by Ciana Stone
“A who?” Her answer seemed to momentarily throw him but he recovered quickly. “Then simply tell me where to find this person.”
“You can’t.”
“I can and will.”
“Not unless you’ve suddenly transformed into God.” She taunted him with her tone.
The only visible sign of his irritation was the tightening of his left hand into a fist. “Drop the game. Where is this person?”
“Dead.”
Both Slater and Marcus looked at her in surprise. “Dead?” Marcus blurted. “But…but…”
“You’re lying!” Slater snapped.
“No, I’m not.” She stepped up closer to face him. “The final gate was someone who died when Lucas destroyed the prototype. Your only chance to activate the system died with him. I can’t do it alone.”
Slater looked from her to Marcus. “Did you know this?”
“No.” Marcus looked shaken by the news.
“Then there’s no way to activate the weapon?”
Senna answered the question. “None.”
Slater didn’t bother to look at her. His eyes were fixed on Marcus. Everyone else looked at Marcus as Slater advanced on him. “You lying…”
Konnor paid no attention to the exchange that was going on. As soon as the gunmen looked in Slater’s direction he went into motion. The man nearest him went down like a sack of cement as Konnor’s foot met the side of his head. Catching the gun as the man fell, Konnor rolled and came up firing. The second man was blown backward by a barrage of bullets. He was dead before he hit the floor. Slater was pulling his handgun from inside his jacket. Senna kicked his arm and knocked it away. Before he could recover Konnor had his weapon aimed at Slater’s chest.
“Nice and slow,” Konnor ordered.
Slater cautiously pulled his gun and laid it on the floor. “Kick it over,” Konnor directed. “Senna, get over here.”
She didn’t wait to be told twice. “Get the gun.” He kept his weapon trained on Slater as she picked up the handgun. “Get me the cords from the lamps.”
At first she didn’t understand why he wanted the lamp cords. She unplugged them and tore them free from the base of the lamps. Konnor made Marcus and Slater go into the dining room and had Senna tie them to the wooden dining room chairs. After checking to make sure they were secure, he took her hand and they ran outside.
“Where are we going?” she asked as he started for the car.
“I don’t know yet. Just get in.”
She climbed into the car as he got in behind the wheel. As he reached to put the key in the ignition a motion from the back seat drew her attention but before she could call out a warning something hit her in the head from behind. Even as she reached for Konnor she felt consciousness slip away.
* * * * *
Glendale
Minora followed Lucas into the house. Neither of them had spoken a word since they left Colton. Lucas locked the door then turned to look at her. She was standing still as a statue with eyes round as saucers.
“Min?” He started for her but something hit him in the kidney before he reached her. He staggered and fell.
Minora screamed and threw herself down beside him. Lucas groaned and looked up. “Who are you?” he rasped at the man who stood holding a gun on them.
Kitaro stepped out of the shadows.
“I might have known,” Lucas said scornfully.
Kitaro dismissed the sarcasm. “You have something I want.”
“I have nothing,” Lucas replied. “You and Slater made sure of that. So if you’re here to kill me then go ahead.”
“You will give me what I want or I will make your death a very long and agonizing one.”
“What do you want?” Minora screamed.
“Senna.” His eyes gleamed as he spoke the name.
Minora and Lucas looked at one another then Lucas looked at Kitaro. “I don’t know where Senna is,” he replied after a brief pause.
“Then say goodbye, Doctor.” Kitaro raised the gun.
“No!” Minora cried. “Please.”
Kitaro lowered the gun but only slightly. She pushed herself up and stepped toward him. “If you promise not to hurt us I’ll tell you where to find her.”
“Minora, no!” Lucas exclaimed.
“We have no choice,” she said as she turned to him. “I don’t want to die, Lucas.”
He searched her eyes then slumped, looking down at the floor. A smile appeared on Kitaro’s face. “You were saying, Ms. Laserian?”
* * * * *
Senna woke with a pounding pain in her head. Groaning at the rush of dizziness sitting up caused, she looked around. She couldn’t tell where she was, but wherever it was, it was very dark. As her eyes adjusted she realized it was night. Which meant that she had been unconscious for a long time.
Trying to make no noise she slid off the bed and felt her way along. The first thing she had to do was find Konnor. Slowly she turned the doorknob. It was not locked. As she eased the door open she paused and waited to see if anyone had noticed. When several seconds passed without anything happening she pulled it open wider and looked out.
There didn’t appear to be any lights. She made her way down the hall, stopping at the next door. She was afraid to open it but she had to know if Konnor was there. She was both relieved and disappointed to discover the room empty. There were only two other doors. One turned out to be a bathroom and the other was another bedroom. Both rooms were vacant.
Continuing down the hall she stopped as it opened up into a living area. She didn’t see anyone around but she did see a door that led outside onto a patio. Immediately she started for it. She had reached the center of the room when lights came on overhead, temporarily blinding her.
Shielding her eyes with her hand she looked around. The man stepped away from the wall switch. “Shen?” She waited nervously for a reply.
“It is I,” he came to her.
“Oh, god, Shen!” Relief made her go into his arms. “I thought…” Jerking back she looked up at him in panic. “Konnor! Where’s Konnor?”
“He is not here.”
“But…” She rubbed her temples and tried to think. “We were getting in the car and then… Shen, how did I get here?”
“I brought you.”
“What about Konnor?”
“What about him?”
“Where is he?”
“I cannot say.”
“You can’t…” Her anxiety crested and she shouted at him. “Where is he? Tell me!”
“You need rest.” He tried to take her arm. “Please, let me take you to—”
“No!” She pulled back from him. “I want to see Konnor.”
“That is not possible.”
“Why are you doing this?” She didn’t understand why he wouldn’t tell her where Konnor was.
“Time is of the essence,” he replied. “You must give me what I need to prevent our adversary from gaining control of the Sumer project.”
Something about the request hit her wrong. He should have been concerned about Konnor and if Slater was closing in on them. “I have to see Konnor,” she demanded.
“He is not important now. Senna, look at me. You know you can trust me. I saved you before. I will save you now. I can forget your unfaithfulness. I will protect you just as I did before, keep you safe and love you. You have only to tell me—”
“No!” she shouted.
“You must.” His voice took on a slightly hard edge.
“Like hell,” she spat. “I want to know where Konnor is and either you tell me or I’ll leave and find him myself.
He stared at her with narrowed eyes and after a few moments she started for the door. “Fine, don’t tell me. But I’m not going to stand here and—”
Her words ended in a grunt of pain. Shen’s foot made contact with the back of her knee, causing her to fall forward. She started to push herself up but before she could he grabbed her hair and hauled her to her feet.
As soon as she looked into his eyes all the missing pieces fell into place. She staggered under the onslaught of memories that flooded her consciousness. It all made perfect sense. Now she understood. She had been so naïve and foolish. She had only one chance to get away and find Konnor and she was not sure she could pull it off. But she had to try. A lot was riding on her.
“Please,” she begged in a helpless tone. “You’re hurting me.”
“This?” He jerked on her hair. “You call this pain?”
“Please.” She reached for him. “Please. I love you. You know I do. I’m just…”
“Just what?” He jerked her close to his face. “Worried about him?”
“No.” She put her hands on either side of his face. “Not anymore. Now I realize how foolish I’ve been. Can you forgive me?”
His eyes seemed to lose some of their maniacal gleam and after a moment he released her hair. His arms pulled her close. “I could not forget,” he whispered in a husky voice. “The memories were burned into my mind, my soul.”
“I know.” She pressed against him. “But we’re here together now.”
“Yes.” His hands moved down her sides and up again to cup her breasts. “And now you will give me everything that I want.”
She tried to act as if she enjoyed his touch. “Mmm…” She pulled him close and brushed her lips against his. “For a price,” she said teasingly.
“Anything,” he replied, running his hands under her shirt.
“I want to see Konnor.” She bit at his ear lobe and wiggled against him. “Just to know that he’s alive and all right. After that…”
The sliding doors that led from the den to the patio exploded inward. Senna screamed as the man came through the opening. His weapon was pointing directly at her. She saw his finger tighten on the trigger and closed her eyes. A split second later she felt a sharp pain in her side. Her eyes flew open in time to see Shen fall to the floor with a long dart sticking out of the side of his neck.
“Senna,” he said and reached for her.
She tried to extend her hand but could not. The only thing she was aware of was a feeling that she was falling. Then there was nothing.
* * * * *
Slater threw the phone against the wall. It shattered and fell to the floor. A persistent dull tone added to the sound of his harsh breathing. Whirling around he advanced on Marcus. “You fool!” he shouted. “You incompetent fool!”
“Me?” Marcus yelled in return. “I didn’t let them escape. If you had competent people in your employ they wouldn’t have gotten away.”
Slater cursed and stomped across the room. “What are we going to do?” Marcus asked. “We can’t just sit here and do nothing. They could be—” His voice broke as Slater turned to him. In his hand was a knife.
“We’re not going to sit here and do nothing,” Slater’s voice was a serpent’s hiss. “Not at all.”
Marcus backed away, eyeing the knife in Slater’s hand. Slater grinned savagely and dove at him. By the time his men arrived the room was awash with blood.
“Sir?” The first man in the house looked around in shock.
Slater turned and swiped a bloody hand across his face. “Let’s go!” he ordered.
The man gave one look at the remains of the man on the floor and swallowed hard. “Yes, sir. Our destination?”
“Groom Lake. Call ahead and alert them of our arrival. I want security doubled. We’re expecting intruders.”
* * * * *
The sound of a heavy door slamming woke Senna. This is getting to be a habit, she thought, not liking the way she was getting knocked out in once place and waking up in another. As soon as she looked around to see where she was she jumped to her feet. Konnor lay on the cold metal floor with his eyes closed.
“Konnor!” She knelt down beside him and patted his face. “Can you hear me?”
After a few moments his eyes opened. “Senna!” He immediately tried to sit up but fell back on one elbow with a groan. “Damn!” He felt the back of his head. “What truck ran over me?”
She checked the lump on the back of his head. It wasn’t bleeding although it had been. Blood was dried on his hair and the back of his shirt. He grunted in pain as she felt him. Whoever had worked him over had been thorough. His whole body ached. But the pain bothered him far less than the needle marks on the inside crease of his elbow. He could not remember it happening, but he must have been drugged. He felt a little groggy and shook his head to clear it.
“What happened?” he asked.
She didn’t know how long they would be alone and she had more important things to do than relate her adventures. “Konnor, listen to me. This is important. You remember the missing time you were telling me about? The hole in your memory? I need you to remember what happened.”
He gave her a strange look. “First of all, don’t you think if I could I would have long before now? And secondly, we’ve got a lot more serious problems to worry about right now than the hole in my memory.”
“No, we don’t,” she argued as she reached up and unfastened the clasp of the necklace she always wore, the black opal set in gold Lucas had given her. Holding it carefully, she turned it over and opened the back of the setting.
Konnor watched her curiously as she turned it over and something very small fell into her open palm. “What’s that?” he asked as she picked up what appeared to be a seed and crushed it between her thumb and middle finger nails.
“Close your eyes,” she said.
“What?”
“Just do it!” she ordered sharply.
Konnor gave her a look that said he thought she had gone over the deep end, but did as she said. She held the crushed seed under his nose. The sharp yet sweet scent seemed to pervade the room. “No longer bound to the mountain,” she whispered in his ear. “As the lightning crashes the mind lifts free from its fetters. As if on wing it flies to the truth. The power of the tengu has failed. You are free.”
Konnor jerked and his eyes flew open. Almost as soon as they did, he closed them again and fell back, banging his injured head on the cold floor. Senna tried to hold him but his body arched as if in great pain and he gritted his teeth to keep from crying out.
Oh, god, what have I done? She thought she may have made a terrible mistake. Maybe it was too sudden, maybe he wasn’t ready. Suddenly his body went slack. She jumped and shook him but he didn’t move. Putting her head against his chest she heard the steady drum of his heart. At least he was alive. There was nothing else she could do but wait. Moving so that his head lay in her lap, she stroked his face and forehead, willing him to awaken and be all right.
It seemed like an eternity passed before he abruptly sat up. She scrambled to her feet as he bolted to his. He turned and looked at her and his face looked like he was seeing a ghost.
“How…can this be real?” His voice sounded uncharacteristically weak. “Is it… No, it couldn’t have been you.”
“Yes, it could. Think, Konnor, think. Try to remember.”
He clenched his eyes closed for a few seconds. She saw the color fade even more from his face when he opened his eyes and looked at her. “It is you,” he breathed. “You didn’t die.”
“No.” She reached out her hand to him.
“But…” He looked at her hand but made no move to take it. “But when I left you and went into the village… Damn! It’s so fuzzy. No, wait! I remember. I was jumped. I fought but there were too many. When I woke up I was locked in a room with no windows. The door had a small opening with bars. Slater came to the door. He said you were dead, that you had been killed trying to escape. Then…then… Oh, fuck! Senna, it was…”
“Kitaro,” she answered for him. “And Marcus. They were both working for Slater. They stole your memories and planted new ones. Just like they did with me.”
“But why? I didn’t know anything about what Lucas was doing and—”
/> The metal door opened and Konnor stepped in front of her, shielding her with his body. A man was shoved into the room. He stumbled and fell. A moment later Slater walked in, holding Minora and pushing her along in front of him.
Senna scrambled around Konnor before he could stop her. “Oh god, oh god, oh god!” she repeated over and over as she ran to the fallen man.
He looked up at her as she reached to help him. “Dad,” she cried and embraced him. He returned the embrace then pulled her behind him. That’s when it dawned on Senna. Minora was standing! She moved from behind Lucas, but he pulled her into his arms protectively.
“Min?” she spoke in a strained voice.
“Not now,” Lucas said softly.
“How very touching,” Slater drawled sarcastically. “Don’t you think, Konnor?”
Konnor glared at him menacingly and took a step forward. Slater’s hand moved from behind Minora’s back and Konnor could see the gun. He stopped where he was.
Lucas stepped away from Senna with his hands out to his sides. “Slater, it doesn’t have to be this way. Surely even you can see—”
“I can see that I’ve won,” Slater gloated. “And by the way, Lucas. Your brother sends his regards…from hell.”
Senna gasped and Minora closed her eyes but Lucas didn’t blink. “So, you killed him. I’m surprised it took you this long. But if you expect tears from me, think again. Marcus betrayed me, betrayed all of us long ago. I will not grieve for him.”
Slater looked over at Konnor who had a puzzled look on his face then he looked at Senna. “Come now, Lucas. It’s so impolite to make references to things that not all of us understand. Why don’t you explain to your…let’s see, what should we call her…your adoptive daughter, or would bastard niece be more appropriate.” He paused and looked down at Minora. “What do you think?”
She shook her head and would not look at him. Slater turned to Lucas. “Well? We’re all waiting. Go on, tell them how you used them, and lied to them. Show them how honorable and righteous the Laserian family is.”
Lucas shook his head and wouldn’t speak but Slater jabbed the barrel of the gun into Minora’s back hard enough to make her cry out in pain. “Don’t make me have to persuade you,” he warned.
