Corruption

by Jessica Shirvington

  Eliza looked down. ‘Yes. And I can’t even apologise for it, because what Maggie did ultimately brought you to us. But I am sincerely sorry for the pain you’ve felt along the way.’

  Quentin stared at her in disbelief, but said nothing more.

  ‘The original drugs were only effective for a short time, but he continued to develop them,’ Eliza went on. ‘Now he can take an individual who’s rating perfectly normally and turn them neg permanently.’

  I nodded. ‘We saw the population-control documents. Is that what this is all about?’

  Eliza looked surprised, but took it in her stride. ‘We underestimated you and the people who were helping you, Maggie. Master Rua warned me not to, but I admit I undervalued your intelligence.’

  I stared at her, waiting for her to get on with it. Compliments really weren’t going to fly at the moment. Sensing this, she moved on.

  ‘What this permanent disruption does is change our genetic makeup. It makes a person someone they are not. All the qualities, for better or worse, that are dominant in those who naturally rate as negs eventually develop in individuals treated with his disruptions.’

  I nodded. ‘I’m following. We figured it worked something like that.’

  Alex leaned forwards. ‘You have to think it all the way through. Consider what it would be like to live in a country of negs. To be surrounded by an army of negs. To have a government strong-armed by negs. And then there are the things to consider right here. You think we don’t want to just start breaking negs out of their underground cells? You think we haven’t been over and over thousands of scenarios that involve us going in, guns blazing?’ He pushed his chair back and stood, planting his hands on the table. ‘But we can’t!’ he hissed. ‘We can’t release that many negs into the public with no plan to help them or their families who’ll suddenly be dealing with someone they barely recognise, let alone all of the trauma the negs will carry with them from their time underground. We can’t send them back out into the world, knowing they have been changed forever and won’t be able to make the same choices they once would have.’

  ‘It would be anarchy,’ Gus said.

  Alex clenched his jaw and nodded.

  ‘And before long, a military solution would be unavoidable,’ Eliza threw in.

  ‘What about in the countries where they’ve been treating people out in the open? How can they even do that?’ Quentin asked.

  ‘They’ve been releasing the disruption from the air,’ Michael answered. ‘The vapours filter down and infect people randomly.’

  ‘Crop dusting,’ I said, knowing that would’ve been another of my father’s ideas. He had once been a pesticide developer. Who would’ve thought that his job could lead to this?

  ‘In a way, yes,’ Eliza said. ‘And the minority who seem to be controlling the world now are also controlling who will breed. But they are being reckless with more than just the lives of those they turn neg. They expect the negs to simply grow old and die and the world to be none the wiser about why breeding habits changed so drastically, but there are a significant percentage of people turned neg who’ll become volatile and violent in the near future. We’ve already had riots breaking out in Bangladesh, Nigeria and Zimbabwe. They’ve been covered up so far, but there will be more, and we fear it could lead to a modern world war – waged with technology, driven by the wealthy, and fought by the innocent victims of M-Corp.’

  ‘Survival of the fittest,’ I mumbled, remembering my father once using that phrase. At the time I thought he’d meant he was against it. What I now realised was that he was trying to figure out how to enforce it.

  ‘In its crudest sense,’ Eliza agreed.

  ‘So this is where your plan comes in, right?’ Gus said. ‘I mean your antidote or whatever the hell it is. You clearly have a solution, so out with it – give us the showstopper.’

  Alex glared at Gus. ‘I never knew what my sister saw in you – other than a potential source.’

  Gus snorted. ‘A potential source?’ Gus tilted his head in a way that had all of my internal alarm bells ringing. ‘Well, now that you mention it, she did spend quite a bit of time pumping m–’

  Alex started moving and I slapped my hand over Gus’s mouth and delivered a death stare to both of them. ‘Not now!’ I pointed at Alex with my free hand, stopping him from taking another step. ‘You have no idea about their relationship and you should have more respect for your sister than to be cruel to someone she cared about.’ I jabbed a finger at Gus. ‘And you! You … You should just have more respect in general!’

  When he nodded, I lowered my hand and looked back at Eliza. ‘Well? Is Gus right? Do you have a solution?’

  ‘Of course,’ she said. ‘We have the solution and a way to make it all happen, and we’re happy to take you through the ins and outs. We’re just missing one thing.’

  ‘What?’ I asked plainly, hoping that if I gave them a simple question I might get a simple answer.

  ‘The antidote.’

  Twenty-four

  I tossed and turned that night, getting up to loosen the tightly tucked sheets first, then throwing my pillows on the ground, only to pick them up a few minutes later. I don’t know why I bothered. Being uncomfortable wasn’t the reason I couldn’t sleep. It had more to do with knowing what lay ahead – which was nothing good – and the fact that I would never be able to close my eyes again without seeing that building with the glass walls, and the people as their doors slid open and smoke filtered in.

  I blew out a breath and sat up.

  After another round of unsuccessful sheep-counting, followed by a stint of huffing while pacing the room, I threw on my hoodie and snuck out the door.

  It was close to 2 a.m. and out in the hallway all was silent. I poked my head around the corner and saw the guard posted at the end of the hall. I’d been warned he would be there – not to ‘confine’ us, but to protect the sensitive material within the building. I guess it was fair enough we weren’t allowed to roam unsupervised.

  I moved back and headed towards the door beside my room. While I was pondering whether or not I should knock, or turn tail and bee-line back to my room, his door swung open and Quentin stepped into the hall.

  He was in the midst of pulling a T-shirt over his head and I got a full view of his chest and side muscles. Suddenly all I could think about was that kiss from earlier. Being wrapped in his arms. I flushed red.

  As soon as the T-shirt cleared his face, his eyes locked with mine and our connection sucked all the air from around us. My mind took a backseat to the intense desire that I had fought and tried to quash for way too long.

  ‘I was coming to see you,’ I breathed.

  Quentin tilted his head and gave me a roguish smile. ‘Well, you damn well better not have been headed to Gus’s room,’ he said with just enough lightness so the growl didn’t carry too much bite.

  I opened my mouth to respond. But Quentin was already in motion, his long legs closing the gap in three strides and suddenly my back was up against the wall. His hands tangled tightly in my hair, and his mouth seized mine in a way that brooked no argument. There’d be no more fighting this thing between us and my insides cheered as I pulled him closer, my hands matching the roughness of his as they explored every inch of his body.

  Apparently my roaming hands did something right because Quentin made a throaty sound and abruptly lifted me. As I wrapped my legs around his waist, he half turned, half stumbled towards the opposite wall, my back hitting hard, but by this stage neither of us cared. We were entirely lost to the passion that had built and built, determined to have this time together before it was possibly all too late.

  My hoodie was ripped off first, leaving me in a white tank top and boy shorts. Quentin groaned when he looked me over and I couldn’t help the blush. I possibly should have considered putting a bra on.

  Determined to even the stakes, I grabbed at his shirt and yanked it over his head. Of course, Quentin didn’t blush at all, and why t
he hell would he? He looked exactly like a guy who’d spent years earning his black belt in karate should. Perfect.

  When he caught me staring, he threw me a smile and I rolled my eyes. He touched my black-market M-Band, which was currently vibrating with pulse-rate alerts. ‘I love that I can do this to you.’

  ‘You need to shave,’ I said for some reason. Jesus, what was wrong with me?

  He smiled, seeing through my lame defence instantly. ‘I do,’ he agreed, placing me on my feet and taking my hand. Gently he led me back to his room and closed the door behind us. I barely had the chance to register that his room was the mirror image of mine – bed, timber wardrobe, slim desk and one steel chair – before I was back in his arms, his face brushing mine so that his stubble grazed my cheek and neck, sending tingles down my arms. ‘Does it bother you?’

  ‘Hmm?’

  I felt his smile on the curve of my neck. ‘That I need to shave?’

  Was he kidding me? ‘I’ll survive,’ I whispered, my quivering voice giving me away.

  ‘Couldn’t sleep?’ he murmured, continuing his explorations, which had me basically melting into his arms.

  I swallowed, lost in this closeness, in his scent, his touch. ‘Couldn’t sleep,’ I confirmed.

  Quentin chuckled, causing more damn goosebumps. ‘I’m glad you came looking for me,’ he said, his voice deliciously low. He continued the slow torture as he whispered in my ear, ‘I owe you an apology.’

  ‘Apology?’ I managed to squeeze out. Frankly I would’ve been good with holding off the chitchat.

  ‘For shutting you out and not trusting my gut when it screamed at me that, even after everything that happened, you were the best thing in my world. For fighting the truth.’ He moved around, his lips brushing mine as he spoke. ‘That I love everything about you – your strength, your heart, your stubbornness, the way you hit first and ask questions later, the way you would do anything for the people you love.’

  I wanted to argue and explain I wasn’t a good person, but then his lips were on mine and my body took control, moulding to his. No more words. No more questions. Just the truth of our love. It might have been dredged through the mud, lit on fire and buried beneath a world of secrets and betrayal, yet somehow it was as strong as ever, stronger for us having felt its loss.

  I gripped Quentin tightly, giving everything of myself to this moment, to him. Suddenly my feet were in the air and my back was being eased onto his bed. Quentin hovered above me, his hands pushing my hair off my face, his nose nudging mine.

  I fought for breath, lost entirely in his eyes. ‘I love you, Quin. I don’t know …’ My voice caught. ‘I couldn’t have survived this whole thing without you. You made me keep fighting when all I wanted to do was give up. I’m the one who’s sorry.’

  My eyes were welling up and Quentin swiped away the tear that ran free as he murmured, ‘Shh. We are so done with apologies.’ He kissed me lightly, his hand trailing down to the base of my tank top. ‘No more talking.’ His eyes locked with mine, patient for my response. I knew what he was asking. No pressure, it was entirely my call.

  A few thoughts flashed through my mind – mostly to do with vanity and guaranteed awkwardness – but they quickly vanished as I stared into his eyes, eyes that were still more steel than blue, and that was exactly what I needed. Quentin didn’t need me to save him; he was strong in mind and body all on his own. I was not his crutch. I was his choice.

  Suddenly impatient, I quickly tapped my M-Band screen, opening the medical zip that came standard with all M-Bands, and activated the contraceptive zip. As Quentin watched, I grinned and reached down to help speed up the process, pulling off my tank top. When I glanced back up, he was biting down on a smile. ‘We don’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable with,’ he said softly.

  ‘Quin?’ I said, drawing his lips back to mine. ‘No more talking.’

  He kissed me as he chuckled and then we got on with … no more talking.

  ‘Are you scared?’ Quentin asked me in the early hours of the morning.

  We were still in his bed, exhausted but determined to continue talking and touching one another, the same way we had been for several hours now. We’d covered many of the conversations we’d been avoiding. He told me about what had happened in the core after we’d been separated and I’d been imprisoned. How my father had him drugged and locked up at first. He told me how he’d felt really unwell when he’d come around, and that even after his father came to get him he didn’t feel right for a few days. I explained that I’d had similar experiences after being sedated underground. I thought it was odd we’d both felt so unwell and worried that my father might have done something to us.

  ‘Right now, I’m not scared at all,’ I said, curling into him. At that moment I was in a state of contented bliss – which, in the circumstances, spoke volumes.

  He pulled me closer, as if that was actually possible. ‘You know what I mean,’ he said, kissing the top of my head.

  Seriously? I had died and gone to heaven and he wanted to talk about being scared? I sighed. I’d known the conversation would get there eventually, but I’d been enjoying pretending we were just a normal couple who’d just done this amazing thing together – because, call me a sap or whatever, but for a very long time nothing about my life had been normal, and what had just happened between us was so much more than just sex. And it had definitely changed things. I was now aware of a new level of closeness between us and I would never settle for anything less.

  But ignoring the plan that Eliza, Alex and Michael had described to us in detail last night, including exactly what role they wanted me to play, was something I couldn’t ignore forever. Just thinking about it made me hear their voices again.

  ‘We’ve looked at it from every angle,’ Eliza explained. ‘But in the end, the only way we see a possible victory is to launch a fast and multi-pronged attack. We need to get a number of sites within our control, secure the antidote and then …’ Eliza paused, glancing at Alex.

  ‘We have to have faith that they want this too, Liz,’ Alex said in a way that made it clear they held one another’s trust. Alex looked at me before adding, ‘And I believe they do.’

  His declaration threw me off kilter. Probably on purpose since I definitely didn’t expect the next words out of Eliza’s mouth.

  ‘Once we secure the antidote, the only way we can protect the flow of information and have any hope of disabling M-Corp’s armed forces is to cut off the head of the snake,’ she said.

  The words were followed by a pin-drop silence.

  It was Quentin who spoke first. ‘You want to kill Dad?’

  Eliza took a deep breath and let it out at a measured pace. ‘Yes, Quentin. I believe it’s the only way. I believe that nothing short of ending his life will stop the terror he’s inflicting on others. I have stood by for too many years to take any chances.’

  ‘What about Zach and Sebastian?’

  She shook her head. ‘We’re hoping to subdue them and then work out some kind of deal.’ She heaved a heartfelt sigh. ‘I wish it wasn’t this way, Quin. I wish … a lot of things, but if we get the antidote and we have the opportunity, my orders will be to take Garrett down.’ She turned to me. And I knew before she said it. ‘And he isn’t the only one.’

  Shaking off the memory of last night’s meeting, I refocused on the warm arms encircling me. ‘Yes,’ I confessed. ‘Mostly I’m scared I’ll fail and cost more lives. Every time I go down there, something bad happens.’

  Quentin kissed the side of my neck. ‘And?’ he whispered.

  I closed my eyes. ‘And I spent years doing nothing but trying to save my father and now I’m part of a team who plan to destroy him. I’m not scared of what has to happen, I’m just scared that if it comes down to him and me, I won’t be able to …’

  Quentin stroked my back and kissed the top of my head. ‘Hey, they said they wanted you to draw him out, that you had the best chance of finding the antidote. No
one said anything about you pulling the trigger. That’s not going to happen, Maggie. No way. And besides, I’ll be there with you. I’m not letting you out of my sight.’

  I nodded into his chest. He was right, and yet … I couldn’t help thinking that somehow things would go exactly as I feared.

  ‘We should probably get dressed,’ I said, not moving an inch.

  ‘We probably should,’ Quentin said, not making any move to get up either.

  ‘You definitely should,’ said a new voice that shocked the life out of us both.

  I made a grab for the sheet, covering myself as Quentin shielded me with his body. ‘Mom! Seriously! You could learn to knock!’

  Eliza shrugged, glaring at both of us. ‘For all you two know, I could’ve been out there knocking for the past four hours.’

  I gulped as a terrible thought occurred to me. ‘Please tell me these rooms don’t have surveillance cameras,’ I squeaked.

  ‘If they do, I’m about to go and beat the shit out of whoever has been monitoring them,’ Quentin growled.

  Eliza rolled her eyes. ‘The rooms have no cameras.’

  I let go of the breath I’d been holding.

  ‘But the hallways do,’ she added.

  I blushed bright red, remembering where all of this began last night. Quentin, apparently unbothered, simply chuckled.

  ‘Get dressed and meet us downstairs. We have strategies to work out and I only have an hour before I need to head out to attend a charity event with Garrett. Clothes have been left in your cupboards.’ With a final glare she closed the door.

  ‘Oh my God,’ I groaned, sinking under the sheets.

  ‘Don’t worry about it,’ Quentin said, getting up. ‘The last person I’m concerned about right now is my mother. Her days of controlling my life are well and truly over.’

  I groaned again, refusing to resurface. ‘She’s a highly trained undercover spy who has carte blanche from the United States Government. Right now she’s more powerful than the President and she just caught me naked in bed with her son.’