The Fair & Foul (Project Gene Assist Book 1) (32 page)

“No, Juliane. I am done playing our games. Let's be honest with one another. You’ve always been mine, and I think it is time you paid me my due.”

Juliane took a step back. Alan halved the distance. She raised a hand. “I think your recent loss may be affecting your judgment.”

“What are you going to do, set me on fire like you did that poor Elena woman?”

Juliane gasped before gritting her teeth and hissing out the words. “That was an accident, and you know it.”

Alan laughed. “Do I? You once told me quite emphatically that I didn’t know your precious boy-toy. You thought then that you knew him better than I did. I hope you’ve since realized who was right. You keep trying to start over, but you always forget that I know the real you. I’ve always known you.”

Juliane’s back touched the wall. Until that moment, she hadn’t realized that she had taken additional steps backward. She raised her hand in an attempt to slow Alan’s forward progress. Without a thought, she began to pull on the building’s power grid. An electric blue web danced between her fingertips and her thumb.

Alan’s eyes flashed like fire. Juliane scanned the room for potential allies. Dull eyes stared back as if they were obvious to the exchange. Except for Sarah. Sarah smiled like a shark. No, there were allies in the room, just not hers.

Alan paused in his approach, although his grin became even more menacing. His brow wrinkled. He raised his hand, mirroring her gesture. The room lights faded as a matching web materialized against his outstretched palm. “And here I was, beginning to worry you weren’t going to share after all. Now let me share what I can do.”

A series of banging noises followed by the sound of shattered glass from outside the building broke the tension. An office worker ran into the conference room, her arm punctured with a series of small cuts. “Crows! Dozens of them just crashed into the building.”

The other board members looked as if they were waking from a dream as they streamed out of the room to view the extent of the damage, leaving only Juliane and Alan. The blue glow from the monitor's interrupted signal sharpened the angles of Alan's face. The light flashed like lightning as the monitor attempted to regain its signal. Juliane glanced behind her as Alan took another step closer. Against the wall, his shadow appeared to have grown wings.

Juliane turned her attention back to Alan. “Crows! You’ve been spying on me with the birds!”

Alan shrugged. “Do you realize how crazy you sound?”

“It doesn’t make it any less true,” Juliane retorted.

Alan threw back his head in laughter. “No, I guess it doesn’t. Fine, I’ll admit it. I’ve been watching you for years, ever since the first upgrade.”

“Why? Why would you do that?” Juliane's forehead knit in confusion as her eyes glanced toward the exit.

“You have to know that I care about you. In the past, you’ve suffered from poor judgment. I wanted to make sure that you didn’t relapse.”

“But I still don't understand. You had Betty . . . Stevie. Why—why bother with me?"

“In any experiment, you never jump straight into trials with subjects who matter. You first start with animal trials to prove your theory and then build up from there. I know that you’ve been away from academia for a while, but surely you remember that much about the scientific process.”

Juliane tasted bile in the back of her throat as Alan took a step closer. “Oh my . . . Betty was right. You did want the virus to mutate. But that means—" She gasped. "You . . . you wanted them dead. Your own family.”

“We were never a family," Alan sneered. "We were barely even the same species. Betty was only a means to an end and Stephen proof of concept. However, I will admit, I was pleasantly surprised the boy pulled through. Then again, he does have half of my genes." His eyes shone as the monitor flashed again. "I've told you we evolved. Soon, we will be like Gods to people like them, but my son will still need a mother. A mother who I can consider my equal.”

The building shook, dropping Juliane and Alan to the floor.

Sarah walked back into the room. “There was another explosion, this time just down the street. All the roads around here are blocked.” Juliane wondered why Sarah didn’t sound more upset.

Durham returned, shoving Sarah to the side as he entered the room. His face twisted in pain. “Juliane, you have to come with me. We have to get out of here. Now!”

Sarah and Alan exchanged a glance, and then Sarah placed her hand on Durham’s back. A glow surrounded her arm while the lights dimmed again. Durham crumpled to the floor at her feet. “Durham, when you wake up, we will need to have to have a serious discussion about where your loyalties lie,” said Alan.

Juliane crawled toward the conference room door. Sarah walked over to Juliane, stepping on her hand while blocking the exit. To Alan Sarah said, “I've always said she was beneath you. What more proof do you need?”

Sarah frowned and placed her finger to her ear as if receiving a call. The frown bloomed into a smile. “Alan, there is someone in the lobby asking to see you.” She nudged Juliane with her toe. “Stay down if you know what is good for you.”

An icon in the video monitor showed that a connection had been made. The screen then flickered back to an image from the front desk security camera.

A solitary figure stood in the center of the room. He was tall and muscular, his face covered with a crimson lizard mask. The doors to the building were barred, and the security guards lay slumped in their seats.

The figure tapped his neck three times. The video monitor’s speakers protested as the connection was made. “Come out, come out wherever you are . . .” The figure pulled the mask off his face.

“Louis,” whispered Juliane.

“How he was ever considered to have leadership potential is beyond me,” scoffed Alan. Not looking away from the monitor Alan commanded, “Figure out a way to connect me to downstairs.” Sarah nodded as she tapped the wall console and pulled out a small microphone from a hidden cabinet.

“Louis. I had a feeling we hadn't seen the last of you. I’ve just been informed that there has been some nearby unpleasantness. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”

“Just as I am sure you wouldn’t know anything about the death of my wife, Alan.”

“I’m afraid I don’t, but as a recent widower myself, I sympathize with the pain you must be going through.”

Juliane wanted to spit at Alan. She wanted to slap the condescending look off his face. She pulled herself upright, tightening her muscles in advance of her attack. An electric blue light flickered in her vision.

“Tsk, tsk, Juliane. You really don’t want to give me a reason,” gloated Sarah. The electricity danced across the length of her arm as static played across the video monitor.

“Trouble in the ranks?” asked Louis.

“Nothing I can't handle,” replied Alan.

“Louis, call for help. Alan has gone insane,” Juliane shouted.

“I’m afraid that's not an option, my dear,” chuckled Alan. ”In case you didn’t notice, Louis here has signed on with the terrorists. Possession of that mask alone would put him away for a very, very long time.”

“I've joined the liberators. It is people like you who are the real threat.”

Alan’s eyes rolled. “Please don’t pretend that you are any better than the rest of us. Your company funded most of everything you are now so intent on destroying.”

“Which is why I am taking responsibility for cleaning up my mess now.”

“Just like you are taking responsibility by blaming me for your wife’s death," Alan sneered. "You are just like your father. It's never your family's fault.”

“You did something to me that night. I felt you in my head.”

“You were roaring drunk. You carelessly got behind the wheel and overcorrected into oncoming traffic.”

Juliane felt a chill move up her spine at Louis's accusation. Alan wasn't denying he did something to Louis. She felt a pressure begin to build behind her eyes. Her peripheral vision began to darken.
No
, she thought,
I can’t pass out now
. She suddenly had the urge to focus on anything other than the scene unfolding before her. She stared at the artwork on the walls as if she could anchor her awareness. It reminded her of the first time she had seen them and Damien's serenity fountain. What had he said that day? Something about taking a step back. She really did need to ask Damien about the artist one day. The pressure eased as Juliane's breath calmed. Her eyes traced one of the patterns on the wall. It looked so different from this vantage point. Sleep would be nice. Juliane frowned. Why am
I on the floor?
she wondered.

Sarah snorted at something Alan said. Juliane blinked, and the memory of the last several minutes came back.
I am on the floor because everyone around me has lost their minds.
She felt the pressure increase once again. It was sharp and cutting. Juliane tasted blood. She must have bitten her tongue in response to the attack. She closed her eyes and focused on the pain, willing it back. It felt as if there were hooks latching onto her psyche, each attached to alien tendrils of thought that crept and probed her mind like ivy exploiting the cracks of a wall.

Betty must have felt something similar at the hospital when she forced the private connection. She looked up. Sarah was focused on the video screen. Newly upgraded, she couldn't be the source. Juliane glanced at Alan. His skin looked paler than it had a moment before. Juliane closed her eyes. She issued commands to her processors, isolating each unwelcome data strand. She issued another command, and the data strands were corrupted like ivy taking fire. All except one. The last strand felt different than the others. It pulsated with sorrow and confusion, yet there was wonder in it too. As she focused on the strand, it widened, filling in the cracks and strengthening her psyche's wall. Suddenly, Juliane understood the reason Stevie survived. The pressure behind her eyes shattered as tears cascaded down her cheeks.

Juliane looked at Alan and saw that he had turned from the screen and now watched her. He deepened his smile as if he could read her thoughts and found them amusing.

Not taking his eyes off her, he responded back to Louis. “I believe you’ve made the mistake of believing we are lacking defenses here.”

Nothing happened at first. Then, Juliane saw Louis drop to the floor on his knees.

“What did you do to him?” she demanded.

“I’ve just exposed him to a blast of high frequency noise, used effectively in crowd control for years. Don’t worry. It will daze him for a bit, but I haven’t done anything permanent. Yet.”

Sarah chuckled as she and Alan shared a smile. As soon as they returned their attention to Louis and the monitor, Juliane mentally isolated Alan’s and Sarah’s bioelectric auras. She twisted the signals so that light would appear to pass around her as if she wasn’t present in the room like she had done in the wrecked shop.

She had to move quickly but silently in order to get past them. She sprinted toward the door on tiptoe and down the hall. Juliane caught a sigh of relief from giving away her position as she spotted an open elevator door. She raced inside and commanded the vessel down toward the lobby floor.

When the doors opened, Louis was still kneeling on the marble floor. His held his head in his hands as his body shuddered. Alan had brought Louis to his knees with more than a blast of noise. Juliane could feel his anguish as clearly as if she had never cut the connection between them. Waves of hurt and want crashed against her with each step overpowering her senses.

Juliane slowed her approach, worried that she might startle him like a wild animal. “Louis?” she whispered.

Louis bolted upright. He shouted something unintelligible, causing Juliane to halt in mid-stride. “Elena?” he asked, taking a step toward her.

Juliane looked behind her, but saw no one.

“My golden goddess, I’ve missed you so much.” He reached out, eyes shining.

Juliane took a step backward. "I have to get you out of here."

“No, don’t go!” Louis rushed toward her, closing the remaining distance. His next words were indecipherable as he crushed her body against his in a fierce embrace and began to nuzzle her neck. Juliane briefly wondered if his mind had shattered, but as his arms tightened around her, she found she didn’t care.

Her body relaxed, accepting his caresses. Louis immediately responded, his hands becoming much more demanding. He forced her face upward, meeting her lips with his own with a possessive fury. He pushed aside a lock of blonde hair for better access.

Blonde?
She twisted in his arms. Louis pulled her closer. The heat from his lips on hers could have caused the sun to blister.

Alan’s voice over the speaker was a slap to reality. “And here I thought that you were mourning."

They had to get away.

"I was almost feeling sorry for you, but I see now that I shouldn’t have wasted the energy. You seem all too eager to move on."

Juliane felt her cheeks burn as Louis snapped back to full attention.

"I wish I could say I was surprised," Alan continued, "but I’m disappointed all the same. While you still have good taste”—Alan paused—“I must regretfully inform you that Juliane is no longer on the menu.”

Louis looked into her eyes and pulled away as if scalded. He didn’t need to say anything for her to know her hair was once again black as night.

“You bitch. What did you make me do?” he said. "Oh, Elena, I am so sorry," he cried.

“Nothing. I did nothing. I didn't mean for that to happen. Please,” Juliane pleaded.

“You always hated her. Everyone knew it.” His nostrils flared. "You wanted her dead, and now you think you can just take her place. You disgust me."

"It's not like that. I mean I never meant . . . I would never—
"

“Enough. It's not like I would believe a single word out of your mouth,” Louis interrupted.

Juliane’s skin, flushed by their encounter, now pimpled as if his words caused a real drop in the temperature of the room. Her eyes widened in confusion.