Emergence (The Primogenitor Chronicles Book 1) (20 page)

“Take in what you can comfortably carry, Nick.” He looked up and regarded Ian warily. “We’ll be watching on the monitor, so as soon as she is done, we can bring more to you.”

The challenge of maintaining an even keel looked to be harder than he had imagined. Nick nodded and pushed his memories, of being the one held against his will by Ian, to the back of his mind. He picked up two of the largest plates of meat and walked with Jays over to her door. The click as the lock disengaged resounded through Nickolas and he froze. It was only the pointed stare from Jays as the doctor held it open that got him moving.

Jessica stood near the back wall; surprise and fear chased across her face. The door closed behind him and he had to swallow before he managed a smile for her benefit. He set the plates on the table and, ignoring the fear, sat down. Patting the bed next to him, he watched her reactions closely.

“I…remember you,” she said finally, slowly. “You…brought me here.”

“Yes, that was necessary. What else do you remember?” he asked quietly.

Her arms wrapped around herself, and she leaned against the wall next to the sink. “No. I don’t think so,” she replied, furrowing her brow in concentration.

“No, what?”

“Necessary. I don’t think it was necessary. But I can’t remember why. Everything is all jumbled.” She started pacing again, squeezing her injured thigh. “Can I go now? I don’t think I like it here.”

He closed his eyes briefly and shook his head. “No. I’m sorry. I wish I could say yes. You should come and eat breakfast. It will help clear your mind.”

“I don’t know. I am hungry, but…”

“Jessica, you need to eat.”

“Jessica…that’s my name.” She took a couple of limping steps before she reached the corner then looked at him. “You’re Nickolas?”

“Yes. You remember.” An uncharacteristic urge to play swept over him and he stood, dropping her an elegant bow, at total odds with their situation. A smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. “We were never properly introduced. My name is Nickolas Sinclair.”

He held out his hand. “Would you care to join me for breakfast?”

Amusement warred with wariness, but amusement eventually won out and she came forward, placing her hand in his. That small sign of trust made him want to kick himself. He tucked her into the space behind the table and sat down next to her, sliding a plate full of sliced steak in front of her.

She poked at the meat then took a tentative nibble. She cast a questioning glance at the other plate and he felt his stomach grind at the thought of his abandoned food, but he shook his head. “No, thank you. Actually I just came from breakfast. I thought I’d keep you company. You’ll find you’re going to be hungrier than you thought.”

After the first slice of beef, she seemed to lose interest in him as her appetite asserted itself. Not wanting to distract her focus from the food, Nickolas sat quietly watching her move, his thoughts running through recent events. She finished the first plate and pulled the second one forward, digging into it with a single-mindedness that Nickolas remembered all too clearly.

He studied her face as she ate, and he could see her slowly working to put all of the pieces together. “So, are things becoming clearer now? Do you remember yesterday yet?”

“Mostly. Though I suppose I’m not in a position to remember things I’ve forgotten, now, am I?”

“Astute.” He chuckled then sobered. “This is only the first of many cycles you’re going to go through. Your degree of amnesia and confusion will lesson in each episode over the next week as your mind changes.”

“Lucky me.” An irritated look crossed her face and she continued to chew.

He watched her gaze dart around the small enclosure. And he knew she was taking in all details, anything that might help her to escape. It’s what he would have done.

Had done.

He stretched his legs out and sighed. “So is there anyone we can let know about your condition? So they won’t worry. No one else was home, but you obviously didn’t live alone.”

“I’m sure they already know. I’m surprised they didn’t beat you to me, actually.” She shoved the empty plate aside.

The door opened and she jumped, panic flaring between them. Her body tensed when she realized that she was trapped between the table and him.

“Jess, look at me.” He grabbed her chin and pulled her head around, locking eyes. “It’s just Jays bringing you more to eat.”

She tried to jerk her head away, but he squeezed, eliciting a soft growl from her. Her eyes tracked Jays when he came within her periphery, shooting daggers.

The doctor switched the empty plates for full and cast Nick an apologetic look before leaving. Nick let Jessica pull away, and her head pivoted to follow Jays out the door, but he didn’t miss the accusation lurking in her eyes, or the pain that flowed around him.

He ground his teeth against the pain and shifted slightly to the side so their thighs no longer touched. The pain lessened, but still swirled.

He reached out to one of the new plates and picked up a piece of pear, pressing it into her hand. “Here, try this.”

Her fingers curled into the squishy fruit and she glanced down, away from the closed door. Her nose twitched and she took a nibble. The pain dissipated like fog in the sun and she reached out for more, but he pulled the plate away with a chuckle.

“Na. You need to finish the meat first. Then dessert.”

With a glare, she pulled the other plate closer and started to eat.

“Your body needs the protein and iron for building. You’ll crave sugar something fierce, but too much becomes a problem when you change.”

She snorted and looked at him out of the corner of her eye, but she kept eating.

“So, who would know? It wasn’t family who reported your condition according to the retrieval documents. Is there a phone number you want to give us to call someone?”

“No. And even if they did have one, I want to see Aurora and my brother about as much as I want to be here. The only person that’ll miss me is my old guardian, May. But I have no idea how to get ahold of her. She had gone out of town unexpectedly the night you showed up.”

“You have family in Colorado? We should still inform them. The rate of change is much higher within family groupings.”

He trailed off. She stared at him like he had grown another head. He looked over his shoulder just to make sure nothing had popped out of the nonexistent woodwork.

“No, I don’t have family in Colorado. Are you serious?”

Thrown by her response, he snagged a slice of pear.

“And I really don’t think Robin needs to worry about the possibility of fledging, since he’s had his wings for ten years now.”

He nearly choked on the bite of pear. Ten years? “What? I know everyone who came through when Chris changed. And no one with the name Robin did.”

“Of course not. He’s free.”

Free?

People are changing outside of the Facility?
He blinked then turned to stare into the camera lens in the ceiling corner. Then, as if to rub his face in the lies, another wave of feeling pressed in on him. Despair, so similar to his that he almost missed that it came from her, clogged his throat. He pushed it back.

I opened this Pandora’s box, I need to deal with it.

He picked up more of the pear and fought his silent battle.

After a few moments of quiet, she looked up at him. “May I have something to drink?”

“Right, sorry.” He leaned his elbows on his knees and rubbed the heels of his hands against his eyes and called, “Jays?”

Still resting his head in his hands, he tipped it to look at her. “Are you going to attack him?”

“Can I?”

His lips twitched. “No.”

“You’re really no fun.”

The door clicked and he felt her tense. A low growl rumbled in her throat. Jays crossed the distance, the doctor’s gaze traveling between the two of them, and set a pitcher of milk and two glasses down on the table.

“Ian thought you might be thirsty as well, Nick.”

Surprise flashed into wariness, but Nickolas nodded his thanks and Jays slipped out of the cell. Pouring each of them a glass of milk, he handed one to her and she took a sip.

“How long have you been a Valkyrie?” She picked up a slice of meat with her other hand and sat back.

His thoughts full of his own questions, he met her eyes and saw her understanding glimmer. Her answers would be bought with his. Biting back temper, he swirled the milk in his glass.

“Fifteen years.” Temper to match his swelled in her gaze at his short answer. He downed the contents of his glass then cocked his head. “So, your brother is a Valkyrie?”

She slowly chewed her piece of meat. The white column of her throat rippled as she swallowed, fixing his gaze. He shivered his wings and broke the trance, a growl forming in his chest. She narrowed her eyes at him. “Yes. I just said that, didn’t I? Why do you stay here? You could fly anywhere and be free.”

This wasn’t going to get either of them anywhere. One of them would have to give. Terse, untrusting answers wouldn’t help either of them. He sighed and relaxed back again, taking several slices of pear with him. “Leaving never appeared to be an option before. Besides, this is all I’ve ever known. My parents got caught in the change near the beginning. So Chris and I were exposed young, I guess.”

“Chris? He’s the other Hunter with you yesterday? He’s your brother?”

“Uh-uh, my turn. You said you were surprised that
they
hadn’t come for you. Who else do you know?”

“That’s two.”

He smiled. This whole exchange felt oddly surreal. But that didn’t stop the contentment that snaked through him from matching wits with her.

Her eyes had started to twinkle as well. She pushed the last couple of strips of meat around with her finger. “I was just surprised that Robin hadn’t made sure that Hunters from Aurora got to me before the Facility did.”

That gave him something to chew on. Before she could formulate her next question, he cut in. “And yes, Chris is my brother and was the other Hunter tracking you yesterday. Do you see your brother often?”

Snapping her mouth shut, she glared at him and took a bite. “That was hardly fair.” But then she pushed the plate away and sighed. “No. I haven’t seen him since he fledged.”

“Then you don’t actually know that he’s all right.” She was assuming. He relaxed slightly in relief.

“No, he’s fine. There’s no way Marcus wouldn’t have let me know if something had happened to him. How did you end up here? You said your parents changed?”

The ground under his mental feet turned to quicksand. His view of the world, his beliefs had all taken a giant hit in the last forty-eight hours. What was one more really? But somehow the truth that people were safely completing the change outside of the Facility left him reeling. He answered her absently. “My family was in the second and third groups to change. I was eight when they all fledged. Ten when my parents died. I don’t think Chris even remembers them. Something happened to send all of the early Valkyries insane. They hadn’t developed the aggression inhibitor yet and everyone except my grandfather lost their humanity. They fought. During the struggle, most were killed, but some managed to escape into the mountains to form the wild pack up there.”

He shook himself clear and met her eyes. “At least, that’s what we’ve been taught.”

“Aurora is in the mountains.”

Silence descended as they stared at one another. Then Nick felt his gaze swing away to stare into the camera lens again.
There’s no way Ian isn’t watching us and listening.

The unblinking eye stared at them mercilessly.

“What happened to the rest of your family?” He turned back to her. She had pulled the plate of pear closer. “Do you know how you got infected?”

She picked up a slice of fruit and sat back then absently rubbed her back against the wall.

With sympathy he remembered the incessant itching.

She pressed the bridge of her nose then rubbed between her eyes. “Both my parents turned when I was five. So I don’t really remember much from before. I have no idea how they got infected. They died when I was nine, and Robin and I stayed with May. He left me when I was fourteen.”

She ate the pear.

“She always seemed to know things. I remember that.” She continued after a moment. “She knew they were going to die that night. She came in to say good-bye to Robin and I. I was too young to understand, but looking back, I can see that Robin knew.”

“What happened?”

“I have no idea. No one ever gave me the details. But it’s safe to assume it wasn’t by natural means. They were both perfectly healthy.”

She met his eyes and he could see how clear they were. It wouldn’t last, he knew. But for the moment, she knew exactly where she was and what was happening.

“Why wouldn’t you let me go?”

He couldn’t maintain the eye contact so he shifted, folding his arms across his chest and staring at the blank wall. “It’s not safe. You know that.”

“You do realize that’s a lie, don’t you?”