Chapter 6
They got away, General Daniels.”
Cutter cursed his second-in-command as rage welled up inside him, and exploded in a wave so violent that it caused him to kick his attaché across the room. The power of his blow was such that it sent his man straight through the concrete block and steel rebar. It was never a good idea to deliver him bad news. He firmly believed in killing the messenger.
If nothing else, it made him feel better.
And given the fact that very few things did, it was just a bad idea to be a harbinger in his command.
“Jenny!” he roared.
His daughter was much more circumspect as she stepped over the puddle of blood that was seeping under the door and entered his office.
Ignoring the large, gaping hole in the side of the wall beside the double steel doors, she moved to stand in front of his industrial grade, crystal desk. Cocking her head, she glanced down at the newsfeed that played through the top of his desk, then up to meet his gaze. “Yes, Papa?”
He paused at the sight of her, and lowered the volume of the speakers. That right there was why he carried the banner of pain so close to his heart. Not just for his people who had been betrayed, but for the damage done to his beloved only child. Her face should have been flawless and beautiful.
Like her mother’s.
Instead, she bore hateful scars across her left cheek, from the corner of her mouth to her eye, from the claws of other Remnants who’d tried in desperation to feed from her. And a knife wound down the length of her right cheek from a Scrap who’d tried to stop her eating his heart. That attack had also left her blind in that eye and turned it white. A stark contrast from her left eye that was still its natural dark brown, like her skin and hair she wore in Nubian spirals.
Damn them all for what they’d done to them.
He would see them in hell before this was through. “How’s the trace coming?”
“Slow, but we should be able to find Crow and his crew the next time he posts something. We just need one more act of stupidity.”
“Then let us hope he makes one soon.” He jerked him chin toward the body. “And speaking of stupid, find me a new assistant.”
She glanced over her shoulder and sighed. “I’ll try, but it’s getting harder to do so with every one you kill. Really, Papa. Help me out, and cut down on the bloodstains.”
He swiped his hand over the desk to change the channel to a new feed. “I’ll cut down on the bloodstains when our enemies are removed from power and we are in charge again. The earth was made for humanity.”
“Then wouldn’t that be the Relics?”
He chose to ignore her impertinence. “If my plan works, our humanity will be restored, and we’ll be cured. We’ll be the Relics, then.”
“Do you really believe that?”
He had to. The alternative was unacceptable to him. He’d seen too many of them die. Horribly.
Too many of them go mad.
The Drabs thought they were animals. The Scraps thought them monsters.
Sadly, the truth was far worse. They were cursed and damned.
He glanced up at Jennifer and sighed. “Mohani Crow wasn’t just working on a vaccine. She was working on a cure. I saw her research. With our abilities, I know we can complete her formulas. We just have to get to it.”
“They’re never going to let us have her work. You know that.”
“Then I will kill every one of them.”
Josiah pulled up short as he saw Daria waiting for him. The hopeful look in her eyes made his stomach draw tight. He hated that he had to crush her with the latest new, but he had no choice.
“Sorry. We were too late to save them.”
Watching the light fade in her eyes was like seeing a car crash in slow motion. And it hit him just as hard. “Did you see my parents?”
He shook his head. “I’m so sorry. There was no sign of them.”
Daria swallowed hard. “Did you even try?”
Those words hit him like a slap. Josiah recoiled. “How could you ask me such a thing?”
“How could I not?”
Fury stung him deep and it launched his bitterness. He was a fool to think for one minute that she might be different. In the end, she was as black-blooded as the rest of her kind.
“Whatever. I’m not going to stand here and let you put your hatred in my heart, and condemn me like some tabloid working off half-truths gleaned from propaganda you made up out of thin air, and the falsified opinions you gleaned from your friends, because you want to hate me and you’re looking for any excuse to justify it.” He started to leave, then stopped himself. “You know, I could have forgiven you for anything but this unfounded accusation that I don’t deserve. I won’t be condemned for your fears. Only for the actions and sins that I actually do.”
Daria sucked her breath in sharply as Josiah turned into a crow and vanished.
She’d be furious but for the fact that she understood.
He was right. She’d condemned him without a hearing and on assumptions that had no basis in fact.
Still...
Who could blame her? The humans had wrapped themselves in a flag of treachery and bitterness. Was it so much to assume they would strike back at her race any way they could?
They’re going to eat you alive...
Especially now that she’d lost her only ally.
“Here.”
Daria jumped as someone offered her a tissue to wipe away her tears.
Looking up, she met the gaze of an extremely gorgeous human male. One with brown hair and dark brown eyes. His caramel skin was dusted with a day’s growth of beard that added a rugged quality to the perfection of hard, chiseled features. “Thank you.”
He inclined his head to her. “Don’t worry. You’re not the only one who thinks Crow’s an ass.”
Those words both startled and amused her. “Pardon?”
“I said you’re not the only one who can’t stand the smug, sanctimonious prick.” He changed his features so that he appeared to be as Maten as she did.
And not just any Maten. This was one she knew all too well. One she’d never expected to see again.
“Frayne?”
His features dark, he narrowed his gaze on her. “You’re not the only one with secrets, Daria. And there’s a lot of things Xed didn’t tell you.” He brushed his hand over her cheek, causing her heart to race and her skin to burn with a memory of how much he meant to her. How much they’d shared. “I swear, I never meant for you or your parents to get caught up in any of this.”
Her head spun at what she was seeing. What she was hearing.
What she still felt for him.
Was this for real?
Was it really him?
“You’re a Shif?”
He nodded, then leaned down to whisper in her ear. “And if you can forgive me and trust me again, I swear I can get your parents back. But first you have to decide whose side you’re really on.… Ours or theirs.”