Embracing Silence (13 page)

He hoped that Silence was at least resting. She’d been through an ordeal, most of which he was responsible for. The kidnapping, the threats and hot, mind-blowing sex had been followed by Adrian’s discovery and her near-death. The adrenaline rush alone from her fall would have left her feeling weak when she finally came down from it.

No one had told him where she was. Not that it mattered. He’d find her. As soon as he talked with Adrian.

He could use a rest himself. He’d lost a hell of a lot of blood and wasn’t feeling as steady on his feet as he’d like. Not that he’d let on to anyone that he was less than one hundred percent. That wouldn’t be smart.

A good meal and a few hours of solid sleep would go a long way to letting his body get on with the task of healing itself. That wasn’t going to happen until this meeting was over, so the quicker it was done, the better.

The abandoned building where Adrian and his people were currently staying was large and built with brick. Surprisingly, most of the outer walls were intact. Inside, there was a cavernous room on the ground floor where they’d set up a makeshift kitchen and a supply area. Both were heavily guarded.

Upstairs on the next two floors were individual rooms on either side of a narrow corridor. The infirmary was on the far end of the second floor, but they were headed up.

Derrick pushed open a door and started up a dark stairwell. “Keep to the right.”

Tienan followed instructions, keeping right. A few cracks in the walls let in some light. If his vision hadn’t been enhanced, he would have been hard pressed to see at all. Thankfully, the stairs had been swept free of debris.

At the top of the stairs, Derrick pulled open another door and started down the dingy hallway. It was morning. Barely. The sun was peeking over the horizon and shining through a dirty window at the end of the hallway. Tienan barely suppressed a yawn. He’d slept in short snatches over the past few days and it was beginning to catch up with him. He might be enhanced, but he was still human.

He shook off his tiredness as Derrick turned into a room in the middle of the hallway. Tienan approved. Much safer than a room on either end of the building, which were more susceptible to an explosive device or random gunfire.

“Tienan is here, as requested.” Derrick stood across from Adrian, who was seated behind a battered metal desk.

Adrian put down the papers he was studying and nodded. “Thank you.” The dismissal was obvious from the tone. Tienan could see the curiosity in Derrick’s eyes, but he turned and left the room, no questions asked.

“Impressive.” Tienan strode to the desk and sat down in a rickety wooden chair, taking care not to put all his weight on it until he was certain it would hold him. The chair had originally been blue in color. Bits of paint still clung to parts of the legs and back.

Adrian sat back in his much sturdier chair and linked his hands over his stomach. “Derrick’s been with me for ten years now. He knows I’ll fill him in on everything he needs to know later.”

“Everything he
needs
to know.” Obviously, Adrian didn’t tell his second-in-command everything.

Stretching his legs out in front of him, Adrian shrugged, ignoring Tienan’s not-so-subtle prod. “How’s the shoulder?”

“I’ll live.” Tienan settled back in his chair and studied Adrian. “How did you escape?” The time for feeling one another out had passed. It was time to get down to business.

“I didn’t.” The words were flat. Adrian didn’t speak for several minutes. Tienan was patient. He knew it was no good to rush the man. Adrian would tell him what happened, or he wouldn’t. Nothing Tienan could say or do would change that.

“I was slated for termination in the spring of 2121. Too unpredictable. Not advancing as quickly as some of the others. They cut the number of Alphas down by fifty percent. Budget cuts. They couldn’t afford to waste time on subjects who weren’t deemed satisfactory.”

Tienan felt the old anger stir inside him. The bastards at the Piedmont Corporation had always treated them as less than human. Lab rats to be studied and taught and tested.

“They didn’t want to the waste resources needed to do it humanely.” Adrian gave a bark of laughter. It was tinged with bitterness and barely suppressed anger. “I have to thank them for that.” He was still sprawled in his chair, but he was anything but relaxed.

“How?”

“How did they kill us? They took us out through an opening in the Gate. It led to one of their garbage dumps. They lined us up and shot us. That way they didn’t even have to go to the trouble of disposing of the bodies. We were already there.”

“Fuck.” Tienan’s hands gripped the arms of the chair so tight the wood began to crack. He forced himself to relax his grip, but it wasn’t easy. That could just as easily have been him and Logan. “How many?”

“There were twelve of us. Most of us had never met. You know how they do things.”

Tienan did know. They kept them separated for the most part, only allowing them contact with the other Alphas when they were training or had to go on a mission together.

“One of them was my brother. We looked enough alike, we had to be brothers. I thought that was the end, but the bastards who shot us didn’t bother to check to make sure they’d completed their job.”

That was fortunate for Adrian but extremely unwise on the part of the men who’d done the job. An Alpha would have given the target a head shot and a chest shot. And then, if possible, he would have personally checked to make certain.

Adrian’s gaze was turned inward as he relived the events. “The stench is the first thing I remember. That and the flies. They were everywhere, covering me and the others. I dragged myself to my knees and checked each man, but I was the sole survivor. I almost lay back down.” He glanced at Tienan. “But I couldn’t. You understand.”

He did. It wasn’t in an Alpha to give up. They’d keep going until they literally dropped. They didn’t know any other way.

Adrian sighed. “I nursed myself back to health, got acclimated in the outer city and put all my resources toward destroying the Gate. The disparities between the two worlds are appalling and unnecessary. The Ruling Council has to be brought down and resources used to make life better for all.”

Tienan knew there was a hell of a lot more to the story than what Adrian told him, but that was all he was getting. He wanted to know about Silence and her relationship with Adrian but knew better than to ask. She’d told him some things, but he wanted Adrian’s version of the story. He suspected she’d sugarcoated much of what she’d told him. Her life hadn’t been an easy one.

“Now tell me how you escaped. It’s occurred to me that this all might be a ruse to kill me. How better to track me down than with another Alpha. I’m sure the General has wondered on more than one occasion if I’m one of his botched experiments.”

Tienan conceded Adrian’s point. It would be a brilliant plan, if the General had thought of it. “He wouldn’t have trusted me or Logan to do it. We were the last two Alphas and we were scheduled for termination.”

“The last two.” Adrian shook his head and sighed. “I’d hoped that more had survived.”

“You’d know that better than I would. I’ve been in a virtual prison for thirty years. I’ve only been free to roam for the past few months.”

“You were scheduled to be terminated,” Adrian prompted.

“The scientists have finally developed a robotic soldier they find more easy to control and much harder to kill. They didn’t count on Kathryn Piedmont.” A smile crossed his face as he thought about the determined redhead.

“Piedmont’s daughter,” Adrian spat.

Tienan sat upright, not liking Adrian’s tone. “She’s nothing like her father. She was involved in the project for years, always objecting about our treatment. When she realized the full scope of what her father and the General planned, she risked her life to get us out and hide us.”

“Where is she now?” Skepticism tinged Adrian’s voice. “I’d like to talk to her.”

“She’s gone.” That was as much as Tienan would say about that. “She risked everything to save us. The General interrogated her personally.” Tienan wouldn’t have Kathryn’s reputation tarnished in any way. She was a hero in his eyes and deserved recognition.

“I’m sorry.”

It was his turn to shrug. “She’s better off.”

Silence stood out in the hallway, her hand pressed to her mouth. She knew she shouldn’t be eavesdropping, but when she’d come up the hall and heard the men talking she hadn’t been able to stop herself.

She’d washed and changed her clothing but hadn’t been able to sleep. After tossing and turning on her pallet for half an hour, she’d given up. There was no way she’d rest until she knew how Tienan was.

The first place she planned to check was the infirmary. When she found it empty, she headed upstairs. Adrian would know where Tienan was. It even occurred to her that they might be together. Adrian would have a lot of questions. And only Tienan could provide the answers.

It was second nature for her to creep down the corridor without making a sound. They’d been here a while, so she knew every board that creaked. Dust motes floated in the air, illuminated by the sunlight just breaking over the horizon. Such a nice day was rare and usually she enjoyed it. But even the sunshine couldn’t erase the darkness creeping over her heart.

Tienan loved another woman.

It was obvious in the way he spoke about Kathryn Piedmont. His voice grew hard when he thought Adrian was criticizing her and soft when he spoke of her. She rubbed her hand over her chest, but the ache wouldn’t abate.

She’d known he didn’t love her but deep in the back of her mind she’d still had hope.
Stupid!
There was no way to compete with a ghost, a memory of a woman who’d risked her life to save him. And Kathryn Piedmont was an educated woman. Something she wasn’t.

Adrian had taught her how to read and write when she was a teenager. She’d never been to school. Hell, she’d never had a permanent home, finding refuge wherever she could.

Her earliest memories were of picking through the garbage dumps used by the inner city. It was dangerous, smelly work, but food, clothing and other useful items could often be found. Silence thought the people inside the Gate were a wasteful bunch. Out here, you never wasted food and you wore your clothes until they fell off your body. Then you used the scraps for bandages or washcloths or some other purpose.

“Where are you situated?”

They’d resumed talking, so she leaned against the wall and listened.

“We have safe houses all over the outer city. We move around, never staying in one place too long.”

“I’d like to meet Logan.” Silence nodded in agreement. She’d like to meet Logan too. She wondered if he was anything like Tienan.

“That’s his choice.” Silence thought Tienan sounded tired. He’d been shot and lost a lot of blood saving her life. He should be resting. He probably hadn’t even eaten anything.

She knew she shouldn’t care, but she couldn’t help herself. Love, it seemed, didn’t die easy. Even though she knew it was one-sided, she still cared about him. Loved him.

Biting her lip, she wrapped her arms over her chest, hugging herself. Even though she was standing in a sunbeam, she felt cold. And tired.

“I assume you have a plan?” She could hear the interest in Adrian’s voice. It occurred to her that this was the first time in years he’d talked to someone like him, someone who understood him in ways that no one else could, even her. For that reason alone, she’d forgive Tienan for hurting her. Adrian had been her protector, her family for years. If talking to Tienan gave him some comfort, she was grateful.

“Kill the General. Destroy the Piedmont Corporation.” Tienan gave a rough bark of laughter. “Not really a plan, more of a goal. We’re still trying to get our bearings and the lay of the land.”

“I can help you with that.”

Silence was surprised Adrian made the offer. Yet, she wasn’t. Both men had the same goals. Adrian was obsessed with ending the brutal regime of the Ruling Council and destroying the General. Now she knew why.

“I can’t stay here. You know that.” Tienan’s words were like a knife through her heart. He was a loner and always would be. It was sheer folly to think there might be room for her in his life.

“Two Alphas don’t make for a comfortable situation.” Acceptance tinged Adrian’s voice.

“Logan and I get along, but we’ve been together for a long time. First as sparring partners during training, then on assignments, now as friends. We know when to walk away from one another and when to stick close.” She could hear the affection in Tienan’s voice for his friend. “We keep apart because it’s safer. The General would love nothing more than to capture us both in one fell swoop.”