by Jill Cooper
“Like we’d believe you,” Chase shook his head.
Dirk held up his hand.
Chase’s eyes widened with disbelief. “You’re going to actually listen to her?”
“We’re here to get answers. Find out what kind of trouble we’re in. So maybe, now would be a good time to get them.” Dirk stared Rebecca down and she trembled under his gaze. “But so help me, Rebecca, if I find out you’re lying to me . . .”
She laughed and a tear rolled down her cheek. “You think I don’t know what you’re going to do to me. I’m dead no matter what happens. I know that.”
“Not true,” Jake said with a quiet power. “No one will harm you if you cooperate.”
Dirk steeled himself and didn’t do a double take or bat an eye, but Chase’s temper raged. “You can’t be serious. Dirk he can’t—.”
“Settle down,” Dirk said with little patience. “We’re not here to exact revenge. We’re here to find out the truth. So go on, Rebecca, why don’t you tell me what it is you’ve been up to for the past six months? Why’d you join the resistance in the first place?”
Rebecca swallowed hard and stared down at her lap. “I’m working with New Haven 57. Briggs and Gerard Miller. Millers’s a genetic specialist who’s been working on . . .” Rebecca swallowed, unable to continue.
“Go on.” Dirk’s lip barely parted. New Haven 57 was where Jenna was rumored to being held against her will. If Rebecca was working with them . . .
“He’s been working on the genetic sequence of a glistening. He’s trying to revert them back to human, removing the thirst for blood and the dragon form. Leaving everything but . . . eternal youth.” Rebecca’s face turned wistful, serene, and Dirk had a feeling that last part might be what she was after.
Eternal youth; it was a wonder drug; that’s what she’d been after all along.
“And?” Jake asked, leaning against the table. “Is it working? Can glistenings be . . . neutered?”
“Yes,” Rebecca whispered. “The test subject reverted, albeit with some setbacks, but in a few weeks, we’ll have the missing link. A child,” Rebecca’s voice quivered, “a glistening and human child.”
That child would be a half-human child, his child.
Dirk raged. His face turned dark red and he slammed both of his open palms onto the table. Everyone in the room jumped, especially Rebecca, as he leaned in close. “You stupid, bitch. All this time you’ve been working me? All this time you acted like you wanted to free Jenna and all along you were helping them?” His strong hand squeezed her jaw, pushing her cheeks together so it gave her fish lips.
Rebecca moaned and her face strained under the pressure.
“Dirk,” Jake warned.
He let her go. Pushing her back into her chair, so it teetered backwards. Rebecca sobbed and her limbs trembled. Dirk wasn’t happy he scared her, but he was so angry, he didn’t know what he would do next, or what he could do.
“He has every right to be upset,” Chase said. “If it was me, she wouldn’t even still be alive.”
“Don’t you see?” Rebecca sneered at them. “It could all be over in a matter of weeks! We could have a way to turn Victor and his army into nothing more than regular humans—not dragons, no super speed, or super strength, just regular people. Don’t you think that sacrifice is worth it? We could save the planet, Dirk. You. Me. Jake.”
Dirk glanced at Jake. He couldn’t read his face, but from how he paced, it was clear he struggled with the moral dilemma as much as Dirk was.
“That’s my kid. My wife.” Dirk pointed his finger at Rebecca. “And I’ll be damned if you—.”
“If we what? Cure your wife so she doesn’t need her medicine anymore? Cure your baby so she won’t struggle the same as her mother has all her life? You think I’m the enemy, but I’m doing the best I can doing what I do best.”
Rebecca said she. That meant Dirk was going to have a daughter. Being separated so far from his family, maybe his heart ache—made him want to lash out at her for all her planning and conniving.
“And what was that? What were you doing?” Chase asked with narrowed eyes.
“Did you make the kids sick?” Dirk asked.
Rebecca gave a slow, reluctant nod. “Yes, but I didn’t want to. I had the antidote. I just needed to slow us down. So that . . . I never meant for anyone to die.”
“So Jenna could reach full term?” Dirk asked and when Rebecca confirmed his suspicion, he wanted to slap her. He wanted to punch. Spit. “If anything’s been done to harm her or my kid, I swear to God, Rebecca . . .”
“No, of course not. She’s being treated like a queen. She has no idea what’s going on. No idea she’s even being held against her will. She’s happy,” Rebecca said.
Didn’t sound like the Jenna he knew.
Rebecca smiled and it was altogether unpleasant. “New Haven reprogramming techniques are infallible, isn’t that what you always used to say?”
Dirk sneered and threw his arm back, but Jake caught it and held onto him tightly. Even though the boy appeared thin, he was still stronger than Dirk gave him credit for. Their eyes met and he saw Jake’s disapproval.
His resolve.
Jake’s jaw-clenched firmly. “Get as much information out of her as you can, but we can’t harm her, Dirk. To do so, we’d be no better than Victor.”
Dirk saw his point. He hated it, but he saw his point. “And then what? We go after New Haven 57? I have to get Jenna out.”
“You can’t,” Rebecca rushed on. “To do so would jeopardize everything. You don’t know what’s been sacrificed to get this far. This genetic manipulation has to work.”
“It’ll take years.” Dirk shook his head.
“No.” Rebecca’s eyes widened. “We have Jenna’s cells and the cells of a girl who’s carried a half-glistening baby before.” Her eyes drifted over to Jake.
“Who?” Jake demanded, confusion coloring his eyes.
“Wendy,” Rebecca said softly. “And if we go in now to rescue her, all of what she’s been through these past few years, will have been for nothing.”
Dirk didn’t understand. Wendy was dead. She died after childbirth, everyone knew that, but Jake pushed Dirk out of the way and stood in front of Rebecca. He stared her down silently, quietly, but with a growing rage Dirk never felt before from him.
“You can’t believe her,” Dirk said.
But it was like Jake couldn’t hear him. “She died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.”
Rebecca shook her head, the white of her eyes on display. “New Haven drove the ambulance. We’ve had her the entire time. Do you really—.”
Jake slapped her hard across the face and drowned out her words. Foaming at the mouth, he spat at her. “We trusted you! You were supposed to protect us. Instead, you sold us out? You sold her out? Tell me why I should even let you live for what you’ve done to us. Tell me, why!” Jake slammed his hands on the table.
His arms shivered and his skin glowed, almost translucent. Dirk hadn’t seen Jake take glistening form out of sheer anger before and he wasn’t ready to watch Rebecca be gutted alive by his friend. Dirk grabbed his arm and gave him a shake. “Jake?”
His skin returned to normal and Jake took several deep breaths. “I have . . . Handle her, would you?”
Dirk nodded. “You know I will.”
“Good.” Relief washed over his face. “Find everything out you can. The sooner we can get Wendy and Jenna out of there . . .” Jake’s face clouded over as he stared at Rebecca. “Cure or no cure, we’re getting them out.”
Jake slammed the door on his way out and Chase let out a long whistle. “I don’t know who Wendy is, but I think I’ve decided I never want to cross Jake Monroe.”
Dirk silently agreed and sat on the table in front of Rebecca. Her skin was a pasty pale and her limbs shook with fatigue. “We’re going to chat about Dr. Gerard Miller and you better not leave anything out.”
Chapter Six Victor
Washington,
DC
The White House
Decay.
It was a word used to describe the state of the world, but for Victor it was exactly what he wanted. He needed to watch the world burn, it was his vengeance. For too long Glistenings were mistreated by humans, as though themselves were a plague against humanity. When, it was humanity itself, which needed to be eradicated from the planet.
And they would be in time. When they were no longer useful and when Victor could find a way for Glistenings to exist without the human’s blood and organs. There had to be a way, and until that happened . . .
The White House was Victor’s stronghold.
He rarely left and when he did, it was usually to head down to his favorite place. The concentration camp in DC; where most politicians and those formerly in power were kept. D.C. was where they slaved away for him.
After he ate his breakfast, which consisted of the finest in human organs—not cooked, but simply warmed—Victor hurried through the halls of the west wing. Flanked on either side by his personal bodyguards, who not only provided physical protection, but were also his closest confidants.
He turned down the hall and knocked on a door. Before there was time for an answer, Victor pushed the door open. Once it had been a guest suite, but now it was a paisley colored fortress. The sleeping area had a crib in the center and the floor was scattered with toys. Victor turned into the adjoining sitting room, which had been converted into a dining room.
“Meghan.” Victor smiled as he entered the room.
The petite glistening stood from the table as soon as he entered. She wrapped the sweater around her small frame. Victor saw from the lines around her eyes, she wasn’t sleeping well. Her smile was forced and she was scared, even though she professed to be on his side, Victor knew it wasn’t the complete truth. She had been too close to Jake and his family for too long.
But still, she would do anything for the toddler she cared for. The one Jake had with Wendy. Victor’s eyes narrowed as they fell on the boy, Travis. He was spoon-feeding himself oatmeal, but most of it ended up on the tray of his high chair. “The boy seems well, if not a little uncoordinated.”
“He’s getting there.” Meghan wiped the boy’s mouth with the hem of her apron. “He’s still just a baby, Victor. He’ll be fine. I’ll see to it.”
“I know you will. When Jake comes for him, and I know he eventually will, this kid will be the undoing of him and what’s left of the resistance.” Victor stepped forward and drew his finger across Meghan’s chin. It quivered under his touch and she gazed away. He repulsed her and the things he had done—was going to do—but Victor didn’t care. One day she would be fully converted—or when she was no longer useful, Meghan would die. Victor would rejoice in watching her burn.
“And how is she? Is she ready?”
Meghan’s shoulders shrugged. “She didn’t sleep well. I think she’s getting ready now.”
Victor grinned. “I guess the excitement of the wedding is getting to her. She can’t keep me waiting much longer. We’re needed in the city. The helicopter is waiting. Hurry her along for me, won’t you? You do it so much better than I do.”
Meghan’s eyes flashed to the child and then back up to Victor. Distrust and disbelief widened her eyes and even moistened them.
“Don’t worry,” Victor’s voice grumbled, “I won’t eat him.”
Meghan’s laughter was forced. “Of course not. Well, okay. I’ll be right back, Travis.”
Victor picked up the toddler from the high chair and when he did so, the boy cried. He strained against him and tried to push himself away. Victor only held him tighter, until the boy’s face turned red from screaming. “At least not yet.” Victor smirked and kissed the boy’s cheek.
Chapter Seven Liz
Time was going by fast and the day was approaching, the one where she would be married to Victor, of all people. Liz couldn’t stomach the idea and it had her twisted up into knots, but that was why she was here. It was part of the plan. She just didn’t know if she could go through with it.
Her room smelled of perfume, the finest, but to Liz its smell repulsed her because it was from him. Victor. The one who had destroyed so much of the world she once loved. Victor, the one who was responsible for her parents’ death and now here she was, ready to do the unthinkable.
She gazed out the window and studied DC’s skyline. DC wasn’t a place she even recognized anymore. The sky was a constant shade of green from the glistening swarms and a reminder of the dragon occupation of the United States. When she first came to DC, she thought it would be easy, but now after all the careful months of planning, Liz just didn’t know.
She didn’t know if she could go through with it. Being close to Victor was harder than she would admit.
Jake, Liz missed him. But to help him, be part of the plan, she had to become Victor’s closest confidant, but she was afraid the resistance would fail and she would end up Victor’s forever. He would use her and once he was done, discard her like she was a piece of useless garbage. It was how he viewed humans; Liz knew that. She heard how he talked, how he treated the others. Liz knew she was lucky that she had such a nice room, new clothes to wear. It wasn’t how Victor treated everyone; God knew that.
Tears in her eyes, Liz gripped the window frame tightly until her fingernails hurt and tears stung her eyes as a knock came at the door. “Enter.” Her voice shook as she spoke, but Liz knew this was coming. Already, she was dressed in a long, purple dress and her long hair was done up in a fishtail braid around the crown of her head, just like Victor liked.
When Meghan entered, Liz let out a sigh of relief. Her friend and nursemaid to Jake’s son rushed to Liz and took her hands. “He’s here. He’s ready for you.”
Liz took a shaky breath and squeezed her eyes. “I don’t know if I can. How he makes me feel . . .”
“I know.” Meghan stroked the side of her face and for a brief moment, it offered Liz comfort. “He makes my skin crawl and to watch what you have to do . . . it horrifies me, Liz. But if we’re ever going to help our friends, reunite Travis with Jake, what choice do we have? You’re the only one who can get close enough—the only one.”
Liz bit her lip and knew that was true. When she volunteered for the mission—the assignment—it seemed so easy. Infiltrate Victor’s group by being captured. She knew what Victor wanted. It had been evident at the compound in Saskatchewan, before it went to hell in a hand basket, what he was grooming her for. Then it was just an idea, get Victor to trust you, and then when the time was right—.
“It has to be me.” Liz stood up from her spot on the carpet and all eyes were on her.
“No,” Jake said with force and shook his head. “It can’t be you.”
“It has to be. Jake—you know how he feels about me. What he was ready to do, before. He already knows he can manipulate me and I’ll fall for it. I’m the best chance we’ve got.”
Jake wouldn’t hear it and his eyes flashed with anger. He stroked Liz’s hair back and gazed into her eyes. Liz only saw love as he rested his forehead against hers. “I can’t lose you too,” Jake whispered. “I’ve already lost so much.”
Liz bit her lip. “Then let me help get them back. Your son—if I’m there, we can make sure he’s safe; make sure he’s protected.”
“And you?” Jake shook his head. “What’ll happen to you?”
“Well, hurry up and move our forces and maybe I won’t have to be there that long. Maybe this can be over before your boy has another birthday.”
It sounded so easy, so noble.
Now, it had been months since Liz had seen him—been locked up in the compound, formerly known as ‘the White House’. Still waiting for the signal or a sign that it was ending, Liz held onto hope that Jake and all the others were still alive, but what could be taking so long?
Liz nodded and wiped under her eyes. “How do I look?”
“Beautiful.” Meghan squeezed her hands. “Now, c’mon. You can’t ke
ep him waiting. I don’t want to leave him alone with Travis for a minute longer than we have to. Who knows what that man is capable of?”
A man? Victor was a monster in the purest form of the word and no one knew that as well as Liz, her parents, and the countless dead at his hand and his orders. None of which stopped her from leaving her bedroom in search of him. When Liz’s eyes fell on Victor in her living space, she forced a convincing smile, that part at least, was easier. “Good morning, Victor.”
Victor handed the screaming baby back to Meghan who cradled him close, but Liz knew Victor didn’t care how much he upset the boy. “There’s my gorgeous bride-to-be.” He leaned in and kissed her. Nothing much, except for a quick peck on the lips, but it was enough to rattle her nerves.
Liz hid it by pulling him in close and hugging him tight. She rested her chin on her shoulder and gazed over at Meghan, rocking Travis back and forth. Meghan’s eyes were wide with fright and the sensation of vomit burned Liz’s throat.
Somehow, they’d get through it. Maybe even one day when they were old and gray, they’d find a way to laugh at their crazy war stories, something they’d pass down from generation to generation.
They just had to get there.
“I’m sorry I took so long, my darling.” Liz grinned.
“You’re perfection as usual, but come.” Victor took her hand and kissed it. On her finger, a giant diamond ring that was too big to be attractive flashed in the afternoon light. It was gaudy and might as well have been a chain around her neck, because to Liz, that was all it was. Just a sign that Victor owned her, a way to strut her around, like a piece of underage property for all to see.
The men cackled and laughed. Some dared swat at her ass when Victor wasn’t looking. Liz was nothing but a piece of meat to be paraded around and it was the same for the other glistening women. Somehow, Liz needed to get the women to band together, strong enough to rise against Victor.
Their fingers laced together as Victor’s private guards ushered them out and into the hallway. She glanced back at Meghan with so much she wanted to say. Dread in her eyes, all she did was nod her head in a farewell. “Put Travis down for a nap later. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone.”
