18
“What did you do to Agent Drekker? His body looked like someone had used acid to melt him from the inside.”
Groaning, Ethan drew one hand across his face. “I’ve already told you—”
“Well, explain it to me again. And then you will tell me again. And again—until this shitstorm begins to make some sort of sense.”
Davey sat quietly, watching the exchange between Ethan and his brother Aaron. They had been detained in his office for the past two hours, retelling the same story over and over. Ethan, of course, was completely opposed to telling Aaron the truth, unwilling to put Davey at risk because he thought he couldn’t trust his brother with a secret of such magnitude.
Back at the lake house, Davey—aided by her father’s research—had made a daring gamble. Dr. Savage had designed the ultimate guardian for his children, one who would live forever, never abandon them, and give his own life to protect them without a thought of hesitation. But then her father had taken extra measures to safeguard the guardian. Within Ethan’s original programming, he had built a failsafe into the base code. Because of that failsafe, no matter what Global Cures did to Ethan or how many times they wiped his memories, his mind would always recall Davey and come back to her. He would always find her and always protect her.
Using the same theorem, Davey had altered the programming of Belial’s android vessel and built a kill switch into the base code. In the same way her father had defensively used the mathematics of his genetic code to protect Ethan’s memories, Davey had used the genetic formula to protect herself from attack by Belial. The very moment he decided to kill Davey, the kill switch had activated and purged his soul into oblivion. The catastrophic damage done to the android’s physical body had been an unexpected side effect. It was something Davey hadn’t accounted for and couldn’t explain. And neither could Ethan, but that hadn’t stopped him from creating an alternate version of events, one only slightly more believable than what had actually transpired.
“Really, you should stop calling the guy Mason Drekker. That’s not who he claimed to be,” Ethan said for the third time in yet another retelling. “Your scientists screwed the pooch and brought back someone—something—else. He might have even been an alien.”
“You can’t seriously expect me to file this report in the way you’re telling it. I couldn’t sell this shit to a pig farmer.”
Ethan frowned in puzzlement. “Why would a pig farmer need shit?”
Aaron gritted his teeth. “Stop being a smartass and tell me about the virus. Years of data have been wiped out from the system. Only someone like you could have hacked into the mainframe without a trace like that. Command is crawling up my ass looking for answers. Did you plant the virus?”
“No.”
“Did you write it?”
Ethan shrugged. “Do you really want me to answer that?”
“Goddammit, Seth.” Aaron pounded his fist against the desk.
For a moment, everyone in the room fell into stunned silence. Then Ethan broke into a wide grin, and Aaron barked a short laugh. Exhaling a resigned sigh, he rubbed his neck. “Just write the goddamn report as you say it happened and put it on my desk…along with the other report you still owe me. But take Davey home first. She looks like she could use the rest.”
Gee thanks.
Standing up, Ethan saluted the commander and helped Davey to her feet. “Yes, sir,” he said.
“Oh and Ms. Little,” Aaron called as they were about to step into the hall.
Davey turned. “Yeah?”
“Thank you for your help tonight. We’re all lucky you were there. Come morning, consider yourself pardoned of all wrongdoing in this whole mess. And your old job is yours if you wish to return to it.”
Davey smiled. “Thank you, Commander.”
He winked. “Call me Aaron.”
∞∞∞
On the way home, she and Ethan held hands the entire way. After coming so close to losing him yet again, there was a part of her that couldn’t be sated. Seeing him wasn’t enough. She craved contact. Skin against skin. Warmth against (cooler) warmth.
“Ethan?”
Bringing her hand to his lips, he kissed the center of her palm. “Yeah?”
“There’s one thing you haven’t explained yet.”
“It’s probably because I can’t.”
She gingerly laid one hand against his side. “I removed your power cell. How was it you were able to regain consciousness—much less fight that maniac?”
“My outer skin constantly absorbs the sun’s radiation and converts it into energy. The system remained inactive as long as my primary source of power was engaged. Once you removed the cell, a bypass automatically kicked in. It would seem that your old man really wanted me to stick around.”
Davey shook her head. “Why didn’t I see that in his blueprints? Or any of his files?”
“Your father wasn’t a very trusting man.”
“So, you can live like this—without your power cell—forever?”
“Well, I can’t stay underground for very long.” Ethan smirked. “Or spend the winter in Alaska.”
Davey laughed. Admittedly, she was still getting used to Ethan’s evolved sense of humor. “You joked when I asked before, but answer seriously now. You seemed happy when your brother called you Seth. My father also called you Seth. Should I call you that? I mean, don’t you want your old identity back?”
Not answering at first, Ethan fell into a pensive silence. “So much has happened since I lost my human life and was reborn…as this,” he finally said. “I am Seth, but I’m also something more now, especially when I’m with you.”
Nodding, Davey squeezed his hand. She wasn’t sure how, but she somehow understood perfectly. “Okay, Ethan.”
They drove for several more miles and were only minutes away from the house when he tilted his head to one side and cautiously encroached on a new subject. “There were things about me that your father wanted to keep secret, but there are also things about you that even I don’t know.”
“Right.” Davey sighed and shifted in her seat uneasily. “You’re talking about the mysterious gift my father mentioned.”
“I am.” Ethan hesitated. “Do you have any more of an idea of what it could be…after everything that’s happened, I mean.”
“No,” she said softly. “I don’t.”
“That’s okay. Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out. And I’m not just talking about your gift, Davey. I’m talking about all of it. I’m sticking around this time.”
“What about Aaron?” she challenged, too afraid to hope just yet. “What about Global Cures? I’m not so sure they’ll let us be together.”
Ethan smiled and kissed her palm again. This time, a shimmer of electricity rippled between his lips and her skin. He winked. “I’m not so sure they have a choice,” he said.