“Hey, Erin,” he said. “Good to see you again.”
I nodded. “Jonny.”
The guards patted us down, stripping us of all jewelry and anything else that was suspicious, including a hairpin that had no value even as a lockpick, much less as a weapon. After we were deemed weaponless, they marched us to a room where they cut my bonds and made me lie down on a padded surface, which slowly fed into a circular machine.
“She’s clean,” announced the female technician a short time later.
“Of course she is,” Jeane said. “You think I’d bring her here with a Renegade tracker still inside her?”
“You’re next,” said the technician.
Jeane rolled her eyes and sauntered to the padded surface, stretching luxuriously as if lying down on a massage table. She was completely dark to me at the moment—no life force at all—so her ability was active, though she wasn’t trying to null our guards. That told me she was out of her comfort zone; she’d been far more relaxed back at our safe house.
While she was sucked inside the machine, I studied the three guards with Jonny. All of them were Unbounded, probably gifted with combat, and physically in their mid- to late-thirties, which meant they had several centuries of experience—far more than Jonny’s hundred-plus years. One woman and two men. I reached out to their minds and found strong shields, but nothing like Lew’s or Ropte’s. Or Jace’s, for that matter. I was sure I could get inside.
On the other hand, the technician was mortal, though young enough that she might still Change. Her surreptitious glances at the female guard and her occasional surface thoughts told me she longed to be just like her.
From there, I sent out my thoughts farther into the building. There were hundreds of life forms, some actively moving and others seated closely together as if working in cubicles. As I did more tallying, I realized there were not just hundreds but over a thousand, nearly every one of them dimmer than usual, which meant their minds were shielded, be they mortal or Unbounded. I was glad we hadn’t gone through with the frontal assault because even the mortal technician was armed with a gun at her hip and the bulk of a sword under her white jacket.
I wondered if they had a nursery here like in the LA safe house. Probably. I checked to make sure that none of the few unshielded minds belonged to Mari, and I was glad not to find her because it wouldn’t be safe to go unshielded here. I could still find her; it would just take longer.
And Jace. I couldn’t think about him without a pain in my chest.
Jeane had no tracking devices either, but that was quickly remedied when the tech injected us both in the arm with what I assumed was their own tracking device.
“Are we done yet?” Jeane drawled. She was making eyes at one of the guards, who ignored her steadfastly, though I sensed an interest. She should be careful because I didn’t think Lew would appreciate the competition. Providing he was still alive.
“Come,” said the oldest-looking guard, who seemed to be in charge. He was Asian and shorter than the other three men but wider. Jonny showed the way while the other three took up positions behind us. I had a déjà vu feeling as they marched us across a foyer to an elevator where two more Unbounded stood guard. This building was eerily similar to their old headquarters in LA, from the guards and cameras to the classy paintings and gray color of the walls.
To my surprise, we didn’t go up to the twentieth floor, where Jeane told me Stefan should be waiting, but stopped on the thirteenth. I arched a brow at Jeane, who misunderstood my signal. “It’s just another floor. We don’t believe in superstitious nonsense here.” To the guards, she added, “I’m supposed to take her to Triad Carrington. He knows we’re coming. We have no reason to cool our heels here.”
The Asian inclined his head. “This is where Triad Carrington told us to take you.” Next to me, Jonny smirked.
Once more, they took up formation around us. Here the decor had changed from upscale business to professional killer. Weapons of all sorts were embedded into the walls, protected by glass coverings, interspersed by violent, bloody paintings depicting Unbounded Renegades being sliced into three. Both the weapons and the paintings spanned the epochs, from warriors on horseback to men in business suits. Mortals were portrayed as servants who knelt to worship their Emporium gods.
Rage built inside me. So many lives lost.
Finally, we came to a set of nondescript double doors that were open wide. Two additional guards stood to either side and motioned for us to enter. We did, but the guards accompanying us remained outside. Through the doors, we found a vast gym, half of which was covered in mats and the other half with exercise machines. Mirrors covered several walls, but on the others hung more scenes of decapitation and body-severing.
Despite all the space and the hundreds of people in the building, the room held only two life forces. As we walked over the wood floor along the edge of the mat, my eyes went to Stefan Carrington, my supposed father, who stood barefoot, a black bo staff in his hands. He was tall and well-built, and his hair so blond it masked any gray. His face was tanned, with fine lines around magnetizing eyes the color of the sky on a hot, brilliant day—Jace’s eyes. Instead of the suit he’d worn on our previous meetings, his chest and six-pack abs were shirtless, and his workout shorts emphasized the muscles in his thighs. The hair on his chest was also blond and again showed no gray. I couldn’t pinpoint a physical age for him, but he’d lived at least a half century.
“There you are,” he said, passing his staff to his companion and striding over the mat. It was only then I recognized the other occupant of the gym. The tall man with ebony skin and ultra-short black hair was Edgel, an Unbounded soldier who had loyally served the Emporium his entire life. He’d worked under Keene when he’d been a team leader, and then became his own team leader under Delia. Now he was with Stefan.
As Jace had so recently reminded me, Edgel blamed us for his daughter’s death. I was betting Stefan had never discovered that Edgel had hidden a mortal daughter from the Emporium and had once come to us to save her life. It was something I might be able to use against Edgel, if I had to.
Edgel met my stare without sign of recognition, zero surface feelings registering on my awareness. I was tempted to break through his shield. I’d done it before.
I turned my attention back to Stefan, who was the more dangerous man, even if only because he commanded Edgel and others just like him. Killing machines. Unlike Edgel, surface feelings radiated from Stefan, including a real pleasure at seeing me—or more likely at having me under his control—but nothing important escaped past the black walls encasing his mind. The last time we’d been together, I’d felt more of his inner thoughts, and I bet I had Delia’s betrayals to thank for his added strength.
“Triad Carrington,” I said.
He laughed, the lines on his face giving him more character than age. “Oh, that’s priceless. Though I suppose the formality is in keeping with the choice you made the last time you left.”
“People change.”
Stefan chuckled. “Oh? Are you the prodigal daughter, hoping for forgiveness?”
“I haven’t done anything that needs forgiveness.”
His smile faded. “Neither have I.”
“Oh, Stefan, give her a hug,” Jeane said with a laugh. “She
is
your daughter after all.”
Stefan’s face froze as he turned to her. “Hello, Jeane. I hope you’ll excuse us. Erin and I have a lot to talk about.” He rotated in Edgel’s direction. “See that she’s secured in her old quarters.”
Edgel nodded and stepped forward, laying Stefan’s black bo staff and his own red one on the mat and taking Jeane by the arm. “Really?” she asked Stefan. “You said I would be rewarded for bringing her. Is this about me leaving before without your permission? I did come back. I just needed time to think.”
“I just want to have a private reunion with my
daughter.
We won’t need your ability here.”
Jeane drew her lips into a sexy pout and stared over my right shoulder. “You’re not even going to allow me a moment to say hello to Lew?”
Her statement sent a blast of fear coiling through my gut. Of course Stefan would have the Emporium’s pet sensing Unbounded here to probe me, just as Stefan had used Delia the first time we’d met. Lew couldn’t enter my mind without alerting me, and even then that wasn’t a fight I’d lose easily, but what Lew might have told Stefan was another thing altogether.
Lew stepped partially from behind a weight machine, releasing the power that had masked his life force. He was as thin and curly-haired and feminine as ever, his young-looking face slightly crunched. He appeared to be in his late teens, which put him at around a century or so old, but beside Delia and me, he was the strongest sensing Unbounded I’d ever heard of, his shield nearly impenetrable, even for me. I was grateful Jeane had seen him, though I wasn’t sure how she had. I wondered if Stefan’s other sensing Unbounded was here, or if he felt one was enough.
Lew and Jeane regarded one another without any sign of the emotional connection between them. I couldn’t help but think of my last moment with Ritter because on the outside we would have appeared exactly the same.
“You can catch up later,” Stefan said.
Jeane regarded him through slitted eyes. “We’ll do that.”
Not wanting to give Stefan any kind of satisfaction, I gave Lew only one glance before refocusing on Stefan. “He isn’t needed here,” I said, tilting my head in Lew’s direction.
“Maybe not.” Stefan wasn’t convinced, and I hadn’t expected him to be.
Without so much as a wave at Lew or me, Jeane turned and let Edgel lead her across the gym, walking with her hands clasped on his black-clad arm as if leaving had been her idea. Stefan and I watched her in silence. When she reached the double doors, she looked over her shoulder and said, “Please let me know when my brother arrives.”
“I wasn’t aware that David was coming.” Stefan’s frown seemed to indicate the news wasn’t welcome. Apparently, Jeane hadn’t been lying about the tension between Stefan and Ropte.
“Oh, I’m sure he’s just concerned about me. We are very close.” Jeane stepped through the doors.
It was just us now, Stefan and I. Well, and Lew, who didn’t count. I wished I could ask about Jace.
“My technician says you came in with eleven potential weapons,” Stefan said, his gaze lingering on the door where Jeane had disappeared.
“Twelve.” I reached into my mouth and removed the tiny plastic envelope I had under my tongue.
“Let me guess—acid.”
“Poison,” I corrected, cracking an insincere grin. “You need to hire better people. Or buy a bigger machine.”
Stefan’s only response was to pick up the staffs from the floor and toss the red one to me. It felt smooth in my hands and perfectly balanced. “We missed this the last time you were here. I thought we’d start with it in case we’re interrupted again.” His tone promised there would be no interruption.
He’d know in a minute that I wasn’t a combat Unbounded unless I channeled him or one of the guards outside the door. Breaking through his shield might take more time than I had right now, so the guards were a more promising choice, but the guards might not have personal knowledge of Stefan’s strengths and weaknesses. With my smaller size, I’d need that to impress him.
“I’ve heard rumors about you, Erin Radkey.” Stefan spun his staff above his head in a series of complicated drills. “I want to know if they’re true.”
“Rumors about what?”
“About your ability.” He laughed at my feigned surprise. “I do have some informants, you know.”
Not enough, or he wouldn’t need this tender father and daughter heart-to-heart.
“I’ll let you have the first strike,” he added.
All fine and good, except I wasn’t ready. My dilemma was quickly solved as Edgel, having passed Jeane to the guards at the door, returned. Imaginary machete out, I banged on Edgel’s shield. He and his shield were familiar to me—I’d broken through before. Still, it might take a while, and Stefan was waiting.
Edgel 65890V.
The thought came like a blip from my subconscious, from memories that had become a part of me, but yet weren’t familiar. Something from someone I’d channeled or examined. No, that wasn’t it. This memory was a residual from those Delia had downloaded into my mind. Maybe it was a code to break through his shield. I’d never heard of such a thing, but it was possible.
Edgel 65890V,
I thought at the man, batting the sequence into his shield with my machete like a bat hitting a ball.
Nothing.
Stefan motioned to me with a hint of impatience. I toed off my black loafers and slowly unbuttoned my green blouse, dropping it to the floor, glad I’d worn a workout bra underneath and stretchy pants.
Fortunately, Edgel hadn’t improved as much as I had over the past months. The tiniest hole appeared, allowing me entrance. I stepped onto the mat, pulling Edgel’s ability to me. Uttering a loud cry, I ran at Stefan with a head strike. He blocked easily and tried a hook, his favorite move, according to Edgel’s mind. I slammed it away with a side stroke, hurling past him and throwing a punch with the staff. He thrusted, which I blocked before attempting a low strike at his calves.
Stefan was extremely fast, but not as fast as Ritter or Jace, and he didn’t know my style as Edgel knew his. Side, head, knee, nothing was out of bounds. Neither of us held back. I knew the slightest wrong move would mean I wouldn’t be conscious today to take out the generators. We clashed hard, the staffs quivering with our rage. Sweat dripped from my brow and beaded on the bits of hair that escaped my ponytail.
He landed a tiny hit to my shoulder, but that left him open to a sweep, which he barely avoided by jumping higher than any mortal could. I laughed for the sheer joy of the fight. He was a worthy opponent. I gave another thrust, whipping the staff up and around, barely missing my own collarbone when I brought it back to my shoulder.
Lunging forward, Stefan tried a powerful head strike.
Not holding any grudges,
I thought.
My genes begged to end this. To end him. I dodged, waiting a heartbeat until his staff was just right and then slamming his staff and hooking it up and away. The staff went flying.