Shadowlight (16 page)

Lawson retrieved the other item he needed before he took stock of his appearance. He couldn’t leave in the stupid open-backed patient’s gown he was wearing, but fortunately Carl was about the same size. He tore the sleeve of the dead man’s shirt as he pulled it from his torso, and chuckled.

He’d have to be careful now that he was a god, or he’d tear the world apart.

He dressed, and then pulled a lab coat from a rack in the lab. It covered the bloodstained holes in the back of Carl’s shirt, although he didn’t expect to encounter any opposition when he left the building. Anyone who saw him—even Delaporte—would know he had transcended into a new being. They wouldn’t meddle with the god he had become.

Lawson walked down the hall, but instead of taking the elevator he went to the stairwell. After the first flight of stairs he stopped being careful and started jumping from landing to landing. His body sang with strength and ached with agility; by the time he reached the first floor he was laughing again.

As much as he would have liked to jog back to the city on foot, it would take too much time, so as soon as he left the building Lawson went to where he had left his Lexus.

The parking spot was empty, which puzzled him; he never lent his car to anyone. The old man must have had it moved to a better spot. He saw that Kirchner had locked his keys in his SUV again—the doctor was incredibly absentminded—and punched a fist through the driver’s-side window. After he brushed the glass off the seat, he got in and drove down to the main gate.

The security guard, a beefy ex-SEAL named Ted Evans, lowered the gate and stepped out of the shack. “Mr. Lawson. Mr. Delaporte just called down. He’d like you to get out of the vehicle and wait here, please.”

Lawson frowned. Ted Evans had played racquetball with him a few times in the company gym; he seemed like a nice guy. It was a real pity he didn’t understand what had happened to Lawson.

“Ted, I need you to give Don a message for me.” He climbed out, grabbed the guard by the throat, and threw him into the side of the shack. Before Ted could fall Lawson pinned him there, shoved the Glock into his belly, and emptied the clip into him. The guard left a wide swath of blood on the decorative brick as he slid down to the ground.

Lawson grabbed Ted’s hair and jerked on it in order to check his eyes and make sure he was done. He heard a quick, liquid tearing sound and straightened, still holding the guard’s dripping, decapitated head. “Sorry,” he murmured, dropping Ted’s head into his lap before he grinned. “Guess I don’t know my own strength.”

Lawson took the guard’s .32 from his holster, dropped the empty Glock onto the ground, and got back into the SUV. He drove through the lowered wooden arm, splintering it, and then turned off on the road toward the city.

He’d start at Jessa Bellamy’s house, he decided as he enjoyed the cool breeze coming in from the open window. She’d probably called one of her neighbors by now; women were always worried about silly shit like watering their plants and collecting their mail. He’d talk to each and every one of them until he found out where she was hiding. And then Jessa Bellamy was going to spend some time with him.

Extensive, quality time.

October Discussions

Topic: Miles to Go Before I Sleep

From: J

A and V will take over as moderators for the site until I’m reconnected. If you don’t hear from me in a week it’s because I don’t have access anymore where I am.

J

Early on, the Takyn had established a private code and found random public-access sites where they could use it to leave messages for one another; it was one of the many security measures they’d put in place to protect the group. She logged off from the public library’s ISP she’d used to get to the board and returned to the files Matthias had opened for her.

The documentation he’d scanned was extensive and looked quite genuine, even down to the GenHance masthead and the highly technical content that each memo, report, and case file contained. It supported everything he had told her—that Jonah Genaro was using his corporation as a front, and the philanthropic work he publicly carried out to cure genetic birth defects was merely a smoke screen for a far darker purpose.

Jessa couldn’t decipher the laboratory test slips, but the doctor’s reports were written in layman’s terms. Ten years ago GenHance had obtained a sample of human cells that had contained what was referred to as an unidentified genetic anomaly. At first research carried out on the sample showed it to be infectious and lethal until a portion of the anomaly was eventually successfully removed from the cells via a complicated process of genetic splicing and cloning. More samples were obtained, and the entire process was repeated.

It had taken more than a decade to complete the experiment, but according to the final report—signed by Bradford Lawson himself—the resulting transerum contained aggressive blood, tissue, and bone cells that would infect the body like cancer, and then genetically alter the existing cells in order to provide very specific physical and mental enhancements—all without killing them in the process.

She read over three times Lawson’s predictions of what benefits the transerum would provide before she let it sink in. The transerum had been created in order to change normal people into superhumans, strengthening their immune systems to be almost inviolate at the same time it increased their physical strength tenfold. Then there were the notations on the specific endowments outside the realm of human ability: sensory acuteness, telekinesis, and precognition. There was also a list of abilities that sounded like something out of a science fiction novel: memory manipulation, sonic disruption, and body alteration.

Lawson seemed to believe that any human given the transerum would undergo a massive genetic change that would allow him or her to acquire these unnatural abilities; the only good thing in the report was that every nonhuman specimen they had tested the transerum on had died within minutes of being injected.

Jessa closed the file and sat back in the chair, rubbing her eyes. Over time the Takyn had discussed what they believed had changed them: genetic experiments performed on them when they were infants, possibly when they were in utero. What had been done to them was the worst sort of violation, but at least they had had the comfort of knowing from the few details they could put together that the experiments had stopped sometime in the eighties.

Judith, the youngest member of the group, had offered the most information on that; she had survived the destruction of one of the facilities where the Takyn had been kept as children, and her immediate escape had allowed her memory of the event to remain intact. Paracelsus, whose ability allowed him to see the past while handling physical objects, had traveled to other abandoned facilities around the country while searching for other Takyn. All he had discovered with his ability, however, was an orchestrated effort to shut down the program and disperse the test subjects into the general population.

Now GenHance intended to restart the experiment, and Matthias and his people were somehow involved.

If Matthias had created all this as part of some elaborate hoax in order to gain her trust, it was doomed to failure. Although the first time she had touched him hadn’t shown her anything useful, that had been under extreme circumstances with her life in danger, and fear must have affected her ability. Now that things were calm and there was no immediate threat, all she had to do was touch him and she felt sure that, as with everyone else, she would see the truth.

Her first instinct—always to run away from what she was—faded as she thought of what he had said in the car:
You are not the first to be taken.
If Matthias had found her, he might have identified some or all of the other Takyn. She couldn’t leave here until she discovered just how much he knew about them; to do otherwise would put her, the Takyn, and all the other children who had been part of the experiments at risk.

She would have to convince him that she was willing to go along with whatever he had planned. Gaining his trust was essential, but she’d have to go carefully. She couldn’t pretend to be cooperative too fast; he’d never believe her.

“Jessa,” Matthias said from behind her, making her jump. “Stop now. Rowan has prepared food for us.”

Game on.

“I’m not hungry.” In reality she was starving, but she couldn’t show any desire to sit down and have dinner with her kidnapper and his jailbait girlfriend. Not yet.

He reached past her and shut off the monitor. “You have questions. We will answer them over the meal.”

She swiveled around to face him. “Do you ever take ‘no’ for an answer?”

He smiled, and it transformed his features from austerely attractive to simply stunning. “Frequently.”

“You’ve gone to great lengths to collect all this information on GenHance’s illegal activities. I can’t imagine it was easy or cheap.” She gestured toward the computer. “Why not take it to the police? He can’t own everyone.”

“Jonah Genaro has such influence and wealth that it cannot be calculated,” he said. “What he does not presently control or own, he can buy.”

“In some countries I know that would give him unlimited immunity from prosecution, but this is America,” she reminded him. “We have a free press, and they love nothing more than the opportunity to tear down omnipotent moguls like Genaro.”

“He would never allow it.”

Jessa wondered what country he had come from that he would believe one man could have so much power. Or was his conviction just another part of the ruse? “Whether or not he could, by keeping this secret, in effect you are helping Genaro protect GenHance.”

He studied her expression. “What do you think the authorities in this country would do if they discovered the true nature of the Kyndred?”

He sounded like a conspiracy-theory nutcase. That would explain why he’d brought her to an underground bunker. “They’d detain … these people. Test them to see just how powerful they are. Then they’d lock them up or try to use them.” She glanced down and let her voice tremble a little. “All right, they’d probably do the same thing Genaro is doing—harvest cells so they could make their own superhumans.”

“We do not protect Genaro,” Matthias told her. “We protect ourselves.”

She hadn’t expected him to admit that much. “You’re telling me that you’re one of them. One of these Kyndred.”

He nodded.

“But you’re not American.” Real dread washed over her now. “Are there others in Europe?”

“That I know of? Only me.” He turned around. “Come. I am hungry, and Rowan does not like waiting.”

“From what I’ve seen, Rowan doesn’t like much,” she told him as she followed him out of the room. “Does she have some problem with your bringing me here?”

“Ask her.”

Jessa recalled the open hostility on the girl’s face. “I don’t think she wants to talk to me.”

Matthias stopped her. “Rowan is very young and unsure of her place in the world. You are not. This makes her angry. She envies you.”

She almost laughed. “I’m not that old, and according to you, I just lost everything I had in the world.”

“No, you did not.” He opened a door, from which came the scent of tomatoes, garlic, and herbs. “You have us.”

Jessa walked into a large, well-appointed kitchen fitted with the latest appliances and two long granite-topped counters. Four leather-topped stools sat around a center island, where three place settings of Asian china had been placed. A long basket lined with a checked cloth held tiny, steaming rolls gleaming with drizzles of oil and grated garlic, and a colorful salad of field greens, sliced radishes, and shredded carrots filled a wide, shallow wooden bowl.

Rowan barely spared her a glance as she brought a steaming platter of linguine covered with a rich-looking red sauce to the table. “It’s not getting any hotter,” she told Matthias.

Jessa took the seat nearest to the door while Matthias sat on her right and Rowan hovered at her left. The young girl didn’t actually sit down once over the next forty minutes, but stood and held her plate as she ate, as if she were afraid someone would take it from her.

Jessa waited until she saw both of them sample the food before she took a small portion for herself; she ate enough to quiet her rumbling stomach but no more. She considered asking questions during the meal, as Matthias had suggested, but when she noticed just how much Rowan ate she completely forgot about it. The skinny young girl demolished three heaping bowls of the salad and half the basket of rolls before digging into the linguine. Only after polishing off her fourth serving of the pasta did she sigh and bring her arm up as if to wipe her mouth on the sleeve.

She stopped herself, reached for a napkin, and then caught Jessa’s fascinated gaze. “What’s your problem?”

She offered a tentative smile. “You have quite an appetite.” Before Rowan could snap her head off, she added, “This sauce is extraordinary—it’s so fresh. You must have made it from scratch. Are you a chef?”

“Christ, no.” She grabbed up the empty dishes and stalked over to the sink to rinse them.

When Jessa tried to finish clearing the table, Matthias caught her eye and shook his head. “Rowan,” he said aloud. “The meal was excellent.”

“Yeah, okay.” The girl kept her back to them and scrubbed.

Jessa picked up the dishes and, before Matthias could stop her, brought them over to the sink. “If you’re not a chef, you should be. I happen to love Italian food, and your sauce is one of the best I’ve ever tasted. Thank you for making it.”

Rowan took the dishes from her, hesitated, and then muttered, “You’re welcome.” She turned to Matthias. “You want coffee in the library?”

“Please.”

Jessa reluctantly followed him out of the kitchen. “I should stay and help her clean up.”

“Rowan would not allow it. When she cooks, she is …” He paused as if unsure of the right words to use. “Master and servant.”

“The kitchen is her territory.” Jessa stopped outside the one door she recognized, the one that led to the library where she had awoken. “Does she have an eating disorder?”

“It is her body that is disordered,” he corrected. “Food does not stay with her. If she does not eat like three men, she grows very thin.”

As Jessa followed him into the library, she thought of Vulcan. He described having a similar problem with fluids; he was forced to drink an inordinate amount of water every day or he rapidly became dehydrated.

“So Rowan is also Kyndred.” Thank God she wasn’t one of the Takyn; Jessa couldn’t imagine dealing with someone as surly and resentful as Rowan.

“You should know that she is,” Matthias said as he went to crouch in front of the fire and add another split log. “We are sensitive to each other.”

“I never said I was like you.” She went to the love seat and shook out the crazy quilt before neatly folding it. “You’ve made a mistake, and so did Genaro.”

“You still turn from the truth and hide behind this pretense.” He came over to her, took the quilt from her hands, and tossed it aside. “Why?”