Tapestries 04 - Threads of Destiny (2 page)

8

Over the years, most of the subjects had been weeded out as unsuitable. Kathryn remembered how horrified she’d been by this when she’d come across the dusty old file several months ago. Many of the boys had barely reached ten years of age before they were murdered. She knew the scientists saw it as simply destroying expendable test subjects. To her it was outright genocide.

Now thirty years and many failed experiments later, they were ready to terminate this project. They’d been working on robotic soldiers for more than a decade now and these were deemed more acceptable to the task at hand.

There had been problems with Project Alpha.

The two remaining subjects had developed as they’d hoped, quickly becoming experts in martial arts and hand-to-hand combat as they grew. By the time they were twenty, they were experts in every weapon known to mankind. Unfortunately, rather than living longer, they were aging at a rate just the tiniest bit faster than humans. Their life expectancy was just around sixty to sixty-five years. Kathryn speculated that this was due to the extreme physical and emotional strain that they’d been under since the day they were born.

The scientists had also not counted on the men thinking for themselves. Even with the computer implants, they were not easy to control. They reasoned and thought and made their own decisions, plus they’d showed emotions, something the scientists had tried to breed and train out of them.

The Council deemed the experiment a complete failure and General Caruthers had ordered the termination of the two remaining Alphas—Alpha One and Alpha Two—

Tienan and Logan.

Kathryn sat back, leaning her head against the cushions. She’d been the only one to object, the only one to find the edict heinous and unacceptable. The other scientists on the team had looked at her with pity and disdain as she reiterated the fact that Tienan and Logan were men, not machines. They were living, breathing people. No one listened. No one else cared.

A child prodigy, Kathryn was used to being viewed as unusual, as a freak of nature.

She’d always been different, advancing quickly in her studies when she was young.

Speed-reading was a talent that had allowed her to get through school quickly, that and a photographic memory. By the time she was twenty, she had advanced degrees in robotics, genetics and computer science, as well as degrees in botany and chemistry. By the time she was twenty-three, she’d added a medical degree to the list. Her father had supervised all her studies, pushing her harder as each year went by. Failure was not an option for a Piedmont. She had no friends and no life beyond her work. Kathryn had long felt like just another study subject, one who often disappointed.

For years, she had desperately wanted to leave this house and have a place of her own, a life of her own. But she was just as much a prisoner as Tienan and Logan. Rental units were at a premium inside the Gate. They were costly and offered only to those who met stringent requirements. Kathryn certainly had the pedigree to get one, but the 9

one time she’d tried, her father had sent a note to the rental company and that had been that. The offer of the unit had been withdrawn, leaving her with nowhere else to go.

Her father often said it was for her personal safety but she knew better. He’d invested a lot of money in her over the years and Smithson Piedmont always made sure his investments paid off.

She’d gone to work at Piedmont Corporation at the ripe age of twenty-three and had begun working closely with Tienan and Logan. That was seven years, and seemed like a lifetime, ago. Back then, she’d believed in what she was doing. Back then she’d truly thought she could make a difference for good, to help the people beyond the Gate.

It didn’t take her long to discover that wasn’t the objective of the Corporation. The only thing the Corporation cared about was making money and maintaining power.

The only good out of her time there was that she’d met Tienan and Logan. The same age as she, they’d become her friends.

Taking a deep breath, she reached out and plucked her favorite book from the table.

Its cover now tattered and torn, she’d discovered it among a box of books in the far corner of the room a few months ago. She’d never read anything like those books in her life. They were filled with tales of erotic love and romance. For a woman who’d only had one single relationship in her life, which had been an unmitigated disaster, it had been a revelation.

Christina’s Tapestry had quickly become her favorite of them all. The tale of a woman plucked from her mundane life and swept away to another place and time and into the arms of not one but two warriors had enthralled her. In the land of Javara, women were scarce and the brothers had engaged in a sexual competition in order to convince Christina to stay in their land and choose one of them as a husband. The men shared the woman but only one man could be her husband and claim the children as his own.

That was fine in a book, she supposed, but Kathryn didn’t see how it could work in practice. It was fine for Christina and Jarek, the older brother in the book, but what about poor Marc? Although accepting of the arrangement, Marc had seemed lonely. As silly as it was, Kathryn had cried for Marc. He was a special man and deserved a woman of his own. She’d actually gotten angry with the author for leaving him in such a state.

“Oh God,” she moaned. “I’m losing my mind. I’m worried about a character in a book when Tienan and Logan’s lives are in danger.” She didn’t want to think about what would happen to her if her part in this were ever discovered. Using their superior physical skills and intellect and her knowledge of the lab and the security systems at the various checkpoints in the city, they’d managed to get both men out of their confinement cells last night and away from Piedmont Corporation. Now, they had to figure out what to do next.

She wrapped her arms around herself, blinking back the tears that threatened.

“What I need is a magical tapestry to whisk all three of us out of this mess.” She smiled 10

wistfully, thinking how nice it would be not to have to worry about her father, the General and the entire situation for just one day. Her entire life had been stressful for as far back as she could remember but the past few months that stress had increased tenfold. Exhaustion hit her and she knew she had to go back down to her rooms or eventually Tienan and Logan would come looking for her.

She pushed to her feet and stumbled slightly. She hadn’t eaten since breakfast. The interrogation teams didn’t concern themselves with such mundane things as food and water and now she was feeling lightheaded. Extending her hands to steady herself, she hit the corner of a small trunk. It slid off the top of the larger trunk it was resting on and crashed to the floor. “Shit!” She pitched forward, barely avoiding ending up face first on the floor.

The fallen trunk had popped open and she glanced inside as she wiped her hands on the legs of her pants and steadied herself. A leather-bound journal caught her eye and she plucked it from the depths of the trunk. It was obviously old, the leather cracked. Opening it carefully, she sucked in a breath when she realized it was from one of her ancestors, a woman who’d lived more than one hundred years before. “This is amazing.” She turned one page, then another, reading rapidly.

Closing the book, she tucked it under her arm. She needed to read this. She was about to close the top of the trunk when something caught her eye. Plucking the bundle of fabric from the trunk, she shook it open, coughing and sneezing when dust flew from it. Carrying it closer to the light, she exclaimed with delight as the pattern emerged.

“Well, you wanted a tapestry.” It was exactly as she imagined the one in the book would be and although it was dirty, she could see the myriad colors in the fabric. Red, green, blue, black, brown, white, silver and yellow all peeked from beneath the layer of dust, forming a picture. There was a stone castle in the center, surrounded by an abundance of flora and fauna, most of which she’d only seen in pictures. The river beyond the castle looked so real, she thought that if she touched it her fingers would get wet. “Incredible,” she whispered. The colors would be positively vibrant after a good cleaning.

A man stood in front of the castle, tall and proud. He was dressed in brown pants and boots, his chest bare. Long brown hair fell to his waist and his golden-brown eyes seemed to stare at her, through her. Her nipples tightened dramatically, making her gasp. What was wrong with her? The longer she stared at him, the more aroused she became. Her panties were damp and her body felt heavy, almost lethargic.

This was crazy. It was definitely time to break out her vibrator. She groaned as she realized that wouldn’t happen anytime soon. Not with Tienan and Logan staying with her. She’d spent the last seven years trying to think of them only as friends but with them here with her now that was becoming much more difficult. They were both handsome, virile men and she was only human after all. And she was a woman who, because of her commitment to her work and the lack of opportunity to meet someone who wasn’t cowed by her father, hadn’t had a man share her bed in over five years.

11

A noise startled her, sending her pulse racing. “Who’s there?” She thought about what she’d heard. It had sounded almost as if someone had sighed. That was crazy. It was probably the wind in the eaves or something.

No one answered but she couldn’t shake the feeling that she wasn’t alone. She’d become very paranoid in the past few months, even more so in the past twenty-four hours. Draping the tapestry carefully over her chair, she laid the journal on top of it. She had to leave them here. She couldn’t risk bringing them down to her room. If any of the staff discovered either item they’d tell her father and he’d have them thrown out just because they were important to her.

She closed the lid on the trunk and crept back to the door, listening carefully. After a few moments, her pounding heart settled and she cracked the door open. Seeing no one, she turned off the light and made her way down the stairs, placing each foot carefully on the step. A part of her wanted to bring the tapestry with her but logic prevailed.

“I wish that the tapestry was magic and it would bring Marc to me.” She sighed, her words drifting back up the stairs, as she pulled open the door to the hallway. One night of hot sex with the man from her fantasies would at least relax her and maybe make it easier to face the coming days ahead. Her life was changing, no doubt about it.

No matter what happened, she knew she couldn’t stay here any longer. Tienan and Logan didn’t know it yet but when they left the city, she was going with them.

Glancing up and down the hallway to make sure no one else was there, she sneaked back to her room, ready to face Tienan and Logan. They needed to make plans.

12

Marc Garen sat in his chair at the head table in the great hall, just beyond the feasting crowd, watching as friends, family and honored guests toasted the arrival of Jarek and Christina’s third child. This one was cause for a major celebration. After two boys, they’d had a girl—a blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty like her mother.

The child was the center of attention, her proud parents holding court as one person after another came to pay tribute. Their other two children, five-year-old Baron and three-year-old Derrik, stood beside them, looking proud and pleased. Even at their young age, they knew the importance of a female child.

Marc watched Baron, who smiled when he reached out and touched his sister’s face with his chubby fingers. Although they’d both shared Christina’s bed at the time, there was no doubt in Marc’s mind that the boy was his. He felt it in his heart and soul but he could not claim him. Only Jarek, as Christina’s husband, could claim the children as his own. It was the way things were done in Javara, the way they had to be done but that didn’t make it any easier to accept.

Marc closed his eyes against the pain and emptiness that threatened to engulf him.

He knew that both Jarek and Christina were worried about him. He’d shared their bed in the early days of their marriage, claiming his one night a week, as was his right as Jarek’s brother. But in the past few years, those times had gotten farther and farther apart. It had been almost a year since he’d sought them out. They were so happy together that he always felt as if he were intruding.

Jarek and Christina had grown much closer since he’d stepped away from their relationship. Marc was happy for them, even as his loneliness increased with each passing season.

He wanted what they had.

He wanted a woman of his own. A woman he didn’t have to share. But given the laws and reality of their world, that wasn’t going to happen. Marc had resigned himself to a life alone as there was no way he could go back to sharing their bed once a week, as was custom.

Opening his eyes, he glanced around the great hall in Castle Garen. Many of their neighbors had come to celebrate the birth and naming ceremony of the new child. All four Bakra brothers were there with their wives. He watched them carefully, sensing no strife or unease amongst the couples. They all seemed happy in their lives, sharing one woman between two brothers.

In fact, all the people around him seemed happy. And he was happy too. This was a joyous occasion but, underlying it all, he felt as if something in his life was lacking.

Amidst the crowd of people, he felt utterly alone.

13

Shaking off the mood, he gripped the ale-filled chalice in his hand and rose. “To Jarek and Christina and their new girl child, Allina. May health and happiness be with them always.”

The crowd cheered and raised their glasses in a toast. Christina smiled at him before returning her attention to the baby. Jarek stared hard at him, as if sensing his unsettled thoughts.

Lowering his cup to the table, he turned and strode from the room, unable to stand the happy throng any longer. His long legs ate up the distance as he headed up the stone staircase that led to the family quarters. When he reached his room, he shoved open the door and strode inside, kicking it closed with his booted foot.