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TIM TRAILED AFTER Hugh, as he headed across the Hall of Truths, leaving Jackson in charge of the war. He needed to be near Trinity in case...His mind froze, refusing to go there. She wouldn’t die. She wouldn’t.
“How is she?” asked Tim as he dropped on the chair next to Gaar.
“Doctor hasn’t come out yet,” said the Handler.
Hugh pulled another chair from down the hallway over by Gaar and sat.
“Did you kill him?” asked Gaar.
His eyes met the black ones of the Handler. For once their dark depths didn’t frighten him. There was no mercy there and he understood that. “Yes. How did you—”
“It was on your face.” Gaar snorted. “And if you hadn’t done it then I would’ve had to beat you senseless and do it myself.”
He smiled slightly at the joke, although he wasn’t sure the Handler was kidding. It didn’t matter. He’d killed Jason for harming Trinity, but he’d made it too quick. If Trinity...didn’t get better, he’d need someone as an outlet for his anguish.
“Mirra isn’t going to be happy when she finds out about this,” mumbled Gaar.
The Tracker wasn’t his primary concern but it did give him something else to focus on besides whether Trinity’s pulse still beat at her throat. “Gaar, I need to tell you what I found out about the serum that you and Mirra take.”
He should’ve told them right away. He should’ve let them decide, but he’d needed the Trackers and Handlers strong and fighting for him. He’d been selfish and now Gaar was injured and Sikka could be dead. “As you know, the serum makes you strong and Mirra weak. It’s the same with the other Handlers and Trackers.”
“Already knew all that,” grunted Gaar.
“Yes, but...” He’d promised the Forest Witch not to tell Gaar about his birth but he was tired of secrets. “You aren’t going to like what I have to tell you.”
“Seldom do.” Gaar’s black eyes were wary.
“Perhaps, this isn’t the best time.” Too much had happened that day. Emotions were raw.
“You brought it up. You might as well finish. I’m not some young fool who can’t handle the truths of life.”
“Fine.” If Gaar wanted the truth, here it was. “You and Mirra are twins. Almighty twins. Taken from your parents at birth.”
“What?” Gaar shifted on his seat so he faced Hugh.
“You have got to be kidding me,” said Tim.
“The Forest Witch is your great, great niece.” Verly wasn’t going to be happy with him. His eyes met Gaar’s. The Handler was confused and hurt. He could’ve been gentler with this news. “Those in control at the time took all twins born to Almightys and genetically altered them.”
“That’s not possible.” Gaar shook his head. “I remember my parents.”
“They weren’t your birth parents. Handlers and Trackers were designed to be sterile. Those in charge wanted to stay in control.” It was hard to say this out loud. The horror of what was done to these children had caused him to lose sleep. He wasn’t sure how this would affect someone who’d experienced it firsthand.
“So, that’s why Mirra and Sikka have lost their young.” Gaar’s eyes were bleak. “I remember friends of my parents going off and showing up weeks, months later with babies. I thought we went away and...mated a lot.” He smiled sadly. “Had kind of been looking forward to that.”
“You may be able to have live, healthy offspring.” This was going to be even harder to say because he was partially at fault.
“How? I won’t go and collect one you alter for me.” Gaar snarled. “That’s wrong.”
“That’s not what I meant. I wouldn’t do that.” He’d thought the Handler knew him better than that.
“Then explain how you can fix something that has been broken for centuries.”
He took a deep breath. “It’s because of the serum.” At the look of confusion and then rage on Gaar’s face he added. “I didn’t know. Not until recently. I would’ve never let you take the serum without telling you.”
“You just had us take another shot. You’ve been back from the lab for weeks.” Gaar’s lips curled, showing his teeth.
“Take it easy, Gaar.” Tim stood, backing away. “Hugh wouldn’t do anything to harm you or any of us.”
“I didn’t figure it out at the lab.” He didn’t want to lie to his friend, but he was going to because he’d let Gaar and the Handlers take another shot a few weeks before the battle. He’d needed them as strong as possible.
“Then where?”
He swallowed. He’d done what he’d had to do to win the war. “It was in the book that Verly gave me. Things she’d said made me think and then when I was going through the book, I put two and two together.” He stared Gaar right in the eyes. “I swear. I didn’t figure it out until after you’d taken the shots. I should’ve told you right away.” He held up his hands. “But, you couldn’t un-take the shot and...I needed your help with the war. I’m sorry. I still should’ve told you. All of you.”
“No, you shouldn’t have.” The anger in Gaar’s face lessened. “The others would’ve been furious. Might’ve even killed you.”
“I had considered that.” They still might kill him.
“What exactly does this serum do to us?” Gaar’s face sobered.
Now, came the truly hard part in a difficult tale. “It keeps you linked.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“The serum binds you and Mirra—Handlers and Trackers. It keeps the twins together by not letting you turn into what your genetics want you to become.”
“You’re wrong,” said Gaar, his face paling. “Before...That day when the Trackers and Handlers fought, there was no serum and you said we couldn’t have babies then.”
“I don’t know everything it does. I’m only starting to figure it out and Verly only told me so much.”
“That witch is lying. She prophesized that I’d abandon Mirra and she’s using you to make it come true.” Gaar crossed his arms over his chest.
“I don’t think so.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Everything she told me and what I discovered in the book lines up with the tests I performed.”
Gaar grunted. “Still don’t trust her.”
“It makes sense that you were designed to be sterile. That’d leave those who created your kind in control and controlling Trackers and Handlers is a powerful weapon.”
“It’s wrong.” Gaar bared his teeth.
“I didn’t say I agreed with it, only that it makes sense. Verly said that after her great, great grandfather discovered what they’d done, those in charge did something to the Trackers and Handlers which caused them to fight. Do you recall anything about that time—new food, shots, vitamins, anything?”
“No. Mirra and I had been away, but I don’t remember anything different...except the fighting when we returned.” Gaar scratched his head. “We did have yearly checkups with a doctor.” He shook his head. “But that happened weeks before the violence.”
“That’s it.” He almost jumped from his chair. “They were giving you something to keep you barren, keep you stable. Their own version of the serum.” He began pacing. “Or they could’ve given you something with a timed release. If it didn’t work right, they wouldn’t have wanted your kind to know they’d tried to exterminate you.”
“We would’ve killed all of you,” said Gaar. “There were enough of us back then.”
“That alone is reason for the Almightys to wipe you out,” said Tim.
“But they were in control.” He shook his head. “There’s no way they feared your father enough to wipe out the entire experiment. They would’ve just killed him and his family. The only thing that makes sense is that they considered your experiment a failure.” He stopped pacing. It all made sense now, horrible sense.
“We’re not an experiment,” growled Gaar.
“Well...” Tim shut up when Gaar’s eyes fell on him.
“But you were.” He sat back down. “Your kind was created by scientists. They took Almighty twins and inserted DNA of some long-extinct creatures, creating one Tracker and one Handler but they must not have anticipated the DNA of the other creatures being stronger than Almighty DNA and invasive.” He smiled. “They wouldn’t expect that, not with their hubris.”
“What does this have to do with us now?” Gaar was losing patience.
“The serum keeps you balanced. Part Almighty and part some other creature or creatures.”
Tim scratched his head. “So, you’re saying that without the serum, they’ll become something else?”
“Yes. They’ll finish the metamorphosis that was started years ago.”
“Do you know what we’ll become?” Gaar’s face was tight with tension.
“No, but I think...think mind you...that you’ll become more like an Almighty. I believe your Almighty DNA is stronger than the other creature’s. That’d explain why the serum makes you stronger. It contains vitamins and chemicals which boosts the recessive DNA, triggering it to fight back, grow stronger. In you, that recessive DNA is from the other creature, in the Trackers it’s the Almighty DNA.”
“Mirra hadn’t had the serum in a long time when she’d gotten pregnant,” said Gaar.
“I know. I think if you allow your DNA to finish its transformation—let it change into whatever it should become—you’ll both be able to produce viable offspring.”
“So, the serum killed Mirra’s young?” Tim shook his head. “I don’t want to be around when you tell her that.”
“Is Tim right?” asked Gaar.
“I think so.”
“I made her take it. I thought it’d help her, keep her healthy, safe.” Gaar’s voice was rough and his black eyes shimmered with tears.
“It wasn’t your fault.” He looked at Tim. “It wasn’t any of our faults.”
“Don’t think Mirra will see it that way,” mumbled Tim. “I wouldn’t want to be you.”
“We didn’t know. None of us would’ve done anything to put her young in danger.” That was true. He may have used them for his war, but he wouldn’t have let her take the shot if he’d known what it would do.
“She’ll never forgive me,” said Gaar.
He hesitated a moment. “You don’t have to tell her.”
“She deserves to know.” Gaar glared at him.
“Does she? What good would it do? We can’t bring back her babies.” He hesitated again. “I think you can just let her stop taking the serum and she’ll get pregnant again.”
Gaar studied him a moment. “You’re hiding something.”
Before he could blink, the Handler’s hand was around his throat. It wasn’t tight but it was a threat.
“Let me go.” He wasn’t saying anything else unless they spoke as equals. He stared into Gaar’s black eyes, filled with pain and anger. “You’re my friend. I’ll tell you everything I know. I swear.”
Gaar dropped his hand.
He cleared his throat. “I believe that if Mirra stops taking the serum, she’ll change and become wilder. She won’t be able to be handled anymore.”
“We’ll grow apart.” Pain flashed in Gaar’s eyes.
“Yes. She’ll become less Almighty, less twin and more of the other creature that lives in her genes. I may be wrong, but I’m almost positive that whatever happens, you’ll no longer be bound together.”
Gaar turned away staring at the door where Trinity struggled for life. “She’ll be able to have young? Ones that’ll survive?”
“I believe so.”
“The Forest Witch was right after all. I have betrayed Mirra and I’ll send her away.” Gaar’s voice was harsh and his shoulders slumped. After all these years, the Handler was defeated.
“I don’t think I could be that strong.” He’d never let Trinity go, not if he had a chance or a choice.
“You’d do what was best for her.”
He wasn’t so sure about that.