Winter's Awakening: The Metahumans Emerge (Winter's Saga #1) (21 page)

Chapter 63 Just the Beginning

“I’ve reviewed your mom’s file myself. I can’t stress enough to you how fragile her condition is. She has a long road ahead of her.” Dr. Andrews was sitting in the large hospital room where Meg and Alik had been transferred.

Evan was sitting on a chair between his siblings, so obviously thankful to be back together.

“When she’s stable, I’d like to have her transported back to my hospital in Kansas where I can oversee her treatment, personally. Would you guys be okay with that?” Dr. Andrews asked.

“Well, we wouldn’t want to be away from our mom…” Meg’s voice trailed.

“Oh, of course not! You three would come with us. You could stay with me and Cole as long as your mom was still sick. After that, Margo would decide where you guys live,” Dr. Andrews said.

The boys looked over at Meg. It was she who could tell if the doctor was earnest.

Meg smiled widely and answered for all of them. “Yes, thank you, Dr. Andrews. I know our mom would agree. As soon as you feel she can handle the trip, we’re in.” This time her eyes caught Cole’s and held it for a moment. She sensed a wave of affection pouring from him and blushed.

“What’s going to happen with Dr. Williams and The Institute?” Evan asked.

“Yeah, how are we going to explain to the police why we did what we did to get mom? No one would believe the truth.” Alik’s blue eyes looked bloodshot. He really needed to rest.

“You remember my friend, Greg Burns? He’s working on that part for us. Try not to worry too much. You three just focus on getting better. Okay?”

“Dr. Andrews, I have to tell you before I forget,” Meg began feeling sleepier by the minute.

“Williams told me there were others, dozens of metahumans he’d created. He went on and on about his devotion to this ‘super race.’ He bragged about how powerful they were. He kept hinting about all the ‘great things’ he would have them do for mankind.” She breathed deeply and forced herself to go on though fatigue and medicine were trying to drag her under.

“He told me the boys and I were three of the first metahumans and something about the original formula was unique. He couldn’t replicate the ‘gifts’ he gave us. When mom took us from The Institute, she destroyed or took all the data on our formula. They had to start from scratch after we were gone. And though they did create a working formula, it was never the same as the original. He wanted me and the boys because we were the only link to that original blueprint.

“He’s not going to stop hunting us. And he created an army of metas to help him do whatever he wants. We’re going to have to find him before he finds us. We have to stop this monster…” her voice trailed as a wave of exhaustion overtook her.

Meg’s battle wasn’t remotely over, but for now, she was going to have to let her body rest. She was trying to calm herself by thinking about her family. Her brothers were safe. Her mother was alive and getting help from Dr. Andrews, a very trusted friend. And her best friend Maze, much to the hospital’s chagrin, was sound asleep under her bed.

The room continued to talk softly as she drifted off. I just need to sleep a little, and then I’ll get back to planning what to do next.

Epilogue—A New Focus

Location: Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean

His hand slipped into his pocket and pulled out two silver orbs. He began rolling them in his hand hoping the familiar scraping of metal on metal would soothe his fury.

Beside him his companion shifted in her seat. Her taste was impeccable, Dr. Williams noted. Her Prada shoes were almost as stunning as her legs. But even they weren’t enough to distract him from his thoughts.

How dare those puny, insignificant rodents come to him and threaten him! How dare they challenge him, disobey him!

Of course, it was deliciously ironic that those kids just moved his plan forward a few days. He had the fire extinguishing sprinkler system secretly disabled and his research moved to his new facility the week before. The Institute was to have a tragic and accidental fire due to some faulty wiring and aided by the additional explosive chemicals he brought in to the main building.

Good, he’ll just collect on his multi-million dollar insurance policy that much quicker, and those rodents will be held responsible for the destruction. Foolish imps!

Ah, but what a waste. All those gifts he gave them, and look at the thanks he got. Oh, and that miserable woman Margo! She started all of this, the ungrateful wretch.

Wasn’t it he who discovered her right out of college and gave her all the opportunities in the world to work on meaningful research? She was to be his new shining star working on the Infinite Project. Hadn’t he been watching her for two years before he handpicked her? Hadn’t he personally escorted her around his lovely facility and shown her the glory of which she would be a part? How could he have misjudged her so badly? She had been so ambitious. All that military training should have taught her to follow orders.

She had no family of which to speak. Her parents and sister had been killed in a car accident years ago. She was the perfect candidate for his work. She would have come with him when he developed the training facility. She could have had everything. Hadn’t he given her every opportunity?

Venom coursed through his veins and a flash of bile chased up his throat. He would get revenge. He would have those children, dead or alive. And he would kill that vile woman with his own hands.

More twirling of the familiar metal balls helped him take a slower, deeper breath. Well, he should be at peace and know that retribution would be his new motivation. And he always obtained his goal when given a focus. He should almost thank the Winter family for giving him a new reason to develop his army even faster. They were headed for battle.

Winter’s Storm Ahead

A thousand miles away, Maze, who was sleeping at the foot of Meg’s hospital bed, sat up and growled at the dark figure standing in the doorway of the room she and Alik shared. In the blink of an eye, he shifted into a fighting position. The silver hair bristled on the back of his neck and his sharp teeth glistened in the dim light.

About me

I grew up the only girl in the middle of two brothers. I adored both of them in their own ways, but never really fit into their worlds. Like my characters Alik and Evan, the boys were very different.

If I wanted to have a playmate, I had to gear up to go dirt-clod fighting, be the losing team of (broken) green army guys or brave the flimsy bicycle ramp my older brother was focused on.

Either that, or plan on helping to erect intricate Lego architecture while hearing the mathematical algorithms and possible big-bang theories of what happened to dinosaurs from my little brother.

Needless to say, I suffered a lot of skinned-up knees, elbows and even scraped off an eyebrow or two trying to keep up with the older brother and probably still have a Lego imbedded into my thigh from sitting on the floor surrounded by the teeny-tiny pieces in my little brother's realm. (Oh, and did I mention I hate math?)

Often by myself, recuperating from my brothers' attentions, I created entire worlds of make-believe and adventure with my stuffed animals and books in my bedroom. Hours of storytelling, personally made sound effects and character voices entertained me to the point of utter happy distraction. Hindsight shows me, I've been a storyteller all my life.

Thanks to my brothers, I have a lot of stories to tell. I love you Jeremy and Field. You're the best brothers a girl could have—even if you did scar me for life on more than one occasion.

I love hearing from my readers, so feel free to email me at
mailto:[email protected]
or visit me on Facebook under
Winter’s Saga
. Thanks for reading!

Hugs,

Karen Luellen

PS:
Winter's Storm—Retribution
, the sequel to
Winter's Awakening
, is nearing completion and will be released through Kindle Publishing, November 2011.

Brace yourselves. The Storm is coming!