The Change: Episode one (20 page)

He let go of my waist, turning around to
look, and then toppled from the Mopar like a sack of potatoes.

I spun in a wide circle, spraying dirt and
gravel with a harsh grunt as I struggled to keep the vehicle from
tipping at the sharp change of direction. I slid to a quick stop
next to him, worried.

Daniel looked up at me with something akin
to exasperation. “You scared them off!” He swiped at the dust now
coating him and frowned deeper. “My ass hurts.”

For the second time in as many days, I heard
the sound of my own laugher and felt complete.

Chapter Thirteen

Northern Kentucky

D

We traveled straight through to the
Petrified Forests with only a single break. Fifteen hours all at
once. I hadn’t ridden a bike before, and when I pried my aching
body from it, I slid to my knees at the cramps. It was her Father
who clued me in to finding relief.

“
Walk around. It
helps.”

Candice and Angelica were
already securing what I assumed to be our campsite, and I did as
Bruce suggested, trying not to groan
.

A few of the trees that
surrounded us were small and green enough to have been planted
after the War, and I wondered who would have thought to do it in
the aftermath of a nuclear apocalypse.
The
petrified trees in comparison were enormous, staggering in their
size, and so bland from death that they seemed more like walls left
by man than a former part of nature.

“
Why are there no
animals?”

I saw Candice roll her eyes. Her Mother
snorted.

Bruce answered me. “They won’t live where
people do. They’ve gotten… smarter. They hide in the forests and
jungles. Hunting fresh meat is a lot harder now than it was back in
the days when I was a kid.”

That got a grin from me. Bruce and Mary, her
parents, were very nice. “Around back then, were ya?”

Bruce snorted happily at the joking, telling
me I’d pegged him right. He was lonely, too. “Ancient, that’s
me.”

I turned back toward
Candice, hiding a groan at the soreness. The bikes rode so easy I
hadn’t expected this, but I had enjoyed the beauty of the areas we
drove through. Nature was uncontrolled out here…
Like the Pruetts,
I
realized. The Network had them compliant, but under control? Not
with this family, and I wasn’t the only one to know it. The few
homes we’d rolled by held people, but none of them had come out or
even waved from a window at our passing. For some reason, I had
thought the Pruetts were upstanding members of lower-Network
society, but what I had seen so far suggested they were a dangerous
necessity that was shunned unless needed… and feared
then.

I looked around at the towering trees, the
thick green underbrush that lined this secluded area. I had never
camped outdoors before. Should I offer to help even though I didn’t
know what to do? I chose to follow the lead of the other male
here.

When her Father began unpacking his bike, I
headed for ours. He flashed me an approving nod and the next half
hour was gone before I knew it, as he showed me how to set up a
temporary camp. It was sweaty work, but satisfying to see the
results and know I had done it.

I looked up with a smile of welcome when
Candice and Angelica returned from their sweep of the area, feeling
good.

C

When he smiled at me like that, my heart
opened up and became a gnashing pain that demanded I kill someone.
He had been mine, and then he was taken, and no one had paid for
that yet!

I watched his happiness
fade at my anger, but I couldn’t explain that every smile, every
tender moment we shared, was a reminder of all the years we had
lost and would never have back. Even more, it was a slap in the
face to have him so
changed
. He wasn’t the only one
adjusting.

“
The Trackers picked up his
trail in Jericho.”

My Father immediately started to repack the
camp. We always hunted without pause until we caught our man, but
this time, my mate was along. “They’ll meet us here.”

My Mother and Angelica stared at me, but my
Father’s pleased look was the one I cared for. Daniel and I would
get close, no doubt, but my Father was the other male here, and he
would be aware of Daniel’s needs (in some areas) before I was.
“We’ll have a hot meal, too.”

I moved to where Daniel stood, seeing he was
doing exactly what he’d been trained for – following a lead.
Suddenly angry again, I grabbed his hand and tugged him away from
their prying eyes.

I could feel his tension, his worry, but I
stopped us out of earshot (of a conversation) and let go of his
warm hand. I leaned against a brittle tree trunk, smelling the
centuries of decay and wild growth. To me, it was heaven compared
to the stench of New Network City, and I wondered suddenly if he
missed it there at all. Had he held friendships to mourn? Sighing,
I tried to let the serenity of the area soak into my concerns.

With a population of less than a thousand,
Kentucky was untamed country, and I loved it here. Some day, this
is where I would build a home and raise my own family. That thought
had me turning to Daniel. If we were going to have a future, we had
to get a few things straight.

I slid to the ground and waited for him to
do the same. He didn’t speak, not sure what he’d done wrong, and I
tried to comfort him before we really got into details. “We need to
talk before you go any further with me.”

I winced, as he did, hearing how ominous it
sounded. I grunted. “It’s just about our future, relax.”

Again, not the words I’d wanted, and I
closed my eyes, realizing I was nervous. Why?

Because I needed something from him here,
some sign that we had a future. The spark between us said Daniel
could help me control the Changeling, but we were about to hunt
down my former lover. I had to know where we stood, and the fact
that it had been less than two weeks didn’t matter at this point. I
would see Baker tomorrow or the next day, and the convict would
know we weren’t fully bonded yet. Baker was perfectly content to
just be my lover, and if he thought I held any doubt, he would do
what he could to remain as such.

“
Are you… unhappy with
me?”

Daniel’s words had me staring stupidly. Was
he kidding? “No.”

I could tell he wanted more, and the lump in
my chest eased a bit. I hated emotional talks, but I was glad to
see he was willing. “I find you very pleasing.”

His handsome face flushed,
and I grinned, the soft one reserved only for him. “Not just
in
that
way.”

Daniel smiled back, relaxing as he
understood it wasn’t a bad talk I wanted, just an awkward one.

“
And what of you? Are you…
unhappy with me?”

He shook his head, eyes growing intense.
“Just the opposite.”

There was a charged silence while we stared,
exchanging slight grins. I felt so odd to be flirting! I had
thought those things were gone for me. “You know I’d give you real
freedom? If you ever want it.”

Daniel frowned, nodding quickly. “But I
won’t.”

I shrugged, wanting to believe that would
always be true, but hadn’t I hurt my own parent? Who was to say the
same thing wouldn’t drive him from my arms? He was a trembling mass
most moments, but I had my own fears to handle as well, and I
conquered one of them now.

“
Do you want kids…
someday?”

D

That shocked me, and I
could only nod my head, unable to speak. I’d been sure she didn’t
after the way she’d yelled at my… sister. I couldn’t picture
Candice as a mother, and the idea that she wanted children sent so
many of my theories up in flames.
She must
like them
, I thought stupidly, seeing a
flash of her after she had won the final match. A mother with blood
on her hands, murder on her soul.

She was watching me, evaluating my reaction,
and I wondered why it mattered so much to her. Candice owned me. If
she chose to register us for breeding, who was I to argue?

“
Do you have children,
Daniel?”

Raw
Pain
. “Yes.”

She was reading my face for what I didn’t
say. I could tell she wanted me to open up, but that was a ghost I
shared with no one, and I stayed silent, trying to mend the rift in
my heart… again. I had to every time the thought of being a father
and never seeing the child tore me apart from the inside.

“
I might be able to find
them for you… if you give me details on their mothers.”

Stunned into shock again, I gaped at her
with my mouth open. Why would she do that?

“
How many?”

I forced my mouth to work. “Two.”

“
It was
recorded?”

I nodded, not allowing myself to hope.
“Through the Games.”

“
I’ll see what I can find
out.”

Her offer came easily, along with a tone
that said maybe I’d misjudged this violent female in a lot of ways.
It allowed me to form a question of my own.

“
If you find them, will I…
can I see them? Even if they don’t know I’m there?”

She studied me with those unreadable eyes,
but after a week, I had picked up a bit about my new owner. I
sensed she held a deep sympathy for the torment I‘d just
revealed.

“
If I can arrange
it.”

She didn’t make a false promise or a claim
she couldn’t back up. It sent that hope I‘d denied into my heart
and spilling out of my mouth. “Please! I have to know if
they’re…”

I stopped, about to let go of a secret I’d
been guarding for years.

Candice raised a brow. “If they’re
what?”

I dropped my eyes and hoped she missed the
tremor in my voice. “If they’re suffering like you and all the
others… or if they’re immune.”

C

I stared at him in shock,
my turn to be speechless. Immune. To the Change. I’d never heard of
anyone who was.
The pain in Daniel’s voice,
in those eyes, was more than I could take, and I instinctively knew
how to ease it. That horror would only fade when he had a child he
was allowed to keep.
Mine
, I thought with warmth running
through my Changeling body that was stronger than the rest of the
fire he drew from me.

His words slammed through my brain again.
Immune. My children not having to face this agony, our future
brighter, more productive and peaceful without the terrors of
guiding my kids through the blood.

Was he lying? No. There was too much open
hope in his eyes. How did he know of it anyway? Were there others?
Questions started flying through my mind, and I took a minute to
organize them into what mattered the most.

When I finally responded, I kept my voice
even, not letting him see how much hope I also wanted to have. “Why
do you think they might be?”

He was ready for me this time and gave the
answer I instinctively knew the Network would guard at any
cost.

“
They experiment on the
males they hold. When my tests came back, they put me into the
breeding program. We were supposed to be so drugged that we
wouldn’t remember most of it, but I have a high tolerance. They
talked a lot.”

“
You’ve remembered being
taken.”

His eyes flamed with an anger he had every
right to feel. “Yes. During the ride here.”

His eyes flashed again, this time with
bitterness. “I remember what they did to me.”

I knew he was thinking of his family’s
betrayal, but my own mind was on immunity. Was it possible? I had a
hundred questions to ask, but Angelica’s light steps were moving
our way. I pushed it back.

Angelica stepped into the clearing a second
later, and Daniel stared at my cousin in a way that had me leaning
toward him. “What are you thinking right now?”

His tone was unsteady, and his words stunned
us both.

“
They could have stopped
her pain maybe, by now. They’ve had an experimental vaccine for
half a decade.”

“
We have
company!”

My Mother’s excited call
had me instantly moving toward the campsite, motioning Angelica to
watch after Daniel. As I went, the word
vaccine
exploded in my head, over and
over, like a bomb blast. The Network had a cure… and hadn’t told
anyone. That might be enough to bring them down.

D

I followed Candice back to camp, able to
feel the rage and the confusion of the younger Changeling trailing
me. She wanted to question, I could feel it, but she kept silent as
we entered camp.