by T. R. Graves
Chapter 30
Immunity
Carlie
"Humph!"
With that wince of pain, I knew Jayden had thrown at least one punch.
The next thing I knew, my Surrogate Soldier was in the tent. He was as enraged as I'd ever seen him, as hurt as I'd ever seen him.
"What the hell is this?" he asked as he waved a document my way.
I knew it was the contract I'd just had sent to him in order to make sure someone besides me knew about its existence.
"I can explain," I slurred.
I never would have thought he could become more incredulous, but he was when he saw the condition I was in, that I was in Barone's arms.
"Are you drunk? Were you drunk when you signed this?" he asked hopefully.
I jerked until Barone had me once again standing on the ground, but the tent felt like it was whirling.
"Jayden… I-I was not… drunk… when I signed that. We need to talk, but… we can't do that with John here," I said, clumsily slapping John's chest with the palm of my hand.
"St. Romaine! What are you doing in my tent? I know you and Carlie are close, but you're going to have to learn there are boundaries where she's concerned," Barone said, matching Jayden's rage degree for degree.
"What have you done to her? What are you doing to her? You can't marry her. She's… she's too young for you. For God's sake, she's not even seventeen."
Barone put his hands up and said, "Nothing is going to happen until she's twenty. She'll be an adult and able to make her own decisions. You don't have to worry that I'll do anything before then."
Jayden looked like he might punch the president out. It was at that moment that my body's reaction to extreme stress—and its attempts at detoxification—took over. I slapped my hand to my mouth and searched for a bucket. I was going to throw up, and the last thing I wanted to do was to upchuck on the floor of the president's tent.
As soon as I saw the trashcan near the desk, I dived for it, held my head over it, and let every bite of food I'd eaten and every ounce of liquid I'd drunk expel itself from my body.
Jayden was as my side quicker than I'd found the trashcan.
"Jesus! What's going on here? What's wrong with you? I need to know," Jayden pleaded.
"St. Romaine, help me get her back to the infirmary. You can talk to her in the morning. In the meantime, I'm going to assume my agreement with Carlie is safe with you… that you won't share the first word of it because there's a confidentiality clause in it that holds Carlie responsible for your indiscretions," Barone warned.
"If you weren't ashamed of what you're doing, you wouldn't care who knew about this agreement," Jayden countered.
"Neither Carlie nor I have to vet our decision through a Surrogate… even if that Surrogate is the Lead Surrogate. Now, do as I asked and help me get her back to the infirmary. She's sick and needs Angleton's help."
Jayden was taller and stronger than Barone. Before I knew what had happened, he had me up off the floor, in his arms, and on my way to the infirmary.
Behind us I heard Barone. "I'll wait here. Tell Angleton to call me after he's refilled her MicroPharm."
Under Jayden's breath, he mumbled. "I'll tie a noose around your neck and hang you in the middle of the camp before I call you to come check on her."
I put my finger up to Jayden's lips, shushing him.
"I've bought your immunity, but if you keep talking to him like that, he's going to have you killed anyway," I said.
I was a lot more sober than I'd been twenty minutes ago.
"What the hell have you done, Carlie? Are you trying to make me lose my mind? Do you think I'm going to let you marry that twisted fuck? Do you think I'm going to let him lay one hand on you? I'll kill him first. I swear to God I will," Jayden seethed.
I leaned up and into his ear and said, "Please… for me… Please don't say those kinds of things. It's hard enough for me to know that I-I'm stuck with him. If he did anything to you, I'd kill myself. I will. I thought I was going to die without you for the last six months. I couldn't imagine a world where you didn't exist. Just do this for me, Jayden."
He groaned. "You're sick. I want Thorne to check you over. Then you're going to sleep. In the morning, you and I are going to do the talking we should have done today. If you and I had talked, you'd know I had a plan for getting you, Thorne, and Rorie out of the camp and to the safe house Gran had set up. None of this would have happened if we'd talked."
"If we'd have run, we wouldn't have been able to save Tawney. She's going to live because of this agreement. All of you are going to be safe because I've agreed to give him what he wants," I said.
"Yeah… I believe every single word a glorified pedophile says," Jayden whisper-shouted.
"Shh! That's what I mean. You can't go around saying things like that. He has a plan to gradually introduce me, increasing the frequency to the point were our marriage will be a logical progression in the eyes of the nation's citizens."
"You honestly think they won't have a problem with a president seeing and marrying a woman twenty-five years his junior?"
"That's his problem, one he'll have to deal with. I've done all I could to make sure research for lymphoma becomes a priority and that all of you are safe." I huffed.
A few seconds later, we were in the infirmary and Thorne was studying me as if I were a conundrum. "Have you been drinking?" he asked.
I glanced to the side of the bed and saw Rorie. "I had a few glasses with my meal." To her, I said, "It was the best food I've ever eaten… by the way, Ro."
She beamed at me like my compliment was the thing most precious to her.
"Rorie, go to bed. Carles is a patient. I need to care for her, and you need to be sleeping," Thorne said like he was out of patience with his sister. Based on her reaction, it might have been the first time ever he'd ever been really cross with her.
"If you're angry with me, take it out on me. Don't be mean to her."
Jayden came to Thorne's defense. "Don't take this out on him. He's not the one who's thrown his future away for a piece of shit who wants to use you to make himself more money and to gather a more fierce following," Jayden snapped.
Thorne couldn't believe the vengeance behind Jayden's words. "Look, she's sick. Let me assess her. In the morning, we'll all sit down and talk about the mess you seem to think she's gotten herself in," Thorne said reasonably.
I nodded and closed my eyes. As the list of people with immunity scrolled through my mind's eye, they popped back open, and I struggled to sit up.
"Where are Sean and Simon?"
It was Jayden who gently coaxed me back down and answered. "I gave them our camping gear. They're camped out somewhere no one will find them. They've promised to stay put until I give them the all clear to leave."
"They don't have to run. Simon is safe. Barone promised."
Jayden stared at me like he wasn't quite sure what to do with me. Like he was proud of me.
"You might be the only person in the world who could've negotiated the unconditional safety of two Surrogates and two genetic anomalies… two of which are being actively hunted for treason."
I grabbed Jayden's hand as if it were a life preserver and I was drowning. "That's just it, Jayden. I realized that through him I could make a difference. I could use him… even if he doesn't know he's being used. It would certainly serve him right." I bit my lip, the place where I already had a scar, until it began bleeding again. "I can do what I need to do as long as I have people around me that I love and trust. That list is that for me, and I hope I gave you and Thorne the people you needed most in the world… because I have a feeling we're all going to be doing a lot of things we don't necessarily want to do."
Jayden's eyes went black and cold. "I won't let him touch you. Not ever. I'll kill him first. I don't care about anyone in the world but you. Sean, Simon, and my surrogate mother… under other circumstances, they'd be among the first people I wanted to save, but I've never really known them.
I know you. I love you. I won't let him touch you, and I mean it. I'll do whatever I have to in order to keep that from happening." Jayden fumed once again for good measure and so I knew he was serious.
"I asked you to stop saying things like that. I've told you I need you near me. If he hears those types of comments or feels your animosity, he's going to keep us apart. I can't bear the thought. Those six months were enough to last a lifetime for me. Please just do this for me. Please," I begged.
Jayden leaned down and kissed me on the forehead, but he never agreed. He never said a word that let me know what his thoughts and plans were. When he pulled me into his arms and hugged me so tight I couldn't breathe, I knew he meant what he'd said about Barone touching me.
"We have three years, Jayden," I whispered in his ear. "We'll find a way to be together before then. I swear. Let's use the time to test Barone's word… to see what all we can get done as it relates to changes in the government, ones that'll give Surrogates and genetic anomalies the same rights as the Procreates… ones that'll put more and more money toward research geared toward eradicating diseases like lymphoma. You, Thorne, and I have a lot of work to do and very little time to do it. After that, we'll run away together, even if that run is taken only in our dreams."
Jayden's gulp was loud. "Let's run now. Let's get away from him. He's promised you the world because he knows that's what you want. He's done the same with your mother for years. It's just been different because he was too scared of Sam to make this same offer. That's why he's been on the outskirts of your life since you were born. He wanted to be your first because he knew… like predators do… that you will be eternally loyal to your first.
"Please, Carles, I'll never ask you to do another thing for me. Just please, let's go."
I was so torn. Jayden had never begged me for anything before. Not ever. I loved him enough to give him anything. I needed some objective parties.
I pushed him back, and I glanced toward Thorne who was going out of his way to pretend he was busy gathering supplies for the nonexistent procedure he wasn't going to be performing.
Loud enough for him to hear, I said, "We need to let Thorne know what's going on. I want his opinion. Then I want you to find a way to get in touch with Gran so you can tell him the conditions of the contract. If both Thorne and Gran agree with you… that I should run away and ignore the once-in-a-lifetime offer Barone has given me, I'll leave with you and never look back. If not, I want you to agree to see this through with me."
Thorne spoke up. "I'm not deaf. I've overheard most of what's been said. There are a few blanks that need to be filled in, but I think I've gotten the gist of what's going on. Barone has made you an offer you can't refuse… not because it will benefit you. In fact, I suspect you're going to be the only one paying the price for his offer. How close am I so far?"
Jayden said, "So far, you're doing damn good."
Thorne nodded. "What did he offer you? Your family back together and safe?"
"That's some of it," I mumbled.
"Enlighten me," Thorne insisted.
Jayden took my silence as permission to fill in the blanks. "Well… he wants her to marry him. He's justified his pedophilia by agreeing to wait until she's twenty before marrying her… after their long courtship filled with philanthropy geared toward masking his fetishes.
"For the honor of marrying a man her father's age and giving up the chance to marry someone her own age, Barone is going to put every research scientist at her disposal. A cure for lymphoma their shared mission. Her cousin's life her only concern.
"In order to make this ridiculous agreement more palatable for the two of us, she's made Barone guarantee in writing that her immediate family, you, Rorie, your parents, and me and my brothers and mother will be granted immunity. We'll be cared for and pampered close enough to Carles for her to stay in contact but far enough away that we won't be able to do anything but watch our dear old president paw at her like he's a cat and she's catnip.
"I've been adamant that I don't want her to sell her soul to the fucking devil. She's too stubborn to care what I say. She wants you and Gran to hear the offer and weigh in on her decision. Seems she respects you and what you have to say more than me and what I have to say." Jayden ended his speech on an accurate but still sarcastic note.
"Rorie will be granted immunity. Does that mean no one would ever be allowed to hurt her?"
I nodded.
"But you'd have to marry Barone and have his kid."
"Kids," I clarified.
Both men's eyes widened and their brows shot up.
"To hell you will." Jayden fumed. "To hell you will."
Thorne's response was a lot less knee-jerk. He loved his sister and didn't have the luxury of putting anyone else before her. He busied himself, thinking about how wonderful it would be to not have to worry nonstop about Rorie's safety. At the same time, I suspected he was no happier about me being with Barone—having Barone's kids—than Jayden.
Finally, he turned toward the two of us. "Here's the thing. Neither Rorie nor I can condone any situation whereby you would be married off and raped—because that is what it'd be—by anyone. Our lives are no more important than yours, Carles. Your intentions were great, but we would never agree to that."
Thorne stared down at my hands as if he couldn't quite look me in the eye. I reached over and put my hand over his. His stare snapped up, and I smiled. I wished I were a better person, but I loved the way these two men were refusing to let me settle for Barone, regardless of his miraculous offer.
"Thanks," I mumbled, lifting his fingers to my mouth and kissing his knuckles. "That means more to me than you'll ever know."
I glanced over to Jayden. "It looks like you have Gran to convince, and you get your way."
Jayden actually looked surprised by the turn of events. With a bow to his chest that hadn't been there seconds before, he—without asking permission—logged onto Thorne's computer. As soon as he began typing, the computer's hologram blinked alive above it, giving Thorne and me a firsthand view of every action Jayden took. Watching the neon-green, 3-D holographic shimmering majestically, blinking rapidly, and turning elegantly before us, we stared on with amazed curiosity. Unexpectedly hypnotized.
It was with apprehension that I realized Jayden was going to sites forbidden to Surrogates and Procreates alike, ones brimming with viruses, trojans, worms, and zombies. As he made his way through the maze of sites that he was determined to maneuver, I saw flashes of pornographic images that were so quick I questioned what I'd seen. As I watched the video-like pictures, Thorne held my hand and we were both inundated with visual images related to sex. I began to feel the mesmerizing effects that gradually began taking over my libido.
There was a burn in my lower belly that I'd only ever experienced when I was being kissed thoroughly by Jayden. Based on the way he moved closer to me and began tracing an endless infinity symbol in the palm of my hand, one that was making the burn in my belly grow hotter and more intense, Thorne was just as impacted by the subliminal messages flashing before us.
We were both so far gone that when he used his other hand to stroke my upper arm—rubbing the side of my breast as a byproduct—I wanted to take his hand and put it on top of said breast and let him cup it, massaging it until he was brave enough to take our inappropriateness further.
As if Thorne knew what I wanted, the knuckles of his hand buried their way into the side of my breast, stroking from side to side and incrementally making their way closer and closer to my nipple, which was noticeably hard.
I'd read lots of books about women who felt wanton. Until this very moment with Thorne's intentions very obvious, his breathing ragged, and my needs burning through me like a raging forest fire, I had no idea what that term really meant.
The only break the two of us caught was Jayden's intensity as he tapped on the computer very noticeably, not looking up from the keyboard. If I were in my right frame of mind and had not been hypnotized b
y the flashing images, I'd have wondered what his experience with these sites had been. With Thorne's knuckle just centimeters from my nipple, my thoughts were too one-dimensional and too focused to process cognitive reasoning.
One second before I pulled Thorne onto me and let him have his way, the holographic image before me turned into one that snapped me out of my hypnotic state and back to the here and now and a state that would be considered more embarrassed than mesmerized. As if popping out of his own enthrallment, Thorne snatched his hands off me and stepped away.
He and I would definitely have to talk about what happened, but right now, my attention was focused on Gran's hologram. He was standing before us and bowing his head toward Jayden.
"Congratulations, Surrogate. I wondered if you'd ever remember the code necessary to reach me," Gran said, turning around and seeing Thorne and me.
With a chuckle, he said, "Based on the ragged breaths and facial flush coming from the two of you, it seems Jayden forgot to warn you not to watch the images. Actually, the fact that you two are standing apart tells me you have great restraint. The images are meant to catch anyone watching them off guard and take them down rabbit holes that prevent them from making their way to me. There are few people besides Jayden who would have been able to ignore the almost compulsive images… it seems."
While I was irritated that I'd not been warned about what to expect, I jumped up and off the stretcher and dashed toward Gran's hologram as if he himself were standing before me, and I could hug and kiss him.
"Gran… oh, Gran! You're okay. I've been so worried about you. How's Tawney? Is she with you? Where are you?"
I fired my questions in rapid succession.
Gran put his hand up and laughed his very reserved scientist laugh. "My dear, it's good to see you, too. Selma swore you were getting better, but seeing you gives me a level of comfort I couldn't get with inanimate MicroPharm readings. I'd get Tawney for you, but she's asleep. She's had a rather trying day and went to bed, claiming tomorrow will be better."
Seeing Gran and hearing that Tawney wasn't doing well reinforced my decision to make my deal with Barone. Mentally, I cursed myself for ever pretending as if I'd walk away from the only chance she had. Before I could tell Jayden I had no intention of following through with his plan… no matter what Gran said, he stepped in front of me.
"Sir, it's with a purpose that I contacted you. I'm in desperate need of a voice of reason. It seems that Carles is not nearly the advocate for herself that she is for others," Jayden said.
Gran nodded in agreement. "That's a very accurate assessment of my oldest granddaughter. She's always been the most altruistic person I know. The world definitely needs more like her. Tell me who she's helping and at what cost to herself," Gran ordered with the pragmatism of a man who had all the time in the world to sort out messes.
"Barone came to the camp…" Jayden began.
I stepped around him, put my hand on his forearm, and took over telling him what I now knew to be true.
"Gran, he told me he has the power to put Tawney in a state of inertia, one that will prevent her disease from progressing, and she can stay in that state until the cure for lymphoma is found. He explained very carefully to me that he can and will order every capable scientist in the nation to focus one hundred percent of his or her attention on finding that cure… if I do something for him," I explained.
By then, Thorne was standing at my side. The one opposite where Jayden was standing, just as close, interested, and prepared. There was no way to describe Gran's reaction to my news. His shoulders lifted naturally and in a way that made me think there'd actually been bags of concrete pulling them down toward the ground before that instant. If I didn't know better, I'd have sworn he actually giggled before he did a little Irish jig, something I'd never seen him do and something I was sure he'd never do again.
"This is the best news I've ever heard, sweetie! The best, I tell you," he exclaimed. "Give me a second. I'll be right back."
Jayden, Thorne, and I exchanged glances until Gran came back into view of the camera and became the holographic man he'd been a few seconds ago. In his hands, he carried a bottle of his lab-created scotch.
"This calls for a real celebration, sweetie," he said, pouring himself a giant highball glass full of the dark caramel-colored drink.
After he slung back the drink, he released a howl that was loud enough to scare anyone near. Him or us. A quick-thinking Jayden quickly muted my normally meek and quiet grandfather so the entire camp wasn't disturbed and Barone wasn't made aware that we were in contact with Peter Panzali.
More irritated than I'd been earlier when I snapped out of my hypnosis, Jayden took back control of the conversation.
"Are you not interested in what Carles is going to have to do in order to save Tawney's life?" Jayden asked.
Sobered only the slightest bit and pouring himself another celebratory drink, Gran shrugged and said, "It doesn't matter what she has to do. If she'll still be alive and Tawney'll still be alive, her sacrifices will not be in vain."
Jayden had had all he could bear. "He wants her to marry him and have his children," Jayden said with as much disgust and contempt as he felt.
Gran cleared his throat and had the good sense to at least look ashamed, but I'd known him my whole life and knew he wasn't happy about what I was going to have to do, but he wasn't going to encourage me to turn away from the contract.
"Listen, Surrogate, I know you want me to take the moral high ground here and tell Carles that Tawney wouldn't want her to give up her life for her, and truth be told, Tawney wouldn't want that. The problem is that's not what I want. I've been working on a cure for lymphoma since the day Christi told me she was pregnant and I learned of her husband's genetic predisposition for the disease.
"I couldn't save Christi's life. You can bet your bottom dollar I'm going to do everything in my power to save my granddaughter's life. I'd sacrifice myself if I thought it would work, but Barone has had his sights set on Carles for as long as I've been working on my lymphoma cure. Say what you like about us, but we're both determined to see our projects through. Mine is that of curing lymphoma. Barone's is that of creating the closest thing he can to immortality.
"In the end, it's the two of us who are selling our souls to the devil. Not the people we take along for the ride." Gran concluded, and his voice was hoarse with unshed tears.
"Gran… you're not making me do this. I'm doing it because I want to. I've already signed the agreement, one that keeps everyone safe and a cure for lymphoma our government's number one priority. After we get back to the capital, I'll have Jayden contact you so that we can get Tawney put into the inertia state as soon as possible," I explained.
When someone cleared his throat near the tent's door, all of us, including Gran, twisted in his direction.
Barone! Dammit!
