Any Price (29 page)

“If I had these answers, I would share them.”

“Who are you? Who are we?”

“I am a wanderer. I have been seeking these answers for a millennium, little brother. You and your people have brought me more information than I have found in all that time. I suspect your people are the product of genetic engineering by my ancestors, designed to evolve in secret until the time was right to utilize the full measure of your abilities. Time is up. Whatever the purpose for this was, it was not given to me.”

“Your ancestors? Who the hell are they? Where are they?”

“I do not know. Over nine hundred years ago I was awakened in a cryo chamber by a dying human woman. There was nothing in the chamber. No information besides the cryo device. That science has taught me much, but it holds no answers as to why I was in it. Who built it? Why they did so?”

“Jesus.”
The bleak emptiness of those statements flashed between them and Lore fully understood Synth’s meaning. Alone in a world he didn’t belong in. A creature so far removed from the humans surrounding him that he was indeed a god but unable to unlock the mystery of his existence. The drives of his nature denied at every turn.
“The woman was a Keeper? Didn’t her family have information? What did you learn from them?”

“I’m sure she was. However, at the time, the Keepers’ genetics had not developed to the degree you now possess. The humans knew almost nothing. They were gifted in small ways but their knowledge as to why they were given the task of keeping the chamber I was in was limited and shrouded in fear and superstition. I was young, lost and angry. It made no sense to me and I made rash choices. By the time maturity showed me the error of those choices, the then first daughter had disappeared and answers were truly lost.”

The naked truth of Synth’s recounted life flowed between them. Synth believed he’d failed through ignorance. This explosion of the Keeper power was his first indication that there were indeed others related to his kind.

Synth continued in calm determination
. “I should have been guardian to our people. There is no justification for my continued absence from this task other than ignorance. I have no way of knowing what my ancestors intended, nor does it matter. We make the future and it starts here. Agreed?”

Lore opened his eyes to look at the woman sleeping beside him. In a sense, her future had been murdered, as had his. Yet they were not alone as Synth had been. His choice to seek life for them was about the future of every other being in this fledgling society.

“Yes,”
he responded.
“However, we still need answers from the past. Those conflicts have already taken more than we can afford to lose.”

“Then seek them. I am done looking to the past for my reason to exist. The future is my concern. The unimaginable joy of family is a gift I do not intend to squander. I know what living forever is and it’s worthless when one cares for nothing.”

Synth’s statement gave Lore pause as he considered what living nine hundred years without family or mate might make of him.
“Are you sane?”
he asked bluntly.

“Does it matter? I am willing to die in the effort to protect our people. You have already sacrificed your children on that same altar. If I am insane, so are you. Makes us both poor judges of the other’s mental state.”

“Let me put it another way. Are you in this for world domination?”
Lore kept his tone calm, friendly even.

“Well, little brother, the few humans who’ve managed it were most unhappy. I wouldn’t recommend it. If I’d wanted that throne, I’d have taken it long before world powers went nuclear.”

“Right. So what do you see as our objective? If we don’t coordinate the action plan we’ll end up working against each other,”
Lore stated. He was tired in a way he’d never been before. His soul felt stretched thin. He’d lost men in combat and knew that sorrow. This was different. The contact with Synth was too important though. The issues passing between them would decide the fate of this conflict.

It seemed the two of them commanded the same type of power. Though Lore was less skilled wielding it, if they could not work together, they would end up destroying each other and everyone else with them. That outcome would render the sacrifice he’d just made pointless.

It was a delicate situation. Synth had chosen to come out of the shadows and join the fight. There couldn’t be two leaders.

“You mean, do I intend to challenge you for command?”
Synth countered.

“
Our people can’t win if we’re divided.”

“I concur. You are the people’s king, little brother. I have no wish to carry your burden. We need a homeland, a place of safety and you are in possession of a country or two. Our positions are clear. I am faceless to the world. It needs to stay that way. Your heritage makes you the statesman.”

Lore waited to see if Synth would continue.

The power at Synth’s command was immense and Lore did not want to challenge it in a physical contest. Nor could he hand over the fate of his people to someone they didn’t know and he wasn’t quite sure of.

“You are tired, little brother. You must be concerned with the health of your mate. I am not a threat to you or our people. I am the weapon no one knows exists. The fear humans must shield themselves from by making me fiction. Trust me to seek our enemy while you carry the task of securing a home for those who need it. I do not want your job.”

“Good hunting, brother,”
Lore acknowledged, and with that phrase sealed a loose partnership. They had an experienced predator on their side and though much about him remained a question, his intentions were clear. He would not quit this hunt.

The silence that followed was not peaceful. Yuri was using the common channel to direct the investigation into the passages in the walls. He’d made the choice to give up stealth, directing the men to make a hole in the room Thomas had been in and fucking find the passage. It had been entered and now Keepers were exploring the labyrinth they’d uncovered.

The issue of traitors among them was sticky. Just because a man was not a Keeper didn’t make him a traitor, but it was difficult for Keepers to view the regular military men working beside them with trust. It was imperative that the connection Keepers shared not become common knowledge to the others.

Lore touched both Julianna and Yuri, letting them know he was aware of them, thanked them for the care they’d taken and asked them to leave the room.

“That would be unwise,” Yuri argued verbally. “Though we have men in the passages, they must travel slowly. There are traps and we have not secured the entire structure. Leaving you alone in this room, a known outlet of the passages, is foolish.”

Lore opened his eyes to regard Yuri. “Your caution is well founded, my friend. As soon as she is well enough to travel, we will be leaving this structure,” he stated calmly.

Yuri had no way of knowing Lore was now more weapon than man. Man being a loose phrase for male. He most certainly was not a man. He was what humans could not face. The primal terror they made up stories about to make him seem unreal. Call a thing fiction and it puts distance between the reader and the events on the page.

“Of course. Where do you intend to go?” Yuri enquired.

“Her place.”

“It’s not legally hers,” Yuri commented. “And considering we have a highly placed traitor among us who assisted the Asp, I would not recommend going to that particular castle.”

Lore let the snarl spread across his face. “I see we both suspect the same person.”

“There is no proof at the moment,” Yuri reminded Lore.

“Where is my first advisor?” Lore asked softly.

“Currently he’s making a racket about seeing you again.” Yuri’s smile was hard. “You’ve been unavailable for several days and he seems to think that means you could be dead and I’m trying to take over the country.”

“No shit. So what is he doing about it?”

“It’s my impression he is assembling a cabinet in order to assume a throne. I’m not clear which one he’s aiming at,” Yuri stated. “He is contained at the moment. I should have done this sooner. I didn’t think he was involved in the attack, sir. I might have been mistaken on several points. Now I suspect he has exactly the qualities the enemy would have utilized in this event. Proving that suspicion to the people might not be necessary if he continues to form a rival government.”

Lore got up slowly, sliding off the bed carefully so not to disturb Kenna. He wasn’t about to leave the room, just pace a bit as he worked through this. He and Yuri moved to the windows.

“True. Hard to call a rival court anything but treason. However, I don’t want him on that count. I want to know if he was involved. We must know who our enemies are, especially the home-grown ones.”

“Sir, we can be certain among ourselves using abilities that cannot be explained to the general population. However, the charge of treason must be proven to public satisfaction,” Yuri cautioned. “It is the logical choice. Remain out of sight just a little longer and let him hang himself.”

Lore grimaced and glanced at his companion. “You’re a cunning tactician, my friend. Be careful you don’t advise your way into Gregory’s job.”

Yuri’s face retained his usual stoic expression. “Sir, you have a nasty sense of humor.”

Lore was more than half serious. “Why should I be the only soldier to feel the pain of becoming a politician? Half the time I want to beat my own ass with the business end of a bayonet, the other half I’d like to use it on everyone else in the room.”

Yuri was about to answer when both of them felt the men moving in the walls drawing close. Turning, two sets of hard eyes surveyed the room. They hadn’t done a complete search from this side to find the opening. It was well hidden to have been a secret all these years.

Below the wide bank of windows a short panel opened. It was framed with decorative molding, which concealed the fact that the panel moved, ingenious and simple. One had to crawl to get in and out, which made it an unlikely place to look.

A Keeper guardsman’s head appeared. “Sir, I’ve found something at this entrance.” He held out a signet ring on the end of a knife he’d used to pick it up. The men exploring the passages were carefully not touching anything as several poisonous traps had already been discovered.

Lore hissed in almost silent threat as Yuri took the ring on the tip of his pocket knife and turned it over for them to view the insignia.

“Well, that’s pretty definite proof,” Yuri murmured as they both stared at Gregory’s official ring of office.

“It’s also another trap,” Lore spat. “The real bastard is hoping we are stupid enough to take the bait and attack Gregory on this evidence. I’m sure our first advisor will have a very good alibi, with witnesses. It’s too obvious a ploy to carry any weight,” Lore continued. “Don’t let anyone else touch it. Have Thomas feel it before we erase what it can tell us.”

Yuri put the ring on the coffee table. “Continue exploring,” he ordered the guard who’d been waiting for instruction. The panel was replaced.

Both men stood regarding the ring as they thought through its implications.

“Someone is trying to frame him or this is meant to advance Gregory’s plans,” Lore mused. “Using it as evidence will only confuse the real issues. There is no way Gregory would let this slip off his finger. Nor do I believe he knows about the passages. Or at least he didn’t until recently.”

“Thomas is on his way,” Yuri informed Lore.

Lore nodded and glanced at Kenna’s sleeping form. He wouldn’t leave her side but didn’t want to conduct this investigation in her bedroom. She deserved some peace, a little distance from the conflict. Unfortunately he couldn’t even give her that. Their home had become the frontline.

He wanted to take her to the northern castle but even that place had been violated in some way. He couldn’t order household items moved until he investigated the damage himself. And then there was the legal issue of ownership to clear up. He intended to lease the property to make their possession of it as painless as possible.

They might as well be living in tents on the field of conflict. There was no safety he could give her besides remaining at her side as a living shield.

Walking with a slight shuffle, Thomas entered the room with no introduction. He’d insisted on coming as soon as Yuri touched the ring. The large guard was pale as he sank onto the sofa and regarded the ring on the table in front of him. Official acknowledgements were not needed and he already knew what Lore and Yuri wanted. The community was closing into a family to face this threat.

“I don’t have to touch it to feel what it carries,” Thomas stated at he looked at it. “There is more than hate attached to it. Something else. As if it is a living thing, watching.”

Lore’s grin face remained expressionless. “Can you tell us more? What type of watching? Does it see us? Hear us? I assume you don’t mean it’s a mechanical spy device.”

“Not watching us mechanically. I think the word for it would be a curse. The ring has a mission and it is looking for someone. Its target. There is much of the first advisor on it, but that is not who commands it.” Thomas glanced at the two men standing over him. “I recommend putting this thing in a secure location where it cannot be aware of our movements. Don’t let anyone touch it.”