Winter's Warrior: Mark of the Monarch (Winter's Saga 4) (37 page)

“What’s the bad news?”

“These three airports aren’t exactly close to one another.  Any guesses?”  Alik held the map out to Farrow to glance at as she kept glancing back at the road.

She sighed deeply, a worry line creasing her brow.  “What if we just took the one closest to us?  Maybe we’ll get lucky?”

“Sounds as good a plan as any,” Alik nodded.  “Maybe we’ll luck out.”

“I thought you said there was no such thing as luck, only blessings?”

“Touché.”

Minutes later, they were pulling up into the first private airport.  Farrow parked right outside what looked like the main hanger where the building sported a sign reading, “Bluegrass Air Streams.” 

“Wait,” Alik said, his eyes glowing indigo.  “I think…yeah, pull the
SUV around the back of this hanger.” 

“What if the cops are called?”

“Trust me.”

“Okay,” Farrow said with a worried sigh.  She backed out of the spot she just parked in and pulled around the back, following Alik’s instructions.

“Stop here,” he said, eyes still glowing blue.

Alik was deep in retro-cogging when there came a loud rapping at the driver’s side window.

Startled, Farrow rolled her window down just enough to talk with the man dressed in blue jeans and a clean shirt.  He was scowling.  “What the hell are you doing, miss?  You can’t be back here.  Turn this vehicle around and go park in the front, like everyone else.”  He looked mad enough to spit nails.

“Yes, sir.  Sorry.  We were just…”

“I don’t care what you were just doing.  Get your vehicle off my tarmac!”

Farrow nodded her understanding and rolled up her window before putting the
SUV in drive.  “Well, we just made a friend,” she said under her breath in case the guy was a lip-reader.  He stood with his arms crossed angrily, watching her every move.

“They were here.” Alik’s voice was barely above a whisper. 

“Are you sure?” Farrow whipped her head around to look at Alik’s stoic face.

“Yes.” There was so much more behind that one word, but Farrow knew they didn’t have time just then to go into it. 

“I have them now,” his voice was as hollow as his eyes were filled with rage.  He reached up and pointed his hand back to the main road.

“I won’t lose sight of them, Farrow.  Don’t make me stop tracking no matter what.  Do you understand?”

“What are you seeing Alik?”

“I see everyone bound and drugged.   But I also see we’re not the only ones tracking Arkdone.  Williams is here
, too.”

“Oh, shit.”

“He’s brought a large plane full of metasoldiers and he’s very obviously pissed.  They left not two hours ago.”

“What are you thinking Alik?”

“I’m thinking we may be too late, but nothing’s going to stop me from trying to save my family.  I’m not expecting the same from you Farrow.  You can just drop me off outside wherever they ended up stopping their vans.”

Alik’s glowing eyes never left the veiled images in front of him, however desperately he wanted to read her facial expression just then.  He didn’t have to read it; she said what was in her heart.

“Where you go, I go.  Like I promised your mother, I’m all in.”

“Farrow, this looks like it’s turned into a suicide mission.”  Alik shook his head; sadness laced with determination defined his tone.

“I choose to fight beside you, Alik Winter.  If that means I die beside you, so be it.  I have a lot of atoning to do.  This would be an honorable way for me to go.”

Never letting his eyes deviate from his echo of a target, he reached out to Farrow, ran his fingers slowly down her right forearm.  Once at her hand, he spread her hand palm up and wove his fingers with hers.  “You don’t have to atone for anything.  God forgives and forgets the moment you simply confess your sins and ask for His grace.”

“I’m not talking about saying a bad word, Alik.”

“I know.”  He pointed with his right hand to a turn he wanted Farrow to make.  She nodded and obeyed without saying a word
; they’d been doing this for so long, she was accustomed to his ways.  “Nothing you’ve ever done, said or thought is unforgivable, Farrow.  Nothing.”

Farrow frowned deeply.  “I was made ‘for war,’ remember, Alik?  I’ve been damned from the start.  But if helping you makes up for my life even a little, it would be well worth it to me.”

“Please stop talking like that about yourself, Farrow.  Don’t you know how precious you are to Him?  How precious you are to me?”

Farrow only scowled.  A look of resolve and determination etched across her beautiful freckled face.

“Do you care about me?”  He asked her point blank.

“Yes,” she said with no hesitation.

“I care about you deeply,” his eyes never left the road, but he had memorized every facial expression his little sparrow ever made.  He knew she would be blushing and feeling genuinely unworthy right now.  Her eyes would be darting around nervously and her beautiful white teeth would have caught her bottom lip to gnaw on it, almost as punishment for the kindness she was aching to receive. 

“Every time you say something negative about yourself, it’s like you’re saying something negative about me.  Every time you cut yourself down, you cut me.  When you chastise yourself, you chastise me.  Do you understand?”

“No.”  Farrow was being stubborn.  She knew exactly what he was trying to say to her.  “I would never do those things to you.”

“But don’t you see?  I’ve chosen you.  I want to wrap my arms aroun
d you and hold you close, safely with me, so when you take out your whip and move to strike yourself, you can’t do it without striking me, too.”

Farrow looked over at Alik and saw his eyes tearing up.  His beautiful indigo eyes that saw hours in the past sh
ined even brighter when his rims were painted red with the unshed sadness he felt for his broken sparrow. 

“I understand,” she finally said, her voice soft and full of emotion.  “And just so you know, I’ve chosen you, too.”  The little girl deep inside Farrow wanted to dance for joy at finally finding someone who loved her no matter what, but maybe she felt the surge of joy just as much because that someone was teaching her how to love herself.

“We’re here,” Alik said solemnly. 

“You will not be able to help one another without risking the detonation of nanoweapons with the triggers in your hearts.  That has already been established.”

Dr. Bjorn walked up to Meg with what looked like a silver gun in one hand and a swatch of gauze soaked in rubbing alcohol. Unceremoniously, and without a word, he pulled up the sleeve of her bloody T-shirt, rubbed a site with the gauze then brought the gun to her shoulder and shot her with something that
burned as it went into her skin.  Meg’s eyes watered, but she still refused to cry—even when a Monarch wheeled her badly injured coyote into the room, locked in a too-small crate.  Maze was positioned at least ten feet from everyone else.

“Now, the part of the story you haven’t heard: I have
achieved a technique called ‘The Perfect Concussion.’  Meg will be one of the first candidates to be affected by the newest nanoprogramming.  Trauma-based mind control, while loads of fun to execute, is time consuming and doesn’t always give me, the investor, the best return for my time and money.  So, I’ve been having my engineers work on a way to bypass the time-consuming tasks of sleep, food, sensory deprivation, skinning, mind-altering drugs, and so on. 

“
Now, with The Perfect Concussion, we can expedite the process.  Allow me to demonstrate—on your sister,” Arkdone spun on his heels and looked directly at Evan.  He and Sloan were the only two captives capable of grasping the gravity of their situation with their scientific backgrounds.

“
Use me instead!  I have been told I was given the most advanced of the original Infinite serum.  I would be a better choice!”

“How noble of you
, young man.  Yes, you will be next—however, ladies first.”

Dr. Bjorn shuffled toward Meg holding a helmet in his gloved hands. 
Wires similar in appearance to Medusa’s snakes hung off the back connecting it to a large machine.  He slipped the helmet over her head and secured the chinstraps.

“What is this, Arkdone?” Meg
was only able to speak through partially gritted teeth due to the tight strap under her jaw. 

“Please hold all questions until the end of the demonstration,” he said smiling at his joke.

“Now, without further ado, Dr. Bjorn please proceed.” 

The doctor nodded once and flipped a series of switches before hesitating over one more.  His eyes locked onto the profile of the metahuman he was about to destroy and a quiver of a smile danced across his lips.

“No! 
STOP!
”  Cole yelled.  “This is freakin’ messed up!  Let her go!” 

“Oh, good.  Finally awake, Mr. Andrews
?  Just in time.”

Arkdone held up one finger to Bjorn who paused and awaited further orders.

“Forgive the melodrama, Meg,” Arkdone knelt in front of her strapped down body.  “I only want to watch the old Meg disappear.  I am honored to be the one to watch your eyes as
she
dies and the new you comes to life.”

Meg’s eyes were wide with terror.  “What are you talking about?  What are you going to do to me?”

“Why, haven’t you been listening, my dear?  I’m about to give you The Perfect Concussion.  You’ll have no memories—a beautifully complete blank slate.  And you will be mine for the molding.”

“Oh, God no!” Evan pleaded.

“Don’t do this!” Cole barked furiously.

“Meg, no!” Sloan sobbed.

“Meg, remember.  Hold yourself back.  Remember who you are, please!” Creed begged.

“I love you and I always will,” Meg whispered as she
clinched her fist around Creed’s promise ring.  She locked eyes with each of her family now screaming in fear for her.

“Now,” Arkdone called to Bjorn. 

The machine let out a loud humming, filling the space and silencing the captives with terror.

T
hump!

Silence enveloped
the room.

Meg, who had given up on her promise not to cry, stared straight ahead, tears slipping down her now calm face.  Her large dark eyes were void of emotion.  She
would almost look serene if it weren’t for the remnants of her salty tears that merged with the smeared dried blood around her nose, mouth and chin. 

“Now, you’re absolutely beautiful,” Arkdone murmured nearly giddy with joy.  “I’ve given you a new beginning and with that, a new name.  From now on you will be known as
Naya, meaning ‘renewal and fresh’.”

Meg continued to stare ahead, locked in a distant stare through Arkdone. 

“Meg, please look at me,” Evan pleaded.  His face was red with rage and terror. 
“MEG! I’m your brother! LOOK AT ME!”

“Oh
, dear God.  What did you do to her?” Cole looked to have awakened to a real nightmare. 

“Please
, come back to me,” Creed quietly begged the dark-eyed beauty.  “I can’t do this without you.” Tears slipped hot and sore from his stinging eyes as he watched the girl whose entire identity had just been stolen from her.

“She’s gone.  Meg is gone.” Sloan moaned miserably.

Ignoring the uproar behind him, Arkdone was busy unstrapping the girl from the wheelchair and carefully removing the helmet.  Meg sat perfectly still the entire time.

“
You are complete strangers to her now, so go on and keep screaming.  She cares nothing for you.  She’s mine now.” 

With that, Creed pulled with everything he had at the iron shackles holding him down.  Though they groaned at his efforts, they held tight.  “Feel free to exert yourself, Mr. Young.  Those shackles were designed to withstand the pull of an adult male elephant.  However strong you think you are, you’re still just a metahuman.”  Arkdone shrugged as though he were offering pity to a pathetic creature.

Evan’s eyes would not leave his sister.  The honey gold in them dimmed with each passing moment that his sister wouldn’t even acknowledge him. 

Sloan hung her head in defeat, tears splatting silently on her grimy jeans.

“We will get her back, Arkdone,” Cole blurted.  “She might not be able to hear us, but you can.  Know this: We will hunt you down and rip you apart with our bare hands.  You will pay for what you’ve done to Meg. 
Do you hear me?
”  Cole was screaming, his huge biceps pulling tightly on the straps securing him to his wheelchair.

Ignoring the metahuman screaming across the room, Arkdone held out his hand to Meg as though she were royalty.  “
Naya, please stand and accompany me.  It looks as though we have some more cleaning up to do and there is someone I’d like to introduce you to waiting in the parlor room.” 

Without a word, Meg took Arkdone’s hand and stood gracefully.  Her dark eyes stayed staring at a point far away
, and she still had not spoken a word.