“Any idea what this is about?” Kel asked as they stepped off the car and entered the underground tunnel.
“Only that Sterling needed you involved,” Damion said. “So I assume they need someone’s memory wiped.”
A handful of the GTECHs involved in the Area 51 experiments had developed unique abilities. Kel’s was one that he carried with some weight on his shoulders. The decision to wipe away someone’s memory wasn’t something to be taken lightly, but there were times when it saved lives.
It didn’t take long before they were inside the facility, standing in a small room with rows of monitors across the front wall. Sterling Jeter, the head of the Renegade’s inner-city operation, was facing a master panel when they walked in. His spiky blonde hair was in disarray, as if he’d been running his hands through it in frustration.
Sterling rolled his chair around to face them, his eyes, black as coal like all the GTECHs, fixed on Kel and Kel alone. Tension rolled off the other GTECH and Kel didn’t miss the fact that Sterling’s normal wise-cracking sense of humor was no more present than his lifebond and wife, Becca—who had some pretty amazing powers of her own—and who was usually by his side. “I have something you need to see,” Sterling said.
A ridiculous sense of foreboding had every muscle in Kel’s body tensing with a feeling that someone close to him was in danger. There was no one close to him. His father had been killed during a terrorist attack overseas while on active duty, when Kel was still a small child. His mother had died five years before that from cancer. His friends were these men, his fellow GTECHs. But there was someone else, someone he tried not to think about because it hurt too much.
Kel leaned against the wall, trying to calm himself when he’d never had that problem in the past. Never. “I’m all eyes and ears,” he said with a remarkably steady voice.
“It seems that the Zodius are bound and determined to find a way around the GTECHs inability to reproduce without an exact perfect female match, now rather than later,” Sterling continued. “They seem to be stepping up their fertility testing on human women. Five women disappeared this month from this city alone. Turns out that someone called the police station and told them about one of the abductions before it happened. I got tipped off by my inside guy. The call was made from a public line and hung up about ten seconds before it could be traced. It originated from a pay phone downtown and I managed to hack into the camera feed to get a picture of her.”
He rolled his chair around and punched a button, bringing an image up on one monitor. Kel forgot to breathe as he focused on the gorgeous female he knew all too well, and yet, never well enough. Sonia. The woman who should have been his wife. Both Sterling and Damion knew that. They also knew why it hadn’t happened.
“Holy crap, Kel,” Damion said. “How did Sonia know about the abduction?”
Kel wasn’t wasting time explaining Sonia seeing premonitions in her dreams when she was mixed up in something far too dangerous. He’d thought the damn things had stopped but apparently, they hadn’t. He pushed off the wall. “Who else knows about this?”
“Too many people,” Sterling said. “She’s in danger. There’s buzz on the streets. Adam is after her.”
Adam referred to Adam Rain, the leader of the Zodius movement, and the twin brother of the Renegade’s leader, Caleb. Adam wouldn’t just kill her. He’d use her for his damnable fertility testing, and try to mate her with every GTECH in Zodius Nation.
“Where is she?” he asked, knowing that Sterling wouldn’t have brought him here unless he knew exactly where she was.
“Waitressing at the Coyote Ugly bar,” he said. “All five of the women who’ve disappeared were waitresses at various bars. None from this one. I’m guessing she thinks that’s about to change.”
From a safe job as a research assistant at a law office to working at the Coyote Ugly bar. Kel was not happy with this turn of events. He was already opening the door, heading for the exit.
“I’m going with you,” Damion said.
“I need to do this on my own.”
“Like I said,” Damion repeated. “I’m going with you. You worry about your woman. I’ll worry about the Zodius.”
Only Sonia wasn’t his woman. Not anymore. She thought he was dead.
CHAPTER TWO
Loud music thrummed through the bar as Sonia Carmichael delivered drinks to a table and endured the hot male stares of her customers, wondering if one, or all of them, could be responsible for the disappearance of so many women. She wished her dreams had given her faces to go with the men in fatigues kidnapping women. The thought made her all the more thankful that the cowboy boots she wore allowed her a place to hide her gun. It wasn’t like the tiny blue-jean shorts and half shirt would hold much. She was even more thankful that she’d come inches from a career in law enforcement, before becoming a research assistant, and knew how to use it. When you had nightmares like hers, a gun felt necessary, and since she’d stopped suppressing the dreams, now that she owned them, she regretted not following in her father’s FBI footsteps. He wouldn’t have let fear stop him any more than Kel had, and neither of them would have let her be afraid. But they weren’t alive, and she had to do this. They both died protecting innocent lives and she wouldn’t dishonor them by not doing so herself.
Sonia followed a pretty blonde named Carrie toward the bar. She was a college student working for her living, and the star of one of the nightmares she could never escape. For a week now, Sonia had kept Carrie close, befriended her, trying to protect her. She didn’t know how quickly the dream would come true, only that it would and she couldn’t sit back and do nothing. Her dreams, her nightmares, always came true.
“I’m off in ten,” Carrie said. “You in for the night?”
“You’re off early tonight? I thought you always worked late on Fridays?”
“I do but tomorrow’s my birthday and my boyfriend is taking me out for the day.” Her eyes lit up. “I think he’s going to propose.”
“Oh my gosh!” Sonia exclaimed and hugged Carrie. “That’s fabulous.” But her stomach knotted at the prospect of Carrie never seeing that happen. She wasn’t going to let that happen. Even if she had to guard her every step of the way. “I’m off early tonight, too. Why don’t we go for cake somewhere?”
“I’d love that,” Carrie said. “I’m parked at the side of the building in the employee lot. You?”
“Same,” Sonia said, “See you there.”
Carrie grabbed two drinks the bartender had set on the counter and took off. Sonia went in search of the manager to claim an emergency and to try to keep this job, in case she needed it. She inhaled. Actually, maybe she needed to somehow make Carrie lose her job. It was a horrible thing to do but Sonia’s dream had directly linked Carrie’s kidnapping to this place. It was something to consider after tonight. Tonight she just needed to get Carrie home safely.
Just past midnight, Sonia and Carrie exited the side door of the building, both having donned sweatshirts. Overhead lights cast a soft glow on the desolate parking lot. Everyone else was inside, working or having fun. Sonia’s oversized purse hung on her shoulder, her hand stuffed inside, wrapped around the gun she’d relocated for easier access.
“How about Joe’s bakery?” Carrie asked. “It’s a five-minute drive and they’re open until two.”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Sonia said. Anything to get Carrie in her car and away from here.
They both headed to their vehicles when the wind suddenly picked up. Sonia had no idea what made her react except instinct. She grabbed Carrie and pulled her close, at the same time pulling out her gun. Suddenly, out of nowhere, three men in black fatigues appeared in front of them. It was as if they had come from the air or wind. Carrie screeched and clung to Sonia.
One of the men grabbed Carrie’s arm. Sonia fired the gun, hoping it would not only wound their attackers, but get them attention and help. The man let go of Carrie, looking more s
hocked than injured, which meant he had to be wearing a vest. The other two men laughed which Sonia was pretty sure meant they were in trouble. With no other options, Sonia continued to pull the trigger, knowing enough about vests to know the bullets still hurt.
The wind lifted again. Two more men appeared, on Sonia’s left and right, and she had a dim awareness of them wearing jeans, not fatigues like the others, like the men in her nightmares.
The three men in fatigues turned to the newcomers in obvious confrontation, and Sonia leaned into Carrie, and whispered, “Run!” Together they and rushed for the door. Sonia could hear a battle starting behind them – grunts and growls.
Sonia and Carrie were all but at the door to the club when a man appeared out of nowhere. They turned to the run the other way and another man appeared from nowhere. Just materialized as if by magic. Only, Sonia gasped at the familiar face.
“Damion?” She stared in shock at an old army buddy of Kel’s.
“Yes,” he said. “And do what I say and everything is going to be okay.” He reached for Carrie.
“Sonia?” Carrie asked, but Sonia never got to answer. Damion shoved a needle in Carrie’s arm and she passed out.
Sonia didn’t have time to react to Damion’s unexpected action. She had a sudden awareness of someone at her back and whirled around to land against a hard body. She was instantly certain she was dreaming. The scent of him, and the feel of him, sent a rush of memories through her. It couldn’t be who she thought it was. The world started to spin as her chin lifted and she brought the man into view.
“Kel?” she gasped, a moment before he stuck a needle into her arm and everything went black.
CHAPTER THREE
Sonia came awake with a gasp and sat up in a strange bed. Her gaze flew around the room, what looked like a studio apartment with a leather couch and chair directly in front of her and a dining room to the right.
“You’re safe,” came the familiar male voice that she knew couldn’t be real.
She turned slowly and went to her knees to bring the black leather chair sitting in the corner by the bed into her view. And there he sat, the man she’d loved, the man she’d lost. His hair was longer now, loose around his shoulders, his eyes the same iridescent crystal blue.
“I’m dreaming again,” she whispered, her heart beating wildly in her chest. He couldn’t be here.
“You’re not dreaming,” he said. “It’s me.”
She didn’t go to him. She wanted to, but she was afraid the dream would shift and he’d be gone. He seemed as if he was afraid to move, too. “You aren’t real.”
He nodded. “I’m real.”
“Kel?”
“Yeah baby, it’s me.”
She was off the bed and in his embrace in a flash, wrapping her arms around him, feeling his heat sink in through her thin shirt. “I can’t believe it. I can’t believe you’re here. You’re real. You’re really here.” He kissed her and it was heaven, spicy and male, and so very Kel, so real, so perfect. “How? How is this possible?” She couldn’t stop touching him, trying to prove to herself he was flesh and blood.
“It’s complicated,” he whispered, his mouth caressing hers, holding her close, like he thought she might escape. “God, I missed you.”
She pulled back, tracking the lines of his face. Kel. Kel was alive. After nearly three years of believing he was dead. “Are you sure this isn’t a dream?”
“It feels like one to me,” he murmured, his lips brushing her neck, her ear. “I didn’t think I’d ever hold you like this again.”
A shiver of pure heat rushed down her spine, the kind of need no one but Kel could create. “Me either,” she said, kissing him, caressing his cheek. She was sitting across his lap now, and all she wanted to do was get lost in the man she’d lost and now found, but memories rushed over her of their free will, and Carrie’s screeches of fear ripped through her mind. “You’re sure my friend from the bar is safe?”
“Absolutely.”
“The men, they came out of nowhere. There was wind and then they were there. And you too. I’m confused. I don’t understand what happened back there at the bar. I don’t understand how you’re alive or how I’m here and why did you put me to sleep?”
“We’re at one of the top-secret facilities where my special ops team operates,” he said. “I had to put you to sleep. It’s protocol.”
Her stomach knotted. Something wasn’t right. “Kel, what’s going on?”
He maneuvered so that she sat in the chair and he knelt in front of her. “Sonia, I...it’s not easy to explain. I...” He lowered his head and a wave of emotion rolled off of him.
Her hand stroked his hair. “What is it?” she asked gently, certain whatever he’d been through must have been horrific, since everyone had believed he was dead.
When he lifted his head, his expression was etched with torment. “I didn’t want this for you, Sonia. I didn’t want you in danger. I didn’t want you to give up everything you knew to live in a world that is this messed up. But you got the wrong people’s attention when you made that phone call about the missing woman, and now, now everything has changed.”
She stiffened, dread pooling in her stomach. “What are you saying? Oh, God. No. I don’t believe this. You faked your death to get me out of your life, didn’t you?”
“It’s not like that, Sonia-”
Confirmation hit her hard. She shoved away from him and stood up, stepping around him and backed away. “Then how it is? You’re alive and clearly everyone but me knew that. Do you have any idea what hell I have lived thinking you were dead?”
He rose to his feet. “Sonia-”
“Did you fake your death for me?” she demanded, every word tight and exact. She was shaking. Tears prickled at the back of her eyes.
“I was trying to protect you.”
She hugged herself. Protect her. She didn’t even know what to say to that. “Why show yourself to me now?”
“Because I’m no longer the most dangerous person in your life.”
“You haven’t even been in my life so how could you be dangerous?”
“That’s the idea,” he said. “I had to stay away. And it killed me. I know you don’t understand, but-”
“I understand that you chose for me, which must mean you didn’t want me anymore. Why not just break up with me Kel? Why? Why let me mourn you?”
“Leaving you behind killed me, Sonia,” he said, his voice raspy with emotion she knew had to be fake. He’d left her. He’d walked away like she was nothing.
“And yet you did.”
“You would have chosen me,” he said. “I had to choose you.”
“By playing dead?”
“Yes,” he ground out, drawing out the word. “I chose your safety. You don’t understand what happened. I’ll explain-”
“You are Special Forces,” she said. “I knew the danger. Nothing you can say will change how much you hurt me. And now – now you say I’m in danger so you pull me back into your world by necessity, but not choice?”
“It’s not like that,” he argued and took a step toward her.
She backed away. “And yet it is. It is.”
“They changed me, Sonia,” he said, his voice gravely and thick. “They turned me into something I don’t even recognize.”
She hugged herself, not sure how she was holding back the tears, trying to control her shaking. “I don’t either, because the man I thought I knew and loved wouldn’t have done this to me, to us.” She inhaled and let it out. “Can I leave now?”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Why? What does that mean?”
“It means that you’re being hunted by Adam Rain and that’s a very dangerous thing to be.”
“Caleb’s brother?”
“Yes,” he said. “Caleb’s brother. He’s leading a rebel group called the Zodius who took over Area 51 and they intend to take over far more than tha
t.”
“What?” she gasped. “Why? When did this happen?”
“The immunizations they were giving us at Area 51 weren’t immunizations at all. They were experimental DNA that changed us. We aren’t...human. Not fully anymore.”
She was stunned. “What does that mean? What kind of DNA?”
“The rumors of a ship that the government recovered in New Mexico were true,” he said. “And with it they acquired some unique DNA. After years of study, they finally decided to see if they could create what you might call a ‘super soldier’ while the government calls them GTECHs.”
She gaped in total disbelief. “Oh my God. And they didn’t tell you what they were doing?”
His lips thinned. “No. They didn’t tell us. The change took months to occur. That’s why I didn’t initially pull away from you. I simply had no idea what I was or what had happened. Once I knew, I was afraid of what I was becoming. For all I knew I might become a monster that would hurt you, or worse, kill you. Much later, Adam decided the GTECHs were evolution and overthrew Area 51 and created what he calls Zodius Nation.”
“Zodius?”
“Project Zodius was the name of the experimental program the Army undertook to make us,” he explained before going on. “Caleb organized the Renegades, an opposing force to the Zodius, and I knew I’d made the right decision. Anyone a Renegade loves is a weapon Adam would use against us. Adam had met you. Had I not ended what was between us long before he became the monster he is now, you would have been a target. Now, unfortunately, you are anyway. He might not know you have a special gift, but he thinks you have an insider telling you his plans to kidnap women. He won’t stop until he captures you.”
She sat on the bed, stunned and unsure she wasn’t dreaming. “This seems impossible.” Her gaze lifted to his. “Adam is kidnapping the women, then?”