The Forbidden Trilogy

by Kimberly Kinrade

  "You're right. We do." He stood and walked to the tall bars. They weren't thick. If he had his para-powers he could snap them, but he didn't, so it was time to think outside the box. "You know what else you were right about?"

  "What?"

  "Every hero does need a sidekick."

  Toby smiled. "See, the hero learns."

  Drake smiled as an idea came to him, one inspired by watching too many Jackie Chan films. "You don't get it. You're the hero, Toby." He looked down at his sweat-soaked shirt. "Hey, Mary, come over here?"

  She glanced side to side, then walked toward him. "What do you need me for?"

  "I need your shirt."

  She stepped back, clutching her silk clothing. "No way. I'm not undressing... here."

  Drake grinned. "You can have my shirt. Don't worry."

  She paused, then slipped her blouse off and snatched up Drake's shirt, putting it on in a split second.

  "Thank you." Drake rubbed the blouse over his body, covering it in sweat, then spun it into a coil and tied it around two of the bars.

  This just might work.

  Chapter 118 - Lucy

  Lucy looked up from Hunter and stared at Drake. What's he doing?

  He wrapped Mary's shirt around two bars and started twisting. It took Lucy a second, but she almost laughed when she figured out the reference. She'd seen that in a Jackie Chan movie. He'd peed on his shirt and then did what Drake was doing to pull the bars in the cell together in order to escape. She really hoped he hadn't peed on Mary's shirt.

  Didn't Myth Busters prove that it didn't work?

  But it was working. Drake's muscles bulged and rippled in the sun as he twisted harder, bending the metal to his will. He looked surprised that he'd made progress. He gestured to Mary. "Come over here for a sec."

  She didn't look thrilled as she sauntered over to him. They talked quietly, then Mary sashayed—there really was no other word for how she moved her hips and stuck out her breasts—over to the other side and whistled to the bored guard. Even without powers, Mary was a force of nature. Her breasts heaved in her tight shirt as she flipped her long blond hair away from the side of her neck that wasn't burned.

  In what was almost a purr, she asked, "Could you please bring me some water?" She fanned herself dramatically. "It's so hot in here."

  Coming from anyone else, that whole move would have been laughable, but Mary was a pro. She had the guard panting like an obedient dog. He grinned and bobbed his head, then scurried away to do her bidding. What power she wielded even without para-powers.

  Lucy looked to Hunter to see if he was as enthralled with her as everyone else, but he was looking at Lucy. She flushed under his gaze and focused back on Drake, who continued to work on the bars.

  He looked up. "I need some help."

  Lucy was about to offer when Hunter stood, pulling off his shirt. "I got it."

  "Thanks, but I can't use your shirt. Silk's better. Just help me twist." Together, they worked the bars apart, to create a gap big enough to slip through. Lucy locked the image in her mind of the two very sexy men shirtless and flexing their muscles. She wasn't at all interested in Drake, but she had to admit, the picture her mind took of them could have sold calendars.

  Their small gang gathered around while the guys pulled, and Mary kept a lookout for the returning guard. The rest had joined Simmons and her team for the baby massacre.

  It made Lucy sick.

  Drake looked up at her as he twisted the metal. "As soon as we get out, we find your brother."

  She nodded. "They'll be on the coast."

  At least that was what her instincts told her. If the sphere could make Luke ten times stronger, he'd be able to destroy the facility from a long distance, and Simmons would want to act fast with minimal risk of failure. Hopefully, that meant the coast, and that they hadn't gone back to the mainland.

  "I'm sorry," said Hunter, again—directing the apology to both Lucy and Drake this time. "I shouldn't have kept that thing."

  "It's okay." Drake pulled tighter, grunting from the effort. "We all make mistakes." He stood back to examine the hole. "Let's go."

  Norm paused and gripped Robyn. "What if we all get shot on sight?"

  Drake's face hardened as he stepped out of the cell. "We won't."

  Lucy followed, then ran toward the coast, her friends coming up from behind.

  She'd already let Sam and Mr. K down. She would not let Luke down, too. He'd always been there for her, always looked out for her. She remembered the day she'd told Luke about the sphere. They'd sat on the log and thrown rocks into the water. He hadn't been angry at her for withholding the truth. He'd even accepted Hunter, eventually. Her brother never judged her for her flaws, and had been the one constant in her life, the one truth amidst a sea of lies. It was her turn to take care of him.

  Along the shore, on a hill overlooking the water, Simmons stood surrounded by agents. Luke wavered beside her, looking stoned. Next to him, a tall piece of wood, like an altar or pedestal, held the sphere.

  It pulsed and glowed and Lucy could feel its pull, but it no longer attracted her like it once did. Now it made her think of death and heartache. She had to get to Luke, but how? They had no weapons, no powers.

  They crept closer, hiding behind rocks and bushes.

  Simmons was making a speech. "Today, we end a tyrant. Today, we end this war." She waved her fist in the air like some crazed Nazi.

  Her men gave half-hearted affirmations of 'yes', but Lucy could tell they didn't want to do this. They wanted a better way. What kind of person could kill innocent children and not feel guilt or grief? What kind of person could celebrate that? She wished she'd taken Beleth up on his offer and killed the bitch when she had the chance, but that would have made Lucy into someone like Simmons, and she never wanted to become that person.

  Gary came up behind her. "We should wait until he starts to use the sphere. They'll be distracted and we'll have the upper hand."

  It made sense, but Lucy couldn't let Luke start. She stepped out of cover and ran toward the hill, then stopped at the base and screamed. "Stop!"

  Everyone turned to look at her.

  Simmons hissed. "How?" She gestured to the other agents. "Get her. Take her back to the pen."

  They didn't immediately jump at the command, reluctant to carry out the act, but they were trained to follow her orders. Just as one neared Lucy and was about to lay a hand on her, Hunter charged out of the brush and tackled the man.

  The rest of the team followed. They didn't have their para-powers yet, but the drug's weakening effects were wearing off, and they all had been trained to fight.

  The agents had guns, putting Lucy and her friends at a disadvantage, but they didn't raise them.

  Hunter tried to rally the agents. "Don't do this. There are children in there. Don't let her do this."

  "Silence him!" Simmons glared at a pair of agents, who moved to pin Hunter down.

  He fought well, but they were outnumbered.

  Lucy used the chaos to her advantage, and ran up the hill where her brother stood next to Simmons and Agent Mark.

  Luke frowned at her and wobbled. The drugs must have made him easier to persuade.

  Simmons commanded her agents to stop Lucy, then shoved Luke. "Start, or she will die."

  He didn't move, and Lucy kept running.

  Simmons yelled, "I am giving you a direct command from your superior officer. Shoot her now. Shoot her, or you will all be held up on charges for disobeying a direct order."

  Still, the agents refused to shoot a girl in the back. Lucky for Lucy.

  She reached for Luke. "Don't do it. Don't—"

  A blast of gunfire deafened her and she fell to one knee, blood pouring from her leg.

  Simmons had finally gotten to one agent, and more were sure to follow. Group-think at its best.

  "Do it, Luke. Now!" said Simmons. "Or my agents will keep firing."

  "No! Luke, you can't. Sam's in there, and her bab
y. All those kids. Think about what you're doing." Lucy hobbled forward, determined to stop him.

  Tears filled his eyes and he put his hand on the sphere. The glow brightened and his body tensed. He looked toward the facility on the horizon.

  Why didn't he just use his power to destroy Simmons? To end her? He'd been drugged and he was worried about Lucy; he couldn't think straight.

  Lucy pulled herself up and walked through the pain. "Please, Luke, stop. I'll be fine. Don't do this. Listen to me!"

  He didn't listen. He focused, pain crossing his face as his body hunched in. The sphere was draining him of his life as he reached across the ocean with his power.

  "It's killing him." Lucy screamed at Simmons, "Are you mad? You have to stop this!"

  An insane gleam lit up her eyes. "Shut up! Don't move."

  Lucy continued walking. She wouldn't let this monster kill her brother, or turn her brother into a murderer. More shots rang out. Another bullet crashed into Lucy's shoulder, then her arm. She stumbled, pain riding her, blood pouring from her, but she didn't stop. She couldn't.

  Hunter cried for her. "Lucy, don't!"

  The world clouded over in her mind, the pain taking up residence in her like a parasite. She ignored it and kept walking toward her brother. He had to see her, had to listen.

  "Shoot her. Kill her," said Simmons.

  Another shot, but it missed. Even through the haze, Lucy could tell the agents were losing faith. They weren't trained to brutally murder an unarmed woman.

  She walked on, fighting more pain than she ever knew a human could endure, not even sure how she was still walking, but she refused to stop.

  Simmons screeched at her agents to keep shooting. They did, but the shots went wide.

  Lucy was grateful, for one more, and she might not have been able to get back up.

  Someone flinched from Simmons's heat. He fired and hit Lucy in the foot.

  She fell and cried out in pain.

  Simmons stood over her, holding a gun. "Stop now, girl, and your brother may yet live."

  Lucy looked up, blood gagging her mouth. She tried to talk but choked on the coppery life force. On the brink of death, Lucy could feel how close Luke was to being drained entirely, and Simmons didn't even care. Over the horizon the wall of the facility crumbled.

  Simmons smiled like a sociopath. "Stay down, girl. If your brother dies, he'll die a hero."

  Lucy looked up at Simmons, gathered the last remaining strength she possessed, and pushed off the ground. Agony. Pain. The taste of blood. Death sinking into her.

  But she stood.

  Simmons sneered. "You bitch." She raised her gun and aimed, and someone grabbed it from her.

  Agent Mark put Simmons in a stronghold and pointed the gun at her head. "Don't move. You're being relieved of command, and are under arrest for actions in violation of the IPI Code of Ethics." He grabbed the sphere and pushed it to the ground, out of Luke's hands.

  Lucy smiled and collapsed. Dream visions came to her, of their life together. Her brother was safe. She could rest now.

  Luke glanced at her, his head wobbly, his cheeks hollow. "Lucy?" He groaned, and something sparked inside him, lighting up his eyes. The sphere shook in his grasp, as he pulled it off the ground and pushed it towards Lucy, muscles straining in his arms.

  "Lucy, Lucy!" Tears flowed down his face and he caressed her cheek.

  Warmth stole over Lucy and a bright light glowed in the distance. She knew that glow meant safety, love, peace. She wanted so badly to follow it, but Luke wouldn't let her. "Thanks for watching over me, Brother." She closed her eyes and followed the light, and let it wrap her in a perfect feeling of bliss.

  But something pulled her out of that embrace, something cold and sharp against her skin. A foreign power invaded her, one she recognized.

  "Hang in there, Sis." Luke held the sphere against her. "This thing healed you once. It can do it again."

  Energy flowed into her, knitting her back together, but it pulled from Luke. She tried to move, to push him away, but she couldn't do more than beg through the blood in her mouth. "No. Don't."

  Luke smiled through his tears. "I told you, Sis, I'd always look out for you."

  She smiled back, but didn't want him to be hurt. Please, Luke, don't sacrifice yourself like this. Her words couldn't find their way out of her body, and she sobbed inside at the loss of his life.

  Then another life force filled her, and she felt the pressure of someone else's hand. Hunter.

  He stood over her, clutching the sphere with Luke. "We said after we got out of the valley, we'd be together. You can't leave me now."

  Hunter. My Hunter. She didn't want to leave him, but it wouldn't be enough. Now she would kill them both. She was too close to the edge. It would take too much energy to bring her back from the brink—to heal her body.

  Except, instead of draining them, more energy joined. Another hand held the sphere to her body. Agent Mark.

  He smiled. "I should've stopped her sooner. You're a hero, and we don't let hero's die if we can help it."

  Soon more hands joined together, forming a human ring around her—other agents, and her friends. The combined force of their life and energy filled her like a drug, healing the wounds that threatened to steal her from the world. Internal organs regrew, and a white light infused her in radiant love. She opened herself to it, like she had in the valley, and allowed herself to connect with them all, to become one with them in a way she never had before. She saw for the first time how interconnected everyone was, how joined they were to each other. The warmth in her grew and she closed her eyes. The other light still called to her, and it would have been easy to go to it, but this new light surrounded her now.

  A soft breeze filled the air with the scent of star flowers. An echo of Mr. K's voice rippled on the wind. "You have more to do in this world, more lessons to complete. Choose the harder path for the greater reward."

  A tear fell down her cheek as she considered all the people who had given of themselves to save her.

  Two roads. The easy one or the hard one? To sleep, or to wake up to more?

  Lucy opened her eyes and gasped.

  Chapter 119 - Steele

  Steele examined himself in the full-length mirror and adjusted his silk tie. The Italian pinstripe suit fit him like a glove, and his polished leather shoes shined, but his eyes still looked tired with dark circles framing them. Last night he'd worked non-stop to complete the last critical piece of his project: altering Sam's mind.

  The simple alterations he'd made to keep her from contacting her friends had proven effective, though she fought constantly. He'd never met a more stubborn specimen, pushing at every turn, weakening his control on her. A few times she nearly managed to connect mentally with someone else. He'd had to maintain non-stop vigilance to keep her under his control, and he paid for that today, but nothing could ruin what he had planned.

  The eyes were a problem, a show of weakness. He grabbed his makeup bag and lightly powdered the dark rings. The cameras would pick up any flaw, and he couldn't allow that.

  Someone knocked on the door.

  Another dab on the left eye. "Enter."

  Beleth walked in, with a presence that controlled a room. Steele hated that presence.

  He faced the man, who also looked tired. "Were you successful?"

  "No. They escaped back to the IPI base."

  "How unfortunate. You would have had a particular interest in one of them."

  Beleth raised an eyebrow at that. A rare site: getting him to show any curiosity or interest.

  Steele said nothing more. There had been a time when they would have shared truths and secrets. That time was long past. Now, information was a weapon, and Steele used it better than anyone. "Is everything prepared?"

  "The conference room is ready. Grunt is in position." Beleth paused, his voice strained as he continued. "You have yet to give the order to start Operation Harvest. Would you like me to begin?"
r />   Beleth had never agreed with experimenting on children, but he wasn't in charge. Still, sometimes he would push, sometimes he was a problem, so Steele had been cautious.

  "No need. I've handled it."

  Beleth took a step forward, his fist curling. "Has it begun?"

  "It has been completed." Steele motioned to the balcony. "See for yourself."

  They walked out to the balcony. Below them, hundreds of children were being led out of the facility, dressed in rags and chained together in lines. They looked pale, hollow and weak.

  Beleth clutched the rail. "No. What will happen to them?"

  "Some will be sold. Some will be gifted. They have served their purpose." Steele reached into his pocket and drew out a syringe with purple liquid.

  He could almost feel the energy pulsing through it. He had extracted powers from dozens of kids, picking the best ones, compiling them in this syringe. Some kids he had left alone, like that girl with the healing powers. He'd used her to heal his daughter, and he still hadn't discovered how to take away the side-effects. That didn't matter. He'd have all the powers he needed.

  He admired the miracle in his hands. "Years of work, and I finally have my chance."

  "So do I." Beleth slapped the syringe out of Steele's hand and it flew over the balcony.

  Steele reached for it, but it slipped through his fingers and landed below, shattering into pieces and staining the cement a purple hue.

  Beleth collapsed, sweating.

  That much defiance should have been impossible for him. How could he have broken from Steele's control that long?

  "You will never have what you want," Beleth said, his voice weak and raspy.

  Steele loomed over the man. They had been partners once, working towards the same goal. How had things come to this? Beleth no longer shared Steele's ideals, but Steele had known that for a long time, so he always planned for contingencies.

  He pulled another syringe from his pocket and wagged it in front of his old friend. "Did you really think I made just one?"

  With the drug he'd manufactured—the one on the streets—he could amplify powers. By mixing it with the powers he extracted, he was able to make over a hundred syringes' worth. Nothing would stop him now, not even Beleth.