Assassin's Mate: A Xeno Sapiens Novel (Genetically Altered Humans Book 9)

by Rena Marks

  “It’s okay,” Everly said, placing her hand on his forearm. “If it’s meant to happen, it will. Her path will cross with yours somehow, someway.”

  “That’s right,” Angela said cheerfully. “Look at all the traps Zee was digging while half his brain was sleeping. Unconsciously searching for a mate. Little did he know he would have broken my neck had he caught me instead of Thane.”

  “Well, that’s morbid,” Happy said. “Maybe I’ll hold off on the whole mate concept.”

  Angela laughed.

  “Systems are on red alert.” The computer voice boomed overhead. “Attention. All systems are on red alert.”

  Steele burst from the back room, barely giving them a glance as he ran from the lab.

  “What’s going on?” Everly murmured.

  “I’m not sure.” Happy narrowed his eyes. The other multiples stopped what they were doing, their heads cocked toward the lab where Pax still was.

  With a shared look between them, the other three multiples in the room began putting away their stations and then left toward the hallway that stretched to Pax’s personal lab.

  “Aren’t you going?” Angela asked Happy.

  “No.”

  “Any ideas as to what’s going on?”

  “That newest hate group is having an episode right outside the main gates. All available personnel has gone, but Robyn doesn’t want everyone to leave their posts in case it’s a distraction. So Pax will stay here, as he normally does. I’ll stay out here with you two.” He grinned easily. “And your mates have both communicated that they are on the outside with Everly’s kids.”

  Everly sighed. “I’m glad they’re safe.”

  Just then, Pax burst from the office. “Watch them,” he warned, before running out the main area the same way Steele had earlier.

  “What the—?” Everly said. “Pax never goes out into the line of fire.”

  “No,” Happy agreed, his face looking somber. “Someone requested him.”

  “He’d changed clothes,” Angela said.

  “Come again?”

  “He was wearing dark gray, nearly black, when he left. But I’m sure he was wearing solid black when we came in this morning.”

  “Hmm.” Happy’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “That can’t be good.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Pax:

  F rom every direction, guards began running toward the front gates.

  Telepathic communication was opened—and commands were running amuck.

  Do not leave your post unattended. Keep all stations manned.

  Protect the mates and children. It could be a ploy to get them alone.

  She’s demanding to see Pax. Someone get Pax.

  I’m here. Pax opened his eyes with a snap, jumping from the window of his lab to his storage locker to hurriedly dress. What do we know about her?

  The next thought that came through was from Steele, who had run off to join the rest when the problem first hit. There was a private telepathic link that only the original group of first-revived Xeno Sapiens—Esson Four—could access. Steele, Renegade, Beast, and Pax.

  Robyn says she’s clean. She’s just a random person they picked up and strapped a bomb to.

  Pax brushed his fingers through his tousled hair. It would have to do. He didn’t even reach for the glasses he normally wore. The lenses were his own creation, enabling instant magnification. He used the feature so often, he sometimes forgot to remove the glasses from his face. A fact that many of his personalities laughed at.

  Speaking of which, three of the four that were in the outer lab burst through his door.

  “What do you need?” Number Three asked.

  “Get inside,” Pax said. “Happy still out there?”

  Number Three nodded. “He’s guarding Everly and Angela.”

  His aspects surrounded him and stepped into his body, their skin softening to merge with his. It was an unpleasant feeling of loss and completeness at the same time.

  At the highest count, six had emerged at once. Though, the average that would pop through from time to time was two.

  Today’s brood had been four.

  He walked briskly out of his lab and down the hallway that separated him. Sure enough, Happy stood near both human mates, Angela and Everly.

  “Keep an eye on them,” he said, acknowledging Happy’s nod.

  He caught Angela’s eye roving along his new clothing. Not much escaped her notice, but then, she was a trained killer. One day, Crested Ute might release that info, despite the fact that it would damn them for creating her. It was best to make sure she was within the walls of Xenia at all times to avoid taking the fall for any of their hits.

  Pax burst from the front doors that led to the outside.

  The compound was shadowed. Due to the current threat, Robyn had activated a force field over the city. It dulled the UV rays from the sun to show it was in place, casting a bluish gray overcast to the normally vibrant skies.

  The crowds at the gate parted for him. Near the opening, Beast squeezed his mate, Sunny, and left her side to join Pax. Together, they walked to join the other two of Esson Four—Steele and Renegade.

  He and Beast walked up to where they stood. A female bowed before them, her face pale. She was covered from the neck down in a cape—one of their own creations. Steele must have grabbed it on the way out. It served to contain the effects of bomb explosions to avoid damage to everyone else.

  “Which one of you is Pax?” she asked. For a moment, she looked confused as her gaze cut from him to Beast.

  She didn’t know? Who sent her? Why was she here if she didn’t even know her target?

  “She has a bomb strapped to her chest,” Renegade said, his voice somber.

  “Why do you want to know which one is Pax?” Beast rumbled.

  “Because they said Pax was the one who could disarm it.” The female looked up—directly at him. Her amber eyes were huge in her heart-shaped face, glossed with unshed tears. One solitary tear rolled down her cheek.

  Pax felt his own intake of breath. Her beauty socked him in the gut. He felt the shards of his personalities rumble.

  Not now. The mental command for once was obeyed.

  He crouched down on all fours, releasing the backpack he’d grabbed to drop to the ground. “Who are you?”

  “Rena,” she gasped. “Serena Blackfoot.”

  She’d given him permission to use a shortened version of her name. But he had to remain as detached as possible. It was very possible this female wouldn’t make it.

  “Serena, I’m going to look inside the cape, all right?”

  She jerked her head, giving permission. He raised his hand to the fastening of the cape at her neck. He was so close to her quivering, soft cheek. One brush of his thumb could swipe the tear away.

  But he held himself in check. To give in would be to allow the other aspects of his personality to erupt and there was no worse time. They were outside the city gates and drones could be recording every detail for the underground feeds.

  He lifted the cape and peered inside. He studied the strapped bomb for longer than he needed to—because he couldn’t quite understand what he was seeing.

  “Pax?” Renegade said softly. “Can it be disarmed?”

  “No,” he said abruptly, flinging the flame-retardant cape from her. “It’s not a bomb.”

  “What?” Beast’s eyes were glued to the device.

  “It’s a sham,” Pax announced. “The timer is battery run—and not connected. See where the wires have come loose? They were there for show.”

  “What is leaking?”

  Without a scanner, he couldn’t tell. He turned to his backpack to retrieve one when a man’s amplified voice called out from the crowd. “Science goes against God’s wishes for abnormal procreation of deformed beings! Take out the main scientist—Pax—to teach the wrath of the Lord! Down with Pax!”

  Suddenly, Pax knew what was leaking. An ignition liquid.

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sp; And a flaming arrow shot out of nowhere to pierce the pretend bomb on her chest, scattering the liquid all over her and catching him.

  As the blaze caught, the female’s screams went up in flames. For a second he was startled, expecting to catch fire, too.

  Everything happened at once. Xeno Sapiens rushing into the crowds of spectators, Pax reaching for the flame retardant cape he’d flung from her shoulders moments earlier. But it was tangled underneath her, costing him countless, precious seconds.

  Guilt flooded his essence. She wouldn’t be burning like a witch on a stake if he hadn’t removed the cape from her shoulders.

  He smothered the fire with the cape. Slowly her screams stopped. He kept her wrapped in the cape, as he laid her out flat, but he knew. He’d seen the damage.

  Agonized, he looked into her eyes.

  “It doesn’t hurt,” she whispered, as if to soothe him. “Nothing hurts anymore.”

  Next to him, Steele winced. It didn’t hurt because there was nothing left of her skin. No nerves to cause her pain, the burns too deep.

  She might have realized it at the same time, because her eyes rolled back into her head as she lost consciousness.

  Behind him, someone brought a stretcher from Medbay. Carefully, the four of them lifted her onto it. His nostrils burned with the acrid smell of smoke—and flesh.

  “They were aiming for you,” Renegade murmured. “That arrow was supposed to scatter the liquid contents of the fake bomb and catch you in the process. Why didn’t you catch fire?”

  “My outfit is flame retardant,” Pax said. “Made of the same material as the cape. I’ve enhanced it to wear softer, to bend like clothing. It’s a prototype I was testing.”

  “Works well,” Beast said, but his voice was somber.

  Pax looked down. From the neck up, she looked like a peacefully sleeping woman. A beautiful doll. He shuddered to think of what was under the cape. Ignoring the crowds, the guards shouting commands, everything but focusing on what the woman needed, he bent to pick up his corner of the stretcher.

  Every doctor available was waiting for them at MedBay. After laying her on the bed, they were ushered from the room, where the four of them waited alone. Like they had when Robyn had worked to free them…so long ago. Quietly they talked among themselves, speculating on the damages to the woman, on why she was sent. It was too coincidental that they’d just released news footage that procreation was possible for several Xeno Sapiens.

  But it felt like old times, to be with Esson Four. He spent a lot of time with Steele, of course. He had no choice. Steele worked with him in the lab a couple days a week. But for the most part, he’d avoided the others.

  He couldn’t stand to pretend to act normal around them.

  He was the only one of the four not mated. And there was no chance of ever being mated. Steele and Renegade had mated the two doctors that freed them all, that fateful day when they escaped the labs. Beast had found Sunny. But when Beast and Sunny finally mated, Pax felt something off. He realized he was the only one without someone to come home to.

  Well, except for his multiples.

  But this—this felt good, being with his brothers, discussing things amongst themselves. It was a good three quarters of an hour before Robyn, Steele’s mate, joined them.

  “Will she live?” Renegade asked, as soon as she entered.

  “For now. We’ve placed her in a liquid suspended animation.”

  Liquid suspension was a last resort. She might be able to be questioned, but when the pain hit, she’d be unable to answer any questions.

  “Any ideas who did this to her?” Pax asked. Before Robyn could answer, a burst of pain shot through him—three times.

  One warning and two births.

  Two of his shards—slivers of his personality—other aspects of himself, stepped from his body, their skin hardening as they erupted from him. He collapsed onto the chair behind him, exhausted from the work of instant, magical birth, as sympathy roved over Robyn’s expression. She was entirely too fascinated with his anomaly, as if being surrounded by strangeness wasn’t enough for her.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  “He’s fine,” Number Four snapped, barely giving him a glance. Impatience. That was the one he’d named in his head.

  “Don’t fight it,” another one said to him, more kindly. He linked his arm through Pax’s as he sat next to him. An unusual display of affection, as this aspect was unusually uptight—rigid and nervous. The others referred to him as Taut. Taut didn’t mind the name. Like Happy, he thought it was more personable than being labeled as a number according to which personalities had manifested first.

  “You know it doesn’t hurt as bad when you just let it flow. Allow it to happen,” Taut said.

  “You know it’s not always convenient,” Pax gasped, glaring at him. At them. At both of them.

  “There’s never a convenient time,” Taut said. “But tell us about the girl.” He turned his face to Robyn. “Someone meant for her to die?”

  Robyn nodded. “And take Pax in the process.”

  “But he’s fine,” Impatience said.

  Robyn nodded again. “She’s not. Ninety-six percent of her body was burned. A staggering amount. The shock alone will kill her. The only thankful thing is that she isn’t in any pain.”

  “Her skin can’t regenerate.”

  “Not with that amount of damage, no. Even if we encourage growth with grafts.”

  “Pax has an invention that can be of use,” Taut said.

  And that was why they popped out. They knew he had no intention of telling anyone what he was working on.

  “Shut it,” he growled to Taut.

  Taut raised his brows. “Why? You can help save a life.”

  “This is why that nutcase wanted to kill me,” Pax snarled. “My inventions. Didn’t you hear? They called science abnormal.”

  “They call us abnormal,” Taut said, rolling his eyes. “Since when does it bother us?”

  “What do you have?” Robyn asked softly.

  Even Impatience sounded proud as he answered for Pax. “He had a breakthrough just yesterday. Manufactured skin—the largest organ in the human body. It isn’t meant for a live body, of course. No, our Pax was working on something else. Robotics.”

  “Limbs,” Pax interjected, glaring at his multiples to shut them up. “Artificial limbs. They can be covered and have the same range of feeling for the exhibitor.”

  “But it won’t work for human bodies?” Robyn looked puzzled as to why the others even brought it up. For that, Pax was grateful. He’d be mortified if anyone knew he intended to create a realistic, artificially intelligent, sex-doll. A pretend mate for an awkward Xeno Sapien who had no social skills and lived with aspects of fragmented personalities.

  “No,” Taut said carefully. “At least not yet. But if anyone can do it, Pax can. And we’ll help.” He looked Pax in the eye.

  Pax felt others bubble from his solar plexus, roving up underneath his skin. He fought his instinct to dampen the new beings and this time, three more aspects burst from him without the usual amount of pain. The others moved toward the back of the room to give them space.

  Taut and Impatience each took him by an arm, draping it over their own shoulders to haul him upright. From his position, he could see inside the window of where the girl—Serena—was kept in a floating glass bed of transparent gel.

  The thickness of the gel kept her raw flesh from bleeding, from seeping blood into the fluid. It would keep her sterile and hydrated—but unfortunately, would also keep new skin from growing. Still, she floated like a serene, bloody flower.

  “We need to give it a chance,” Taut said. “Give her a chance.”

  “You’re close enough to figuring out how to encourage the growth beyond the seam of original skin versus bio-skin,” Impatience murmured. “I’m sure the answer is probably staring you in the face. And wouldn’t it be worth it to discover it with her? To save her life?”
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br />   Pax sighed. “Of course.” He looked beyond Taut to Robyn, who stood with them. Behind them, the other multiples were visiting with Beast, Steele, and Renegade. “How long can she be kept in the suspension?”

  “No more than a month. She’ll be kept unconscious to avoid shock. But longer than that and her muscles atrophy. At that point we risk organ failure.”

  “So I have a couple of weeks to come up with a solution, try a placement and see if it grows, attaching to her raw flesh. And we pray that it can grow fast enough, or she has to be woken from the submersion, where shock and infection can kill her.”

  “I know it’s asking a lot. All we can do is try.”

  “You have all of us,” Taut reminded him.

  Epilogue

  Eight months later:

  A litter of children had not been what Angela was expecting, but she wouldn’t trade it for the world.

  Out of the brood of six, two were true twins, identical. Two babies had split from a single egg, compliments of all the hereditary twins from her and Everly’s genetic pool, despite the fact that she and Everly had been man-made. The other four babies were rather miraculous, when one thought about it.

  When Zealish’s seed had become compatible with his human DNA, it somehow learned the ability to ripen female ovum. So not only were they superswimmers, seeking out the egg to fertilize, but a handful of these super sperms also swam through her female aquaducts, seeking out her ovaries and managed to ripen and consequently fertilize, four more. Because those eggs had been manipulated by his DNA—as the reasoning was explained by Blaze’s mate, Dr. Irina—they would be male children, their looks taking after Zee.

  The egg that had already ripened and split in two for twins? Those two shared a sack and would be female, their looks more human than their brothers.

  The thought of having sextuplets was terrifying. There were many dangers to go over; the fact that a baby or two could die in the womb. The idea that her body couldn’t possibly stretch large enough to accommodate six—especially when one considered their father’s size. However, it had been a needless worry.