The Change (Unbounded) (6 page)

Probably centuries.

I hated him. I hated all of them.

I closed my eyes, forcing away the tears, already angry at myself for giving into despair. No. I would not give up. I’d find a way around whatever Ava chose to put in front of me, especially this block of human stone.

“Sheeze, Ritter.” Stella looked up from her computer screen, once again wearing her headset. “I hate to remind you, but that sort of behavior went out of style centuries ago.”

He set me down, his eyes running over my body. “If you ask me, there’s something to be said for throwing them over your shoulder and doing with them what you will.”

Stella snorted. “Barbarian!”

Ritter bent and scooped up the hat that had fallen from my head when he let me go, and I caught a gleam of a gold chain previously hidden under his shirt. There was a fluid magnetism in his movement and for a moment all thoughts of escape deserted me. Our eyes met, my furious gray ones to his cold obsidian. We were standing close—too close. At that moment I became aware of him, not as an obstacle, but as a man. A living, breathing man with more confidence and sexuality than I’d ever encountered in anyone before. The power I’d felt from him outside drew me in, beckoned me to touch. I couldn’t breathe.

A flare of something in Ritter’s eyes. What? I couldn’t say. It didn’t matter. I despised him and everything he represented. I needed all my energy to get back to Tom and my family.

“This isn’t over,” I muttered. Even so, it was all I could do to step away.

He gave me a mocking smile. “I’m sure it isn’t.”

Cort, his feet still ensconced on the desk next to one of the computers, cleared his throat before adding his two cents, “I think you’ve met your match, Ritter.”

“Shut up,” Ritter growled.

Cort laughed. “You’re just mad ’cause she’s not batting her eyes at you like every other female you meet.”

“Shut up both of you.” Stella was staring at an e-mail. “Listen. This morning in New York there was another attempt on John Halden’s life.”

Ritter swiftly made his way to her computer, bending over with his hands on the wide desk, his face moving only slightly as he read the words. I couldn’t help but notice what a striking couple Stella and Ritter made, both so attractive and completely sure of themselves. There was an easy familiarity in their manner toward each other, and I wondered if they’d ever been romantically involved.

I didn’t know why I cared.

“I should have been there.” Ritter threw me a look of disgust.

“You were needed here,” Stella said.

I debated whether or not to make a dash for the door, but given his uncanny speed, I doubted I’d succeed. Besides, curiosity burned inside me. I went to stand between Stella and Cort. “Who’s John Halden?”

“The world’s richest man,” Cort answered. “Though you’d never be able to track all his companies to him. We keep tabs on him through several of his employees. Pass him technology when we need to. He has a huge network.”

I was beginning to understand. “You use him to develop Unbounded inventions. ”

“He’s currently our main contact.” Stella sent a quick reply to the e-mail as she spoke, though her hands weren’t touching the computer. Her uncovered eye was slightly out of focus, and I could see movement through the lens of her eyepiece. “From time to time, Halden comes up with technology on his own as well. He’s the man we’re going to see in New York.”

Ritter glanced at Stella. “What have you told her?”

She calmly removed her headset. “Only that we need her to go with us, and that Halden has come up with a program we must have.” She looked away from Ritter to meet my gaze, rolling her eyes where he couldn’t see. “Anyway, in exchange for Halden’s software, we’re giving him a virtual reality program I’ve designed with some help from my counterparts in New York, London, and Italy. It’s going to make Halden’s company a fortune in video games alone.”

I felt a distinct disappointment. “More video games. Isn’t that the last thing people need?”

Stella smiled. “Oh, but the program has far greater potential than just for gaming. Especially in medical and science applications. Imagine students being right there when a doctor performs an actual surgery, or as scientists conduct a dangerous physics experiment. You’ll be able to experience dozens of scenarios, and that means better training and more lives saved. There are limitless possibilities in all areas of education.”

My disgust became embarrassment at my ignorance. I needed to remember to keep my mouth shut around these people.

“Unfortunately, Halden is all too mortal.” Cort gave me a wistful smile. He’d taken his feet from the desk and scooted his chair closer to Stella’s monitor. “Like Archimedes, Gutenberg, Franklin, Jenner, Tesla, Edison, and all the rest we’ve worked with over the years. That means we have to protect him from the Emporium.”

They’d worked with Thomas Edison? If that was true, it would certainly explain why he’d taken out so many patents. “Why don’t you start a company of your own?”

Ritter’s eyes narrowed. “Too many want us dead. We have other enemies besides the Emporium.”

“Ritter’s right,” Stella said. “We’d be too exposed. It’d take all our resources and personnel. This works for now.”

“Until Halden’s dead.” Ritter’s voice held no emotion, but I received an impression of inner fury that frightened me with its bleakness.

“Then go save him, by all means.” I waved my arm at the door. “Don’t let me keep you.”

“Halden will be all right,” Stella said. “Our people were there in time and he’ll be extra careful now for the next little while. He has bodyguards.”

Ritter snorted. “No match for Emporium Unbounded.”

“I don’t know,” Stella said lightly. “He’s got access to really good body armor. New design. And our guys are in the wings. Besides, you know as well as I do that we’re grooming someone to run his company when he does die.”

“If the replacement can be trusted, you mean.” Ritter’s tone implied that such a thing was doubtful.

Stella folded her arms. “I think he can be.”

“Regardless, he’s not ready to run the company yet.” Ritter backed away from the computer, his eyes falling on me. “I’ll be outside in case you decide to run away again.”

“Wait a minute,” I said.

He lifted one brow, impatience in the taut lines of his impressive body.

“How old are you?”

“Does it matter?”

Why did the man have to be so difficult? “Humor me.”

“Two hundred and seventy-three.”

So, several decades younger than Ava, but older than Stella by nearly fifty years. When I didn’t say anything further, he turned and stalked away.

“What’s his problem?” I asked the others.

Cort laughed. “The better question is what isn’t Ritter’s problem?”

Stella wasn’t amused. “He has a past. Many Unbounded do.”

“What happened to him?” I was more interested than I wanted to be.

“It’s his story to share,” Stella said. “Or not.”

Cort cleared his throat. “Maybe it’s better if she knows the risks.”

“It’s his story,” Stella repeated.

“Just tell me already.” I didn’t bother to hide my annoyance at this exchange. How could I learn about the Unbounded if they didn’t give me enough background?

“Ritter was a kind of policeman, I guess you’d call it.” Cort didn’t look at Stella as he spoke, but I knew he couldn’t miss the way she sat up stiffly in her chair. “One day when he was working, he was stabbed numerous times, which killed him, or so they thought. When his family started laying him out at their home before the burial, his mother discovered he wasn’t really dead but only badly injured and healing quickly.” He glanced at Stella, who relaxed, and I knew there was more, a lot more, but they weren’t going to tell it to me. Even so the story made my irritation at the man subside a notch. Almost dying like that had to affect a person. I knew.

“Do all Unbounded have such a horrible beginning?” Ava had said something to the contrary, but so far I wasn’t encouraged.

Stella shook her head. “I was born here in America, the descendant of an Italian Unbounded grandfather and Japanese mortal. As a child, I lost movement in my arm falling from a horse, and when I was suddenly healed as an adult, I thanked God for the miracle. Ava approached me the next day and explained that I was Unbounded and had undergone the Change. My father didn’t have the active gene and was never let in on the secret, so my grandfather and uncles in Italy had asked her to watch over me when I neared the age of Change. I was excited to learn the truth. My parents never knew, though I confided in my younger sister.”

“You didn’t go to Italy to be with your Unbounded relatives?” I asked.

“I’ve spent some years there off and on, but this is my family now. Besides, I have my sister’s posterity to look after. Two in Oregon are nearing the age of Change. Now that you’re safely with us, we’ll be moving there to keep an eye on them.”

I looked at Cort, but he shook his head. “No trauma here, either, except that I had no one to explain what was happening to me. My Unbounded ancestors either weren’t aware of me, or they were killed long before I came along. I was born in Germany and lived a normal life—until I stayed young while everyone around me aged. Fortunately, my talent is in the sciences, so I made accurate conclusions rather quickly. I moved to America during the revolution, but it wasn’t until about thirty-five years ago that I heard a story of two high school buddies meeting after fifty odd years and one swearing the other hadn’t aged. That led me to Laurence and eventually to the group.”

“He was lucky he found us and not the Emporium,” Stella said. “Or that they didn’t notice him first.”

The scariest thing was that I utterly believed them.

Not that believing them would stop me from being with my family or Tom. Leaving them behind wasn’t an option, and neither was waiting until we returned from whatever Ava wanted me to do in New York. Tomorrow my mother and father would bury what they thought was me, and I couldn’t let them endure that horror for a second longer than I had to. As for Tom, the idea of him mourning both Justine and me by himself gnawed at me constantly.

“Erin, are you okay?” Cort took my elbow and led me to the couch, sitting so close to me our thighs nearly touched. “I thought you were going to faint there for a moment. Stella, can you bring her a drink?”

“Thank you.” I touched his hand in gratitude before easing away from him. Tension winged between us, like a current of electricity I couldn’t see.

“It’ll take a while to get your normal strength back. Even though you may look and feel well, you’re not a hundred percent. You’ll recover soon.”

I had the odd sense that he was hiding something, but as I studied him, his face showed only sincerity, his eyes an eagerness to please. Maybe it was his physical closeness that made me uncomfortable, and the odd heat that reminded me of soft sheets and blanketing darkness.

Or maybe I’d landed on the wrong side of the Unbounded issue. It was possible that the Emporium were the good guys, and I was being set up by the Renegades to do something in New York that I’d regret forever. Something that would hurt not only my family but all humanity.

Because in all the talk about John Halden and the software, I realized that everyone had carefully avoided mentioning what program we would receive from him in return.

S
TELLA RETURNED WITH A CLEAR
liquid in a tall glass. “It’s curequick, but this tastes better than the gelatin version.”

The other had tasted good enough, so I eagerly drank down the liquid, feeling energy seep through my body. “You really invented this?” I asked Cort.

He shrugged modestly. “I had a little extra time on my hands.”

My unexpected laugh was cut short when Ava entered the warehouse and strode toward us, unzipping a white lab coat.

“Well?” Cort asked.

“Definite tampering with files,” Ava replied. “However, no one at the burn center is aware of anything amiss, and we can’t find a link to Erin.”

“There has to be a link.” Stella crossed to the desk and clapped on her headset, not appearing to mind the probes that must dig into her scalp. As she sat in front of one computer, the computer linked to the headset also came to life and began running code. “No way it’s coincidence.”

“Agreed. But I was unable to extract any valuable information from the employees. Dimitri stayed behind to do a little more investigating since he’s the one with the medical license.” Ava’s gaze focused on me. “Feeling better?”

“I’ll feel fine when you let me go.” I tried to keep my face expressionless like Ritter, but I failed miserably. Ava’s complete self-assurance provoked too much resistance in me.

She sighed. “How about I take you someplace else? Now that you don’t need around-the-clock supervision, you’ll be more comfortable staying with me until we leave for New York.”

“What if I don’t want to go to New York?”

Ava frowned before crossing over to the desk area to stand behind Stella. “For the moment, you have no choice, but I’m confident you’ll make the right decision. Sooner or later you’re going to need us.” Her exasperation was clear, and that slip of control made me feel victorious.