Athena's Ashes (34 page)

She glared at the woman who’d become a stranger. She’d wanted to confront her mother for so long, to tell her how she’d ruined Renna’s life, but this woman was beyond that now. She’d never take responsibility for what had happened. It was up to Renna to finally let it go.

Her anger drained away as quickly as it had come. She felt lighter almost. It didn’t matter anymore. She wasn’t the same child who’d left this place. She’d created a new life for herself. After searching for years, she’d found a new family. And right now the only hatred she should feel should be toward Samil for taking them away.

Renna stepped forward, glaring at the doctor. “Samil, release these people. Release my mother. You promised.”

She shrugged. “I promised to not perform any more experiments. This is my final group of hybrids, and the most powerful, thanks to your DNA.” She raised her arm, and another line of people exited the building and took up their spots with the others.

“You know I’m going to stop you, right?”

Samil smiled. “You won’t because, with one command, I could have your own mother shoot you where you stand. I could have my army swarm you.”

“But what’s the fun in that?” Renna asked. “Don’t you want to face me yourself?”

“I’m afraid your taunts won’t work on me, Renna. Now let’s move this conversation to my ship. Unless you’d like me to kill your mother while you watch.”

Renna’s hand slipped to her waist to unsnap her holster. If only she were as good a shot as she was a thief.

But before she could twitch a finger, the roar of a ship filled the air. Pain burst through her as Renna’s implant short circuited, and she gasped, locking her knees so she didn’t tumble to the ground.

Every hybrid turned to watch the ship land beside Samil’s at the end of the block.

The static in her brain slowly cleared, and her eyes could focus again. Her heart skipped a beat. “The
Athena
,” she breathed. But how was that possible?

She held perfectly still, her gaze never leaving the ship as she tried to connect with it again.

There! A tiny sliver of the old
Athena
greeted her, the familiar electromagnetic pulse wrapping around her like a friend’s hug.

Something hot prickled behind her eyes, and she brushed away a tear. They were alive.

The gangplank slowly lowered, and three people strode out, guns at the ready.

“Nick,” she whispered. He was dressed in MYTH gray again, his uniform pressed and clean. He walked with a purpose, and as their gazes met across the park, there was that jolt she’d felt the first time she’d seen him again. Like he was the only one who knew her. Lieutenant Keva and Major Dallas flanked him on either side, their faces grim as they surveyed the scene.

Anger surged though her like a sun flare. At her relief to see him, at his betrayal, at the confusion that flooded through her. Godsdammit. The man was still alive, and he hadn’t bothered to tell her. Again.

His eyes met hers hesitantly, and he gave her a half-smile. Instead of smiling back, she could only glare. If she hadn’t been so fucking upset at his death, she’d kill him herself right now. But that familiar expression sent her skin tingling, despite her anger. She wanted to strangle him and kiss him at the same time.

“Hey, Ren,” he said softly as he approached. “You all right?”

“No thanks to you,” she snapped, but her heart still hitched at hearing her name on his lips.

Samil cleared her throat, drawing their gazes back to her. “Welcome, Major. Captain. I thought I’d taken care of you with your other comrades. I see you escaped.”

Dallas aimed his gun at Samil. “As a matter of fact we did. Luckily, the
Athena
got a warning message before the attack began. We were able to evacuate quite a few of our facilities before your drones struck.”

Relief flooded through Renna. It had worked. Her connection with the
Athena
had saved lives. She turned back to Samil. “For someone so smart, you sure do make a lot of mistakes.”

For the first time in days, she truly believed they were going to beat this woman. They were going to win. And then she was going to have a serious discussion with Captain Nick Finn.

Samil shook her head. “I prefer to think of it as an experiment, not a mistake. Because each time I fail, I learn something new. For example, after you escaped my warehouse, I realized the virus had indeed connected you to my neural network, but you’d resisted a full upload. Which allowed me to alter the frequency and gain more control over my followers. It also allowed me to create a failsafe. If you came in contact with the network again, I laid a trap that would allow me to connect to your implant.”

“Doesn’t seem to be working,” Renna said with a shrug. “Give yourself up, doctor. There’s nowhere else for you to run.”

“I don’t need to run.” Samil pulled a small tablet from the pocket of her white coat.

Renna rolled her eyes and reached for her gun. Her hand stopped halfway to her hip. She blinked at her non-responding limb, trying to flex her fingers, but her arm wouldn’t move. Like it was made entirely of cement.

Her gaze flew to Finn’s. “Run!”

FORTY-ONE

“Nobody move,” Samil barked. Whatever the woman planned to do with Renna wasn’t going to be good. She needed to get Finn and the
Athena
out of here. “Finn. You need to run!”

“I’m not going anywhere, Ren,” he said softly. “I let MYTH convince me that pretending to betray you would be the best way to get Samil out in the open. I’m not turning my back on you again.”

Gods, how she wanted to believe him, but she was still so hurt, so angry at his betrayal that she could barely speak. She stared at him, trying to read the expression in his eyes and finding nothing but regret.

“So touching, this little reunion.” Samil pressed a finger to the tablet, and Renna’s arm jerked again.

Beside Samil, Renna’s mother had pressed her hands to her lips, her frail body trembling as she watched the scene unfold. Tears welled in Ryla’s eyes, but she still stood at the doctor’s side, a mute servant.

Screw her. Renna tried to clench her muscles, to stop the movement of her body, but she had no control over anything. Her arm straightened, and she tried to struggle as Samil made her grab the gun at her waist.

“Please, Finn. Get out of here now,” she begged. “I can’t control this.”

He shook his head. “Fight it, Ren. You can’t let her win.”

Even furious at him, she couldn’t face the prospect of losing him again. It had felt like someone had ripped out her heart and left it beating on the ground. If nothing else, she could make sure they were all safe. “I’m the only one who can stop this. Let me go, Finn.”

Finn’s lips thinned. “I’m not letting you do this alone, Ren.”

The gun was heavy in her hand as she raised it. Tears streamed down her face. “Please.” She didn’t know if she was begging Finn or Samil or some unknown god. She just needed it all to stop before Samil made her shoot someone she loved.

“I don’t want to hurt anyone else,” Dr. Samil called. “Come with me now, and I’ll let your mother and your friends live.”

Renna glanced at Major Dallas, still pointing his gun at Samil. At Keva, who wore a grim expression and carried a shiny new rifle. At Finn. She couldn’t live with their deaths. It might be too late to save the tenement residents, but it wasn’t too late to save her friends.

“Let them go,” she called to Samil. “I’ll come with you.”

“Renna! What are you doing?” Finn demanded, grabbing her other arm.

She shook her head. “We have to stop her. This is the only way I know how.”

“No!”

She smiled sadly at him. “I’m glad you’re alive, Finn. I could barely live with myself thinking you were gone. Please do this for me.”

“No. Renna, we can stop her together.”

“We can’t. She’ll make me kill you. Get out of here while you can. I have a plan. Trust me. You owe me that at least.”

Finn’s gaze flicked to Samil and then back to Renna. “I do. But I don’t trust her.”

“Go.”

He frowned at her, pain seeping into his blue eyes. “But it’s not supposed to end like this.”

“It’s not supposed to end at all, but sometimes life has other plans. Despite your recent lapse in judgment, you’ve turned into a good man, Nicholas Finn. I’m proud to have known you.”
To have loved you
, she almost added.

He traced a finger down her cheek and pulled her into his arms, kissing her gently. “Don’t make me do this, Renna,” he whispered.

“You don’t have a choice. You have to get as far away from the
Athena
as possible. As soon as you landed, she took control of the ship with her network, and I don’t know what she’s planning.” Renna’s muscles tightened, and her brain throbbed as Samil ordered her other arm to move. “Go,” she said.

Finn spun on his heel, barking commands into his comm with one last long look at Renna. The
Athena’s
crew sprinted from the ship, and the platoon quick-marched away from the tenements.

“Now that your touching goodbye is over, I have my own goodbyes to take care of,” Samil said. “Did you really think I’d let them leave? Poor Renna.”

The hybrids surrounding the park suddenly snapped to attention, eyes flashing red.

“No! I’m coming with you. You don’t need them,” Renna protested, feeling the tug of the neural network surge through her as well.

“You should know by now that I hate loose ends.” The hybrids marched like a well-oiled army platoon after Finn’s team.

But Renna’s mother hadn’t moved, hadn’t obeyed the command to follow the
Athena’s
crew. Ryla watched them go with a frown, then her gaze fell to Samil. Renna wished she knew what was going through her mother’s mind. Was she happy with her choice? Was she truly Samil’s slave? Or was there something else left inside?

Ryla smiled sadly at her daughter. “I wish things could have been different, Renna. I wish I’d been the mother you deserved. I’m sorry for everything, but I’m so proud of the woman you’ve become.”

Before Renna could react, Ryla launched herself at Samil, knocking the tablet from the woman’s hand. It went spinning away from them, kicking up a trail of dust.

Instantly, the painful pressure in her brain cut off, and Renna’s arm dropped to her side. She was free.

Across the park, Samil and her mom struggled together on the ground. Gray dust streaked Samil’s once-white coat and her neat bun hung in scraggles down her back as she flipped Renna’s mother onto her back. Ryla’s worn dress was torn and her face battered, but she was holding her own.

Until Samil dug her fingers into the fresh scar’s on Ryla’s head.

Renna’s mother let out a bloodcurdling scream as she flailed beneath the doctor. Ryla’s fingers clawed at Samil’s face, but years of drug use and starvation had made her weak, and Samil easily overpowered her.

Renna’s body unfroze, and she dashed toward the tablet, toward the two women. She had no idea what she was going to do, but she had a few tricks up her sleeve, along with a knife or two.

Four steps later, she knew she was too late. “No!” Renna screamed, stretching out a hand.

Samil had snatched up the tablet from where it lay on the ground. Her fingers tapped frantically at the screen.

The world slowed to a crawl. Renna slipped the throwing star from her sleeve and pulled her arm back. As she released it, Samil smiled down at Renna’s mother.

Ryla screamed again as the implant in her head exploded.

FORTY-TWO

“No!” Renna screamed again. Her knees gave out, and she dropped to the ground as the plate in her mother’s head disintegrated. Smoke poured from the wound, and Ryla went still.

Samil struggled to her feet. Dirt smudged her face as she studied Ryla’s crumpled form. “Don’t cry, dove. She wasn’t much of a loss. Besides, she was mostly machine. I’m sure she didn’t feel a thing.”

“Bitch.” Renna clawed upright on trembling legs. “I am going to kill you.”

Samil shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

In the distance, a volley of gunshots echoed through the alley, and Renna’s head snapped toward the noise.
Finn.

“Looks like my army is tying up those loose ends. Time to finish this.”