The Change (Unbounded) (35 page)

Perhaps I’d learned more from Delia than I realized.

In seconds I had my answer. Laurence was telling the truth. Dimitri was my father. I felt too stunned to react, though a part of me was relieved that Stefan and I weren’t related after all.

Laurence laid his hand over mine where it rested on his arm. “I’ll make sure you’re okay, Erin. I’ll take care of you. You won’t die. You can watch and wait with me.”

I jerked my hand from his and took two steps back. “You’re no relative of mine, and no credit to Dimitri. He would never sacrifice his people because he’s too weak to endure a little pain.”

Laurence’s bloated face darkened, and his voice rose in defense. “I watched my children die!”

“What about your little girl? Are you ready to kill her, too? Or her children?”

“It’s better than seeing them cut into pieces. Or watching them mourn
their
children. It isn’t natural.” He squared his shoulders. “Someone has to put a stop to it.”

He was a monster. “You have no right to play God!” I shouted.

“Why not? That’s practically what we are.” He gave a short, mirthless laugh. “Think of it. I’m killing gods to protect mankind. What irony.”

I snorted. “Do you really think the Emporium is going to sit back and let you kill them? As soon as they realize what you’re really doing, if they haven’t already, they’ll take your virus and use it against any Unbounded who doesn’t serve them. Make no mistake, Laurence, the Renegades are the only ones who’ll die from your virus. Except for you.” My voice was calmer now, though inside my thoughts still churned erratically. “The Emporium will kill you the minute they have what they need, and then the world will see what true suffering is. The Emporium is using you like they do everyone. If I can break through to your mind, you can bet Delia Vesey already has.”

His flaccid cheeks paled as understanding fell over him. He slumped back into his chair. “Oh, God,” he whispered. “What have I done?”

God didn’t answer.

I stalked to the window to prevent myself from venting more anger. He was a beaten, broken, sad man, and nothing I could fling at him would change the situation. I had to focus on how I could warn the Renegades.

Later I would deal with my parentage—if I survived long enough.

“I’m sorry,” Tom said softly, coming up behind me. “You must feel like a yo-yo, bouncing around from one father to the next. Unfortunately, I know exactly how you feel, finding out your entire life is a lie.”

I managed a bitter half smile. “You can’t begin to know how relieved I am that I don’t share any blood with Stefan.” I was tempted to tell him that Justine was his mother, but I couldn’t do it. Not yet. “We have to do something,” I said instead.

“It’ll be okay. Let’s just wait.”

“How can you say that?” He either had no clue of what was really going on, or he wanted the Emporium to succeed. Was that why he seemed so different to me? Was he hiding something? Maybe he was giving me only partial truths like Delia. Could I even trust my senses?

Tom opened his mouth to reply, but the sounds of a scuffle outside in the hall drew our attention. The door opened and Ritter was flung into the room, landing in a beaten, bloody mess on the carpet.

I ran to his side, but he was already pushing to his feet. “Chris?” I asked.

“Thanks, I’m okay.”

“I can see that much.” I wondered how many Emporium Unbounded he’d dispatched before they’d overwhelmed him with sheer numbers. “What about my brother?”

“He and the kids got out.”

“And Cort?”

“I left him talking to his brother.”

So Keene hadn’t escaped with Chris. I wondered what kind of repercussions he might suffer because of us.

“Cort was planning to look for Laurence.” Ritter’s gaze went over my shoulder to where Laurence sat slumped at the table, apparently unseeing. “Looks like I beat him to it.” Rage filled his voice. “I’m going to enjoy this.”

“Forget Laurence,” I said. “We have to find a way out of here.” Our imprisonment was my fault. If I’d been able to trust Keene instead of sending Ritter after him, we might be on the roof right now with Cort. “Do you have any weapons left?” My eyes ran over his body, pausing on his pants. Given the heroic proportions, I was pretty sure something there didn’t belong.

“They were thorough.” He rubbed his hand over his chest and waist and hips, feeling for weapons.

“What’s that?” I pointed.

His hands stopped, his eyes locking onto mine. A flare of emotion that battered against even my reinforced walls. “Well, gee, Erin,” he drawled, “You want me to show you? Right here? Now? I’m not at all sure this is the right time, but if you insist.”

I rolled my eyes. “I mean the grenade. You still have it, don’t you?”

He brought it out and set it in my hand. “Fools them every time.” The weapon was warm from his body and oddly reassuring.

“Isn’t that too dangerous to use in here?” Tom had come up behind us, and I wondered how much he’d heard. The men stared at each other. Tom’s eyes were hard and accusing, Ritter’s like icy granite. Tom’s boy-next-door good looks paled considerably next to Ritter’s smoldering danger.

“Lover boy’s right,” Ritter said finally. “This would probably sever all three focus points.”

“What does that mean?” Tom said. “I thought you were immortal.”

“It would kill even us,” I translated. “All of us. But maybe if we tipped over the table and dragged it to the other side, away from the glass, and put the curtains over us. Might give us enough protection.”

Ritter shook his head. “The blast might still kill us. It’s too close.” He jerked his head at Tom. “He would die for sure.” His eyes went to Laurence, glittering with intent. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I want a word with my good friend over there.”

The idea of him dismembering Laurence with his bare hands horrified me, and I hurried after him. “What are you going to do?”

No answer. I’d have better luck talking to an enraged bear.

Laurence had dragged himself from wherever his mind had gone and stood awaiting us. “I’ll do it,” he said. “Give me the grenade. I’ll get them to let me out and explode it down the hall.”

“No way,” Ritter and I said together.

Laurence grabbed my hand. Ritter tensed, his arm flexing for a punch, but I held up my other hand. “Wait.”

With a scowl, Ritter lowered his arm, the muscles in his body still taut, ready to move.

“I want to end the Unbounded gene,” Laurence said, “but I don’t want the Emporium to take over the world. You can trust me on this. Just like you did when I promised to help Chris and the kids get away. I took this for them.” He pulled down the neck of his polo to reveal a congealed bullet wound.

He was still holding my hand, and I could sense the truth. Gratitude rushed through me, though I fought the feeling. Laurence met my gaze. “I swear to you that I want your brother and his kids to live a life where they won’t be hunted. They are not the issue here.”

“Then you shouldn’t have allowed the Emporium to bring them here. Everything you stand for is wrong. Everything.”

“Maybe. But I’m the only chance you guys have of getting out of here. Look into my mind, if you don’t believe me.”

I extended my thoughts, searching for hidden deceit. There seemed to be none, but what if the madness kicked in again? What if he’d had time to hide certain thoughts behind a barrier I couldn’t detect?

I glanced at Ritter, whose eyes rested not on Laurence but on me. He seemed to be considering Laurence’s offer. Of course he was. What other choice did we have? Short of ripping a leg from the table and using it to punch a hole through the wall—an act that would surely draw attention—we were stuck. Maybe if we had climbing skills, we could miraculously break what was probably bulletproof glass and climb five stories down to the street, dodging bullets from upset Emporium Unbounded along the way. For all I knew, Ritter was capable of doing just that. But I certainly wasn’t. Neither could I sentence Tom to certain and final death by exploding the grenade in this room.

“Give me the grenade,” Laurence said, “while you still have the chance of completing whatever escape Ritter has planned.”

I shook my head.

Ritter’s hands closed around mine. He took the grenade and gave it to Laurence. “If this is just a ploy to get away from me,” he growled. “Know that regardless of what happens today, I won’t rest until I hunt you down. You will never get near a lab again.”

Laurence stared at Ritter for a long moment. Then he nodded slowly. “I wouldn’t expect any less.”

“This isn’t a good idea,” Tom said. “Let’s wait. Maybe we can work it out with my sister.”

Ritter turned on him. “There’s no working it out with the Emporium. It is either kill or be killed. Now go pull down those curtains.”

Tom glared at Ritter. “I know what you really want. You’ll never have her.”

A flash of the woman in the blue dress took me by surprise, but by the time I realized what it was, the vision was gone and Ritter’s mind had returned to blankness.

“You don’t know anything about what I want,” Ritter spat. The bitterness in his voice was nothing compared to the hate I’d glimpsed in his mind. He turned his fiery gaze to me. “Let’s get the table in place.”

Laurence hadn’t moved. He held my gaze, waiting. I turned away.

“Erin,” he said.

I looked at him, arching a brow.

“If I don’t make it out of here, if there’s not enough of me left to regenerate . . . My wife. Will you tell her?”

I nodded. “Of course.” I wouldn’t give him absolution, but this I could do.

Tucking the grenade into his pocket, Laurence strode to the door.

“Walk a little ahead of them,” I called after him. “Maybe you can sprint to the elevator and throw it behind you at the last moment.”

His mouth curved in a smile. “I haven’t sprinted in sixty years.”

“I don’t know. You ran pretty well downstairs.”

Ritter gave no advice, and I knew Laurence had destroyed any measure of trust that had been between them. He was probably already having second thoughts about giving Laurence the grenade, but he was risking it for me, just as I was for Tom.

Laurence pounded on the door. Seconds later, the face of an Unbounded guard appeared in the doorway. “I have to talk to Delia,” Laurence said. “I’ve learned something from these people. It’s vital that I see her now.”

“Can’t it wait? She’s kind of busy.”

“If you don’t let me out, they’re going to tear me to pieces with their bare hands, and I’ll never be able to give her the information or work in your lab. Delia should know better than to put this killer in here with me. He knows I betrayed them.”

The Unbounded relayed the information into his radio and then nodded. “Come on, then. I’ll take you to her. She’s down on main.”

One of the guards went with him, leaving only one outside our door. Probably there were more near the elevator and stairs to the roof. Laurence would have to time this just right. Close enough to the elevator to involve the guards, but not too far away from this room so the explosion would set us free.

I reached out to him, but the few emotions I sensed faded quickly as the space between us grew. I hit the wall in frustration. Some talent this was.

“Get behind the table.” Ritter pushed me in the right direction.

“We shouldn’t have trusted him,” I said. “He’s just going to turn it over to her.”

“Give it a moment.” He and Tom pulled the curtain over our heads and shoulders.

No sooner had we squatted behind the table than an explosion rocked the entire building.

T
HE FAR WALL BURST OPEN
, becoming a mass of smoke and debris. To our left, the glass in the windows shattered, pelting us with razor-sharp pieces that sliced through the curtains.

I felt a numb sort of surprise.
He really did it.

“Hurry.” Ritter shoved off the curtains, sending a shower of tinkling glass to the floor.

We stood and ran, crunching through the glass and rubble, the countless tiny cuts on my bare arms causing far more pain than I expected. Tiny wells of blood oozed and smeared from the wounds. We climbed through the new opening in the wall, and for a moment stood looking around, stunned at the devastation. Debris lay everywhere. Dust filled the air. I saw several unrecognizable body parts, mounds of tissue, blood dripping into the rubble. Overhead we could see the sky.

Where was Laurence? Could I find his remains? Were two of his focus parts still intact? Viewing the blood and carnage, it didn’t seem possible, but even if I had stomach for the job, there was no time to search for him. The explosion would signal every Unbounded in the building, not to mention the local authorities.

I gagged on the sharp coppery smell of blood, knowing that if I stayed another minute I was going to be incapacitated for a long time while my stomach rebelled.
Goodbye, Laurence,
I thought. My brother, both martyr and would-be murderer.

“Which way?” Ritter asked.

Clenching my jaw, I held my breath and pointed. We dragged through the wreckage, moving or climbing over chunks of drywall and cement. Tom stumbled behind us. The door to the roof was missing and part of the wall, but the stairs were passable.