me, and what is it that you’re asking in return?”
Nate began by answering her second question, first. “We need you to help us place someone inside one of the cryogenic chambers the Agency keeps locked in the basement of the Green Woods facility.”
If the request came as a surprise, Carter quickly disguised her reaction with a smile. “That’s quite the request, Nathaniel. And it’s a demand that will cost you far more than one single favor in return.” She studied his face and tilted her head slightly. “But you already know that, don’t you? So what is it, then? What do you have to offer me that could ever begin to repay such a courtesy?”
“A story,” he said, “and a promise of future payment.”
“That must be one hell of a story, kid,” the sneering bodyguard mumbled. One look from Carter and his grin dissolved.
“You might be surprised,” Nate said, then amended his statement. “You will be surprised.”
“You expect to purchase my assistance with nothing more than words?” Carter asked. “Either John Grayson raised a fool, or that really is one hell of a story you’re offering.”
Aiden smiled. “Why don’t you let us tell it, and then maybe you can judge its worth, and the worth of what we’re prepared to offer you.”
“By all means, gentlemen,” Carter said. “Weave your tale.”
“Someone has successfully recreated the VX-2 serum,” Nate said.
The smile fell away from Carter’s face. “And what proof do you have of this?”
“It’s in there,” Nate nodded to the Charger behind him. “But we’ll get to that in a minute. I can’t tell you who recreated the serum. I can only assure you that they were successful. The person’s identity has been removed from my memory.”
“You were pushed?” she asked.
He nodded. “I can also tell you with the utmost certainty that this individual was the one responsible for the Variant killings that have been taking place across the Pacific Northwest for the last eight months.”
Carter’s expression turned grim. “The Scientist murders. Experiments?”
Nate nodded. “His field trials.”
“This information… are you suggesting that you’ve seen the Scientist?” she asked. “In person? You’ve spoken with him, and yet he left you alive?”
Nate stole a glance at the Charger behind him. A flash of purple lit up the backseat as Declan suffered another painful convulsion. “We didn’t make it out entirely unscathed.”
Carter followed his gaze. “I see. Might I ask who was injured? Who, exactly, do you intend for me to place in that cryogenic chamber, Nathaniel? And why do you think it will be of any help to them?”
Nate and Aiden exchanged a wary glance.
This was it. Either Carter believed their story and agreed to the trade he was about to propose or else Declan was completely and utterly screwed.
Nate took a slow, steadying breath. “The Scientist dosed Declan O’Connell with an unstable form of the VX-2 that was intended for another individual. The version of the serum he received was designed to interact only with another person’s DNA. I need to put Declan in cryo long enough to buy him some time while we figure out how to reverse the serum’s effects.”
Carter narrowed her eyes at the car. “Declan O’Connell is currently on vacation in Berlin with John Grayson and the rest of his family. Are you implying that the Scientist was recently in Europe?”
As she spoke, she edged closer to the car, eventually peering in through the side window.
“No, Assistant Director,” said Nate. “I’m saying that the Declan O’Connell in the backseat of that car is one that doesn’t belong in this time.”
“Doesn’t… belong?” she repeated quietly. “My God. It happened after all. Jonathan didn’t stop it, he just…” At first, Carter’s expression suggested one of modest disappointment, and then she began to laugh. “Oh, this is absolutely perfect,” she said in an aside to herself, before turning back toward the others. “Alright then, Nathaniel. What else do you have to offer me? When this conversation began, you said you were offering me a story and a promise.”
Nate shifted uncomfortably, then forced himself to stand straighter. “I can offer you inside knowledge about the Grayson family. Details regarding John Grayson’s movements, any plans he might have, his business dealings, the works.”
“And?”
Shit.
He’d hoped, foolishly, that his offer to turn traitor against his own family might prove to be enough of an incentive.
“And,” he sighed, “I can promise you the complete cooperation of the person that serum was actually meant for, just as soon as Declan is cured and released.”
“And that person might be?” she prompted.
Nate clenched his jaw.
“I’d like a name, Nathaniel.”
He remained silent, ensuring that his mental barriers were in place and praying that Aiden was currently doing the same. There was no way to know if one of Carter’s goons was actually a telepath. Nate had no intention of disclosing Alex’s name, even by accident.
Carter hummed. “Well it’s nice to see that you’re capable of keeping a secret. If you’re going to act as my mole inside the Grayson household, it’s a skill you’re desperately going to need.”
Nate arched a brow. “Does that mean we have an arrangement?”
“It does indeed,” she said, extending her right hand.
Nate reached out to seal the deal, but hesitated. “And you swear to keep Declan safe and in stasis until a cure can be found for his condition?”
Carter took hold of his hand. Her fingers felt like ice against his palm. “Mr. Palladino, you’ve got yourself a deal.”
Twenty-Eight
Declan awakened with a gasp, choking against the racing of his heart and the blinding pain in his chest. He blinked in the harsh light and struggled to understand the muffled, echoing sounds in his head.
Somewhere to his left, a machine beeped rapidly.
“Alright,” a nasally voice said. “He’s back. We’ve got a steady sinus rhythm.”
Ozzie?
What was he doing in Bay View? And where was Alex? For that matter, where was he?
“Steady?! Jesus, Oz. I knew we should have taken the risk and brought in a doctor for this. That’s not a steady heartbeat, you moron, that’s freaking tachycardia! Can’t you do something to calm him down?”
Kenzie?
“He’ll be fine,” Oz said. “Just give him a minute to acclimate.”
Something was wrong.
He couldn’t sense any form of electricity in his immediate surroundings. There wasn’t a single spark of current to be found anywhere nearby. It was as though something had dampened the electrical field of the entire area.
Panicked, Declan struggled to sit upright. A pair of hands forced him back down.
The last thing he remembered was being with the others at the Rec Center. He’d lunged at Masterson, only to get knocked for a loop when the other man regained the upper hand.
He remembered Masterson kneeling over him. There’d been a pinch in his arm, followed by excruciating pain, and then…
Then there was nothing.
Declan blinked his eyes rapidly as they adjusted to the brightness, struggling to bring the world back into focus. He was unable to make out much more than a blurry, wood-paneled room and the feeling of a bed beneath him.
Wherever he was, it was absolutely freezing. Couldn’t someone turn up the heat?
“Where’s Alex?” he tried to ask. “And where are we?”
The words left his mouth in a slurred drawl, an epic case of cotton mouth rendering his tongue all but useless.
He seemed to be understood nonetheless.
“You’re gonna be okay, Decks,” Kenzie said. “We’re at one of Ozzie’s safe houses. Somewhere in Montana where the Agency will have a hard time finding us.”
Declan rubbed his eyes. The room was more or less in focus now. Certainly focused enough for him to recognize the warring mix of relief and apprehension in his sister’s expression.
“Alex?” he asked again.
Kenzie and Oz exchanged a look.
“She’s…” his sister trailed off. “She’s not…”
“I’m afraid your shoeless minx has yet to return from her temporal peregrinations,” Ozzie said.
The man in the glasses handed Declan a plastic tumbler filled with water and he accepted it gratefully.
“English, Oz,” said Declan after draining the cup. “Where is she? And what’s today’s date?”
“It’s July 2nd,” Kenzie said. “It’s been three weeks since we raided the Agency’s black site in North Dakota, and you and Alex jumped to the past.”
He was back in his own time? How was that even possible? Had Alex brought them home after Masterson knocked him out?
Three weeks since the raid.
If the attack had still taken place—if he and Alex had gone through with their jump to the past—then they really hadn’t changed anything by going back.
Their timeline was predetermined after all.
They probably never stood a chance at changing it to begin with.
“Where is Alex, Red?” Declan repeated.
Kenzie sighed. “We don’t know. The way Nate and Aiden tell it, just before they struck the deal with the Agency to put you in cryostasis, Alex tried to jump home to our time. But she’s not back yet. Or at least, if she is, we haven’t been able to find her.”
The beep of the heart monitor sped up again.
“Cryo?!” he growled. “Why would Nate and Aiden need to put me in cryo? And why the hell would they allow Alex to make that jump?! They knew she wasn’t strong enough to find her way back out of limbo! It was suicide for her to even attempt it!” Declan struggled to sit up again, only to have both Kenzie and Oz force him back down. “Where are they? I’m going to kill both of them, I swear to God…”
