Of Eternal Life (20 page)

The moment the door closed, Abilene could feel change in the very air of the room. The atmosphere crackled.

Suddenly, Abilene’s back bowed off of the bed in a wave of ecstasy.

Pleasure so intense it was on par with sex with Eli poured through her. Abilene’s eyes closed, and she moaned aloud.

“And so it begins,” Major Taylor said with disappointment.

Abilene was incapable of thought, but even she was able to recognize that this was the result of her indulgence in the fruit.

It was too wonderful to mourn.

Abilene moaned again as another wave hit her. She could feel it working through her, starting with the top of her head. When the gale left her, her vision was perfect. Better than she could ever remember it being.

She could see every pore on Major Taylor’s face. The texture of the paint on the wall. Every edge was sharp. Every drab color in the dreary hotel room was vivid.

Abilene caught her reflection in the mirror above the dresser, and it took her a moment to recognize herself. Her appearance was changing before her eyes. Her features were realigning into perfection. She watched as the bump of her nose that she’d always hated disappeared.

“What’s happening?” she gasped as she was bombarded yet again.

“Don’t fret, it will be over soon,” Taylor said instead of answering. “The other subjects’ transformations took approximately five minutes.”

For several more minutes, cresting sensation ruled Abilene’s world. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Major Taylor was observing her through a haze of arousal and sorrow. Her mind was too embroiled in her transformation to riddle the meaning of such disparate emotions.

Finally, Abilene could tell the sensations were lessening in intensity. She was able to take stock of her body.

And her vision wasn’t the only thing that had changed. Her hearing was better. As was her sense of touch and smell. The flow of logic and reasoning came easily.

It was as though every human part of Abilene had been enhanced.

She lay shivering in the aftermath of the change. She began to ponder Major Taylor’s confusing reaction during the past few minutes.

She knew she had crossed over into the realm of “them” in his mind. Though Major Taylor was the last person she wanted approval from, she still felt the sting of rejection. She couldn’t help it.

“So, you’ve become Subject 4,” he said, rising from the bed to put distance between them. “Pity.”

Pity isn’t all he’s feeling
, the Voice cautioned her.

With a start, Abilene realized even her connection to the Voice was also enhanced. Whereas before, it sounded as if she were being spoken to through a long, bounding hallway, now the Voice whispered into her ear.

She found it somehow comforting. Heartening. Courage flowed through her veins. Just a few minutes ago, she’d been wishing Eli would come and rescue her. Now, she knew she could rescue herself.

“I think it’s time you told me everything,” she said to the criminal she had watched murder the man she loved. The wretch who had tortured Eli for years. The man who had forced the fruit upon her.

She would use what that fruit gave her against him.

At her current enhanced status, he didn’t have a prayer against her.

She knew it was too early to ask to be released, but the Voice hummed its approval as it sensed her plan to lure Major Taylor into a sense of complacency. Men had always underestimated her.

She was, after all, just a helpless, delicate woman.

“Please, help me understand.” Abilene turned her tone to pleading.

Major Taylor’s mouth was held in a firm line of disapproval. His eyes glowered. “I’ll assume Subject 3 has told you everything he knows, so I’ll only divulge the information I know will be new to you,” he began.

Abilene gritted her teeth against the heartless reference to Eli as a “subject.”
Steady, girl
, she coached herself.

“What we never revealed to the participating subjects was the drastic reaction members of the opposite sex seemed to have to one another,” Taylor continued. “Granted, we’ve only observed it in one — now two — couples. But you have all behaved consistently.”

Major Taylor flicked his eyes toward the ceiling, his next words obviously unsavory to him. “There is an intense, chemical reaction between men and women when at least one of them has been introduced to the specimen. One of the more
religious
scientists compared it to the reaction Adam had to Eve in Genesis when he saw her for the first time.”

Here, Major Taylor quoted from memory, “‘This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh.’ Once the subjects see each other, they recognize each other as mates, and an overwhelming sense of ownership pervades them.

“It’s quite tedious, really,” Taylor continued. “We named the process the Impulse. Once Subject 1 and 2 had skin-to-skin contact, they couldn’t resist each other. They engaged in sexual intercourse,” he spat the words, “within forty-eight hours.”

Abilene couldn’t prevent her blush. What Major Taylor was saying was a pretty apt description of what had happened between Eli and her.

Major Taylor noticed and nodded. “Then I’m correct in assuming that you experienced similar results?” He asked her as doctor-to-doctor, professional courtesy making a brief appearance in his voice.

Like it mattered. She wasn’t answering such a damned personal question.

He took her silence for acquiescence. “Then I was right to move so quickly.” Taylor noticed the question in her eyes. “Oh yes, there is good reason behind my actions, doctor. Subject 2, the female, died only three days after having intercourse with Subject 1.”

Fear clutched Abilene in the chest.

“Carrying the offspring of an immortal turned out to be a fatal venture for the unaltered human,” Taylor finished darkly.

For a moment, Abilene thought she might faint.

Offspring
.

She’d had unprotected sex with Eli.

How had that happened? How had the possibility of pregnancy not even blipped on their radars? If she were her own patient, she’d kick her ass! But, oddly, Abilene didn’t feel worry or anger.

She felt
joy
.

Eli’s baby
.

For the first time since discovering she was bound to the bed, Abilene struggled against the restraints. She wanted to cover her womb with her arms, to hug the child that might now be developing inside of her.

Please, God, let it be true
, she whispered inside her skull.

Major Taylor sneered at her reaction. “Damn it, Abilene, you held such promise!” he exploded in an uncharacteristic display of anger. “And I even liked — ” He stopped and shoved his good hand through his hair.

Liked you
, the Voice whispered.
He liked you. Probably still does
.

And there Abilene had it: her way out.

It would take the best acting skills of her life, but it just might work.

Abilene didn’t have to force her voice to tremble. “Major Taylor, this is …”
appalling
, “incredible! Do you realize what you’ve done?”

She had his attention again. He was looking at her with brows drawn and mouth slightly agape.

“You’ve single-handedly ensured that this country will never lose another war.”

The slightest flicker of pride lit Major Taylor’s eyes, but then he frowned, doubting her sincerity.

“That’s precisely what I’ve done, doctor,” he began. “And if you truly recognize the importance of these findings, you won’t hesitate to cooperate in the Operation.”

He was calling her bluff. And it was a brilliant move, because her body tried to physically reject Major Taylor’s words. Abilene stifled the glower she felt molding her features, clamped down on the shiver of revulsion she felt at the suggestion.

She knew what he meant. Her
cooperation
meant nothing other than her being a brood mare. She would bear Eli’s children, then immediately give up her parental rights: turn them over to this monster to extort.

Over my dead body.

She allowed herself a small smile over the irony of those words. Major Taylor saw it and narrowed his gaze.

She allowed her smile to widen and turn scolding. “Major Taylor, it appears as though my ‘cooperation’ is a done-deal, whether I wish it or not.”

Yes,
the Voice whispered
. He knows you would not capitulate easily. Make him work for it
.

He nodded. “I will not pretend it is otherwise; however, your willingness, or lack thereof, can have an impact on many things.” He cocked an eyebrow. His question was clear:
So what will it be
?

She nodded as well and assumed an expression of contemplation. He watched her. While the silence grew oppressive, Abilene’s mind scurried for facets of Taylor’s personality to use against him.

He was neat. Orderly. Abhorred mess of any kind, and above all, viewed any sign of humanity as a weakness.

The Impulse
, the Voice guided.
He spoke of the Impulse with disgust
.

Perfect.

Um …thanks
, she mentally whispered back. This new dialogue between them was going to take some getting used to.

She drew in a deep breath and held it until her lungs burned. It was a physical sign that she had come to a decision, and Major Taylor recognized it as such. He straightened where he stood; his eyes grew wary.

He fully expected her to tell him to go fuck himself. It was written across his face.

And his instincts were dead-on, because that is precisely what she wanted to say to him.

Instead, Abilene said, “I won’t lie, Taylor. I don’t appreciate coercion. Did you think to simply tell me the truth and
ask
me if I would participate? Did you think I would turn an opportunity like this down?” She scoffed. “This is the type of research to make or break a professional, and I’m looking to make a name for myself. I would have been in the bag.”

Taylor’s eyes widened, but otherwise he gave no reaction to her words.

More
, said the Voice.

“And now you’ve exposed me to this …
Impulse
. Do you have any idea what that’s like for me? To be out of control of myself in such a …
disgusting
way.” Abilene’s voice grew impassioned. “It completely took my free will away. If I had been given the choice, I would have never chosen a man like Eli for myself. I would have chosen a man like y — ”

She stopped mid-word, allowed her eyes to flutter down as though she were embarrassed, and hoped like hell she was managing to blush.

In her peripheral vision, she saw Major Taylor take a stumbling step forward, then stop himself.

Bull’s eye
, she and the Voice thought simultaneously.

She brought her eyes up to his face again, and was pleased to notice that Taylor’s form wavered through a sheen of moisture. She deserved a freakin’ Oscar.

“Please,” she paused to swallow, “
please
, tell me there’s a cure to this feeling. I’ll help the Operation. I’ll help you capture Eli.”
Not a possibility
. “I’ll do
anything
, Major, just …help me.”

Taylor just looked at her. His face was stoic, but his eyes … . His eyes gave it all away.

They were bright and hopeful. If he had written her a script of the right things to say to him to convince him she was salvageable, it wouldn’t have been more effective than the performance she’d just delivered.

Finally, Taylor moved. He shuffled to the bed, stalling several times before committing, and moved to awkwardly untie her wrists and ankles with one hand. She held her breath the entire time, sure that at any second, he would find her out as a liar.

When the strips of bed sheets that had functioned as her restraints were undone, Abilene sat up and rubbed her aching wrists. Major Taylor retreated to the chair by the door and scrubbed a hand down his face.

That’s when Abilene noticed his pistol — the very same pistol he had used to shoot Eli. It lay on the end table between two armchairs; the warm light of the table lamp gleamed off of its metallic surface.

She looked away, lest Taylor see it and glean her thoughts.

She needed that gun. If she could get her hands on it, she could … .

What? Kill him
?

God, could she?

The revulsion she’d felt at Taylor’s suggestion of cooperation returned a hundred-fold with the idea of taking a life. Even a life as abhorrent as that of Major Taylor.

She swallowed the bile that had risen in her throat. No, she couldn’t kill him.

And your other option is what?
the Voice asked.

Major Taylor spoke, jolting her from her crowded thoughts. “You must forgive my skepticism, Abilene, but given the circumstances, I’m afraid you’re going to have to prove where your loyalty lies.”

She frowned at him.

“You spoke of helping us capture Eli … .”

• • •

Eli watched as Sergeant Collins subdued the kicking Hispanic woman they’d seen leaving the hotel room they suspected was working as Taylor’s base. She was fighting the man like a hellcat. It was actually pretty impressive.

Eli stood ready to step in if the woman got in another left hook, but he wasn’t ready to make such a move, yet. He knew Sergeant Collins wouldn’t appreciate needing an assist.

Collins cursed as the woman bit the hand covering her mouth, but he didn’t remove his fingers. The woman attempted to scream something that sounded like
cabrón
into Collins’s hand.

After several more seconds of struggle, Collins managed to put the woman out with a well-placed pinch. Both men sighed in relief as she slumped to Collins’s feet.

Damn, she’d almost been a more formidable foe than Taylor.

Collins’s breath was bellowing in and out of his body as he leaned over and braced his hands on his knees. “Well, I think we found out where they are,” he said between gulps of air. “There’s no way a civilian would have fought like that.”