The Cure (22 page)

Keene nodded, his gaze now going to his brother. “You could come with me.”

Cort tilted his head as if seriously considering the offer. Finally, he spoke. “They have a large contingent of Unbounded. When we run into them, it’s not going to be pretty. I’d better stay to help. But you’re right that you shouldn’t go alone. You may need backup.” He looked at Ritter, his arched brow a question.

“We need Dimitri.” Ritter’s gaze hesitated on Jace for the merest instant before passing to me. “Erin, you go. And take Hertenstein and Mari. Stash them in a hotel somewhere before you check on the senator.”

“What? No way,” I said at the same time Benito whined, “What about me? I want to go.”

“I’d like to stay,” Hertenstein said. “I can handle a gun.”

“No, you aren’t trained for combat and we can’t risk losing you.” The way Ritter said it made me think he’d planned a separation all along, though perhaps he wouldn’t have acted until morning, if Keene hadn’t pushed the matter.

“I’m not going,” I said. I could handle myself in a fight, and I could also tell when we were getting close to the Emporium agents and how many mortals there were versus Unbounded. No way was I going to allow Ritter’s overprotectiveness to endanger the mission.

He grabbed my arm. “Excuse us a moment. Erin and I are going to have a chat.”

“Fine.” I pulled from his grasp and stalked toward the trees.

“Meanwhile,” Ritter called over his shoulder, “one of you better get on the phone and try to reach Ava and see if she can aim the satellites away from this area. The Emporium will have satellite phones, just like us, and it’s only a matter of time until they think of sending an electronic copy of the research back to Emporium headquarters.”

“Already did that,” Cort said, “except for the one satellite that you were using to find us, and that’s directed away now. We also had a technopath watching for information to come through. He’s still watching. We’re pretty sure they haven’t gotten it out, though there were several calls made from this area, so we have to assume they’ve been in contact with someone here—perhaps to whoever is watching the senator. That means they’ll have a plan. But keep in mind that once they’re closer to town and in range of a cell phone tower, all our eavesdropping and satellite adjusting won’t do any good. We have to catch up to them before then.”

“We will.” Ritter’s voice was a growl of suppressed anger that sent a shiver crawling across my shoulders.

I waited for him at the edge of the dirt road. Apparently, that wasn’t far enough, and he passed me, going deeper into the darkness of the jungle.

“I can help,” I said to his back. “You know that. I don’t care about the senator.” Not exactly true, but he’d get the point.

Ritter whirled on me, silent and deadly. “You
do
care about Keene.”

It wasn’t a question, but I felt compelled to answer. “Of course I do. We’re friends.”

His nostrils flared and his jaw clenched, as though struggling not to respond. Silence reigned for a moment, except for the croaking call of something in the trees. Ritter glanced back at the faded glow of the lantern. “Your
friend
Keene will need you to make sure he’s not attacked by more bandits tonight. Or, worse, the Emporium. We have no idea where they are and if Keene should stumble across their camp in the middle of the night, he’ll be dead—no matter how good a fighter he is. Truthfully, I’d rather send Jace, but he’s a little rash. Plus, I’m still not convinced Keene is everything he pretends to be. You, I can trust to keep an eye on him. You’re also familiar with Justine. If she’s behind the attack on the senator, my bet is that she’s not out traipsing through the jungle. Cort said they haven’t seen her, and the sooner we know where she is the better.”

I hated that he made sense. Justine always made her underlings do the dirty work. Well, anything dirty that required actual work. She stepped in only when she wouldn’t break a fingernail. Regardless, she always seemed to delight in causing the suffering of others.

“You know,” I said, scrambling for another excuse to stay, “it could be that Justine’s presence here has nothing to do with the lab or the senator. Maybe she’s here for another reason. Maybe she has something more to hide.”

“Our missing people you mean? From the New York raid?”

I felt guilty at the slight hope in his voice. “Well, you didn’t find any other sign of them these past months, did you?” Okay, so I was fishing just a bit.

“Not a trace. But I had some other—” Breaking off, he looked past me into the night. His expression showed nothing, but this hesitancy wasn’t like him and I was tempted to try to push past his mental shields—not that I’d succeed. His eyes came back to me. “Either way, Keene needs someone to keep an eye on him. He used to work closely with Justine and that makes him suspect.”

I didn’t want to go with Keene. I wanted to find the research so I could take it back to Stella. I wanted to give her and Bronson another chance. “Maybe you’re just trying to get rid of me so you can have your revenge,” I said. “Kill as many of the Emporium as you can.”

He was next to me so fast that I didn’t see him move. He looked mean and angry, but his dark eyes also showed something more. Something I might translate as hurt if I didn’t know better. “This isn’t about revenge. It’s about getting those files. I know how important your ability can be, but for a fight, I need the others more.” He paused for several seconds before adding. “Besides, you are also too important to lose. You and Ava are the only sensing Unbounded the Renegades have left.”

“I don’t need your protection.” I had half a mind to pull my new machete and try it out on him, though I knew it wouldn’t do any good. He’d know it was coming and counter the move.

He’d know it was coming.
So would Jace. And while Dimitri and Cort weren’t gifted in combat, their many years of practice made them more valuable in a fight than I could hope to be for years. I had to believe that for Ritter the mission was everything, even above his thirst for revenge or his desire to protect me. Unfortunately, that meant sending me with Keene really was his best plan. Maybe he wasn’t trying to protect me or make me pay for being angry at him.

“Erin.” He was still next to me, closer than I wanted him to be. I started to step back, but his hand clamped onto my upper arm. “Why are you so angry at me? What happened when I was gone?”

“What happened?
What happened?
” Was I supposed to be grateful he’d asked? “Nothing really. Let’s see. I learned how to fight, I helped set up a new headquarters, I spent eight hours every day at a mindless job so I could keep an eye on Mari. Oh, and yeah, I donated my heart to my father so he wouldn’t die. Everyone was in the room when I woke up, except for the person who promised to be there.” Was he really so stupid that he didn’t know? I didn’t want to be the weepy female pining for her mate, but a promise was a promise. How trust was built.

“So? You’re awake and I’m here now.”

Did he really just say that? No apology, no explanation, nothing? “You could have been dead for all I knew.”

His grip tightened. “You’re still thinking like a mortal. A hiccup lasts longer for a mortal than two months for us.”

His words were a slap in the face. Was that all this was, a misinterpretation?

He sighed and this time his grip eased. “Anyway, something came up. A responsibility.”

Was he going to tell me what? Because I was through asking. I met his stare impassively.

“I have a son.”

“You what?” My perception of him careened in yet another direction. According to Stella, there’d never been any other romantic attachment since his fiancée had been slaughtered and his own life saved. Then again, two hundred and forty years was a long time to be celibate. Maybe revenge wasn’t always enough. Was the mother Unbounded? Jealousy stabbed through me.

“A foster son, actually. The great-grandson of a friend who was as close as a brother to me. I took care of the boy when he was a teen.” Weariness settled over Ritter’s face, weighing down his shoulders. “He was in trouble.”

“Where?”

“London.”

“I see.” Pulling information from him was like learning how to throw knives—a ton of effort for not much result. I was debating whether or not to press further when Keene spoke from behind us.

“You about finished here? Because I’m leaving.” I turned to see him, a dark shadow framed by the dim light of the lantern coming from the road behind him. “What’s the final verdict? You going or staying, Erin?”

“Going,” Ritter and I said together.

I started toward Keene, but Ritter, still facing me, stepped closer and grabbed my hand. We stood, arms touching, me facing Keene and the light while Ritter faced the darkness of the jungle. “Be careful,” Ritter said. He hesitated before adding, “Please.”

I looked up at him. His eyes were holes of darkness but in his mind was a slice of light, a door to his soul. I reached out mentally and was swept up in emotions and experiences. Rushing to the park in response to my emergency call, kissing on the rooftop, drowning in touch, despair at the distance between us. And hope. Hope as new and burning and bright as ever revenge had been. I’d never felt so much in a glance, not even with my sensing at full thrust. Impossible to tell where his emotions left off and mine began. I wanted him. Not just him, but all of his past, his failures, his pains. Heat pulsed through me, enveloping me with sensation.

In less than an instant it was over. The door slammed shut, the light extinguished. Tension stretched, meeting at our hands like a bomb about to explode.

He released me. I moved forward at the same moment he stepped toward the trees. “Going to make the rounds,” he said. “Tell Jace to finish the tents.”

I was grateful he wouldn’t be there to see us off. After what had happened in that moment, I didn’t know if I’d be able to drive away or that he’d be able to let me go. Later we would talk. Later I’d learn about this foster son. Later, I’d forgive him, and he’d forgive me.

Keene was already heading back to the vehicles, and I had to jog to keep up. “So what was that?” he said in an undertone. “It’s not like you to give in.”

“I’m the only one who can keep track of you,” I retorted. “So watch yourself.”

He stopped abruptly, and I banged into his arm. “Do you love him, Erin? Because centuries is a lot of commitment. I know how most of the older Renegade Unbounded are. Old-fashioned to a fault. Like my brother.”

“Not you?”

“What does it matter? In sixty years I’ll be dead. I’m not even in the running.”

I wondered what that was supposed to mean. Emotions emanated from him, ripe for the taking, but my senses were so shaken and raw already that I didn’t dare reach out to determine his real meaning, even though he was apparently extending an invitation.

We both started walking again. “I’ll need my duffel,” I said.

“Already in the Jeep.”

Apparently, I’d been the only one certain I’d be staying.

“Hope you don’t mind sitting with Mari in the back,” Keene added. “She’s still out and she’ll need to lay her head on your lap. It’ll be tight with you two and Benito in the back.”

Given a choice, I would have preferred sitting with the Swiss doctor, but Benito was still my duty. I hoped he began pulling his weight soon, or I’d never live it down. “That’s fine.”

“Oh, and Cort wants a peek at that machete. I told him none of us recognized the metal.” He gave a short, mirthless laugh. “That’s my brother for you. Always the scientist.”

The others were standing around the Jeep, except for Mari, who I surmised was still inside the Pinz. I pulled the machete from its scabbard and handed it to Cort. “You wanted to see this? The native who gave it to me said it was very old.” I turned to Dimitri. “Anything special I need to do for Mari?”

“No. She should be a lot better when she wakes up. She’s a strong young woman.”

“Good.” She’d have to be, or we’d lose her sooner rather than later. “Look, there’s something I need to ask you before you go.” I took a few steps away from the others, and he followed me.

“Is it about Ritter?” Dimitri asked, his voice teasing. “Don’t judge the boy too harshly. I assure you he’ll mellow in a hundred years or so—if he lives that long.”

Boy? Only Dimitri could call him that. “It’s not Ritter.” Actually, I’d love to hear more, but there wasn’t time. Besides, though Dimitri had never been anything to me but kind, I wasn’t ready to expose my inner feelings to a man who hadn’t even told me he was my biological father.

“It’s Mari actually. She keeps appearing in places that she simply couldn’t be. I leave her at Stella’s with Ava and then suddenly she’s with us in the plane. Or one minute she’s in the Pinz and the next she’s back in the plane. She doesn’t seem to know how she got there. I thought the shifting ability disappeared.”

“It did.” Dimitri glanced back toward the Pinz. “If she has the gift, it will be a huge boon to the Renegades.”

“But how do I keep her where she’s supposed to be?” The fact that he was ready to consider it told me more than anything that I was probably right. “If she’s doing it without awareness, how can I stop her from getting herself killed?” I felt ill when I thought about her suddenly appearing in the midst of a fight like the one we’d had with the bandits.

Dimitri’s brow furrowed. “Well, typically shifters are limited to places they’ve visited. Or occasionally they can find certain people.”

“She’d never been to the plane before.”

“No, but she spent a lot of time with you. It’s possible you’ve forged a link.”

“So she was searching for me subconsciously.”

“Perhaps. Or it might be kind of similar to what happens when you’re sparring with Jace, the way you can sometimes tell what he’s going to do, as if you also have the combat ability. Cort and I were talking on the flight here, and we think you’re doing that because of your close connection with your brother, borrowing his gift, so to speak. We want to do some tests because if it’s true, it may be possible for you to use that in battle, and not just from your brother, but from anyone with the ability, especially if they let you into their minds willingly.”