Relentless (46 page)

One by one, Grant welcomed his friends into his apartment. Most he knew by name, a few he didn’t.

Hannah and Alex were still there, of course, Hannah watching over Alex, who was resting uncomfortably on the couch. Hannah spent a while cleaning Alex’s scrapes and bruises. They exchanged pained looks from time to time, and Alex winced frequently.

But neither spoke.

Half an hour later, Daniel and Lisa arrived. Daniel hobbled to Grant’s bedroom, where the two men had a private discussion. Lisa sat uncomfortably in the living room watching the other two women, barely aware they were there.

Morgan and Fletcher arrived next, trailed by a small group of Loci.

Morgan was still haggard and unrested, and her shoulder remained in the sling, but she’d cleaned herself up. When Grant emerged from his room—no longer smiling—her eyes were trained on him with intense interest. Daniel followed slowly. Fletcher was fidgety, his eyes darting about as he took in every detail of Grant’s home.

Grant suddenly looked far away. Someone had just registered on his radar, entering the building. He’d been watching, waiting.

A few other Loci straggled in before Payton entered the room. He strode in scowling, as if nothing were wrong, though everyone else tensed sharply at the sight of him. The evidence of his recent fight was obvious: a long bandage could be seen sticking out from his sleeve, and though he tried to hide it, his good arm hugged his abdomen firmly where Konrad had shot him. There was a slight stagger to his gait.

Lisa turned angrily to Grant. ‘‘What’s ‘Sir Hacks-a-lot’ doing here!’’

The twenty or so present had gathered in a large circle in Grant’s living room, but now many of them were on their feet.

‘‘Payton is here at my invitation,’’ Grant offered. ‘‘Everyone please relax. Like it or not, he’s a part of this. And whatever’s going on concerns us
all
.’’

‘‘Here, I’ll play nice,’’ Payton said, as he unbuckled his sword from his belt and tossed it sideways to Fletcher who, disgusted, dropped it onto the coffee table with a loud clatter.

Grant waited until they were silent and watching him. When he had their attention, he began.

‘‘Here’s where we’re at. Someone out there calling himself the ‘Keeper’ is using us. The rings were given to us intentionally, to turn us into something else. Something . . . superior.’’

‘‘Someone’s trying to make us into heroes,’’ Fletcher said. It wasn’t a question.

‘‘Yeah,’’ Grant replied, surprised. He had been planning to ease into that part of the conversation.

Fletcher nodded. ‘‘I suspected as much.’’

‘‘Heroes,’’ Morgan repeated slowly, straining to find a more comfortable position for her shoulder. ‘‘That’s what this is all about? The Shift?

The rings?’’

‘‘They’re called the Rings of Dominion,’’ Grant began. From there, he told them the highlights of Payton’s story, about the Rings, the Secretum, and his ring, the Seal of Dominion. He revealed his trip to his childhood home, the truth of his identity, and his parents’ membership in the Secretum. He finished by sharing the prophecy from the Dominion Stone that Daniel had translated.

No one spoke and significant glances were scarce as everyone present tried to accept the enormity of what had just been set out before them. Even Grant, who had spent some time with these facts already, found himself once again pondering it all.

Mostly, everyone stared at the coffee table in the center of the circle.

‘‘I understand it’s a lot to digest, but time is running out . . .’’ Grant said.

Morgan nodded, not looking up. ‘‘I get it, I’m just . . .’’

Grant watched her face, which was showing a mixture of alarm and disbelief.

‘‘This isn’t what you were expecting,’’ Grant offered.

Morgan looked up. ‘‘It’s what I expected for
you
. I’ve known you were meant for something like this since the moment I met you. But . . . you have to understand, Grant . . . the rest of us . . .’’

‘‘I know you’re afraid,’’ Grant said, ‘‘So am I.’’

‘‘Fear is pointless,’’ Fletcher announced. ‘‘My reservations about Grant notwithstanding, even I can no longer deny what’s plainly before us. Everything that’s happened to him—to
all
of us—it’s been preordained. We’ve been cast in certain roles. We may have no choice but to perform them.’’

‘‘No,’’ Morgan was saying, shaking her head, breathing faster. ‘‘We’ll find someplace new, a safe refuge where we can—’’

‘‘
Morgan
,’’ Grant said forcefully, and everyone in the circle looked up sharply. ‘‘Lines are being drawn. Sides are being taken. Hiding, trying to keep the world at bay—it’s not an option anymore.

‘‘I know we’ve all been through some . . . painful experiences of late,’’ he went on. ‘‘But there’s a fight coming, and I think it’s fair to say we all feel the weight of it, growing heavier. Dr. Cossick has new information to share with the group. But first, Alex has some news.’’ He turned to her. ‘‘Maybe you should start by explaining what’s happened to you.’’

‘‘The Keeper happened to me. This,’’ she glanced down at herself, ‘‘is my reprimand. I was a fool to think it could be kept from him.’’

‘‘How did you escape?’’ Payton asked.

‘‘He let me go on the condition that I would come straight here and tell you that the end has arrived. Whatever’s coming that you all have to stop—it’s coming now.’’

No one spoke.

‘‘Once again,’’ Fletcher piped up, breaking the silence, ‘‘it falls to me to point out the obvious. She’s admitted that she is employed by the enemy. What proof do we have that she’s a genuine double agent? Does
anyone
here really know anything about her at all?’’ he said, facing her.

Alex sighed, her face tilting down to examine her bare feet.

‘‘Hate to admit it, Alex,’’ Grant said, ‘‘but he’s right. You told me that everyone has their own agenda, but you’ve never told me what yours is. I think we have to know.’’

She let out a very long breath and looked back up.

‘‘Everything I told you about me was the truth. The Keeper really
did
hire me to keep tabs on you all. But that wasn’t . . . the
whole
truth. It
is
my job to watch you, to keep up with your activities and report back on your progress,’’ she said, stopping to take a sip. ‘‘What I didn’t tell you . . . is that it was also my job to
select
each of you in the first place.’’

Murmurs filled the room as dark glances were exchanged.

‘‘I was given a list to work from,’’ she continued, ‘‘and assigned to seek out these people who were good candidates for the Shift.’’

‘‘What criteria were used for creating this list?’’ Morgan asked.

‘‘I don’t know. But I
do
know that the information from my reports was the deciding factor on which of you were selected for the experiment. I’m sorry,’’ she said, sad but resolute.

‘‘Did you select me?’’ Grant asked.

‘‘No,’’ she replied. ‘‘You’re special. You always have been. From what I gather, you were
always
earmarked for the experiments, but you were saved for last.’’

‘‘So we’re just ‘experiments’ to you? Trial runs so that
he
could be perfected?’’ Payton muttered bitterly, angling his head toward Grant.

He locked cruel eyes on Alex. ‘‘I wonder what kind of person it takes to uproot and erase another’s life?’’

Alex’s head unexpectedly turned to Payton in a flash. ‘‘I may have cleared you for the experiments, but the person you became after that was
your
doing.
Not
mine. And I
had
no choice in any of this; it was either take the job or take a nice long nap six feet under.’’

‘‘I think it’s safe to say,’’ Grant spoke up, looking at everyone in the room individually, ‘‘that everyone in this room has regrets of some kind. We’ve all done things we’d like to take back.’’ His eyes lingered on Daniel for a moment, before he turned back to Alex again. ‘‘But this is the moment of truth, Alex. And we need all of it.’’

She faced Morgan.

‘‘You were the only one I never got to watch. Because, as you’ve always assumed, you were the first one to ever go through the Shift.

And that’s the truth. You
were
the first.’’

Alex looked down at her toes again and swallowed.

‘‘I was the second.’’

‘‘What?’’ Grant voiced what the entire room was thinking. ‘‘
You
were Shifted? But you’re not wearing a ring.’’

‘‘The Keeper was still in the early stages of his work back then. I had no idea then who he was or that he even existed, of course, I was just confused and afraid like all of you, but . . . there was an accident. I was just learning how to control my mental ability, and I was trying to help this guy. Unfortunately, he got some bad news and took it out on me; heated words were exchanged, and he . . . slapped me. And in a moment of anger, I used my mental power to . . .
damage
him.’’

‘‘Damage him how?’’ Morgan asked.

‘‘He’s lived the last ten years of his life in a straitjacket, where he will probably remain until the day he dies. He would gladly hurt himself if he could. He’s tried many times, over the years, or so I’ve heard. I was . . . absolutely horrified by what I’d done, and even more frightened because I couldn’t
undo
it. I was just devastated. I never knew myself capable of such rage. And I was only a teenager . . .

‘‘The Keeper found me, brought me to some kind of facility, and explained that I was his first failed experiment. I begged him to remove my ring, to take the power back. I told him I’d do anything he wanted if he would just take it away. I thought he was going to kill me, but he agreed. He used drugs to stop my heart long enough to pry the ring off my finger. And with that, my power was gone. But I was still living inside this new life that I didn’t know or want. Like each of you, I couldn’t go back to who I was before.’’

No one said anything as they all tried to absorb her tale.

‘‘Being powerless to do anything about any of this . . . being forced to work for him all these years . . . I . . . It made me so . . . That’s the reason I made contact with you, Grant, the day you were Shifted. It’s been fourteen years, and I had nearly given up hope. But I knew you were different from all the others, and I thought you might be my last hope of escaping him.’’

‘‘Who is he?’’ Grant asked.

‘‘Grant, I’ve never seen him . . .’’

‘‘You just said you bargained with him to get your ring off.’’

‘‘It was done by intermediaries, scientists, people who spoke for him and worked
with
him at this facility where they took me. I never even knew where I was, they blindfolded—’’

‘‘
What is his
name
?
’’ Grant shouted.

Alex flinched at his outburst before she collected herself.

‘‘I would have told you already if I knew. I’m beginning to think he doesn’t even
have
a real name.’’

Alex sat back in her seat, apparently finished.

Grant sighed. ‘‘All right. Thank you for telling the truth. Better late than never. Your turn, Doc,’’ he said, but didn’t stop watching Alex.

‘‘The Keeper has the Dominion Stone,’’ Daniel announced, generating a new swell of murmurs around the circle.

‘‘So it’s safe to assume that he knows everything we know,’’ Grant said.

‘‘It’s safer to assume he knows
a whole lot more
than we know,’’ said Fletcher.

‘‘How did you come by this information, Doctor?’’ Morgan inquired.

‘‘Matthew Drexel told me,’’ he replied.

‘‘You’ve
seen
him?’’ Morgan asked in a quiet voice. ‘‘Was it
him
—?’’

Daniel nodded. ‘‘He hired Konrad to burn your building to the ground,’’ he said, which drew another round of surprised expressions and mumbling. ‘‘But Drexel himself was acting under orders. He was working for the Keeper all along.’’

Grant fought the urge to curse.

Another manipulation.

This had to stop.

Now
.

‘‘Where is Drexel currently?’’ Payton snarled. It was plain to see that he was thinking exactly as Grant was.

‘‘He’s, um—’’

‘‘A dead issue,’’ Lisa blurted out, lifeless eyes staring ahead into nothing.

‘‘And we know for certain that Drexel was working for the Secretum? There’s evidence of this?’’ Morgan asked.

‘‘Oh, come on, Morgan,’’ Grant said forcefully, before Daniel could answer. He rose from his chair with an exasperated expression. ‘‘Look at how Alex has been used for so long. He reeled Hannah in because she could get close to us.
You’ve
been a pawn in this thing for over a decade, with the tablet and Drexel and everything that happened at the asylum. Daniel nearly lost his
life
a few weeks ago. Payton was saved and trained at the hands of the Secretum. And then there’s everything that’s happened to me . . .

‘‘Does
anyone
in this room seriously believe that they haven’t been manipulated by the Keeper in one way or another? Everything that’s happened to all of us points straight back to
him
. And personally . . .

I’m sick of it.’’

Grant was pacing now, holding their full attention.

‘‘I’ve just had enough, haven’t you?’’ he asked them all. ‘‘Everything we’re talking about comes back to this one issue: The Keeper has ruined all of our lives. He’s killed innocent people. He’s Shifted us, and given us bizarre abilities that none of us asked for. To what end, I can’t imagine. He’s manipulated our entire lives, pulled and prodded us,
changed
everything about who we are . . .’’

He stopped pacing.

‘‘And I don’t know about you, but I’d like to show him the
depth
of his mistake.’’

Payton’s eyes lit up, but everyone else looked at one another timidly.

‘‘So it’s like this. We can either sit back and wait for whatever’s going to happen . . . or we can
end
the manipulations and stop all this before it happens. Right now.’’

‘‘But how can it be stopped?’’ Hannah spoke up for the first time. ‘‘If it’s predestined to be, then isn’t it inevitable, no matter what we do?’’