Chapter Twenty-Eight

G

The blows kept coming. From my right. My left. The soldiers launched themselves at me, one grabbing hold from behind and pulling backward. My momentum shifted, and I flailed, but I caught myself by grabbing the guy in front of me. I brought his head down as my knee came up. There was a sickening—yet satisfying—crack, and his body went limp.

One by one they came. One by one they fell. Knowing what their weakness was—and where it was located—was the only thing that spared us from massive casualties. I’d made sure to go over it with the others, and Karl proved to be a quick study. He took down two of his own by delivering a perfectly aimed punch at the center of their breastbone. Pods broken, they fell like dead weight. Several got away, not counting the few that dragged Sera off. But I’d deal with them. First, I had to deal with him.

“Have to be honest,” Yancy said as we circled each other. Karl and Cade both made a move to come forward, but I held up a hand to stop them. This was my fight. Win or lose, I swore I’d have my day with this bastard. “I was hoping it would come down to this.”

“Makes two of us,” I replied, feeling my lips tilt upward with an involuntary smile. The others had gathered around the edge of the fray.

“We’ve had a lot of fun, you and I.”

“I owe you for each and every bit of fun.”

“Think you can take me?” The bastard laughed. “You’ve had ample opportunity. What makes you think this will be any different?”

I could feel myself inching toward the line. That invisible fence I’d been trying so hard not to cross. I wasn’t sure what would happen if I did. Cora had pushed me without mercy, desperate for me to give in. I used to be scared of it. I’d lay awake at night after they’d dropped me back in my cell and worry what I would become if I finally let go, if I finally gave in.

Time after time and test after test, I’d managed to keep myself grounded. In the beginning, it was stubbornness. She wanted me to lose control, so I refused, if only to piss her the hell off. Then later, it was Sera who kept me rooted. The idea that I’d turn into something else, something darker than the person I already was, terrified me. I couldn’t let that happen. Not when I was the only one she had. But she wasn’t alone now. She had people who would help her—and defeating Yancy wasn’t going to happen unless I gave it my all. How many times had Cora locked me in a room with him in hopes that the serum would activate? Each time the beating got more violent until I could no longer retain consciousness.

That all ended now.

“You’re wrong,” I said. “It was never about not being able to beat you. It was about me choosing not to. I’ve had a change of heart.”

I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, searching for that spark, that fire Cora lit when she injected me with the Alpha serum. It was always there, always singeing my nerve endings and begging to be set free. It wasn’t hard to find. In my mind’s eye it was like a tiny black bubble. Over time the walls of that bubble had gotten thinner and thinner, and to break through now, all I would have to do was…

I opened my eyes, and everything was sharper. Colors were more vivid, details were more focused. I heard my own breath echoing as it moved in and out of my lungs, heard the faint rustle of the nearby trees and the soft whistle of the breeze as it blew. I was still dying. I felt the virus from my dissolving pod still moving through my body. But the activation of the serum deadened most of the pain. It jacked up my senses and offered an edge I wouldn’t have had.

“Well, well, well. Looks like someone has joined the party.” Yancy laughed. “How’s it feel?”

“Feels like I’m gonna kick your ass.”

His brow quirked, and he waggled his index finger at me. Just once. It was all I needed. With a howl, I launched myself at him, swinging. The first blow landed hard and connected with the side of his face. The momentum knocked him back—but he didn’t topple. Not really.

Thrusting his arm back, Yancy caught himself just before hitting the ground. With a single, massive heave, he was back on his feet and throwing a punch of his own. “My turn.”

The blow struck my shoulder, the force of it spinning my entire body. Like Yancy, I was able to catch myself before going down. I didn’t think it was possible, with the damage he’d done, but he’d held back during our sessions at Infinity.

…

“Good morning, G.” Cora’s obnoxiously chipper voice was like a foghorn in my ear. She rounded my chair and positioned herself in front of me. “How did you sleep? Well?”

They’d injected me with something every morning for the last ten days. Since then, I’d been restless all the time. Fidgety and raw. “Oh, yeah. Those five-star, roach-infested accommodations you’ve given us are sweet.”

She smiled and took a step back. “I have something very exciting in store for you today.” She motioned to someone standing by the door. “Someone I’ve been waiting to introduce you to.”

A man entered the room. Broad shoulders and a neck like a tree trunk, he towered over Cora like she was toddler. “This is Yancy Haven.”

I snorted. “Why am I not surprised to see you here, Haven.”

Cora seemed confused. “Did you have a Yancy on your world?”

“Sure did. And he was a dick.” I looked the guy up and down, then snorted again. “Also a damn pansy-ass.”

She clapped her hand down on Yancy’s shoulder. “Not my Yancy. Like I said, he’s got that little something extra… He’s going to be overseeing your training.”

“I’ve told you a million times, lady. I’m not training for shit.”

She just kept right on smiling. “He’s very special. He’s skilled in Krav Maga, Silat, and an assortment of torture methods.” She jabbed a finger in his direction. “I’m just going to leave you two alone to get acquainted.”

Cora breezed out the door, and Yancy took her place. He hadn’t spoken, which for some reason was unnerving. “So, you’re the resident badass, eh?” Sure, he was a big guy. One who supposedly knew how to fight. But so what? “I gotta say, she talks you up a big game, but you don’t look like much to me.”

He grabbed a handful of my shirt and hefted upward. The solid ground beneath the chair I was shackled to disappeared. My heart thumped inside my chest, but I gave nothing away. For the longest moment, he just stayed like that, suspending me in the air as though I weighed no more than a feather. Then, without a word, he threw me across the room. I crashed into the wall. It felt like hyperspeed. The chair shattered on impact—I was sure some of my bones did, too…

…

The pain in my shoulder was unlike anything I’d felt; it was like getting slammed by a truck. My mind and body registered the pain, but unlike our previous times together, I was able to ignore it. To stand my ground and push forward. No. “Able” wasn’t the right word. Motivated. Needed to. In that moment there was nothing I wanted more than to inflict pain. The target didn’t matter. Thankfully, Yancy was standing by to accommodate my heightened craving for violence.

My reflexes were sharper now that the serum had activated. More honed. Hearing a disturbance in the air, I was able to duck and pivot as his next blow came. It sailed harmlessly by. For a moment we stopped and stared at each other.

“You’re not the first, you know,” he said with a wicked grin. “There were others before. Multiple versions of you—and her.”

I didn’t respond. Couldn’t. I knew what he was doing, and it wasn’t necessary. I was over the line already and about as amped as I could get.

“We met once, you and me.”

“We met more than once,” I said with a growl. Though this version of Yancy Haven was ten times worse than the one on my world, I would never forget him. Our rivalry probably would have gotten us both killed if Cora hadn’t stolen me away. “You were a dick on my world, too.”

He laughed. “No, I mean me. This me. I met you before Cora brought you back to our world.”

“Bullshit.” There was no way I wouldn’t remember.

He held up both hands in mock surrender. “Hand to God. You were fifteen at the time, just out of basic and on your first raid.”

He was insane. Of all the memories I had, the first raid they’d sent me on was the most vivid. It would stay with me until the moment I died. We’d gotten wind of a safe house and were instructed to kill all the male occupants. We were to bring all the women back to our camp. I’d seen violence at a young age, my parents having given me over to the army program when I was just four. But I hadn’t been prepared for the brutality that went down that day.

“Don’t remember? I’ll give you a hint. I was there to make my first pickup.”

Pickup? “You took someone?”

His grin widened. “From that very house. You almost walked in on me—remember?”

It took a moment, but suddenly I knew exactly what he was talking about. I’d managed to avoid most of the chaos, then during the last sweep of the house, I tried to enter a room as Yancy was coming out—only it hadn’t been my world’s version of him, had it? “You didn’t take me, though.”

“Never intended to.”

A sick feeling bubbled in my gut and the spark in my chest burned a little hotter.

“Got my hands on our first version of Ava that day.”

“Ava—she was there?” A voice in the back of my mind roared for me to finish this. We were supposed to be in the middle of a battle to the death, after all. But I was rooted in place. Stunned into silence. She had been there. The universe had given me my own version.

Yancy snickered. He held up his hand and pinched his fingers together until they were almost touching. “Just think about it. You were this close to meeting her.” He threw his head back and laughed even louder. “I did you a favor, though. That version of her? Whiney as fuck. She lasted about a week before Cora had me take her out back and drown the little bitch just to shut her up.”

The spark in my chest ignited into an inferno. Whether it was the poison making one final push, or the serum kicking in, everything turned red. I let out an unholy howl and flew at him. We crashed to the ground, both swinging. He growled and took aim for the spot my pod was, but I shifted. The blow grazed my side. In turn, I took aim at his. The punch collided with his chest, the force behind it sending him to his back, but it missed its mark. Still, it hurt him.

He coughed and tried to roll onto his side, but I was faster. I brought my foot back and let loose, brutally kicking his torso. He curled, spitting a mouthful of blood and coughing even harder.

Part of me wanted to drag this out. To make him suffer for all he’d done to me. For taking away my chance to meet Ava… I’d missed my world’s version of Ava—but I’d found the one who was meant for me. And right now, she was in trouble.

I positioned my foot just beneath his neck, and he froze. Our gazes met. “You can’t do it,” he croaked. “How many times did you insist that you weren’t a murderer anymore?”

I had said that. Every time he’d tried to get me to fight back, to rage hard enough to activate the serum, I’d told him my bloody days were over. “I was wrong.” I lifted my foot high, holding it above him for a second, just long enough for him to register what I intended to do, before slamming it down on his chest. That time my aim was perfect. My boot crushed the pod. I imagined the sound it might make. Not a booming explosion, but a barely-there pop. Small and insignificant, yet deadly enough to fell a beast like Yancy.

His face contorted, and his hands went for his neck, clawing and scratching at something I couldn’t see. His body stiffened and twitched, and in seconds went completely still. A thin trickle of blood trailed from his nose and right ear.

In that moment, the damage rushed back to me. The pain from physical injuries—and the reality of the fact that the serum was now active—all crushing me. My knees buckled, and I collapsed to the ground beside Yancy’s body, struggling to push the air in and out of my lungs.

“Can you stand?” Cade’s voice floated from somewhere behind me. At least I thought it was him. I could hardly hear it through the thundering of my pulse and the raging of my breath. A set of hands clamped on to my shoulders. Deep down I knew it was to help me up, to see if anything was ruptured or broken or hemorrhaging, but Cora’s monster didn’t care about things like that. I bucked off whoever it was and leaped to my feet.

“Whoa there, son.” Anderson. That’d been him.

“G, take a deep breath. We’re here to help you.” Kori… She came around to stand in front of me. Her gaze flickered to something on my right, then back to me. “We’re your friends.”

Someone beyond my field of vision snorted. Had to be Noah. “Friends? Not sure I’d go that far,” he said. “But we won’t set you on fire or anything.”

There was an echoing thwap—probably from Ash smacking the shit out of him—and a hiss.

“G, come back down, man.” Cade again. He moved to stand beside Kori. “We need you here. Sera—”

“Sera.” I breathed the name as though it was the air and I was suffocating. Sera was the reason for all this. The reason I fought to keep my head above water. The reason I rebelled against the serum. She was the one good thing in my life. “Where—”

“Cora,” he said. “She slipped away during the chaos of the fight. Dylan’s gone, too. We think he went after her.”

Noah snorted again. “Bullshit. That bastard cut out. I say zap his ass with the cuff you put on, and we’ll go pick up his corpse.”

Violent images of what I intended to do to Cora flashed through my mind, so fast, it made my head spin and my gut roil. Every instinct told me to lash out. Even though she wasn’t here. Even though these people were my…friends.

Sera…

I squeezed my eyes closed. No.

This was what I’d been fighting so hard against. I’d dug my heels in and fought like the devil himself was breathing down my neck, all to be the person she deserved.

Deep breaths. In. Out. In. Out. I opened my eyes, surprised by my continued restraint. I’d done it. Pulled myself back from the edge. For her. In that moment, I knew I could do this, could be the person she deserved. The one she needed. I could be the man I wanted to be for her.

“Where?” I exhaled the word while my hands shook with a residual tremor. “Where would she take Sera?”

“We’re going to find out.” Anderson’s large hand clamped down against my shoulder. This time when I went to shrug it off, he was ready for me. His grip tightened, and he turned me so that we were eye to eye. “We’re going to get her back.”