Rippled (19 page)

Come on, Darien.

Krista jumped as shots were fired into the air, every single one of them pointed at Malcom. I winced when the first one bit at his skin. I didn’t see whether he was hit with any more. Grabbing at Krista’s scruff with my maw, I pulled her away from the fence line.

“Get the Secretary out of here,” Darien called out over the second and third shots.

Already on it,
I thought, relieved when Krista finally turned around.

“Wait out here,” I said, running back towards the fence before I could hear her reply.

The Secretary had already backed up to my side of the yard, and somehow knew to follow me when I nipped at his sleeve. I eyed what looked to be a clinic on wheels in the middle of the yard before leading him away, and released a sigh of relief when the handful of men he’d brought along with him followed close behind us.

Assured Malcom was out of range, and probably sound asleep, I let the Secretary go before sitting back on my haunches. Krista and Darien joined us moments later.

“Are you okay?” I asked, looking at Jack, the current Secretary of Defense.

Jack rolled his shoulders back, his face weary. “I’m fine, but what the hell was that all about?” He gestured towards the main yard behind us. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you didn’t know we were coming.”

“We didn’t, sir,” Darien said, his eyes still fixed on Malcom’s body. “He didn’t tell us a damned thing. And when he docked our pay…”

“Docked your pay?” Jack shook his head. “You and your men should’ve been out of here weeks ago.”

“Yeah, well, apparently he didn’t feel it was worth mentioning.”

“Sir,” I began, grasping for words, “if you don’t mind my asking, why
are
you here?”

“To shut this pit down. And just as soon as we check out your vitals, you’ll be returned to your families.”

“So, all this time—the crap meals, the random tests—it was all because you stopped funding the Ripples project?”

“It would seem so.”

“And Malcom?” Darien asked as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “What will happen to him?”

“He’ll be taken in for questioning. We’ll also need to take what’s left of the virus.”

“That might be a problem,” I said. “Krista and I destroyed it just as you got here.”

“What the hell for?”

“Malcom was mixing the virus with some kind of memory serum. The last person he tested it on died.”

“Memory serum? You don’t say.” Jack looked between myself and Darien. “Why wasn’t this brought to my attention?”

“You’d have to bring that up with Malcom.”

“You did the right thing. Keeping a virus like that around would only cause more trouble than it’s worth. And you’re sure you destroyed all of it?”

“All but one vial. Malcom probably has it, and even then, I’m not sure where he has the rest stored.”

“Very well.” Jack nodded to one of his men. “Let me know when he wakes. In the meantime, I’m going to see if I can’t get some semblance of order in this camp. Brian, you and your friends can join me. Let’s see if we can’t get you back home.”

Chapter Eighteen

Krista

I let my claws tear long furrows from the earth as I paced from one side of the inspection tent to the other. Brian had agreed to have his blood work done first, and I eyed the line of shifters waiting to be tested and released. Malcom had yet to wake, but as much time as Brian had spent talking with the Secretary of Defense, I was pretty sure he’d be up soon, and that wasn’t something I wanted to witness on my own.

Darien and his men stood guard outside, along with Jack’s underlings and the few guards who’d trusted Malcom more than their own kind. To me, they all looked the same. We were all confused and tired, and I had no doubt they all wanted to go home as much as we did.

I flicked my ears, straining to hear Jack’s whispers on the other side of the flap dividing one side of the tent from the other. His silhouette stood over Brian’s human form, who seemed just as calm as ever.

Come on. Come on… What’s taking so long?

The voices on the other side of the flap rose, causing me to freeze in the middle of the room.

“…memories…shouldn’t go public.”

“But…have our word.”
Brian.

They were negotiating, and the weight of Brian’s voice stole the breath from my chest. It wasn’t anger, fear or guilt.
Desperation.
I growled, cowering when one of Jack’s men stood from his chair in a corner of the room. Had he been there the entire time? I hadn’t noticed. I’d been so wrapped up in what I couldn’t see happening, I was blinded to everything else.

I eyed his firearm as he set it in his lap.

Easy, Krista. You didn’t hear the entire conversation. They were just talking.

Yeah, tell that to the hour you’ve spent waiting or the guard sitting across from you.

I backed up against the exit to the tent, speaking to Darien when I was sure he was there. “Something isn’t right.”

Darien shifted on the other side of the wall. “What’s going on in there? You both should’ve been out by now. Where’s Brian?”

“I… He’s still talking to Jack. They’re talking about memories, and—”

“He’s going to use the serum.” Darien cursed under his breath. “Get in there. Now! I’ll handle things out here.”

I didn’t waste any more time, and when the one guard approached me, I threw him to the ground. “Stay.” I glared at him until he released his gun.

The talking on the other side of the flap stopped, and I quickly crawled underneath it to the other side, standing beside Brian moments later.

“We need to get out of here,” I said, keeping my eyes fixed on Jack. “I don’t trust him. He doesn’t smell right.”

“Krista, it’s okay,” Brian said, nodding to Jack before stumbling into a chair. He sat down, allowing the thin paper gown to hang open in front of him. “It’s either this, being imprisoned for the rest of our lives, or getting hunted down and killed.”

“And forgetting about the leopard—forgetting about us—is any better than that?” My vision jumped from Brian’s weakened form to Jack and the empty vial he held in his hand. “What did you do?” I turned to Brian. “What did you let him do to you? Talk to me!”

Brian blinked, and his eyes grew distant, almost as if…

He doesn’t remember me.

My heart sank. I fought back the tears and spun back at Jack. He had a second vial in his hands, the syringe pointed in my direction.

“You won’t remember a thing,” Jack began, smiling at me.

“The hell I won’t.” I took a step back.

“Imagine a life without that annoying itch—that need to shift.”

It doesn’t itch, you bastard!
Before he could take another step, I closed my eyes. I felt my body ripple, my form slowly changing shape in front of him. I didn’t care that he was watching. I hoped he did. I wanted him to see how beautiful the shift could be. How naked and innocent we were.

As soon as I’d found my footing, I lunged forward, grasping at the unused vial before I could even consider its contents or what they could do to me if he injected it under my skin. He pushed at me, grabbed at my hair. I stood my ground, held on to the vial…fought back.

“This can go one of two ways…” Jack grunted, his eyes checking the flap in the middle of the tent.

By now, I was pretty sure Darien and his men were inside. The guard I’d seen before didn’t make an appearance, much to Jack’s obvious disappointment.

“Nope,” I corrected him. “Just one.”

I ripped the vial from his hand and plunged the syringe into his arm. He howled in surprise and said nothing more, his body crumpling to the floor in front of me. It was the only thing I could have done. I didn’t have a choice. At least one of us had to remember what happened there. Might as well have been me.

Taking a breath, I turned back to Brian, who was gawking at me, his eyes full of wonder…amazed by what I could do—what
he’d
been able to do not minutes earlier. Certain that the injection had worked on Jack, I fell to my knees in front of Brian. There were no thoughts behind those eyes. He didn’t reach out to touch me. His lips didn’t move.

Biting back my tears, I took his face between my hands. I looked right at him—right into those eyes I’d grown to love.

“Brian, talk to me.” My voice wavered. “Who am I? Do you remember me?”

He didn’t answer, his gaze just as vacant as before. I leaned in and kissed him on the lips. My stomach twisted when he didn’t kiss me back.

But he didn’t push you away either.
I had to keep trying.

“Please, Brian, please at least try and remember.” I took one of his hands and placed it on my breast, smiling when my skin warmed beneath it. “You must remember something. Anything.”

When Malcom had used the memory serum on me, the effects hadn’t been complete. I’d still had inklings of some kind of memory, and I had to hope Brian was the same way.

What if it isn’t the same serum?

It had to be. I refused to believe someone’s memory could be taken away that fast, that completely.

There had to be a way to bring him back. Like an antidote. I’d never wanted to see him shift so bad in all the time we’d spent together.

“Brian, please, please remember.” I stroked at his hair. Kissed him again. His lips moved. The hand above my breast twitched. “Darien! Darien, I need you.” I pressed Brian’s forehead to mine. “That’s right, baby, try and remember. You can do this.”

I’d nearly forgotten how naked I was when Darien set a hand on my shoulder. His cheeks darkened when I gazed up at him, and he offered me his coat.

I shivered under the heavy fabric. “Brian…his memory… Jack…” I couldn’t speak after that, my words garbled behind a wave of tears.

Darien hugged the jacket around my shoulders and helped me to my feet. When one of his men came to join us, he said, “Get Brian to the clinic. I’ll be down shortly.” Then to me he said, “Let’s get you changed.”

“Malcom…I want to speak with Malcom.”

Darien nodded. “Get into some warm clothes first, then I’ll take you to him. He should be awake soon.”

* * * *

Malcom was sitting in one of the chairs inside the clinic when we arrived, his eyes heavy with exhaustion.

“How long until he’s fully alert?” I asked Darien when we entered the room.

“Within the hour,” Darien said, keeping an eye on the door. “We need to hurry, though. I’m not sure how long my men can hold the DOD and Malcom’s followers off.”

“We won’t need to after this.” I leaned over Malcom’s chair and looked him right in the eye. “Malcom, can you hear me?”

He flinched, his eyes widening. “You again? What the hell do you want?”

“We know about the memory serum.” I lowered my voice. “The serum, did you make an antidote?”

Malcom opened and closed his mouth, but said nothing.

“Answer her,” Darien growled.

“End of the hall. Cell 12D.” Malcom shifted in his chair. “What’s happened? What’s going on?”

“Darien will fill you in,” I said, hurrying back over to the door. I glanced at Darien before I stepped out into the hall. “Get as much of the serum as you can. We’re going to need it.”

My shoes scuffed the floor as I passed room after room, most of which reminded me of the cell beside mine back when I’d still been getting injections. Pretty soon this would all be a memory. We’d no longer have to live this nightmare. We’d be free to go wherever we wanted.
Free.
I wasn’t even familiar with the word.

You need to get Brian’s memories back first.

And I would, just as soon as we got the antidote back to the surface. As for the DOD, I didn’t care what happened, just so long as they didn’t go looking for us.

Worry about that later.

Stopping just outside the cell with the antidote, I checked the lock, sighing when I found the door open. It amazed me how we hadn’t even bothered to look for more of the virus in the other cells, but then again, with the DOD breathing down our necks, how could we have?

We didn’t have enough time.

If we had, we would’ve realised how well prepared Malcom had been, even if he was a prick most of the time.

After breaking into the medicine cabinet, I removed a single vial, eyeing the pale liquid curiously.
That’s it?
I checked the cabinet again. Rummaged through the drawers underneath. One vial. One antidote. Enough for one person.

I tried to think back on my life before coming here, but the memories were still blank. I could’ve taken it myself. I could’ve remembered my family.

You need Brian to remember you even more.

Old memories were of no concern to me—but if Brian couldn’t remember who I was…who
he
was? I couldn’t stomach him not knowing who we were.

Pocketing the vial, I ran out into the hall.

I’m coming, Brian.

Chapter Nineteen

Brian

The first memory I had from that night was how bright the lights were once I opened my eyes. A blur of activity swirled around me as I tried to orient myself. And at first, I couldn’t see or hear a damned thing. Someone moved off to the side, their hand stroking my hair as another touched my face.

Whoever it was, I wanted to see her. Touch her. I went to raise my arm, and grunted when it was held in place.
The hell?
I strained against a series of straps wrapped around my wrists, holding them down against the chair. I pulled at them again. Growled when they didn’t budge.

“Brian…still…”

Someone called my name. A female. I frowned and tried to place her, but my memory was blank. Deep down I knew I’d heard it before…somewhere…a long time ago.

But where?

All my life I’d been able to see what was right in front of me, even if my eyes didn’t want to. But in that room? I was blind. I could see shadows and light, but the details were distorted behind a screen of smoke.