It was real.
A million questions danced in his mind, but really, only one thing mattered. “You didn’t.”
“You still had a future. I couldn’t take that from you. No one I had ever retrieved before still had a future. When I arrived, they were always done. Finished. Ready. You weren’t.” She choked on a sob, and her voice cracked.
Tears poured out of her, and she pulled away.
He didn’t like that.
“You did what you thought was right,” he said.
She turned and looked at him. “And how many beings did you kill from that day until today? A hundred? A thousand? The Butcher of P-Extinction’s crimes are legendary. Did you know there are horror stories about you on the Meta planets? Parents scare their children with stories of The Butcher coming.”
He knew.
He’d always known.
He’d been able, for so long, to disconnect himself from what he was in the war--it was his cyborg programming. It wasn’t him.
He hadn’t done it; he had been following orders. His body, acting out the program he’d been loaded up with.
But would there be a Butcher of P-Ex if she had taken him? Would they have ever met had she done her duty?
He felt sick.
She clenched her stomach as well, like she was going to throw up again.
Were they sharing feelings as well? Sensations? What kind of connection did they have? He moved toward her, wanting to soothe her, but he wasn’t sure if he could, his own emotions at war inside him.
All he could do was force himself still. Solid and immobile, so that the emotions could pass through him.
He knew no other way to do it.
Morrigan, however, looked like she was about to rip something apart.
“Do you not understand?” she cried out. “That it is my fault! All of it. I created you.”
“You didn’t create me. You didn’t make me fight.”
“If I had done what I was supposed to, you wouldn’t have had to. And maybe P-Extinction would not have waged on for so long.”
“Was there any way your vision would have come true, had you taken me?”
She shook her head.
“Then maybe I was destined to be The Butcher.” Was that what this meant? That he was born to be The Butcher? Was that his destiny?
“Cadell,” Morrigan said.
He met her gaze.
“I--”
He held out his hand. “So, what’s our future hold?”
She accepted his hand, closed her eyes for a second, and opened them. “It’s bright and pretty.” The smile on her face didn’t meet her eyes.
He didn’t have to read her mind to feel the lie. They didn’t have a future past this.
He knew that. He knew when he’d walked into the Complex, he’d never survive it.
But he didn’t think he’d be fighting for a Meta when he died.
A noise pierced the sky.
He turned.
There was a flyer coming toward them. Several, in fact.
Dumol had brought friends.
Maybe he wasn’t done following his destiny just yet.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Morrigan pulled her hair sticks out, and immediately, shifted them into swords, ready for battle.
She was ready to rip apart every single one of those damn Intra people. She’d fight a whole war alone, if that’s what it took to vanquish the feelings in her gut right now.
She glanced at him.
“I lied,” she said.
He nodded. “I know.”
Their gazes met.
“You are my best choice,” Cadell said.
“I’m glad I didn’t claim you,” Morrigan said.
They smiled at each other for a moment, and she knew, and she guessed he did too, that they weren’t walking out of here.
She only hoped they stopped whatever Dumol had planned first.
The flyers zoomed around the farming dome, over the top of the field. Mori watched them circle, and once again, she wished for her wings. To meet them in the air would give her and Luke a strong advantage.
She could take them out easily. If she could fly…
But wishing would not return them. Instead, this battle must be fought on the ground.
If the flyers landed, then they had a shot. She shifted one of her swords into a shield.
“I will never get used to that,” Luke muttered.
“You’d better. These two weapons are all we have.”
He held up his blaster, which looked like a standard-issue segif, like the Intra officers used--non-lethal measures. “And this is what?”
She smirked. “Will that actually kill people, or will it only stun them?”
This did make him smile. “Do you really think The Butcher would come to the party with a stun gun?”
“How did you get that in here?”
“How did you get those?”
“Point taken,” Mori said. Warriors always found a way to bring in what they need to survive.
Attention back on the approaching horde, she prepared for attack.
Well, maybe horde was a bit inaccurate. It was more like a small squad. Enough to keep both her and Luke busy, but not so many to take them down completely without a fight.
She counted four flyers, one each with an Intra officer on it. And in the distance? A second set of flyers, hovering and waiting. She guessed each one had at least another officer.
As a couple of the flyers circled, she could tell not all of them were standard Intra officers--their uniforms didn’t fit right. Intra officers clothing was tapered to their frames, and never looked baggy or lumpy, as these men’s uniforms did.
So there was benefit to being a tailor.
“They’re not Intra,” Mori whispered.
Luke grunted, she hoped in agreement. She stood closer, and without thinking about it, she stepped behind him, their bodies back-to-back, as the flyers circled them.
“You remember the plan,” Mori said.
He grunted again. Energy passed between them as they both readied themselves. The slight touch connected them again, and it fed each other’s adrenaline.
They had a plan.
They could make this work.
“We can do this,” she said to him, but just as much for herself. Her body began to hum with energy.
She was ready.
So was Luke.
She could feel it.
Dumol, she spotted flying low, along with the man who’d interrogated her before, and two other rather large males.
All Human, interestingly enough.
Or maybe not that predictable. They were attempting to assassinate a Meta ambassador. Why would there be any Metas involved in that?
Had they already done it? Was the ambassador dead? Had all this been for nothing?
“No,” Cadell whispered. “They haven’t killed her yet.”
He must have heard her thoughts. Their connection was growing by the moment.
She guessed why the assassination hadn’t happened--she was the loose end they were trying to eliminate before proceeding with their plan.
So why they weren’t firing at them from above? Shots in a quick succession would take them out and it would be over.
Finished.
“Why aren’t they taking the given advantage?”
“She wants a personal kill,” Cadell muttered.
She glanced at him. “I shouldn’t be surprised at that.”
He smirked. Their gazes met, for just a moment.
He didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. A wave of emotion bubbled through the adrenaline. The fear.
And the truth.
They weren’t walking out of this field.
Neither of them.
He knew it.
And so did she.
“We fight to the end,” she said.
He nodded. “To the end.”
A blast of air slapped them both on the face as a flyer began
its landing cycle across from Luke.
Naturally, just outside of a segif’s accurate firing range.
Mori stepped to Luke’s side to face Dumol, shield at the ready. The golden surface sparkled in the bright sunlight, and reflected off the flyer.
Dumol grimaced as she stepped down and approached. On her hip, a shiny, silver gun sparkled in the light. Not a segif, either, but some other sort of weapon. The others were armed and climbed off their flyers too. Dumol gestured for them to stay.
“This isn’t the location I had in mind, Cadell, but I suppose it’ll work.”
“For what?” Cadell asked, his weapon raised, and he took a step toward Mori, almost in front of her, and more behind her round shield.
Dumol’s gaze raked over the two of them, and she put her hand on her hip. “Fuck. You bonded.” She glared at Mori. “What did you do to him?”
“No more than you did,” Mori replied.
She raised her eyebrow. “Oh, so now you know things? Lovely.” She rolled her eyes. “Let’s just finish this. I have work to do.”
“Do you, now?” Cadell asked.
“So do you, as far as that goes,” Dumol said. “This has put a knot in the timeline, and frankly, if this isn’t gotten back on schedule--“
“There’s a schedule for the assassination?” Cadell asked.
“Need to know,” she snapped.
Mori could feel the frustration pouring off Cadell at those words.
“Seems I would, since I’m going in,” he said.
She blinked, and her gaze narrowed.
Cadell tipped his head. “Plans changed. This is no longer your assignment.” He trained on her.
In the distance, the other fake-Intra officers shifted, all weapons on the two of them. And the sky started to buzz with flyers again.
The second stringers were moving in.
Dumol didn’t look intimidated. “Says who?”
“Your boss.”
She snorted. “Please. I taught you that trick.” She sighed. “I would have thought you would be smarter than this, Cadell.” She aimed her weapon for Mori.
Morrigan raised the shield.
Dumol fired.
So did Cadell.
Blue light shined.
A projectile flew through the air.
Dumol winced, the blue ray hitting her shoulder, and sending her aim wide.
Mori tried to block the projectile.
Tried, anyway.
Mori screamed as the bullet grazed her shoulder.
Cadell twisted to Morrigan just as she hit the ground.
The support officers moved in.
“Fuck, Cadell! You made me miss! Do you know how hard it is to find these bullets?”
“Payback,” he snapped, but turned back to Morrigan.
Mori’s arm felt like fire burned through it, but it wasn’t bad. It wasn’t the worst wound she’d ever received.
“Are you?” His voice choked.
“Fine,” Morrigan said, and made herself set up. Her arm was weak, but she could move it. In a second, anyway.
Dumol closed in on them. “What’s the matter with you, Cadell?”
“Stop this. End it now.”
“I didn’t take your arm, soldier. They did. The Metas!” Rage, and a white-hot fire burned in Dumol’s eyes. “They destroyed our worlds. Our lives! Tried to take from us! We had to defend ourselves.“
That kind of rage belonged on the battlefield. Dumol didn’t look like she’d ever left it.
“We started the war!” Cadell shot forward.
“They started it!” Dumol did the same.
Mori was right behind him.
Dumol and Cadell punched each other, and more Intra officers charged, though they came after Mori rather than assisting Dumol.
Mori spun, shield up, and weapon out. She wasn’t the only one who had brought a sword to the party. She was met by a wicked, modernized version of a broadsword slamming against her golden shield.
“Nice,” Mori said, her shoulder pain forgotten.
“It’ll be nicer running through you.”
Mori smirked as she spun into his hit, clocking him with the shield before coming around with her sword, and removing his head from his body.
The head, rolling across the field, gave everyone pause.
Even Dumol and Cadell stopped for a second and looked at her.
“Really?” Dumol said.
Cadell took that moment to punch Dumol in the jaw.
Fighting resumed. Two more men came at Mori. While no more were decapitated, they were incapacitated.
Permanently.
And she probably would have kept going, but she was grabbed from behind by two of the Intra officer-thugs. They held her arms out, trapping her from moving, her shield on the ground at her feet, and it morphed back to its stick form.
Dumol had gotten the upper hand on Cadell, too.
He stumbled to his knees, and already, he was bruised, his one eye nearly swollen shut.
They were surrounded by these Intra officer lookalikes. Some were, anyway.
Others, however, looked very much like Intra officers. Where did they keep coming from? Mori took in the lay of the battlefield. They were surrounded by a force of at least fifteen men and women. All Human. All not on her side.
They were a mix of actual officers and fake ones.
No cavalry was coming for Mori and Luke. That part of the plan had failed.
And that ambassador. The water Meta who’d done so much to help bring P-Extinction to an end…
Dumol took a few steps toward her. “Listen. I get it. I do. You wanna do the right thing. But look, Meta, there’s things at work here that you have no idea about.”
“What are they?” Morrigan asked. “Or am I, as a Meta, too stupid to understand?”
“You are. Because if you did, you’d realize that Metas and Humans can’t live peacefully. You should know this. You’re a damn warrior angel. You should have seen this a mile away.”
“What I see is a Human who is trying to control the galaxy with a toothpick.”
Dumol picked up her sticks. “And who brought these hair sticks into the Complex?” She threw them over her shoulder. They landed too far for Mori to get to without a miracle.
She waved her hand in the air. “Regardless,” Dumol said, “you’re a wrench in my plan. You and your damn programming friend.” She made a gesture.
From the crowd, came an Intra officer with another being dressed in a bright green nightgown.
He ripped the bag off her head.
“Ula,” Morrigan said, darting forward for her. This wasn’t the plan. Not even close to the plan.
“Don’t hurt her. She’s not involved in this.”
“But she knows,” Dumol said. She turned her segif on Ula and fired. Not the typical blue light, either, but a green one.
A kill mode.
Ula dropped.
Morrigan screamed.
Then Dumol turned to Luke. “Kill her.”
“No,” Luke said.
Dumol raised her eyebrow, and produced a small device from her pocket. “I was afraid you’d say that.” She tapped a code with her thumb.
Luke went stiff. His programming started to take over.
She met his gaze.
His eyes turned hard and cold, and Mori was certain that Luke wasn’t in control anymore.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The program fought with all his internal systems. Like a virus starting to take over, Luke felt the original programming trying to kick on inside his cyborg parts.
His HUD was flashing on and off like a strobe, so he kicked it on permanently with a few blinks.
Evidently, it was what Dumol was looking for.
“Good. You’re ready,” she said. “Kill the Meta,” she said, gesturing to Morrigan.
Luke nodded once, and the order displayed in the HUD, overlapped over her face.
Scans started to kick on, giving him the exact cellular m
akeup of every being there on the field.
Morrigan was bright green--target acquired.
But she wasn’t the only Meta standing there.
What the fuck was going on? What were Metas doing here?
He took a few steps toward Morrigan and he knew what he had to do.
He didn’t like it, but he was going to do it.
He got in front of Morrigan. “I can’t… I can’t stop it.”
“I know,” she replied. “Don’t do this, please. I beg you.”
That was the cue.
He raised his arm. “I’m sorry,” he managed to say softly.
Grabbed her throat.
“I…I…know.” The last of it came out like a rasp as he cut off her air supply. His grip tightened until her head jerked, and a horrible crackle filled the otherwise silent air.
Her body went limp.
She fell to the ground.
“Good,” Dumol said. She glanced around at the other officers. “Clean this up. Bury the bodies in the cemetery. Deep. No markers. Cadell, come with me.”
He nodded and followed her back to her flyer. The others were moving, as she requested, and starting to take care of the scene. Orders were bellowed between the men as the work was started.
“Get on,” she said.
He stepped onto the small sled-like machine, barely built for two, and Dumol started the engine.
“Human First will be pleased,” she said as the flyer took off, rising high in the dome. “You did well.”
Wind whipped across him as they flew, and he vaguely wondered if this was what Morrigan would feel when she had her wings.
He blinked three times. The HUD came up.
He scanned.
There, Morrigan was moving.
This crazy plan might just work…
“On with the mission,” Dumol said.
“Yes ma’am.” He held onto the passenger handles, keeping a straight face. The next phase would likely be the assassination.
And he had to stop her before she could take out--or force him to take out this ambassador.
Dumol soared the vehicle high. So high, the sunlight beat down on him and he could almost reach up and touch the scorching hot ceiling.
She kept fiddling with the controls as she flew toward the entrance.
Unclaimed (The Complex Book 0) Page 10
