Genesis (The Legend of Glory Book 3) (13 page)

“Well, Kate’s always been a loose cannon. Look at what she did at Scorpio Pharmaceuticals.”

“Yes, but she doesn’t know of our affiliation with Scorpio. She doesn’t know our true objective with the vampire virus research.”

“Maybe she simply wanted to have a private conversation with the man Glory loves?”

“She shouldn’t even have known about the bugs. But we did send in Erica to plant new ones, so we’ll find out what’s going on with her soon enough.”

“If Kate’s trial is successful, I suggest we eliminate her immediately. Once she discovers we’re really going to use her research to create super soldiers, she’ll become our worst enemy.”

“I agree. We’ll need to kill both Kate and the vampire as quickly as possible once their work is done.”

“My concern about offing him right away is that Erica thinks he’s hiding something about the time travel experiment.”

“Well, once he’s human, we can compel him to reveal whatever it is.”

“It’s a shame things went so badly with Glory or we might have gotten the information from her. But after Erica murdered that witch Kaia in the alternate timeline, any goodwill from Glory went right down the toilet.”

“Erica is her own special type of wild card, isn’t she? Killing Kaia was a strategic misstep. A troublesome family. Eventually, we should eliminate them all.”

“Time travel as a weapon is right up there in priority with the super soldier project. We need to uncover any facts Zane and Glory are holding back from us before we kill them. ”

The man sighed. “We’ve tried to collect information on Glory’s activities, but it’s been difficult. Most of what we’ve gotten has been from the dark supernaturals, and I’ve always worried about their own agenda in this.”

“Exactly. We implode the world religions to give them an advantage in their work at turning souls, and we trust them to return the favor by helping us?” The woman’s laugh was harsh. “What were we thinking when we made that deal with the Devil?”

“We did what we had to. We always have. Always will.”

Zane had heard enough. Quietly, he returned to the lab, climbed out the window, and closed it behind him.

†          †          †

Zane never panicked. It wasn’t in his nature. Whenever faced with imminent danger, his mind became incredibly clear and his nerves steady. As he walked back to Kate’s apartment, he devised a plan.

Zane let himself back into Kate’s, where he was glad to find that Erica had already left. A pot of coffee scented the air and, from the sounds from the bathroom, Kate was in the shower. Zane rifled through some drawers, came up with a notepad and pen, and wrote Kate a note.

Erica planted new bugs.

Wonderland is
NWO
, just like Scorpio was.

Secret agenda with vampire
DNA
data is to create super soldiers. Plan to kill us both following successful trial. Must escape with what we can and destroy what we can’t. Must get info to Evan in case we’re captured/killed. Must act today.

Shred and flush this note.

Zane searched until he found where she stored her linens, grabbed a clean bath towel, and slipped the note inside. Then he knocked on the bathroom door. “Kate! You okay in there?”

“Just shoot me now, cowboy,” she replied.

“I would, but they took my gun away from me when I checked in.”

She laughed, and then groaned. “Worst. Hangover. Ever.”

“Did you remember to get a clean towel? I think the ones in there got mucked up last night when Erica cut herself.” They had actually used kitchen towels, but Zane hoped she’d get his drift. He wanted her to have time to figure out a plan.

“They did?” Kate asked, but she was quick on the draw. “Oh, right. Last night’s a bit blurry.”

“Do you want me to hand you one?”

“That would be great.”

Zane opened the door and saw Kate peeking around the shower curtain. He placed his finger to his lips, gave her the towel with the hidden message, and left the room.

A while later, she came out of the bathroom with the towel wrapped around her. “Turn around while I dress.”

He obeyed.

“I’m too sick to administer the drug today, Zane. I imagine Erica’s in worse shape, and you should probably have at least twenty-four hours to rest and recoup. I haven’t really told you how hard it’s going to be. If it works, it’ll rewrite your
DNA
, which is agonizing. Very much like what you told me you went through when you were first turned, but worse because as you became a vampire you grew physically stronger. Going human, you’ll grow weaker.”

He shrugged. “If it works, it’ll be worth it.”

“I can’t believe we drank so much.”

“I’ve no regrets.”

She groaned.

“Well, we bonded,” he said.

“Bonding is good.”

Zane was glad they had gotten to know each other. It made him feel closer to Glory. Terrible longing for her threatened to overcome him yet again, but he pushed it back. He cleared his throat. “How does one kill time in Wonderland?”

“I have to go into the lab at some point today to check your test results, but I could show you the sights. Visit the parks. Soak up the local color.”

He chuckled. “There’s color here?”

“Of a sort.”

“Good plan.”

“I’m dressed.”

When he looked at her, once again she reminded him of Glory. It was her determined, gutsy expression that made him smile.

“Shall we do this?” she asked.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Let’s walk instead of taking the rails,” she said. “The exercise will help.”

“I love walking in the great not-outdoors.”

Kate removed a tiny address book from inside a hollowed-out book and slipped it into her pocket. A small volume of Rumi’s poetry went into the other pocket. She filled two duffle bags with bottles of whiskey and handed one to Zane. Together, they left her apartment.

He reached for the other duffle. “They’re heavy.”

She handed hers over. “They don’t make gentlemen like you anymore.”

“My daddy raised me to respect women.”

“It’s charming.”

“Hope didn’t think I was charming when we met. She thought I was rude.”

“Why?”

“I said her hair reminded me of the mane on my favorite horse.”

Kate laughed. “Oh dear. You really don’t understand women. Nope. Not at all.”

“But it was my
favorite
horse.”

They made their way to a path that ran along the river. The imitation daylight was harsh to Zane’s eyes, and he slipped on his sunglasses. Trees that lined the riverbank were mostly fruit bearing; Kate had told him that they grew their own food crops here. He couldn’t understand how that would be possible in such a strangely artificial environment. However, science could do crazy things.
Yeah
, he thought.
Vicious, crazy things
.

Kate whispered, “You need to know that Wonderland itself is bugged. Surveillance of all types is everywhere. Follow my lead. Watch what you say and do.”

He nodded.

She continued to speak in whispers. “I have so many regrets, Zane. I was a lousy mother—work was everything to me. I threw my emotions into that and had no clue how to handle life itself. When Erica went missing, I only held it together with Glory’s help—an awful responsibility to put on a child. After Mark died, I fell apart again and Glory had to buoy me up. Then Scorpio used my work to launch the pandemic. I sacrificed everything that was truly important for my work. I’ll never forgive myself.”

Zane was saddled with a lot of guilt, too, and didn’t know how to comfort her.

Kate sighed. “Now I discover once again that my work is slated to be used for destruction. I can’t change the past, but I can do my best to change the future. You need to know that I will do whatever it takes to stop them. If I die trying, so be it.”

“It’s my blood that led to all this,” Zane said. “This is my fight too.”

She grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

“So where are we going?” Zane asked.

“To see one of my geek friends, a woman named Ruby. If anyone can hack into Wonderland’s computer system, it’s her.”

Likely the same Ruby who is Sage’s friend
. “Something that you need to know—they plan to eventually kill both Erica and Glory, too.”

Kate gasped and stumbled. Zane reached out to steady her. After a moment, she said, “I’ve wracked my brain to try to determine why Erica ended up here, and I think I’ve finally made the connection. When I first went to work for Scorpio, when the girls were young, they conducted
DNA
tests on us—the whole family. I was told it was part of another department’s project to study and track markers related to superior intelligence. Rumor mill said our genetic coding was exceptional. A few weeks later, Erica was taken. Now that I know Wonderland and Scorpio are related, it’s all falling into place. If that’s the case, if what happened to Erica was related to my work, that’s just one more tragedy I’m responsible for.”

“Don’t feel guilty for being smart. God gave you talent, and I’m sure He had reasons.”

Kate snorted. “I don’t believe in God.”

“Your lack of faith doesn’t change mine. I trust He has reasons we can’t understand.”

“Does this divine plan you believe in extend to you being turned into a vampire against your will?”

Zane thought about it. “Well, I reckon you’re trying to compare stallions to geldings. You were born a certain way. I was changed from how I was born by the actions of someone else.”

“Point taken. However, I’m unconvinced.” She gestured to a gathering of people down the path. “That’s our destination. People’s Park.”

The large park was a vibrant oasis in a sterile desert. Instead of grass, clover covered the ground, and beds of colorful flowers abounded.

Two scrap sculptures dominated the landscape. A twenty-foot high hand reaching up to the sky was made of chicken wire. The sight of it stirred something powerful in Zane. He thought of the children who had never been outside and the sinister nature of this place crashed down on top of him. Then he noticed the life-sized running horse—head down, tail flying, legs in motion—made of rusted scrap metal. Magnificent. Such fearless creativity was a noble testament to the human spirit. Oh, how he longed to be part of humanity again.

Wandering musicians strolled and happy children played. A variety of booths did trade in everything from homemade candies to tattoos. Customers abounded.

“It’s mighty busy,” Zane said.

“They run a six-day workweek here,” Kate said. “This is the seventh. A day for play.”

In the middle of the park was a large coffee shop named Junkman’s. Zane thought of Sage and Tessa’s father. “Junkman?”

“Junkman is the head of trash collection and disposal for Wonderland. He started upcycling trash into art.” Kate gestured to the sculptures, and then the coffee shop. “There’s more inside.”

The first thing Zane noticed when they walked in was a mural that said, “Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality.” ~Lewis Carroll,
Alice in Wonderland.
Then the wall of noise hit him—loud music, laughter, and a ceiling full of wind chimes blown by a variety of fans.

“I’m going to get some coffee and let my friends know we’re here,” Kate said. “Do you want anything?”

“No, ma’am. I’m going to look around.”

She pointed to a shelf of wooden cubbies. “Shove the duffels into those. They’ll be safe.”

He did as she told him and then wandered through the shop.

The wind chimes were made of recycled bottles and bottle caps, silverware, keys, and broken jewelry. While Zane admired their creativity, he found the noise to be irritating. “Damn, it’s loud in here,” he muttered.

There was a tug on his arm, and he looked down into Tessa’s bright eyes. “Why, hi there, honey.”

“Pick me up now,” she said.

Zane laughed at her demanding tone, but he was used to obeying women’s orders so quickly settled her on his hip.

She threw her arms around his neck and whispered in his ear, “It’s loud so the bugs can’t hear. But they put in cameras and they read lips, so don’t mess up.”

“Gotcha.”

“Don’t put me right down or it’ll look suspicious.”

“Happy to hold you. I like kids.”

“Do you have any?”

“Some day, God willing.”

She shook her head. “Careful with the God talk.”

Zane saw so many clever upcycled pieces of art to check out that he didn’t know where to begin. “What’s your favorite thing here?”

Tessa pointed to an impressive evening gown displayed on a black mannequin. Made of clear glass, it looked like a fantasy of ice.

Zane whistled. “Eat your heart out Cinderella.”