Legend of Michael (4 page)

“Yes,” he said, turning her in his arms, resting his forehead against hers. They were both breathing heavily, both barely controlling themselves. His fingers brushed her cheek.

Her hand covered his, holding it to her face as if she couldn’t bear to lose the touch. “I should call Kelly.”

“No,” he said, fixing her in a stare, letting her see just how wild the fire was in his eyes. “No one can know about this. I won’t let you get turned into a lab rat. Not because of me.”

“I trust Kelly,” she said. “She’ll keep this to herself.”

“Until something worries her and she feels obligated to tell your father,” he said, releasing her, trying to get himself under control—feeling protectiveness fill the space that had been possessiveness and passion only moments before.

He pushed to his feet and ran his hand over his head, giving her his back, knowing he had to make her understand the importance of keeping their bond a secret. And so, he did the only thing he knew to do—he admitted to her what he had told no other—not even Caleb, who he trusted with his life. “You were right—that first day we met.” He kept his back to her, avoiding any fear he might see in her eyes. “I
am
different than the other GTECHs.”

“The wind,” she said softly prodding. “You have a special bond of some sort with it.”

He turned to face her, not even trying to mask the emotion in his face. She looked small, her long hair pushed behind her ears, exposing the uncertain emotion in her eyes. For a moment, he had to remind himself she might look and feel, even smell, like a delicate little flower in his arms, but she was tough. Otherwise she couldn’t stand up to her father, as he’d already figured out, she did often. She could deal with the truth, just like she dealt with him. “Yes. Yes, I have some special connection to it, and who knows what else I don’t know about yet. I won’t let you end up under a microscope because of me. You have access to all the testing being done on the other marked women. You’ll know what you need to know.” He went to her then, bent down on one knee, and rested his hands on hers. “You can’t tell Kelly or anyone else. I was selfish coming to you last night, and I will never forgive myself for that. But I’m telling you right now, I will do anything, and everything, no matter what cost to me, to protect you from any harm from this. This is our secret.”

She hesitated, her expression cloudy, confused, before she nodded. “Yes. Yes okay. It’s our secret.”

He pulled her close, his relief at her agreement little comfort, knowing that there was no known weapon, no GTECH skill, no drug that could undo what he’d done. He’d just changed Cassandra’s life forever.

Chapter 3

Cassandra stood at the grill on her back patio, while Michael scavenged in the kitchen for some manly utensil he couldn’t do without. It was an unseasonably warm day in November, six months since that day the mark had appeared on her neck, and she felt exactly the same as before it had appeared. But their relationship had not stayed the same—their bond was stronger, the passion, their
need
, so intense she could taste him on her lips just by thinking of him, feel his approach in the tingle on the back of her neck. This bond was something all the marked couples shared and the reason the scientific team now called the bonded males and females “Lifebonds,” to signify a marriage by nature. But since the lifebond research had been classified beyond her clearance several months earlier, she knew little else. Ironically though, Michael’s seemingly intense need to conceal their lifebonding from the rest of the world didn’t leave him much room to protect her from the monster he considered himself.

“Step aside,” Michael ordered from behind, a moment before he stepped to the edge of the grill with a fork the size of Texas in his hand, his long raven hair bristling in the light breeze.

“Oh good grief.” She laughed. “That thing belongs on a battlefield, not at the grill.” She’d barely gotten the words out when several cold raindrops splattered on her face. She eyed the dark line of clouds hovering above, ready to explode on their little outdoor adventure at any moment. She cast Michael a hopeful look. “I don’t suppose you can handle the rain like you do the wind, and you just haven’t told me yet?”

“No, but I cook a mean steak,” he said, patting her blue-jean-shorts-clad backside. “And if I don’t get them inside on the stove before the downpour, you might have to discover that talent another day.”

Her stomach rumbled with the promise of a good meal, and she rushed into action by his side, grabbing the wine and two long-stemmed crystal glasses sitting on the steel patio table. Both the wine and the glasses were gifts from Michael, made more thoughtful and wonderful because they came after he’d learned she had a thing for trying new wines. Turned out, his mother had as well. It was one of the few tidbits about his family she’d managed to get out of him. But one day, she vowed, she’d unveil all the hidden pieces of the puzzle that was Michael.

He headed toward the door with the steaks loaded on top of a foil-covered pan, but on second thought, stepped backwards and snatched the Texas-sized fork off the grill. “Can’t leave without my weapon,” he teased, a smile lifting his lips a moment before he disappeared inside the house.

Cassandra stared after him, that smile warming her, telling her the walls were coming down, one by one. That only made the guilt she felt about keeping a secret from him all the more intense. Several months before, when tensions had risen between X2 positives and negatives on a mission, her father had sealed all the test results so that none of the soldiers knew who was positive and who was negative. But she knew Michael was on that X2 positive list, just like she knew what it would do to him if he ever found out.

***

Not long after the base had cleared for the evening, Powell walked through the animal lab, inspecting the cages riddled with dead, X2-positive animals after they’d finished attacking each other. He couldn’t believe this had happened after he’d finally received the phone call he’d been campaigning for since before the first GTECH injection had been given—an invitation to the White House by the secretary of state. The president and chiefs of staff were pleased with the GTECH program and had high hopes for both it and Powell. But they wanted to be absolutely confident that the program could not backfire in their faces. It was his chance to show he was one of the great leaders of this country. But now there was this X2 gene problem.

“Their behavior,” Dr. Chin said from behind him, “was not only widespread, but sudden and unexpected. This supports the theory of a trigger setting them off. There is no indicator of what that might be.”

Powell’s gaze lingered on one of the cages before he turned to face Dr. Chin, director of science and medicine for Project Zodius. Dr. Chin had proven to be admirably ambitious and loyal beyond the expectations of his employment by the U.S. government. “Who else knows about this?”

“Myself and my assistant, Ava Lane. The rest of the staff had already left for the day.”

Powell eyed the curvy redhead on the other side of the glass panel as she studied a slide under a microscope; she’d made it onto his radar for more than her sultry looks. Ava had masterminded a blood exchange between one of the marked women and her male partner. The result was that the woman converted to GTECH without using the limited supply of serum.

Powell cut Chin a sideways look. “And Dr. Peterson?” he asked, well aware that Kelly Peterson often lunched with his daughter.

“Left shortly before the animals’ erratic behavior began. I thought you’d want to know before anyone else.”

“As it should be,” Powell approved. “No one else knows.” Especially his daughter. Cassandra had done her job as he knew she would—meticulously reporting the soldiers’ mental capacities as slightly aggressive within normal ranges, despite her warnings this could change. A detail that had pleased the White House, but defied what he saw before him today in these X2 animals. She wouldn’t understand why her tests were not enough. He motioned to the cages. “Do what you have to so that it remains that way. Is there any more ‘kick in the teeth’ news you care to share, Chin?”

“Not only is the marked female converted to GTECH, but the female will become X2 positive if her Lifebond is X2 positive. Early stage laboratory studies support a hypothesis that the ‘Lifebonds’ become capable of reproducing once the blood exchange is complete, though the men were previously infertile.”

“Fabulous,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “So now we can breed X2 monsters. That should please the White House.” He walked toward the cages, scrubbing his palm across his face, all too aware he was backed into a corner. The X2s were simply too big a potential liability to be ignored. There was only one way to avoid long-term confinement of the X2s, and he knew it. Red Dart. Created by an alien crystal, the laser inserted a chemical into the target’s bloodstream, allowing for both tracking and control by torture. It had been confiscated from an alien shipwreck some fifty years ago, but was never successfully manifested for use. When he’d seen the writing on the wall—that human law was no means to manage inhuman soldiers—he’d covertly confiscated the research.

He rotated to face Chin. “We’re using Red Dart. Now. Today. I don’t care how risky, how potentially fatal. I don’t care. Just make it work.”

“Science does not take orders, General,” Chin said. “Nor will it be rushed. Again, as I’ve told you numerous times, Red Dart was designed for humans, not GTECHs. And even in humans, it’s killing the carrier rather than torturing them. The GTECHs are another story. Death isn’t my concern—they heal too rapidly. It’s the application. Their immune systems destroy the tracking dart before it ever hits the bloodstream, which is necessary for it to function properly. It’s worthless until I figure out how to trick their immune systems into seeing Red Dart as part of its normal operating system.”

Silently, Powell cursed, using every profane word in the dictionary. And some that were not. Outwardly, he remained cool, collected. “If I double your funding, how soon can it be ready?”

“A year,” Chin said quickly. “Maybe longer. Too long, considering we have no idea what set off the violence in these animals to begin with. The X2 positive soldiers could do the same thing at any given moment.”

The words ground through Powell’s stomach. Every fucking thing he’d worked for could be flushed down the toilet over this. “You’re certain it’s X2 related?” he asked.

“I am of the belief that all GTECHs are the unknown and thus volatile,” Chin said. “Exactly why I’m willing to work on Red Dart. But specifically,” he motioned to the cages, “this threat is directly linked to the X2 gene.”

Confining those X2s, a group of nearly invincible soldiers, would take strategic planning, substantial manpower, and a creative story prepared for the secretary of state. His mind ran down a path that twisted and turned. Thankfully, the soldiers had never been told about the X2 gene, so there would be no connecting the dots. He’d tell the X2s they were being reassigned for further alien enhancements and given a new serum to make them bigger and stronger. They’d go willingly, then be lured to containment cells under the guise of protecting the medical personnel from potential side effects. The secretary of state would be pleased they were moving to another level of development with Zodius. This would buy him time.

A smile touched his lips. There was a reason he was headed for the White House. No challenge was too great.

***

Adam Rain lurked in the shadows of the parking lot outside the launch pad leading to the underground Groom Lake facility as the elevator opened and Ava exited. His eyes followed the sultry strut of her hips as she approached, admiring her long legs. She was the woman who secretly wore his mark. The woman who would one day, when the time was right, bear his child, a child who would be the future leader of a new superpower, the Zodius Nation. It would be a nation free of weakness and crude, human diseases. Adam’s nation. And that day was almost here.

Ava approached, and Adam pulled her hard into his arms, his hand molding her soft, hot body against his, and kissed her, feeding the wild hunger inside himself before tearing his mouth from hers. “What was so urgent it could not wait? Or were you simply urgent to feel me inside you again, my little Ava?”

Her hands pressed to his chest, her eyes wide with urgency. “It’s Powell.” She panted past the kiss. “He’s afraid of the X2 positives. He plans to imprison them.”

Anger ripped through him. “When?”

“Tomorrow,” she said, her eyes sparking with matching anger.

Adam cursed. The underground facility he’d funded through private investors with the promise of converting them to GTECHs wasn’t ready yet, nor had they gotten their hands on the serum to mass produce it. Perhaps there was a bright side to this. His brother had been clinging to humanity’s goodness, the same humanity that was about to cage the GTECHs and throw away the key. Perhaps even exterminate them, which is what he would tell his followers, accurate or not. Even Caleb would see the writing on the wall that humans corrupted everything they touched. It was us or them—and the stronger group, the GTECHs, would prevail.

“My following at Groom Lake runs deep,” he said, and not just with GTECHs. The human soldiers sent to battle in their natural, vulnerable form, resented being denied GTECH conversion. “We’ll have no problem seizing control.”

“The army will bring in reinforcements,” she warned.

“The army will fear aggressive action that might alert the humans to an alien takeover,” he said. “Any attempts to stop us will be weak, and we will prevail.”

“Adam—”

His fingers wrapped around the back of her neck and pulled her close. “Do not fear, my beauty. Soon you will be the queen of a new nation that will grow and prosper. No one will stop us.”

“No one will stop us,” she whispered.

***

After eating their barbecue feast, an attempt to watch a movie was waylaid by passion. Hours of passion. Hours of
wonderful, amazing
passion. Cassandra lay curled on Michael’s chest in the middle of a blanket on the living room floor, naked and only half-sated, the rain having long ago passed. She felt warm and wonderful inside, and she knew this was the moment—the time to share her past and tell him about her mother. She couldn’t explain why, but she needed to do this.

But before she got the chance, he rolled her onto her back, his long raven hair tickling her cheeks, those black eyes piercing hers with emotion. “Cassandra,” he said softly. “Do you know how much I—?” The wind gusted through the window, permeating the curtains and splattering rain onto the tiled kitchen floor.

Michael went ramrod stiff, the confession he’d been about to make lost to the interruption, leaving Cassandra hanging on his words. A second gust of wind shot through the window, unnatural, like a demand. That gust confirmed in her mind that whatever was happening was created by “someone,” not the “something” of Mother Nature.

Further confirmation came with Michael’s reaction. “Stay here,” he ordered, not waiting for a reply. This was the soldier she knew as part of him, and that soldier wasn’t in “welcome” mode. He was dressed in seconds and out the door, pulling it shut behind him.

Cassandra slipped on her tank top and shorts, foregoing her shoes out of urgency. Unexplainable dread twisted in her gut, a sense of unease inside her that pulsed with life as she peered through the curtains. Adam and Michael stood outside facing each other, the wind whistling briskly around them—and as she had discovered these past months, the wind did not move, certainly did not whistle, unless Michael allowed it to do so. No one else had that power. Until now, she’d assumed his fellow GTECHs knew that, but she wasn’t so sure. Because either Michael was concealing his ability, or he was too pissed to bother with controlling the wind. Or both. Adam set Michael on edge. She’d seen it when they were together, sensed it with the simple mention of Adam’s name. Caleb was another story. Michael’s admiration for him was clear.

Michael knew Adam was X2 positive, and he knew Caleb was not. If Michael knew that he himself was X2 positive, he’d think he was like Adam, and she wasn’t going to let that happen. As much as she feared losing the hard-earned trust between them, she had come to know she loved Michael, too much to see him condemn himself unfairly. The wind shifted, pressing against the window. It was then that Caleb appeared, and Cassandra felt a sense of relief that was short-lived. Even without sound, it was clear from the body language and expressions that while Michael listened intently, Adam and Caleb were in a heated exchange. When finally Caleb and Adam departed, Michael walked back to her, his face grim, far more turbulent than the storm now passed; she felt her stomach twist with the certainty that something was terribly wrong.