The Change (Unbounded) (44 page)

Stefan was the first to speak. “Hello, Erin. I was sorry to hear you left California so abruptly.”

“Guess I didn’t like the idea of being anyone’s puppet—yours or Delia’s.”

“So Cort was right. You do take after your maternal ancestor.” Stefan’s eyes flickered to Ava.

Now that Stefan was in the room, it was hard to decide who exuded more power, him or John Halden. I had the feeling none of this was going to end well.

“So,” Ava said to Halden, “you’ve decided to sell out to this
animal
?”

“Animal?” Stefan’s lips twitched with amusement.

“What matters here is that he’s the man who tried to kill you this week,” Stella said. “If it hadn’t been for our organization and your own preparedness, you would have died.”

Halden frowned. “Is this true, Stefan?”

Stefan shook his head. “I never heard of an attempt on your life. Did it really happen? If so, maybe you have the perpetrators right here.”

Anger, frustration, and hopelessness flooded through me. “No,” I whispered. “No.”

Halden met my gaze. “You have something to say?”

All eyes turned toward me. “He’s lying,” I said. “You can’t trust him.”

Halden smiled and his magnetism was riveting. “You are in the company of a woman who hasn’t appeared to age in the twenty years I’ve known her. How can I trust her? Or you? How do I know
you’re
not the one lying? What information do you have that can sway me? Why are you even here? What personal stake do you have in all this?”

“You really want to know?” I asked because this wasn’t about me, it was about the survival of the Renegades, and by extension John Halden and every other mortal in the world.

“I made my empire strong by listening. Try to convince me.”

Many court trials had been won by focusing on the individual, and maybe it would help here. Halden was both judge and jury. At the very least, this distraction might provide an opportunity for the others to make a move. Smoothing my dress to be sure it hid my knife, I stood slowly, calculating my words.

“Last week,” I began, “I had a boyfriend, a best friend I trusted, and I knew who my parents were. My brothers were happy and well. My niece and nephew had a mother. I’d never heard of you. I never cared about computer programs. I was like any other woman in America.” I walked around the table until I stood in front of Justine. “Then I didn’t die when I should have, and my best friend betrayed me by ordering the death of my family.” I reached up and tugged off her wig. She gasped and lunged for it, but I tossed it over the table. We glared at each other for a moment. She wasn’t bald. Like me, her hair had grown several inches; hers was a nice brown without her usual highlights or anything special. She must hate that, as she hated anything normal.

I pointed at Stefan and continued. “I was told this man was my biological father. Then he imprisoned me, and when I escaped in the attempt to save dozens of people from being slaughtered, the man I once thought I loved tried to stop me and . . .” I faltered, my throat tight with the memory. “And I shot him. He died right in front of me, and there was nothing I could do to save him.”

“No!” Justine threw herself at me and started raking my face with her nails. Cort pulled her back.

“Didn’t they tell you, Justine?” I mocked, though the pain in my chest made it difficult to breathe. “Delia used Tom. She did something to his mind so I wouldn’t see until it was too late. I may have shot Tom, but in the end, you’re to blame. You made Tom who he was. You chose to work for people who think they’re above regular mortals.”

“I loved Tom!” she cried.

So did I.
“I know.”

She crumpled against Cort, sobbing.

John Halden regarded me coldly. “Is there a point to all this?”

I could see from his thoughts that I’d taken his invitation to tell my personal stake too literally. I matched his aloofness, as years ago I’d practiced doing in mock courtrooms. “The point is if you give this technology to them, you are condemning many people to death—and all their descendants as well.”

“It’s murder,” Ava added.

Stefan snorted. “Like you wouldn’t use it against us.”

“No. It’s far too dangerous.” Ava shook her head for emphasis. “We were going to destroy it.”

Stefan looked from me to Ava and back again. I nodded. “It’s true.”

“And that,” Halden said, the hint of a smile hovering on his lips, “is exactly why I will accept neither of your offers.”

Ava and Stefan stiffened. “What do you mean?” Stefan demanded.

“There is another interested party.” Halden nodded at the older guard, who walked to the door where we had entered. Minutes later he returned with four men, each armed with a semiautomatic rifle. I didn’t know any of them, but I recognized the insignia on their uniforms.

Hunters.

“A
FTER
I
REALIZED
A
VA DIDN’T
age, I did a little research,” Halden said. “Actually, I put a whole team on it, and my trail eventually led to these gentlemen here. They were kind enough to explain the situation and show me the files they’ve collected over the years.” His eyes scanned the room slowly. “With the exception of Erin, you are all in those files.”

Stefan made a growl of disbelief in his throat. The other Unbounded appeared equally shocked. I hadn’t seen any of this coming, either, though I’d maintained a link with Halden’s mind. What he learned, he learned well.

When no one spoke, Halden continued. “These men have been telling me some very far-fetched stories. Interestingly enough, I’m inclined to believe them. After some discussion, they have agreed to completely fund my identification project. I might not earn as much money as I would have with either the virtual reality technology or the communication technology that your separate groups have offered, but it seems I’ll be protecting humanity.”

This attitude of morality was exactly what had caused the Renegades to back Halden, to feed his company technology over the years, but now his very goodness was to be our downfall. His emotions clearly confirmed his words; he believed what he was doing was right.

Silence reigned as everyone waited for what would happen next. I noticed Ritter had also come around the table and was within leaping distance of Halden. It was clear to me that not all of us would leave here alive. Perhaps none of us.

I faced Halden. “So you’re a murderer.”

“I’m not hurting anyone.”

“Is that what they told you?”

The tallest of the Hunters started to speak, but Halden waved him to silence. “What do you mean?” he asked me.

I gestured to the Hunters. “They’ll cut all of us in pieces as fast as they can identify us. All of us. That’s what Hunters do. They don’t care if some of us actually fight for humanity. They don’t care if we hurt or love or have families. They kill us because we’re different, like people once killed your race or the Jews.” I was warming to my topic, presenting final arguments that meant my life and the lives of those I’d grown to care about. I’d been raised to argue, learning from the knees of the man who’d raised me. “They say they’re protecting people, but killing an entire race because they’re different is nothing short of genocide. And what happens when they’re finished? Hatred like that doesn’t just die. It’s directed elsewhere. When they’re through with us, they’ll turn to whoever else might threaten their way of life. It won’t stop with us. Racial targeting never does.”

For the first time Halden seemed uncertain. “You told me the identification would make them go public,” he said to the Hunters. “That it would allow them to live freely among us so they could be regulated like everyone else. You didn’t say anything about murder.”

When none of the Hunters replied, Ava said, “Oh, John, exposing us would mean the same thing. It will cause a division. Fear. Hatred. Genocide. But you can damn well bet we won’t lie down and let ourselves be killed. My friends and I have been trying to protect humanity from abuses by our kind, but I am certain this move will force us to join hands with those who don’t share that goal. What you are setting in motion today is a war that will encompass the entire world.”

“She’s right.” Stefan flexed his arms, as though ready to pounce. “What’s more, these monsters never planned to let us leave here today—at least not on our own feet.”

“It’s not as if a bullet would actually kill you,” spat the tall Hunter.

“See?” Stefan flashed Halden a mirthless grin.

Halden ran a hand through his hair. Emotion radiated from him, so bright I didn’t even have to try to discern his thought. An image came to me of the guard with the dreadlocks.

Halden’s son.

Halden’s Unbounded son who’d been trained by Renegade Unbounded. A son who’d gone against the advice of his tutors and had confessed his true nature to his father.

I reached out for the son now, stretching, pushing—driven to desperation by the situation. Stella had said Ava could sometimes plant a thought in a non-sensing mind. Was I strong enough? From Ava, I’d inherited the talent of sensing, but my paternal grandmother had it too. Perhaps I had enough strength to reach across the hall that separated us. Delia could reach across five floors. What about me? I strained and struggled. It felt like trying to bend a steel beam.

Nothing.

I tried to use John Halden’s emotion as power to extend my reach, absorbing it like nutrition. It wasn’t going to be enough. Tears of frustration filled my eyes. Soon the shooting would begin. I could tell by the tension radiating from every person in the room.

Then I found him, his shields still in place. I battered at them. Was that a tiny hole?
Danger. Your father needs you!
There was no answer, and I didn’t expect one, because I’d have to be the one to take it from his mind, and at this distance I simply wasn’t strong enough. I could only hope he received the impression.

If he did, I hoped I wasn’t sending him to his death. When I pulled back, my head felt as though it had been cleaved in two.

Ritter had eased past Halden and was now a few steps closer to the Hunters, who were watching him carefully, prepared for any sudden movement. I knew he’d be able to take out two of them before any shots were fired, but that left the other two, plus Halden’s guards. We had to somehow stop them from shooting us or the bullets might be our last memory before the cutting began.

Ava had taken several steps backward, preparing to attack Halden’s guards from the side. Stella, however, seemed rooted to the spot, and I knew she was afraid. It was no longer only herself and us she had to defend. This time there was more to lose. A new life. A piece of her beloved Bronson.

Justine’s eyes met mine, sending a message. My former best friend didn’t agree with our cause, but she would fight these murdering bastards with us rather than go to her death willingly. Later she would personally take care of me. She wasn’t sending out any pheromones that I could sense, and I wondered if she was afraid of distracting the Unbounded from the coming fight. I didn’t think she needed to worry; we all knew what she was.

I looked from her to Ritter and the Hunters. Justine’s head dipped slightly, showing her understanding. When Ritter attacked, she would, too. Cort shifted his weight, realigning himself in preparation. I knew he was with us and that he and Ritter had been together long enough to read each other completely.

The Hunters brought up their guns. “Easy now,” said the one who seemed to be in charge. “We’re taking you in for questioning, that’s all.”

“Right,” Ritter sneered.

I’d left myself open to all the emotions in the room, but Ritter’s came through stronger than anyone’s. I focused more tightly on him and had a vision of my knife and Halden. Underneath barely concealed fury, he kept thinking the same thing over and over, which was crazy given that he should be focusing on what he planned to do himself.

Unless he’d expected me to see his thoughts. I delved further. My knife in my hand at Halden’s throat. A threat only. An attempt to get the upper hand.

I could feel Ava’s reticence at the images, which I echoed. I’d worked hard during my training sessions with both Ritter and Keene, but my experience was far too limited. Besides, though Halden was a trim man, he was a lot heavier than I was and had a good foot on me in height.

He was also sorry he’d made a mess of things. Maybe I could use that.

“Wait,” I said, acting before I’d really decided that I would. “Nobody move. I have an idea.” I crossed the few steps separating me from Halden. Faking a nonchalance I didn’t feel, I reached out and touched his bare arm.
Sit,
I thought.

He looked at me, startled.

For your son.
I pushed so hard with the thoughts that pain knifed through my head. I struggled not to cry out. Meeting Halden’s gaze, I dropped my eyes once to his chair. He sat.

Instantly, I stepped behind him, pulling him back with one hand on his chest while the other whipped the knife out from under my dress and held it against his throat. Under his shirt I could feel a sort of hard rubbery material. Was that the body armor I’d heard Stella mention back in Kansas? Naturally he would be wearing it when he met with those he viewed as his enemies, but it couldn’t save him from either the Hunters or the Unbounded. A slash on the neck or a shot to the head would snuff out his life instantly.