chapter 22
When Nikki arrived at the lab, a guy dressed in black pants and a black dress shirt stopped her as soon as she entered the parking area. Big surprise there. The wind hit her from the east, carrying the scent of horse manure. Then she caught a glimpse of the magnificent animals Vegan had talked about. She stopped and stared in awe until her escort shoved her forward, prodding her with something hard.
She flashed him a dirty look. “Give me a second, okay?” Nikki pulled two pencils from her back pocket and threaded them through her hair to trap the runaway strands at her nape.
Moments later, they entered the lab. They snaked through a long tunnel punctuated with light from windows along both sides of the passageway. She glimpsed the laboratory rooms beyond, painted stark white and containing computers that twinkled from the four corners.
For the first thousand feet or so, the rooms looked like what she’d expect of any lab. But as they walked deeper into the monster’s belly, rooms glowed with strange lighting, and scientists actually became creepier looking.
They passed one room where she viewed a row of cages. Human-sized cages. She looked away quickly. She couldn’t be sure, but from the corner of her eye she thought she saw human remains on an examination table in the corner of that room.
Finally, they stopped. “Arms out,” he said, and when she obeyed, he patted her down, obviously searching for weapons. The gorilla-sized guard in the dark clothes pressed his right wrist to a glowing blue square on the door. Click. It slid open. As far as Nikki could tell, this was the only door that operated like that. The others had an open entrance — something she’d made a mental note to remember in case she got a chance to escape.
Vessler greeted her with a smile. “My lady,” he oozed, sitting behind a granite desk.
Anger rushed through her; his lies and phony affection boiled beneath her skin. She pulled in breath after breath, praying for peace. She couldn’t lose it right now — it wouldn’t help anyone. With that thought, the peace she’d requested flooded her consciousness like water to a sponge, saturating her to the very core of her existence. I can do this. I’m on the winning side.
“They’ve ruined you,” he said with a sneer. “I can see that pathetic attempt to stay calm when you should be trying to kill me.” He leaned forward, pressing his elbows onto the desk. “But it’s a lie, Nikki. The only peace is revenge.”
“And you’re nothing but a liar. So I guess you’d know.”
A half smile tilted his hardened face. “We could sit and debate this all day long. It doesn’t change the fact that you’re a poor, pathetic orphan.”
Pride surged within. “No I’m not. I’m a Halfling.”
He folded his fingers together and rested his chin on his thumbs. “About that … I’m afraid you don’t know the whole story.”
She felt the blood draining from her face. Vessler saw it too. He always knew how to get to her. This was it: the answers to the truth about her childhood. She sank into the chair across from him.
He took such pleasure in her weakness. “Years ago, oh, I suppose nearly twenty now …” He paused and unwrapped a gold toothpick.
She steadied herself by gripping the chair arms.
“Time sure flies, doesn’t it? Seems like only yesterday we were at my beach house. You loved that home, didn’t you, Nikki?”
She recalled the soaring ceilings painted with splashes of shadows as the sun tilted, the miles of white sand kissed by the sea, the explosive sunsets displaying every color in her artist’s palette. Yes, she loved it there.
His chair creaked as he leaned back. He stuck the toothpick into his mouth. “Of course you did. Who wouldn’t? I’d rather hoped to give it to you.”
She crossed her arms. Was he actually going to try to bribe her with a house? “I don’t want anything from you. You’re a monster, Damon.”
He laughed. Long and loud. “No, my dear, I’m not. But you are.” His grin faded. “You want answers. And I’m the only one who can give them.”
How did he always know?
“When we first became reacquainted, I said you didn’t have a poker face. The questions are killing you, aren’t they? Not knowing? Don’t worry, I understand your inquisitive nature. It’s how I engineered you. Lucky for you, I’m more than happy to unfold how my vision for you began two decades ago.”
She nearly gave in, but something surged within her. Something new and fresh and full of power. Vegan’s words echoed in her head. She sprang from the chair. “You overestimate yourself, Damon. I don’t want to know. Because what I was in the past doesn’t matter. It’s what I am now that counts. Save your pathetic words. I’ll never be suckered by you again.”
Vessler’s nose twitched. Irritation flew off him in glorious waves. No, she wouldn’t make it easy on him. And she wouldn’t be a victim. Not ever again.
“Enough of the past, then. Let’s talk about the future, shall we?”
Her interest sparked and she knew he’d seen it. “The future you have planned for me will never happen, Damon.”
He leaned his weight on the desk and narrowed his gaze until his eyes were cold black slits. “But don’t you want to know why, for seventeen years, I’ve had you trained to be a warrior? Made sure you knew how to defend yourself and had the abilities to kill anyone that gets in your way? Even the motorcycle. What decent parents let a seventeen-year-old have a street bike as her only means of transportation?”
She sat down and remained statue still. Her knuckles soon ached from the grip on the chair.
“Your eggs will be harvested. They’ll provide the DNA for an army. You, Nikki, are special. Worth more than a thousand other Halflings.”
Deep and penetrating horror enclosed her heart. “Who — who knew about this?”
“Everyone in my employ.” Then his eyes widened and he leaned back in smug satisfaction. “Oh. You meant your new friends. Well, they were able to access a good portion of my private records.” He sat quietly, clearly letting this new realization settle in for her, letting its uncertainty torture her. Then he shrugged. “I’d guess they all knew.”
Nikki tried to swallow. Tried to breathe.
“I suppose they wanted to keep it from you. Figures. Self-preservation and all.”
“What do you mean, self-preservation?” They knew. Mace, Will, all of them. This was the giant secret they were keeping from me.
“The army you and I create will easily have the power to destroy every Halfling on the planet.”
“No. You’re talking about DNA and creating more Halflings from eggs …” Nikki stood, shook her head violently. “No. That would take years.”
“Actually, not as long as you would think.” He stood as well and walked around the massive desk. Barely a limp in his walk. “My scientists have developed a way to rapidly age humans — or Halflings, as the case may be. Once you’re on board, we can look at the completion of our army within about five to six years.”
Nikki’s voice lowered, and she felt it turn deadly. “There is no power on this earth that would make me join you.”
Vessler motioned behind him, and a barrel-chested man dressed in black stepped toward her. Before she could react, he slung a metal vest around her chest. She struggled as the clamps tightened. Her arms were free, but she wasn’t able to fight. Nikki tried to flex her shoulder blades in the same manner she had a thousand times since she realized she had wings as a way of making sure they really were there, were really hers, and wouldn’t disappear. But the metal squeezed so tightly she couldn’t move a single muscle. It was excruciating, knowing she lacked the ability to unfurl her wings. It was almost like being shoved into a room that was too small and being trapped inside as the walls squeezed in.
“Sorry about that. Can’t have you leaping to safety,” Vessler said. He wiped the gold toothpick on his sleeve then stuck it into his shirt pocket.
She stared down at the metal surrounding her midsection.
Vessler came around the desk and propped his weight against it. “I guess you’re wondering how we got that on you so quickly. Titanium.” He reached to touch her, and she flinched. “It will keep your wings from opening. And as a surprising benefit, that amount of metal slows your reflexes. Since you’re destined to be difficult, I can’t take any chances. Would you like to go visit your friend now?”
A chain dangled from the front of the wingcuff. He grabbed it and jerked her toward the door. She felt like an animal at the circus. No — circus animals got better treatment than she was likely to receive.
Nikki clenched her teeth to keep from crying out when she saw Zero. One eye was swollen shut, his mouth had a dark line of blood streaming from it, and every inch of his exposed skin sported different shades of purple, yellow, and red. Never had she seen someone so badly beaten.
Damon and his goon dragged her through the lab room to the far wall, where Zero lay on the floor of the cage. By her estimation, she was in the last room of the entire lab. Damon threw her in with Zero and slammed the door shut.
She spun to the bars. “Damon, let him out.” She rattled the cage and pleaded. Too late, she remembered the bars were made of titanium, and she felt her energy wane. “On the phone, you said I could take his place.” Panic threatened to overtake her. Vessler had no intention of releasing Zero.
He stopped and turned back to face her. “See, that’s the problem with trusting the bad guy. We lie.” He shrugged and cast a pitying glance at Zero, who lay curled in a fetal position on the floor. “I hope you’ll choose to work with me. Zero, he was quite uncooperative. But you, my lady, it would be a shame to mess up such a perfect face.” As the implication settled in, a slow burn rolled down her throat. He’d torture her if he had to. He’d use whatever means possible to twist her into the monster he needed. Getting her here was one more attempt at turning her into a dark creature. And once again, she’d have to find a way to fight.
“Wait,” she said, not bothering to hide the quiver in her voice.
Vessler anxiously turned to her. His cold black eyes scanned her while bits of hope sparked in his gaze.
“Why me?” She squeezed the bars tightly between her fingers, eyes pleading for him to come closer while wishing the wingcuff wasn’t so tight on her ribs. At least her arms were free. That was good. She was going to need them. Now, if she could just divert his attention, ease him into a false sense of security … There was a time when Nikki was Vessler’s weakness. Maybe she still was.
“Why, Damon?” she whispered.
She could almost see him drooling.
He maneuvered a step closer. “Because most Halfling females can only bear one offspring.”
He was close enough now she could smell his sickening aftershave. It once comforted her; now it made her gag.
“You are the culmination of my dreams. My plan. You are perfect, Nikki. I created a perfect, pure young blood. The fact that you beat the seeker only shows what I’m capable of.”
A perfect young blood? Nikki tried to force the thought from her mind. Youngblood. Her name.
“Damon,” she murmured, drawing him nearer by the soothing tone of her voice. Though her hands were wrapped around the bars, she partially unwound her fingers, reaching for him. “The Halflings knew this all along, didn’t they?”
His eyes narrowed, as if he was gauging each word carefully.
“That’s why they came for me, took me in.” She pressed her lips together. “It was for their own protection.”
His resolve was crumbling. “Ah, Nikki.” He closed the distance and rested his hands atop hers and gently squeezed. “You just can’t trust them.”
A tear swept her cheek. She pressed her head to the metal and tried to blow stray strands of hair from her eyes, but the wisps tangled into her lashes and caused her to blink repeatedly.
He reached in and brushed the wisps away.
She pressed against his touch and tried to ignore the feel of the bars. They didn’t cause her pain, just drained her strength — strength she was about to need.
Vessler quivered and Nikki was sure he had to fight the urge to reach into the cage and soothe her.
Her eyes fluttered open, and she tried her best to look innocent and lost. “You prefer my hair down, don’t you?” she whispered softly, wanting, needing to draw him even closer.
“Yes.” Beads of sweat broke out across his brow.
She could actually hear his heart hammering. He was breathing hard now, and his palms had gone sweaty against her skin. Slowly, she reached behind her head to tug her hair free. The palm of each hand landed around the two pencils. With a smile that could liquefy glass, her body stiffened. Her hands lunged forward and she planted the pencils deep into his chest.