Sabin, A Seven Novel (42 page)

“Serena, Shaday is the one who will assist the SIMD in placing the MSI probe and in interpreting the data we receive from it,” Sabin explains.

“Is this going to hurt?” I need to know.

“Not at all. You won’t feel a thing,” Shaday says.

They have me lie on my side and proceed to do their thing. Shaday is right. I feel nothing. The SIMD talks in his automated voice while they do whatever it is they’re doing. Shaday asks Sabin if he should implant an MSI for languages in me.

Sabin doesn’t answer for a spell. He finally asks me if I want one.

“I thought you said I couldn’t have one.”

“That was before I knew you were with me permanently.”

My heart stutters at his words. “Permanently?”

“Yes, permanently.”

The way he looks at me when he says it makes me almost hit the floor because my body gets so weak. Good thing I’m already lying down. Permanently. With Sabin. I like the idea of that. But then something else strikes me. “It won’t fuck up my brain, will it?”

Sabin laughs. “Not any more fucked up than it already is.”

“You know, if I weren’t in this precarious situation here, I’d punch you right now, right?”

“I know. That’s why I said it.” Then he gives me one of his badass smiles.

“Don’t act so cocky.”

He waggles his brows. “I thought that’s one of the reasons you liked me.”

The sexual innuendo isn’t lost on me. I want to laugh, but I’m afraid I’ll end up with brain damage. “You’re not being fair. I could end up with a lobotomy or something.”

Everyone in the room bursts out laughing. Then Shaday says, “Serena, the worst that could happen is the probe would turn off. There is no risk involved in this.”

“How can that be?”

“It’s the way it’s programmed,” he answers.

“I don’t understand.”

“You don’t have to,” Sabin says. “Know your precious brain is safe with us.” He takes my hand and sits next to me.

“We’re almost done and ready for the implant. This will only take a few,” Shaday says. A little while later, he announces they’re finished. “I’ll analyze what we’ve retrieved and let you know.”

Then Edge and Verus tell us that they’re going to accompany him. The SIMD claims I’m perfectly healthy, so it also departs, leaving Sabin and me alone. At last.

“I thought this would never happen,” he says. Then we hear a bark.

We both laugh, saying, “Walter.” Sabin calls for one of the guards, and Hrennuan comes to take care of the puppy.

Sabin sits beside me on the bed. His gaze roams my body, warming me in a way that makes me feel like I mean something. It may sound silly, but I’ve never had that, so this is that special thing I’ve always heard about but never thought would happen. Yes, I knew he loved me, but this transcends even that.

“We need to talk,” he says.

“Yeah. We do.”

He grins. “Back to your own language.”

“Well, that’s a relief.”

Then his face turns serious again. “You must know, Serena, that you’re my everything—my hopes, my wants, my dreams, my
life
. I didn’t say these things to you before, and I should have. I treated you as if you were ordinary and I shouldn’t have. You are anything but that. It was my gravest error and I won’t make that mistake again. You are extraordinary and should be honored, and treated with the greatest respect. I want you with me, permanently, as my partner in life. When you were taken, I knew I had to get you back or die trying. You say you want to stay here, but please tell me your emotions run as deep as mine.” He picks up my hand and places it over his heart. “I don’t ever want to feel the emptiness I felt without you again.”

“Sabin, you’re my heart. But I don’t want to live my life worrying about you.”

“You won’t. You’re my first priority. I will shield you and our child before all others, protect you from all harm.”

“No, that’s not what I mean. I don’t want you to go after the Mastermind.”

He stills. His eyes meet mine and what passes between us is the pain he experienced when he thought I might be dead. My gut seizes as it’s sliced to pieces. I groan and beg it to stop.

“That’s why I must do it. He’s taken too many lives, Serena.”

Still panting from the idea of losing him, I ask, “But what if he takes yours, too?”

“He won’t. My men and I will cut him down like the bloody bastard he is.”

I throw myself at him, telling him how frightened it makes me. “Just tell me you’re here forever. That’s all I need to hear.”

“I am.” I can only hope what he says is true.

Verus and Edge analyze the data extracted from Serena’s brain and we discover The Mastermind has a name. He is Kor. Other than that, we only find what we already know. Her mind was a blank slate after she arrived at his realm. The League is unwilling to grant permission for us to take him out. I am livid. Zatere stands before me, calm as usual.

“Why? This is our chance to stop him permanently.” The Seven, minus Andros, are present. “We all want to exact our revenge. Not only that, we’re pretty damn sure he has Judgment Day.”

Zatere shakes his head. “The Council doesn’t think it’s wise.”

“The Council doesn’t think anything is wise that’s for the good of our people. Have you not noticed this?” My tone is icy.

“The League knows how you and your men feel, Sabin. It’s the Council’s decision, however.”

“What do you feel, Zatere?” I need to know. “And this stays in this room between us.”

“He is much more than a threat. He is a menace to the universe that endangers the very existence of life as we know it. He needs to be destroyed.” There is no hesitation in Zatere’s response.

“I need to ask you this. Do you think the Council has a connection to him?”

He hesitates. This tells me much more than his answer. “Yes.”

“We have the same suspicions. So, how about this? We remove him without their knowledge?”

Zatere spreads his hands wide. “How can it be so, if they have an insider? And I suspect there’s more than one.”

“Don’t ask me how, but we control his security. We can get in and out without the insider knowing. You tell the Council we were very unhappy with their decision so everyone believes that’s that. We go in without anyone’s knowledge. We’re used to dealing with this. We’re covert ops.”

“I have no knowledge of this,” Zatere says.

“Of course not. You left as I started breaking furniture. When we get Judgment Day back, it comes here, Zatere, where it will remain locked up with Paradox.”

Zatere nods, “Don’t call me when you return. I’ll call you.”

“On another note, when we do return, I need to finalize the seventh position and we need to decide how to bring down whoever it is that’s been the spy.”

“It may be someone who has been cast under his mind bending. Keep that in mind.”

“I will, but I won’t like it.”

“You never do, Sabin.”

Zatere leaves and I say, “We need to vote on Andros’ replacement. Are we prepared to do that?”

Drey steps forth and says, “I would like to recommend Drustus. He has been the most reliable, strongest, fastest learner, best on our tech, and I believe he is the best fighter among the group.”

“Do any of you object to him?” I ask. No one says a word. “Good. We’ll bring him in on a trial basis. If he fucks up, he’s out. Drey, call him in.”

Since this is a high priority mission, we don’t tell him what it will be, only that it is unclassified for now. We’ll see how he reacts when he finds out exactly what we’re doing. Drustus takes the oath about pledging his honor, and his life to his brothers, and how he will put this before everything except his family. The men congratulate him on becoming one of The Seven and bring him into the group by handing him a bottle of liquor.

“Oh, I don’t know,” he says.

Rafe’s brow arches. “You don’t know?”

Drustus grabs the bottle, uncorks it, and takes a hearty swig. Everyone slaps him on the back as he sputters. He may not be a big drinker, but he’s a good sport.

When we finish, I grab Edge. “How’s Melody?”

“Still critical, but making improvements. She’ll live.”

“I need to tell Serena.”

“She doesn’t know?”

“No. I wanted to wait until there was a sure chance of her recovering. I’m going to tell her now.”

Edge nods. “She’ll want to see her, yeah?”

I nod, dreading the entire thing.

“Do you want me there?” Edge asks.

“Possibly. I’m going to try to deter her, though. Let me tell her first and I’ll let you know if I need you.”

“Sure thing.”

Serena is out on the terrace, reading something. No doubt it’s either one of her romance novels she loves so much, or something on marine biology. The differences between the two make me chuckle.

“Hey,” she says when she sees me.

Taking a seat next to her, I rest my elbows on my thighs. “I don’t know where to begin on this one, and you’re not going to like it, so I’m just going to throw it out here. Your friend Melody is here.”

“Melody? Melody Hampton?” Her tone is a mixed bag of confusion and surprise.

My head jerks up and down.

“What’s she doing here?”

Blowing my breath out, I explain what happened. Or at least how she ended up here and what we think happened. Serena is sick. Sick because Melody had been with Kor the whole time she had.

“Can I see her?”

“You should probably wait. She’ll survive this and when she wakes, she’ll need you.”

“But how will this work? Will you allow her to know she’s here?”

“We haven’t decided. It depends on how she fares.”

Serena doesn’t say anything, but I know her mind spins. “I can’t understand why he took her.”

“The truth is, none of us can. If it was meant to draw us there, it was useless, because he had you. You were a much bigger player. If he wanted her for his own intents, that’s another issue altogether, but why?”

“I’m glad she’s out of there.”

“I know and we are, too. On another note, we’ll be leaving soon. Once we get our final strategy established, we make our move against him. We cannot delay any longer.”

“I still stand on what I said. Don’t go. Will this ever end, Sabin? If you bring back Judgment Day, will your job end, or will it be something else?”

I push back a tendril of hair that’s escaped from her elastic, and tuck it behind her ear. The comforting response she seeks isn’t anywhere to be found, because we don’t know what will happen next.

“The Seven are protectors. Like we protected you, we will do the same for others. I know it’s not what you want to hear, but since Paradox and Judgment Day are our responsibility, it’s what we will do for now and the future.” I raise her hand to my lips. “I can tell you this. I have never felt the need to protect anyone more than I have you.”

“When do you leave?”

“As soon as we get our new member up and running.”

“Don’t hedge, Sabin. Is that a day, a week, a month?”

“Probably tomorrow.”

She pinches her lips together.

“You’ll be safe here, with your guards,” I tell her.

She looks at me, her eyes targeting mine. “I’m not worried about me, dumbass,” she snaps. “Our baby needs a father and I want you to come back to help me raise him.”

A smile tugs at the corner of my mouth. Serena and her descriptors. I think back to Rafe for a second. I haven’t had a chance to speak to him since Serena gave him a piece of her mind.

“What?” she asks.

I can’t tell her what I’m thinking because it will piss her off. One thing—this woman is proud and touchy. And for being such a slightly built thing, she’s not afraid and doesn’t back down. At all.

“I’m only thinking about how fortunate I am to have landed such a brave woman for my mate. And I’ll be back because I want to see our son. I would never leave you to raise him alone.”

The look she gives lets me know I’ve scored some points with her. But what I’ve told her is the truth. I am lucky and plan to show her how much I love her every day of my life.