Emergence (The Primogenitor Chronicles Book 1) (19 page)

Not convinced, Christoff continued to watch him, trading worried looks with the others. About to demand an answer, Chris growled when the loud speaker interrupted him. “Nickolas, please report to the Hub. You are wanted in the observation Hub. Nickolas, please report to the Hub.”

Nick pushed his plate away and stood. “Jess is awake, I guess my breakfast is over. I’ll see you guys later.”

Nickolas’s hands shook, and Christoff reached out, but he stuffed his hands in his pockets and backed up, almost knocking his chair over. Kieran caught it and pulled it out of the way. Concerned, Chris rose to follow, but his brother shook his head.

“There’s nothing you can do right now, Chris. Come find me later.”

“Damn it, Nick.”

“Later, Chris.”

A growl escaped and he sank back into his chair when Nick walked away.

“What’s going on, Chris?”

He met the solemn looks of the other Hunters then shook his head at Donald. “Not here. Kieran, why don’t you get everyone together and we’ll go out to the course. We could all use a good game. Dylan, you help him.”

“Chris, we’re not scheduled for the course today,” Kieran said.

Something in the Beta Hunter’s voice caught his attention. Kieran stared after Nick, pain fading from his eyes. He waited for Kieran to look back at him.

“Your point, Hunter?”

Kieran met his gaze. “Ian.”

He sighed. “No choice. Do it.”

“Yes, sir.” He and Dylan pushed away from the table to start making the rounds and gather up the loitering Valkyries.

Chris pushed his chair back and stood. “Come on, Donald, let’s get ourselves out to the obstacle course.”

Side by side, they strode down the hall, and Christoff waited for Donald to break the silence. They stepped out into the fall sunshine, and he took a deep breath of the crisp air.

Donald stretched his wings. “We’re not scheduled for drills today, Chris. Why the impromptu game?”

The Facility Valkyries flowed around them toward the practice field, so Chris slowed, allowing them to assemble on the grounds before he and Donald arrived. “Everybody’s antsy from yesterday and the change in our schedules as a result. The new arrival last night is sending shock waves through our group, and I think a little exercise will do us all good.”

Out in the open, between the buildings and the practice fields, Donald drew him to a halt.

“So what’s going on? Is Nick all right?” Donald asked.

“I don’t know. You saw him yesterday?”

“Yes.”

“Come on. Kieran has the teams divided.” He started walking. “I didn’t want to draw attention to all of us gathering. We can do that on the field. Nick has stopped taking the anti-aggression medication.”

“What!”

“Something happened to us at the start of the recovery. Before we entered the target house, I had a massive pain rip through my head. I think it was worse for Nick. After that, he started trying to hide something.”

They reached the gathering at the edge of the course. All eyes turned toward him. “Kieran, set everyone up with full jewel harnesses. Then get them started on warm-ups. We’re going to go all out, so prepare them for that. I really need the violence today.”

“All out? But what about the medics?”

“What about them?”

“Right. I’ll let the teams know. We’ll organize some spotters.”

“Just make sure the spotters are playing too.” With the others occupied, he turned back to Donald and continued the conversation quietly. “Turns out he was tracking her through her blood somehow. He told me last night he could see pictures of her in his head. So he’s decided he won’t take the pills anymore.”

“This must be the sort of thing Ian wanted us to watch out for. That means he knows what this drug is for.”

“That thought had crossed my mind too.”

“How do we keep him safe through this, Chris?”

He ran his hand through his hair. “I don’t know. I’m playing it by ear. I need more information. I don’t like it. I hate feeling like I can’t trust Ian, but he’s the only one who can give us answers.”

“You handle that part. I’ll get a discreet guard organized. We can’t leave him alone.”

“He’s getting aggressive.”

Donald looked out over the assembled Valkyries. “Right. Pairs, no one alone. Not that two would be able to stop him, but at least one can run for help.”

“He’s going to be vulnerable while he gets the drug out of his system and learns to cover up the fact.”

“So what happened to him at breakfast?”

Chris shrugged and shook his head. He watched the teams warm up. The course was a challenging one, specially designed for the abilities of the Valkyries. It was comprised of ground and aerial obstacles. The “game” as they called it combined the different skills involved in capture the flag and laser tag with martial arts all played out on an obstacle course. There were different levels of play.
But today we’re playing for keeps, when you get hit, it
hurts
. Better hope you’re not in the air when that happens.

He looked back at Donald. “Have you ever heard the term Caster?”

“No, why?”

“Jays called the new fledgling a Caster on the way home last night. She started to glow, and he freaked out. The nearest I’ve ever seen him to panicking. He said she could have killed all of us if Nick hadn’t gotten her to stop.”

“Killed you how?”

“Psychically.”

Donald whistled. “Ian
and
Jays, huh? Damn.”

They were both quiet for a moment. Donald started to stretch lightly.

Chris rubbed the bridge of his nose. “After we’ve gotten him stabilized, then it’s our turn. We’re going to quietly and systematically free ourselves a few at a time.”

“Then what, Chris? How do we keep
that
a secret?”

He met Donald’s eyes but didn’t answer.

“Shit.” Donald folded his arms and looked up at the sky. “You know he’s just going to love having a shadow.”

 “Too bad. He may be Alpha, but when it comes to his own safety, he doesn’t know squat. And on this matter, Donald, you answer to
me
, no one else, no matter what Nickolas says. Got it?”

“Understood.” After a pause, Donald asked, “Are you going to tell him what you’ve learned?”

“Not until I have more information. He has too much on his shoulders as it is.”

Kieran joined them, handing over two jewel harnesses. “The flags have been run up, Chris. I think we’re ready to go as soon as everyone has finished warming up.”

“Good.”

Taking his harness, Donald looked at him. “Remind me again why we’re going all out?”

“Because I want to hurt something,” Christoff stated softly.

Donald moaned, but Chris caught the understanding glimmering in his eyes. “Fun. Chris is out for blood. This is just gonna suck.”

A savage grin spread as he started strapping his harness on, making sure that his wings were free and not binding. The harness had sensor jewels in the front, back, and on both sides. There were also individual jewels to strap onto arms and legs for incapacitation shots. And last but not least, a thin band for the head. Looking over at Donald, his grin widened. “Make sure you’re set for stun.”

“Are you sure of this, Chris? There could be casualties at this level. If someone gets a fatal shot in the air, they’ll drop like a lead balloon when they pass out from the stun,” Donald said as he checked his laser pistol then holstered it on his thigh.

“Then make sure your team has emergency plans. You’re leading red team, I’ll take blue.” And with that, he spread his wings and launched into the air like a rocket, slamming into a red team member midair, somersaulting with him. He punched the chest jewel and felt the other Valkyrie go slack in his arms, unconscious. The Hunter’s weight pulled at his arms and he landed, setting him gently on the ground. He looked around at the surprised expressions on everyone’s faces.

“Blue team to me. Let’s get this game going.”

Nickolas wove through the halls, everything a blur. The vision he just experienced more real, at the moment, than his physical location. He tried to snap out of it and hide how shaken the occurrence left him.
I know Chris spotted it. And Donald too, I think. This is going to be harder than I thought to keep quiet.

The flash of vision was relentless. He shook his head and stumbled; his hand shot out to catch himself.

Chris strung up by chains on a wall. Donald dead.

“No,” he whispered.

The blood seeping into the stone of the floor.

He pushed away from the wall, the hall he walked an odd overlay of the vision.

Chris staring blankly down at his Second’s body, where he lay sprawled.

Nick fisted the hair at his temple and punched the other into the wall. “Go away.”

Labored breathing echoed in his ears. He was afraid to close his eyes and have the pictures be even more vivid. Sweat ran down his cheek and he wiped it on his shoulder. After a few deep breaths, the visions faded into memories as opposed to photographs.

On shaky legs, he finished the walk to the Hub.

He paused at the door, and after a quick check to establish a firm mask in place, he opened the door into the medical facility.

Ian and Jays broke off their conversation to look up at him when he entered.

“Good morning, Nickolas. Did you get enough sleep?”

Nickolas had to work hard to keep his expression unchanged as Ian’s gaze raked over him. Inside, he felt like a roller coaster.
He can’t know what I’ve done. Can he?
“I’m fine. How’s she doing?”

Ian cocked an eyebrow before he turned back to the files he had been leafing through. “She made it through the night. That’s a good first step.”

Nick stopped in front of the island that contained the bank of monitors. Five screens were lit. His eyes roamed them until he found Jessica’s set.

Just like last night, she paced her tiny cubicle in agitation. Hunched, she had her arms wrapped around her. A shiver came and went. Sometime during the night, Ian had managed to remove her blood-stained and tattered clothes. She now had on the plain cotton shorts all fledglings wore. His thighs twitched in remembrance.

She also wore a triangular halter that tied around her neck and below her breasts that gave free access to her emerging wings. It was more for the illusion of modesty than anything else, since she didn’t have privacy for even the most basic of functions.

“Has she been doing this long? She looks cold.”

Ian walked up behind him. He couldn’t keep from tensing slightly in memory, but Nickolas didn’t look away from Jessica.

“No, she only just woke. She’s going through her first cycle of stage two disorientation. From my experience with you, I expect the amnesia hit her hard.”

Nick shot a look over his shoulder and met the green of Ian’s eyes. So close. He shivered in reaction then pushed away from the screens and started to pace around the room, fanning his wings slightly.

“Are you all right, Nickolas?”

He realized what he was doing and clamped down on his emotions, forcing his wings to still. “Sorry, I’m fine.”

“Memories can be a hard thing to control. Learning to shield from them in times of stress is a difficult ability to acquire. Be careful you don’t get locked into them.” Ian caught his eyes. “Focus is the key.”

Just then, a trolley came banging through the door and broke the trance from Ian’s eyes. He jumped. The cryptic message circled in his head. His eyes shot to the woman who started to unload several large plates, most with meat, some with a selection of various other tidbits.

And he remembered the reason he was here. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Feeding time at the zoo, I guess.”

Ian’s disapproving gaze followed him as he walked over to the pile and started sorting plates. “There’s no point in lying about it. I’ve been there, I know. Is there any order you want me to do this in? How much should I take in to start?”

Jays joined him at the trolley and helped sort the plates. “Start with the meat first, that’s what she needs the most of. If we can get her to eat at least half of that before we give her any of the other items, that would be good. Her sugar intake needs to be kept really low until she’s done with the final stage, or it will mess up her metabolism. She won’t be able to take in the right balance of nutrients if she’s trying to digest the sugar. So don’t take any of the desserts in. I don’t know why they even brought them. The fruit will be quite enough sugar.”