Tapestries 04 - Threads of Destiny

An Ellora’s Cave Romantica Publication

www.ellorascave.com

Threads of Destiny

ISBN 9781419919107

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Threads of Destiny Copyright © 2009 N.J. Walters Edited by Pamela Campbell.

Cover art by Syneca.

Electronic book Publication January 2009

The terms Romantica® and Quickies® are registered trademarks of Ellora’s Cave Publishing.

With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502.

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This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.

N.J. Walters

This book is for everyone who fell in love with the Tapestries series, especially with Marc Garen. I’ve never had so many emails about one particular character. So for all of you who wrote demanding— I mean asking for—Marc’s story, this one is for you.

As always, thank you to my amazingly supportive husband.

A hard, muscled arm wrapped around her waist, making her gasp. Before she could react, Kathryn Piedmont was dragged up against a solid male chest. “You’re late,” a rough, masculine voice whispered in her ear.

She relaxed as soon as he spoke, recognizing the voice. “I couldn’t get away any sooner. I have to act as normal as possible, especially now.” Tienan’s arm loosened and she stepped away from him. Reaching out, she hit the light switch on the wall by the entrance, illuminating the suite of rooms that she occupied in her family’s palatial home. As always, the room seemed to press in on her with its drab colors and dark furniture. Sighing, she rubbed her temples.

“Hard day?” She managed to smile at the other man lounging on an antique settee in the corner. About six-foot-two with wide shoulders, he looked even more masculine in contrast to the fragile piece of furniture. His short blond hair was standing up in spikes on top of his head, reminding her of his habit of dragging his fingers through it when he was agitated. Still, from looking at him, you wouldn’t know he had a care in the world.

“It wasn’t easy.” She softened her tone and tried to send him a reassuring smile.

Though he didn’t show it outwardly, Kathryn knew that Logan was the more sensitive of the two. She knew just how much trouble both these men were in. How much trouble she would be in if her father found them in her rooms.

Tienan grunted and began prowling around the room and she knew he was thinking, calculating their options and their chances of success. But that wasn’t unusual.

He was always thinking. He had a computer-like brain that never stopped. Both men had off-the-chart IQs but Tienan was able to remove emotion from the equation. It was his greatest strength and consequently, his greatest weakness.

Tienan was the same height as Logan but that’s where the similarity ended. Where Logan’s hair was blond and short, Tienan’s fell to his shoulders in a straight black curtain. His body was leaner but no less muscular. He reminded her of a jaguar she’d seen in an old film—all coiled muscles, just waiting to attack. Both men were handsome.

Tienan was good-looking in a classic sense, while Logan possessed more of a craggy, rough look that was impossible to ignore.

They were also her friends and, as of yesterday, her responsibility.

“What’s the word on the jail break?” Logan sat forward, his hands loosely clasped between his legs.

Kathryn strode across the room, trying to appear confident as she dumped her sweater and purse on a chair. Her stomach burned from all the stress of the day and she 5

rubbed her hand across it, trying to settle it. She knew she had the beginnings of an ulcer. The doctor had warned her at her last appointment that she needed to take better care of herself. Easier said than done.

Tienan’s green eyes narrowed and he stalked to the mini-fridge that was tucked into a cabinet in the corner. Opening the door, he pulled out a small container of milk.

He unscrewed the top as he strode to her side. “Drink.” Grateful for the slight reprieve, she took the plastic bottle, brought it to her lips and drank. The cool liquid coated her throat and hit her stomach like a cooling balm.

Sighing with relief, she licked her lips. “Thanks.” One corner of Tienan’s mouth turned up in a slight smile as he reached out and used his thumb to wipe away a bead of milk from the corner of her mouth. Bringing it to his lips, he licked it away. “My pleasure.”

She could see the barely banked heat in his eyes and it set her blood racing. The corner of her mouth tingled where he’d touched her and her stomach fluttered again.

This time it had nothing to do with her burgeoning ulcer.

Neither Tienan nor Logan were being shy about the fact that they wanted her. She was very attracted to both of them as well, had been for years. She’d never acted on that attraction and neither had they. They knew that to do so would bring serious consequences for them all. Kathryn shivered at the thought of what her father might do if he ever discovered how much both men meant to her. Certainly, she’d never see them again. And that was probably the least of it.

There was no doubt they were both handsome men but it was more than that.

Kathryn knew them to be good men, honorable man, unlike her father and the General.

But there was no place in her life to indulge in an affair—with either of them. All their lives were in danger.

“Tienan.” There was a warning note in Logan’s voice, telling him to back off. The tension between the three of them was mounting with every moment they spent together in close confines.

Tienan glanced at his friend and then back at her, his expression blank. “Tell us what happened.”

Carrying her container of milk with her, Kathryn made her way to one of the velvet wingback chairs and sank down into it as exhaustion swamped her. “You’d think that in this advanced year of 2133 this kind of thing wouldn’t happen.” She was living it.

Heck, she was part of it but that didn’t mean she understood it.

“Kathryn.” Logan’s softer voice pulled her back to the task at hand. He rose from the settee and came over to kneel by her feet, taking her hand in his much larger one.

“Tell us.” His brows were furrowed and she could see the concern in his eyes.

“The security breach was discovered just after we left last night.” Beads of sweat formed on her forehead as she thought about how close they’d come to being discovered. “They’ve been questioning—” she broke off and gave a shaky laugh. “No, 6

they were interrogating everyone all day. They think your release must have been facilitated by one of the terrorist factions from outside the Gate.” The Gate, as it was referred to, was really a high-tech shield, which protected the enclosed city from contamination from the outside. Climate-controlled and almost impenetrable, the ruling class lived inside the safe urban confines, while everyone else resided outside in poverty, filth and disease.

Her family, the Piedmonts, was part of the upper crust. In fact, her father was a member of the Ruling Council. Her ancestors had lived in this mansion for more than one hundred fifty years, amassing wealth and power. When the wars, natural disasters and disease had struck after 2015, her family had risen even higher, being major players in such things as hydroponics, genetic research, pharmaceuticals, oil and weapons.

When the dust had settled, what remained of the world had been segregated into two distinct classes—those who ruled and everybody else.

Tienan gave a grunt of satisfaction. “Their misdirection should give us a few days to figure out what to do while they run around chasing their own tails.” His disdain of the security force was well known.

“I’m not so sure.” Kathryn set her milk container aside and rubbed her forehead.

She had a massive headache brewing. “General Caruthers is not convinced.” Both men froze at the mention of his name. Known for his brutal ways and iron fist, the General, as he was called by one and all, was a man to be feared. Any resistance to the will of the Ruling Council, of which he was a member, was dealt with swiftly and without mercy. The man had spies everywhere and was in full control of the security forces. If there was one man to be feared, it was he.

It was the General who’d decided that Project Alpha had been a failure and that the test subjects needed to be terminated. Since Tienan and Logan were the test subjects in question, there was no love lost between them and the General.

Tienan growled low in his throat and, once again, Kathryn was reminded of a lethal animal just waiting to pounce and devour his prey. She shook her head and then had to stifle a groan as pain shot through her skull. “You should be safe here for another day or two. After that…” she trailed off, not wanting to consider what might happen if they didn’t find a way to get both men out of the city.

“Are you in any immediate danger?” Logan gently squeezed her fingers.

“I don’t think so.” She refused to tell them just how terrifying the interrogation had been for her. The General himself had questioned her for hours. She had bruises on her upper arms where he’d dragged her out of her chair and shoved her against the wall.

His breath had been hot against her skin as he’d spewed his venomous anger. He all but accused her of helping the men escape. Only his knowledge of whom her father was had saved her from imprisonment or worse. But she knew that wouldn’t save her for long. And if her father discovered what she’d done, he’d personally hand her over to the General.

“Kathryn?” Tienan came to crouch beside her.

7

“I don’t know, okay?” She jumped to her feet, needing some space. “I need to think.” She headed for the door. “Stay here and hide if anyone comes. They might do a random search for security reasons.”

“We know where the tunnels are,” Logan assured her.

That was the one good thing about living in this huge mausoleum that she called home. Her ancestors had built several escape routes and they’d used them more than once over the years. Now she was using them to hide her friends. She wasn’t even sure her father knew they existed. She only knew because of some old blueprints she’d found in the attic.

“Kathryn,” Logan began but she shook her head, not wanting to talk about the situation any longer. The memories of her traumatic day were still too fresh. She needed some time alone. It would be easy to lay her head on Logan’s shoulder and cry and that she couldn’t do. She had to be strong if they were to have a chance at surviving.

The attic. That was what she needed right now. Space to think. “I’ll be back in a bit.” Not giving them a chance to question her further, she hurried out the door, taking care to close it behind her. There was no one around as she made her way to a door at the end of the east wing of the house. It was late and most of the servants had departed.

Her father disliked having too many people in his home and only a trusted few actually lived in the house. The rest lived in barracks on the estate. The security guards were stationed outside. They were a constant.

She looked around before she opened the door enough to squeeze through. She needed no light to find the stairs and climb them. She’d been coming to the attic for years, since she was a teenager. It was her private space. A place not tainted by her father’s presence.

Opening the door at the top of the stairs, she sighed with relief as she stepped inside and flipped on the light. Years ago, she’d cleared out a corner, setting up an old comfortable chair and table for her own use. She went to that chair now and sank into its welcoming depths. What was she going to do?

Burying her face in her hands, she took a deep breath. Her father and his team of scientists had started Project Alpha about thirty years before. They’d gone beyond the Gate to find victims for the experiment.

Using a mixture of genetic engineering and computer programming, they’d created male babies who would grow into alphas. Their purpose was to be faster, stronger and to live much longer than any human. Their genetics were manipulated in such a way as to give them the best of everything. But they were also given computer implants to make learning quicker and to make them controllable by their handlers. The Ruling Council had decided that they needed an army of super-soldiers, men who would fight until they dropped and who were expendable. If Project Alpha were a success, they would use that technology to create a race of super-soldiers to protect them and the city against the ever-increasing unrest beyond the Gate.