Emergence (The Primogenitor Chronicles Book 1) (31 page)

She smiled and his eyes narrowed. “Then why do it? I really don’t get you guys. Are you kept prisoners? That wouldn’t surprise me from what I’ve heard. Why stay? Why let them parade you around like a zoo exhibit? Or better yet, a prized pet. Yes, that’s more accurate.”

“I help people. The appearances, the talks, and yes, the gawking, all serve to teach. The change is loose. That’s a fact of life. The ripples have only begun to spread, and there’s no stopping them. Before Siobhan got the protection laws into place, a recovery was Russian roulette for the fledgling…” He trailed off, his eyes staring at something she couldn’t see, then swallowed before continuing. “At least now the authorities have a framework in which to operate. And more and more the average person reacts from a base of knowledge instead of fear when a recovery is in process, because of the program.”

With a sigh she set her plate on the floor next to her. “There’s no way you’ll help me get out of here, is there?”

His face grew blank. “Nothing’s changed.”

“I agree.”

It was a stalemate as they stared at one another.

“Nothing will keep me here, Kieran.”

He shook his head then set his empty plate on the table. “There’s not that many of us, Jess. We don’t get a lot of choices. There’s here and then there’s Gabriel. Here’s a better choice. Trust me.”

They don’t tell them about Aurora. What a shocker.
“So you are prisoners. I’m not really surprised.”

“Not exactly prisoners. At least I’ve never made that comparison. I always felt more protected than imprisoned.”

“Just like a prized pampered poodle. You even do their obedience trials. Can you please try and break out of your mindset? Remember what it was like to live before you changed. And compare the two. You can go anywhere. It’s not a choice of here or there. And then there’s Aurora. Not all Valkyries live under lock and key.”

“Aurora?” Puzzlement warred with indignation on his face over being called a poodle.

The door unlocked and Ian strode in. His eyes flashed her a look that she easily interpreted as “shut up.” She smiled at him, all teeth. As he bent to pick up her plate, his breath shivered across her skin. “There’s some information better divulged in small doses.”

He rose then stacked Kieran’s dishes with hers on the tray. She watched his white back retreat out the door and mulled over his warning.

Kieran looked thoughtful as well. She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. “I still want to know why you’re beat up. Who were you protecting?”

He sighed and turned a slow look her way. After a moment, he reached down to the black canvas bag he had brought with him. He pulled it up onto his lap and started to unzip it. “I really didn’t want to go into this with you, Jess. I was stuck outside the lockdown perimeter. There were four others brought in before me. The guards thought they could have some fun with them, but I occupied their minds instead.”

He sent her a rueful grin and finished stripping the case off of a large flat drum. His long lean fingers caressed the skin in a circular motion. The harsh glare from the overhead fluorescents picked out the delicate silver inlay woven in a band around the wood side. “Someone I used to be very close to gave me this bodhran. Zach changed many years ago; before either Donald or I. I haven’t seen him since.”

He set the edge of the drum on his knee and slipped his left hand inside. She noticed that when he talked about his past, his accent picked up. The lilt grew stronger. He rummaged in a pocket of the bag. “They both made a habit of watching out for the young kid.”

He pulled out a round-headed stick then shifted his wings and sat back more comfortably. “I was never as big or as strong as either one of them. Even now I still can’t take Donald. I can only imagine Zach as a Valkyrie.”

He tapped the beater lightly against the skin, testing the sound. “You seemed to like my singing the other day. And I know how boring it is in here, so I thought I’d play a bit for you.”

She nodded and leaned her head back against the wall. A slow heartbeat rhythm started, and she closed her eyes. Soon his clear tenor twined softly with the drum.

She thought back over everything he’d said.
Great. It’s my fault he got beat up. That’s what he didn’t want to tell me.
She sighed.
I’ve got to work a plan to get out of here. And not just for me.
She opened her eyes and watched Kieran sing. Purple shadowed his eye and the blue and green blotches shifted across his cheekbones as he moved. Anger pooled under the calm the music brought. She’d have no qualms snapping the necks of whoever had caused his pain. That realization shook her
. No strings, damn it. I won’t take responsibility for anyone else. Why does this stupid change have to screw with me like this? It’s bad enough that I feel so dependent on Nickolas, but now I want to take care of Kieran? Come on. Give me a break.

None of them will help me. It’s up to me. It’s always been up to me. Why would I even try to trust anyone else?
She rubbed her thigh. The stitches were healing nicely. At her last exam, Ian and Jays had discussed removing them soon. She glanced up to the ceiling and the vent caught her eye again.
Yes. That could work. Now I only need to figure out when it’s night and when someone is actively watching me.

“Pheromones? Maybe I’m right.” Ian reread the test results page a third time. “But why has it taken twenty-five years?”

He sat back and stared into Jessica’s monitor. She slept curled on her side, facing the wall, her small wings tangled with her hair. She had fallen asleep to Kieran’s singing a couple of hours ago. When he noticed Kieran moving her to the bed, he pulled the Beta out to go catch up on what he could with his weekly exertion tests. The bruises on his torso had healed enough.
His test scores might be a little out of normal for him, but I doubt it’ll be much.

A tremor rocked her body, and he leaned closer to turn up the sound. A soft keening filled the room and she covered her head with her arms. Dazzle headache.

At least she’s sleeping through this one.

He turned the volume down and leaned back, picking up his notes again. Voices echoed from the hallway just before the doors pushed open.

“That’s a real thin excuse, Jays.”

“Well, I’m sorry. It’s the best you’re getting at the moment.”

“Not acceptable.”

Ian stacked up his papers and slid them into a folder, then watched the Alpha Valkyrie prowl toward him. Tentacles of power quested out, touching everything. Ian blinked and tuned down that part of his vision. Now the currents of energy didn’t obscure his observations of Nickolas. Irritation mixed with the restless energy.

Nickolas stopped on the other side of the desk and stared. Ian met his eyes and held the blue gaze squarely.

“Why are we being lied to?”

He cocked a brow. “Hello, nice to see you too, Nicky. And how was your day? Here? Jessica refused to eat breakfast and threatened Kieran, but what else is new.”

“How was my day? Why did I need to go on a pointless errand to move a few boxes around? And see? I told you I was needed here if she wouldn’t eat breakfast.”

“It wasn’t a pointless errand, and I needed to see how she would do without you, Nick.”
And you without her.

The Valkyrie shoved away from the desk. Ian cast a glance at Jays, who cocked his hip against the desk and rolled his eyes. Nickolas walked around the center island then came in and stopped next to him, his attention riveted to Jessica’s monitor.

She had uncurled, but her hands still clasped her ears. As they watched, she slowly sat up to rest her head in her hands.
Interesting. She must be able to feel Nickolas.

A huge sigh escaped Nick and his shoulders relaxed their tension.

“Have you eaten, Nick?”

“Lunch. Some time ago,” he replied absently. His wings rustled and he braced his hands on the desk, leaning forward, closer to the screen.

Ian tipped his head to Jays, who reached over to the phone and ordered an early dinner for the Hub’s occupants. Including Nickolas.

“She seems to be waking up from her nap. Do you want to go in? It’s close to dinnertime. You can join her if you want.”

Nick shot a look out of the corner of his eye before returning his attention to the monitor. He pulled his wings still. “I…I should…”

“You need to eat. And you might as well make sure she does too. So come on.” Ian rose from his chair and herded Nick toward her door.

After coaxing him inside, Ian returned to Jays at the monitors. Jessica wore a wary expression, and Nick paced the opposite wall. They watched the two metaphorically sniff around each other since their absence.

“So? What was that all about, Jays?”

The younger doctor snorted. “They caught sight of Robin’s Hunter when they took the data.”

“Ah. Yes, that’s something I need to take up with Chris and Donald. There’s no point in addressing it with Nick just now. He won’t remember it soon. Other than that, how was he?”

Jessica stretched her leg then rubbed at the stitches.
They must be starting to itch. They might need to come out sooner
, Ian thought.

“Mentally? Not really with us. At first he fell into the expected aggression/anger cycle. Chris and Donald handled that without a problem, but the farther we got from the Facility, he became dissociative. Nothing like he is now.” He waved at the screen where an animated conversation had erupted. “Now, he’s holding a reasonable, rational conversation.”

Ian crossed his arms and watched the two interact. “Jessica mirrored that. At least until Kieran went in. Then she became really clear. I would need to compare the tapes, but I would say it was the clearest I’ve seen her. Including any time she’s spent with Nick.”

Jays’s head snapped to face him. “You’re saying she’s responding to Kieran the same as Nick?”

Ian shook his head. “No. Not quite. Though there is something…. She and Nick appear to be equals. She was most definitely Alpha to Kieran’s Beta. She hasn’t responded like that with Chris or Donald when they’ve been in with her. I think it had something to do with Kieran’s injuries. But I feel like there’s more to it.”

“That’s why everyone has kept Kieran out of Nick’s sight, too.”

“True, but…” He tipped his head and met Jays’s gaze. “You’re on the roster for weekly exams tomorrow. Make sure Kieran is in your group. I need you to get a couple of extra tests, discreetly. I have Nickolas’s weekly tomorrow. I’ll get the same then.”

“What have you found out?”

He pulled the folder containing the test results out from under the monitor and handed it to Jays. They both settled into chairs. Ian propped his feet up while Jays started to leaf through the papers. “A few answers. But they just pose more questions. Jessica is releasing pheromones like crazy. We haven’t run across this during any change I have been involved with. Male or female.”

“Reproductive pheromones?” Jays exclaimed and flipped more pages. “But…”

“I know. There’s not a single other Valkyrie whose reproductive tract has been functional after the change. Estrus ceased in the females, and most of the males contain no sperm in their ejaculate. Only a few have had nonmotile sperm counts. We had assumed that in those individuals the metamorphosis just hadn’t wiped that part out completely. And effectively, it really didn’t matter, since nonmotile sperm are sterile and none of the females could breed anyway.”

Jays turned another page. “Well their change in reproductive properties certainly hasn’t hampered their coital relations. They’re like rabbits most of the time.”

Sputtering a laugh, Ian dropped his feet to the floor. “That’s an apt way to put it.” He stood and stretched. “All except Nick that is. His original change file is in there too. I falsified the official document. He had too many abnormalities that I needed to keep out of Gabriel’s hands.”

“Right.” Jays shuffled through the stack then started to read. “So Nick is one of those tested during the coma with sperm? Wait…it’s almost like his reproductive system is prepubescent or on hold or something.”

Jays’s finger traced lines as he read quickly. Ian walked over to the minifridge in the corner, where they kept refreshments, and grabbed a soda.

“That was my interpretation as well,” he said as he popped the top on the can. “He’s not like the others that tested with a sperm count. Of which Kieran is one, by the way.”

He made his way back to his chair and propped his feet back up, glancing at Jessica’s screen. Nick was brushing Jessica’s hair again. He sighed. “We’re going to have to start frisking him if he keeps sneaking things into her room.”

Jays looked up then laughed.

Ian studied them. “Jays? Look at the way Nick handles her.”

“If I didn’t know for a fact that Nickolas didn’t have sexual relations with either males or females, I’d think he was courting her.”

“And that brings us back to the start of the conversation. That’s why I want tests done on both Nick and Kieran. She is releasing not only reproductive pheromones, in high quantities, but primer pheromones as well. I want to know what those primer pheromones are changing in the other Valkyries.”

He took a drink of his soda and stared at the screen

“Because I think they have put
something
into motion.”

He watched Nick’s fingers slowly caress Jessica’s hair before he bent his head and buried his nose in the locks.

“Full extension on your right wing please, Allison.”

The fledgling stood against the blank wall of the Hub, her arms straight out and hands pressed into it. The wing unfurled while Jays picked up the tape measure. “Here, Jack. Since you’re here, you can help me.”

He handed one end to the other doctor and had him hold the pivot point at the ball joint of the wing so he could measure along each strut. He jotted them down on her chart.

“Looks like she’s reached full growth,” Jack said.

“Just about, I’d say. Other wing, Allison.” They repeated the procedure on the other side. “I still don’t like it, Jack.”

The other doctor shrugged and continued to hold the point. “Sorry, Jays. But it’ll work. You’ll see. My transfer is complete in two more days. Neither you nor Ian has managed to get anyone in. We can’t let this opportunity pass by.”

Still not liking it, but knowing Jack was right, Jays finished her measurements and patted her wing. She folded it closed and turned around.

“All right, have a seat at the desk and let’s go through your hearing.” They all moved over to the island, and he got her set up with the headphones, turning the machine on. While she listened and pushed buttons, he turned back to Jack. “What do you have left today?”

“I have Third Flight exams. I finished the first wing this morning, so I just have their second wing to do still; so five more weekly physicals.”

“Good luck with Aiden. He’s been extremely teenagerish lately.”

“Great. I haven’t dealt with Third Flight in a couple of months.” Jack crossed his arms and leaned into the desk. “Sorry to leave you shorthanded like this, Jays.”

“Can’t be helped. And with Michael being gone so much this week, it’s not going to seem much different.” He smiled at Jack to let him know he was joking.

He snorted. “True. The little prick. Sorry to leave you with him too. But thanks for the help this week. There’s no way I would have gotten through all five Flights’ physicals and their phys-ex tests by myself.”

“No problem. I just have Chris’s physical to do, then I’m done with First Flight. The rest of the afternoon I’ll be in the gym with Second Flight doing their physical exertion tests.”

“I’m done, Jays,” Allison’s tired voice interrupted.

“You ok, Allison? You seem awfully quiet today,” Jack asked.

She rubbed between her eyes. “I’m just feeling really drained. Don’t know.”

He shared a look with Jack then asked her, “How’s your appetite?”

“Actually, I’m starving. I was going to ask if I could have a snack after we were done?”

“No problem. I’ll make sure you get plenty to eat.” He looked up at the sound of the doors opening and watched Chris walk in. “I left your change of clothes in one of the shower stalls, Allison, so why don’t you go get a shower, and when you’re done, the food will be here.”

“All right.”

He waited until she had crossed the Hub and the door to the bathrooms had shut before he spoke to Chris. “She’s going into the coma tonight.”

The Hunter closed his eyes for a moment. “I’ll let everyone know, thanks.”

Jack straightened. “The second half of Third Flight should be arriving soon, so I’d better get over to the exam room. I’ll catch up with you in the gym later, Jays.”

“Sure. And can you please order Allison’s last meal for me?”

“I’m on it,” he called over his shoulder.

“I hate that term,” Chris murmured.

Jays cocked his head at Chris then led him over to a stool in the triage alcove. “What would you call it then? It isn’t a normal meal; it allows us to deal with the kitchen without too much fuss because they know the requirements, and it
is
their last meal. Whether she makes it through the coma or not, she won’t eat or drink anything for the next week while she’s unconscious. So we need to make sure she has enough food and water in her system to last her through. Dying of dehydration is the most common cause, you know that. I just wish hooking them up to an IV worked.”