Fated

Chapter 20

Cara awoke for the second time that morning and grimaced as intimate muscles yelped in protest. The ache in her heart outdid them all. She covered her face in denial of the raw vulnerability rippling through her. Her mind, impressive as it might be, was no match for the combination of her heart and body and their willingness to give everything she had, everything she was, to another being. To Talen.

A sly voice in the back of her head whispered she should accept fate’s offering. As if it were safe to do so. Her ability to blindly trust had been ripped away during her childhood, and the instinct to protect herself couldn’t be denied. The same voice reminded her that neither could Talen.

A knock on the door brought her out of her internal debate. Katie poked her head inside the warm guestroom. “Are you awake?”

Cara nodded and sat up in the big bed. “Come on in.”

Katie smiled and jumped onto the bed to peer at Cara’s chin. “Your cut from that jerk Lorcan healed pretty quick.”

Cara nodded. “I guess I have Talen’s healing ability now. Pretty handy.”

“You don’t seem too happy about it.”

Cara shrugged and sighed.

“He loves you, you know.”

“It’s scary.” The words were inadequate.

“Yeah, I know. But at least he’s willing to take the chance.” Katie picked at the comforter.

Cara smiled at her friend. “It’s obvious Jordan has feelings for you, Katie.”

Hope filled Katie’s eyes before she frowned. “Yeah, but not enough. I’ll always be the brat who followed him around when I was a kid.”

Cara shrugged. “So show him you’re all grown up now.”

“How?”

Cara was quiet for a moment. “I have absolutely no idea.” She grinned and then giggled as her friend joined in. “Where are the banes of our existence?”

“They’re in the kitchen looking through Bigsby’s research. They’d like some help, if you’re ready to get up.”

“I’ll jump in the shower and be right out.” Cara smiled. “Um, exactly how mad was Jordan last night?”

Katie raised two eyebrows. “Let’s just say I had to whimper and pretend my headache was horrible just so he’d let me get to bed. He’s beyond furious the Kurjans know about me now.”

“So you haven’t really dealt with it yet.”

“I’m not thinking about that.”

“I don’t blame you.” Cara headed for the shower.

She emerged and changed into yet another pair of jeans and a deep green sweater before heading through the spacious house to the kitchen. Talen studied a mass of papers spread across the large oak table. Jordan leaned against the granite counter, reading a printout into the phone while Katie typed furiously on a laptop perched on the granite center island.

Talen glanced up as she entered, his burnished eyes running her length from head to toe. It was impossible for her to stop the warm flush that crept from her chest to her face in reaction. Talen grinned. “I checked your e-mail account and printed out the latest message from your errant sister.” His voice held grudging admiration for the fragile human evading his troops.

With an eye roll, Cara walked forward and sat next to him at the table before leaning over and peering with interest at the paper. “Hey sis. I’m on to something, no worries. These yokos can’t find me. Run into the sun, dear one. Em.”

Cara fought a smile. Run into the sun. Apparently her sister knew all about the Kurjans. She turned toward her husband, telling herself he didn’t look amazing in a deep brown graphic T-shirt and jeans. The voice in her head warned her to stop lying to herself, that it wasn’t healthy.

He handed her a stack of research documentation. “We’ll go through these papers this morning and take copies with us when we fly home.” Talen ran a gentle hand down her hair, turning back to his reading.

“Home? Soon?” Cara turned her gaze to him, wondering if he had any idea how often he caressed her. A pat on the hand, a tug on her hair, often a gentle glide down her back. He’d probably face the demons of hell before admitting it, but her mate was touchy-feely.

He nodded with a grin at his papers.

Cara relaxed into her seat. She’d see her baby soon. Then her gaze focused on the paper in front of her. “Wow.”

Talen nodded. “Yeah. They took the results of the Human Genome Project and are trying to apply either genetic engineering or gene therapy to the Kurjans.”

“Hmm. Whereas humans have twenty-three pairs of chromosomes, the Kurjans have thirty.” She read farther down. “As do the vampires.” She read for a while. “And it looks like they’ve isolated the pair carrying the ‘no sunlight gene’ for the Kurjans.”

Talen leaned forward and handed her a piece of paper. “Decipher that, would you?”

Cara nodded and read for several moments. “They’ve been attempting germline engineering to genes in eggs, sperm, or very early embryos.” She leaned back to look at Talen as Jordan hung up the phone and sat at the table across from them. “This means they have been trying to manipulate the germinal cells, or rather, the egg and the sperm. In practice today that means altering the fertilized egg.” She leaned forward, interest swirling through her mind. “The first cell in the embryo is the fertilized egg, and if you change that, all of the changes will be copied into every single other cell. The interesting thing about this type of manipulation is that it would be inheritable by all succeeding generations.”

“How close are they?” Jordan asked in concern.

Cara shook her head. “First they used healthy vampire DNA and inserted different viruses into what they thought were the appropriate Kurjan cells, but so far they haven’t seen any success with the method.” She rifled through the papers and sat back with the one she sought. “But then they attempted to create an artificial Kurjan chromosome and add it to the thirty existing. Their research is impressive, but so far they’ve met with little success.”

“And from what I’ve read,” Katie piped up from across the kitchen, “it looks like they’re still working on overcoming the mating ‘allergy,’ for lack of a better word.”

Cara nodded in agreement. “It’s only a matter of time until we can manipulate genes, but since we’re not even sure which genes do what, the risk far outweighs any possible benefit.” She pursed her lips. “They’ve looked at everything from plant photosynthesis to light aversion therapy to virus manipulation.”

She reached for the next stack of papers as the telephone rang next to Jordan.

“Pride here,” he answered. He listened before sitting back in his chair. “Hello, Detective. Yes, the Dodge truck is mine. I was at the truck stop last night.” Talen looked up from his reading and his eyes narrowed. Katie sprang from her chair, and Jordan shook his head at her to be quiet before talking to the caller.

“No, I was just walking in when all the excitement started, and a police officer suggested we move away from the building. So, I headed home.” Jordan listened for a moment. “I wish I could help identify the others in the restaurant, but as I’ve said, I didn’t go inside. Of course. If there’s anything I can do to help, please call me.” He clicked the phone shut with a direct look at Talen.

“We should be getting out of town,” Talen said.

Jordan nodded. “They won’t be able to identify Cara or probably Bigsby, and we’ll keep Katie under wraps for a while. I have my men preparing the Blackhawk to take you home. We’ll leave in an hour.”

Cara shuffled her papers. “Isn’t that a military helicopter?”

Jordan flashed sharp white teeth. “It was until it was modified. You’ll be home in no time.”

The morning flew by and soon Cara said an almost tearful good-bye with Katie. She promised to stay in touch and hoped the young woman could visit Colorado sometime soon. Jordan piloted them for several hours west until the Colorado mountains came into view. The wild lands suited her new husband. Both were fierce in their beauty and well able to withstand the dangerous forces around them.

The sharp white peaks against the pure cloudless sky provided a stunning welcome to the higher elevation as the sprawling town of Boulder flew by beneath them.

Jordan piloted the craft low through several mountains until he landed in a small clearing with deep green grass blowing in the wind. Talen jumped out of the front and reached in to help her. She climbed into the cool air and followed Talen across the meadow to a large pine tree. They waved and watched Jordan rise into the sky. He gave a nod and then the sky was silent.

Birds chirped happily in the trees. The smell of pine and something sweeter from the myriad of purple and yellow wild flowers surrounding them wafted through the air. In the distance echoed the whinny of a stallion. Monstrous trees just losing their fall fir surrounded the clearing, and the scamper of small animals living their days sounded softly.

Talen grinned. “Welcome home, mate.”

Cara turned in confusion. “Home?” Healthy trees and wild flowers ruffled in the breeze. “There’s nothing here.”

Talen took her hand. “There will be.” He walked around the tree and Cara followed—they dodged and wove through the forest, carefully stepping over fallen branches and uncut brush. The thick trees repelled the sunlight, and Talen kept her close to lead her through the darkness. Finally, they came to a broken ridge covered in a ragged exposure of rock. Talen walked up and placed his palm to the right of the smooth surface, and Cara took a step back as the dark glade slid to the left, revealing a small square room.

She froze in place. “Oh my God. You actually do live underneath the ground.”

He laughed. “No, I live right outside of Boulder on the lake. This is our main headquarters and our safe house when necessary.” He gently tugged her inside. “And it’s where your daughter is waiting for you.”

Cara clasped cold fingers around his warm hand as the wall shut, leaving them in the darkness. She jumped when the room filled with light and a deep voice asked, “Identify?”

“Kayrs 23416,” Talen replied.

“Welcome home, bro.” The voice held a smile and the elevator began to descend.

Cara turned toward her husband. “They didn’t know it was us until you identified yourself?”

Talen shook his head. “They knew it was us the second we flew into range. The code was to make sure all was well—that nothing unexpected was going on.”

“Good security,” Cara said thoughtfully.

“You have no idea,” Talen grinned.

“Well, you have had centuries.”

Before she knew it the lift came to a stop, and the same door opened to reveal a wide room carved from metamorphic rock and granite. Two soldiers stood guard on either side of a massive rock door. They were large, armed, and unsmiling. Cara moved closer to Talen.

He tugged her across the expansive floor and stopped with a grin. “Max, Jones, this is my wife, Cara.”

The change in the men was immediate and a bit astonishing. Broad smiles covered predatory faces as they took turns shaking her hand, being very careful not to crush her.

“Hi, ma’am. Janie is so excited to see you she can’t keep still.” The one dubbed Max turned and punched in a code to open the door behind them. “Please tell her she owes me a rematch on Old Maid.”

Cara stumbled behind Talen as he pulled her through the door and it slid shut. Large arms grabbed her and yanked her into a hard chest, squeezing her in what could only be called a bear hug. “Welcome home, little sister,” a deep voice boomed in her ear as she was put back on her feet. Familiar green eyes twinkled down at her.

“Thanks, Conn.” She grinned as she regained her equilibrium. The brothers were matched in height and size but Conn had lighter brown hair cut short and silver flecks throughout his mossy eyes. The strong shape of his face resembled Talen’s, and a large dimple winked to the right of his generous mouth.

The large room looked like an ordinary conference room. If one could call granite walls, a huge dark granite table, and a myriad of mounted plasma screens ordinary.

“This is the first gathering room where we sometimes invite allies to meet.” Talen gestured her forward to another deep door set into the rock.

Her feet echoed dully on the hard surface. “Where’s Janie?”

“The family safe quarters are toward the center of the mountain. She wouldn’t be anywhere near this close to the perimeter or entrance,” Conn said as he placed a hand on the wall next to his head, leaned forward and peered into a small screen that shot out a green beam across his eyes. The door clicked open.

Conn led them into a wide rock hallway that wound past several closed doors until they finally stopped at one layered with sedimentary rock. His palm print opened the door, and Talen gently pushed Cara inside.