Retaliation (The Praegressus Project Book 3)

by Aaron Hodges

  Smiling, Ashley caught him by the wrists and pinned him to the bed. She arched an eyebrow and kissed him on the nose. A tremble went through him, but as Ashley pulled back, he caught a strange look in her eyes.

  “What is it?” he whispered.

  The smile fell from Ashley’s lips as she released him. She looked down, one finger playing with the hairs on his chest. “Sam… I have to go away for a while.”

  Sam frowned. “What?”

  Ashley sighed. “No one here wants to admit it, Sam, but Mike is gone. I can see it in their faces. He should have made contact by now, but he hasn’t. We’re going to have to see the professor ourselves, if we want to fix what we did.”

  “What we did?”

  She looked away then, and he could feel her trembling. “Halt used me, Sam. He used me to get to you. If any other kids die in their vile experiments, it will be as much my fault as yours. We have to stop them, before they hurt anyone else.”

  Sam reached out and brushed the scarlet curls from Ashley’s face. “It doesn’t have to be you, Ash.”

  A smile tugged at Ashley’s lips. She leaned down and kissed him again. “Well, it can’t be you. Someone went and got himself shot,” the smile faded and she grew serious again, “They need me, Sam. I’m the only one who knows the university. And I need to fix things.”

  Tendrils of fire wrapped their way around Sam’s heart. A tremor went through him, and he felt a deep terror rise in his chest – not for himself, but for the girl he had come to love, who he had sacrificed everything to protect. But now it was her turn to put her life on the line, and there was nothing he could do to stop her.

  Opening his arms, he hugged Ashley to him. He closed his eyes, trying to keep the tears from flowing. They lay like that for a long time, wrapped in each other’s embrace, until Sam was sure Ashley must have fallen asleep. Yet when he leaned forward and kissed her forehead, she stirred. She lifted her head, and her golden eyes blinked down at him. A smile spread across her face, and leaning forward, she kissed him back.

  “Let’s not waste the time we have,” she whispered in his ear.

  23

  Another day passed before Chris finally admitted to himself that Liz was right. They couldn’t sit still any longer, waiting to see whether the Texan would return. He could no longer ignore the fact that something had obviously gone wrong. It was clear in the faces of the men who guarded the house, in the hardening of their brows and the falseness to their smiles.

  Which could only mean one thing.

  “He’s been taken, hasn’t he?” Chris said, standing in the doorway to the living room.

  His grandmother looked up from the kitchen table. Their eyes met, and he saw a wave of weariness sweep across her face. His shoulders fell, and shaking his head he stepped into the room. Until that moment, he had still clung to the hope he was missing something, that there was some explanation for the Texan’s continued absence.

  A paltry lunch had been set on the table, and he moved across and took the seat beside his grandmother. Taking a slice of bread, he made himself a peanut butter jelly sandwich, and struggled to hide the trembling of his hands.

  “We can’t know,” Maria whispered as he finished.

  Taking a bite of his sandwich, Chris considered her words. In his mouth, the food tasted like dust, and his stomach recoiled, but he knew he needed the sustenance. He had hardly slept or eaten since his conversation with Liz.

  “He was meant to be back by now,” Chris said after a moment, “Or if he couldn’t return, he would have found a way to make contract.”

  His grandmother bowed her head, and Chris knew he was right. He shook his head, wondering what their next move should be. A part of him longed to flee, to take his grandmother and the others and vanish. They could find a place in the country, somewhere deep in the mountain forests, and never be seen again.

  But even as he considered it, Richard’s face drifted through his mind, and Chris knew they couldn’t do it. They had to fight, to make Richard’s sacrifice worth something.

  That meant taking the fight to the government.

  The night before he had toyed with the idea of revealing themselves. He had even discussed it with Sam. They both liked the idea of throwing a spanner in the government’s works, but ultimately Chris feared it would be pointless. It was true, the government would struggle to explain how their fugitives had grown wings. But Chris feared it would never come to that. They had already revealed themselves in Independence Square, and while the news continued to report rumours, there was no substance to the stories.

  He feared the women who had died in the square had given their lives for nothing.

  That only left their original plan – to go to the university themselves and speak with the professor Ashley had mentioned. Without Artemis, he was their only hope of proving there was a link between the Chead and the government. It wasn’t much to cling too – especially now the Texan had vanished after contacting the man – but it was all they had.

  “So what now, Chris?” he looked up as Liz entered the dining room.

  He sighed as their eyes met. The others followed behind her – Ashley and Jasmine and Sam and Mira. The former two were still recovering from their injuries, but he could see the fire burning in Jasmine’s eyes. The edge seemed to have gone from her grief, but her anger burned on. He knew she desired retribution – he just hoped it would not consume her again.

  Beside her, Ashley looked wary, but her eyes no longer held the terror as before. His gaze lingered on her face, wondering if she was up to what would come next. They would need her help if they were going to reach the professor.

  Feeling their eyes on him, Chris turned his thoughts back to Liz’s question. He gripped the tabletop as the weight of responsibility fell across his shoulders. Clenching his teeth, he glanced at his grandmother, searching her eyes for guidance.

  But he knew it wasn’t up to her, not now. What Jasmine had said all those days ago was truth – this was their fight now.

  He sucked in a breath and nodded to himself. “I think it’s time we paid the professor a visit of our own.”

  Turning, he watched the others for their reaction. They were closer than blood now, and he knew them better than even his closest friends from his old life.

  Jasmine was the easiest to read. Grinning, she took her seat at the table and nodded. Liz joined her, the fire in her eyes almost as fierce as Jasmine’s. Both had grown up in the rural communities – both had lived under the threat of the Chead for their entire lives. Knowing it had been the government behind their terror was all the reason they required to go along with his plan.

  But it was Ashley they really needed. He watched her closely. She stood staring out the kitchen window, her amber eyes distant. He could sense the war taking place within her – between the brave girl he had known back in the facility, and the one who had frozen in Independence Square. Chris held his breath, and waited to see which would win.

  Finally Ashley nodded and took her seat. Sam and Mira quickly followed her, though a shadow hung over Sam’s face as he looked around the table. Neither he nor Mira would be able to come – not with their injuries. With the wound in her shoulder, Mira still couldn’t fly, and both would be worse than useless if it came to a fight.

  Sam reached across the table and gripped Ashley by the wrist. “You don’t have to go, Ash,” he said softly.

  Ashley returned a sad smile. “I do, Sam,” she looked back at Chris, “If I stay, it’ll just be three.”

  “We don’t even know there will be a fight,” Chris replied, though he didn’t believe the words, “And if there is, we’ve faced worse odds.”

  “And lost more than a few,” Ashley countered. She shrugged off Sam’s hand and smiled, and for a second Chris caught a glimpse of the girl he’d known before their escape. “No, you need me. Otherwise who will keep you from getting distracted by all those college girls, Chris.”

  Chris raised an eyebrow and Liz chuckl
ed. “He’d better not,” she grinned.

  “Who said anything about visiting him at the university?” Chris ignored their jibes.

  Ashley smiled. “If Mike really has been caught, they’ll be watching the professor. If we go to his house, or meet him somewhere else, we’ll stick out like a sore thumb,” she ticked the options off her hand as she spoke, “But on campus, we’ll just be like any other student.”

  “You think we can sneak into one of his classes?” Liz asked.

  “We won’t even have to sneak,” Ashley grinned, “Once we’re on campus, they don’t check student ID’s for individual lectures. And the classes are usually big enough no one will notice a few extra seats. We can walk right in and talk to him at the end of the lecture.”

  Silence fell around the table. Chris studied his hands, turning the plan over in his head, searching for holes. He bit his lip. Surely there had to be a less risky way of approaching the professor. If they were spotted, they could end up trapped in the lecture theatre. But as the silence stretched out, nothing else came to him.

  “It’s a terrible risk,” he looked up as his grandmother finally spoke. Turning, he saw her smiling. “Your grandfather would be proud, Chris.”

  Letting out a long sigh, Chris nodded. “Okay, so we go with plan C.”

  24

  They ran all the next day, the endless stamina of the Chead carrying them over the long plains and raging rivers and rolling hills. Susan went with them – though each time she glimpsed the grey eyes of the creatures, she shook with fear. At times her mind wandered, and it seemed another presence took her place. Hours later Susan would wake, and looking around, she would find the landscape had changed while she’d dreamed.

  By the time the creatures stopped to rest, Susan’s legs were burning and her whole body ached. The relentless sun had turned her pale skin red, and she was struggling to control her unruly mind. The scent of the Chead was all around her, a sweetness that hung in the air, stirring dark desires in the pit of her stomach.

  She slumped to the ground, wanting only to curl up into a ball and sleep. But as she closed her eyes, she felt that other presence at the back of her mind, a red haze swelling in the darkness, threatening to drown her. Her eyes snapped open again, and she looked around, seeking to distract herself.

  They had stopped beside an old farmhouse, though it seemed far better condition than the last. A faint trace of smoke came from the chimney, and a long dried up river bed threaded its way past the house. She frowned as she glimpsed several Chead wandering along the gravel, but then a movement came from beside her, and she turned to find Talisa watching her.

  “Susan,” Talisa said.

  Susan shivered. Something about the woman’s voice called to her. Looking into Talisa’s eyes, she could feel her will crumbling, swept away by a yearning to obey.

  “Yes, Talisa,” she whispered, crouched on her knees.

  Talisa offered her hand. “Come, child.”

  Rising, Susan followed the old woman through the host of Chead. She tried to count them as they passed, but her mind was foggy, sluggish, and she quickly lost track.

  Hundreds, she thought, but she couldn’t know.

  Ahead the ground dropped down into the riverbed. She followed Talisa out onto the gravel, and together they started moving downhill, away from the other Chead. Susan watched the old Chead, wondering where she was being taken, but Talisa did not turn back and all she could do was follow obediently behind her.

  Finally, Talisa drew to a stop in the shadow of the river banks. Staring into the darkness, Susan blinked, and then realised there was more to the shadows. A cavern beckoned amidst the broken gravel, its mouth far darker than the shadows around it.

  “You will sleep inside tonight,” Talisa nodded to the cave.

  Susan’s forehead creased, but as she started to object, her eyes met Talisa’s. The sweet scent of the Chead wafted around her, and the words died in her throat. She swallowed and nodded demurely. Shivering, she moved past Talisa, until she stood at the mouth of the cave.

  “What… do I… do?” she managed.

  “Wait,” Talisa replied.

  Biting her lip, Susan nodded and before she lost her nerve, lowered herself down into the darkness. Halfway in, her foot missed a hold, and before she could recover, she fell. The darkness rose up to swallow her, but an instant later she struck the ground. Groaning, she sat up on the hard rock, her scream still echoing around her.

  Blinking, Susan struggled back to her feet. In the pitch-black, even her newly enhanced vision was taking time to adjust. Closing her eyes, she sucked in a breath to steady herself. The sweet smell had vanished, and her stomach twisted. A pain began in her chest as an awful loneliness filled her. Wrapping her arms around herself, she looked around, seeking something, anything to distract herself.

  She was in a narrow cavern, its stone walls worn smooth by the passage of water. A fine gravel covered the floor, while in the corner, a tiny pool of water had gathered. Moving across, she crouched beside it. She cupped her hands together, scooped up a handful of water, and drank. Afterwards, she tried to wash the dried blood from her skin. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do for her clothes. She shuddered as her colleague’s screams rang through her mind, and straightened again.

  Behind her, the gravel crunched, and she spun towards the sound. Heart racing, she scanned the gloom, and latched onto a figure moving towards her. A scream built in her throat and raising her hands, she stumbled backwards.

  “Susan,” a voice whispered.

  Susan froze, staring into the shadows. The voice was familiar, and she frowned as Hecate took shape in the darkness.

  “Hecate…” Susan shook her head, struggling to form the words, “What are… you doing… here?”

  Hecate took another step towards her. His grey eyes seemed to glow in the darkness, and Susan felt a sudden yearning for a mirror – though she knew what she would see. Her blue eyes were gone – they were the cold hard grey of the Chead now.

  She shrank back as Hecate continued towards her, his eyes never leaving hers. As he approached, his sweet scent drifted across the cavern, filling the emptiness in her chest. She moaned, sucking in a breath, and felt something stirring inside her, something responding to the Chead’s presence. Her breath quickened as she looked up at Hecate. Her teeth chattered and she took a step back, fighting to keep her body from shaking.

  “I was… sent,” Hecate whispered.

  “Why… are we… here?” Susan managed.

  Blinking, the Chead looked around at the rock walls. “For decades, the Chead have hidden… in these places,” he turned back to her, “I found Talisa…and her family…in a place like this.”

  “That doesn’t…” Susan broke off with a yelp as Hecate took another step towards her. Raising her arms, she stammered a warning. “Stay… back!”

  But her words sounded weak and feeble, and Hecate ignored them. She flinched as he raised his hand, but he did not strike her. Instead, the Chead lifted a finger to her cheek. “You are…home.”

  “Home?” Susan shook her head, “No…”

  “Yes…” Hecate said. “You are mine…now.”

  Susan’s whole body shook and a voice screamed in the back of her head, but she stood frozen, her legs fixed to the ground. Looking up into the Chead’s eyes, she saw something there, and to her horror felt herself responding. Hunger swelled in her chest as the sweetness of the Chead wrapped around her.

  Even so, she shook her head. Finally she found the will to move, and she stumbled back. The gravel slipped beneath her feet and she tumbled to the ground.

  “No, no, no,” she whispered, scrambling away.

  The Chead watched her, its strange eyes unblinking. Her eyes caught in its gaze and she stilled. A long silence stretched out, the only sound the distant dripping of water. Susan hardly dared to breathe. Her heart pounded in her ears, and ripples spread along her skin, as though her entire body had come alive.


  Still the Chead did not move, only watched her, waiting. Susan sucked in a breath, and the rich scent flooded her nostrils. She shuddered. The scent of the Chead filled the cavern now, drowning her, smothering her mind like a blanket.

  What is happening to me?

  She flinched as Hecate moved, but he only offered his arm. She stared at it for a moment, her terror slowly fading away. In its place, a strange peace spread through her, sweeping away her worries. Looking into Hecate’s eyes, she nodded slowly, and took the offered hand.

  With a yank of Hecate’s arm, Susan was propelled to her feet. She gasped, her heart racing as the Chead’s strong arms wrapped around her. For a moment she felt herself again, and terror twisted in her stomach. She sucked in a breath, but her face was buried in his chest now, and the sweet scent was so strong she could taste it. A yellow haze swirled around the edges of her vision as she looked up at Hecate.

  “Hecate,” she whispered.

  The Chead nodded. For the first time she looked at him, and truly saw him. When she had seen Hecate back in the facility, she had not thought of the Chead as people. They had been monsters, creatures of the dark, come to kill them all.

  But now she knew she had been wrong. As the yellow haze filled her mind, she realised they had only wanted to free her, to break her from the shackles of her humanity. There was no terror or sadness now – only joy, only desire.

  She shivered as Hecate’s arms went around her waist. Another scream echoed through the back of her mind, but now her entire body was burning. Her skin was alive, and even the touch of her clothing made her scream with longing. The scent of Hecate was all around her, overpowering, her mind was drowning in it.

  “You are mine,” Hecate whispered, his grey eyes boring into hers.

  His arms wrapped hard around her, pulling her close, and she felt his power. She trembled in his arms, the strength fleeing her legs. She lifted her head, staring into those strange grey eyes, seeing their depth. Desire wrapped around her and she almost screamed for him to kiss her, to take her and quench the longing in her chest.