Samil continued. “Your mom happily agreed to help me with my latest round of experiments. I’ve promised she’ll be clean and healthy in six months.”
“That’s what you’ve always wanted, right, baby?” Ryla twisted her fingers in the front of her dirty dress.
Black spots appeared in Renna’s vision as the world spun. “Leave her alone, Samil.”
“Or what? Your mother wants what’s best for you, and she knows this is the only way to get her life back together. I can give her a future.”
“You’ve already taken away her future.”
“Please, baby. She said once I’m clean you’ll forgive me. We can start over.” Ryla’s hollow eyes bored into Renna’s. There was remorse there, but something else as well. Love, perhaps?
It was far too late for that. “Starting over isn’t an option. But trusting Samil will only get you killed. Just walk away, Mom.”
“To what?” Ryla’s calm shattered as her voice rose to a warbling screech. “I’m living on the streets now, Renna. I can barely scrape enough money together for a hit of clay. Before the doctor found me, I hadn’t eaten in days. And it’s not like you’ve taken care of me. I hear you’re better off than the president. Is it too much to ask you to help support your poor old mother?”
Renna’s fists clenched, but she forced herself to stay silent.
When she didn’t respond, Renna’s mother continued. “Dr. Samil promised she’d take care of me. She says it’s not too late for me.” Ryla’s eyes narrowed. “That’s more than you ever did. You gave up on me a long time ago.”
Hurt surged through Renna like a punch to the gut, and her words erupted in a volcano of hate and anger before she could pull herself together. “I gave up on you when you tried to slit my throat in a drug-fueled rage. Did you forget about that? Or the times you were too high to even remember you had a child? Or is it still somehow my fault you’re in this situation?”
She glared at the woman who’d become a stranger. She’d wanted to confront her mother for so long, to tell her how she’d ruined Renna’s life, but this woman was beyond that now. She’d never take responsibility for what had happened. It was up to Renna to finally let it go.
Her anger drained away as quickly as it had come. She felt lighter almost. It didn’t matter anymore. She wasn’t the same child who’d left this place. She’d created a new life for herself. After searching for years, she’d found a new family. And right now the only hatred she should feel should be toward Samil for taking them away.
Renna stepped forward, glaring at the doctor. “Samil, release these people. Release my mother. You promised.”
She shrugged. “I promised to not perform any more experiments. This is my final group of hybrids, and the most powerful, thanks to your DNA.” She raised her arm, and another line of people exited the building and took up their spots with the others.
“You know I’m going to stop you, right?”
Samil smiled. “You won’t because, with one command, I could have your own mother shoot you where you stand. I could have my army swarm you.”
“But what’s the fun in that?” Renna asked. “Don’t you want to face me yourself?”
“I’m afraid your taunts won’t work on me, Renna. Now let’s move this conversation to my ship. Unless you’d like me to kill your mother while you watch.”
Renna’s hand slipped to her waist to unsnap her holster. If only she were as good a shot as she was a thief.
But before she could twitch a finger, the roar of a ship filled the air. Pain burst through her as Renna’s implant short circuited, and she gasped, locking her knees so she didn’t tumble to the ground.
Every hybrid turned to watch the ship land beside Samil’s at the end of the block.
The static in her brain slowly cleared, and her eyes could focus again. Her heart skipped a beat. “The Athena,” she breathed. But how was that possible?
She held perfectly still, her gaze never leaving the ship as she tried to connect with it again.
There! A tiny sliver of the old Athena greeted her, the familiar electromagnetic pulse wrapping around her like a friend’s hug.
Something hot prickled behind her eyes, and she brushed away a tear. They were alive.
The gangplank slowly lowered, and three people strode out, guns at the ready.
“Nick,” she whispered. He was dressed in MYTH gray again, his uniform pressed and clean. He walked with a purpose, and as their gazes met across the park, there was that jolt she’d felt the first time she’d seen him again. Like he was the only one who knew her. Lieutenant Keva and Major Dallas flanked him on either side, their faces grim as they surveyed the scene.
Anger surged though her like a sun flare. At her relief to see him, at his betrayal, at the confusion that flooded through her. Godsdammit. The man was still alive, and he hadn’t bothered to tell her. Again.
His eyes met hers hesitantly, and he gave her a half-smile. Instead of smiling back, she could only glare. If she hadn’t been so f**king upset at his death, she’d kill him herself right now. But that familiar expression sent her skin tingling, despite her anger. She wanted to strangle him and kiss him at the same time.
“Hey, Ren,” he said softly as he approached. “You all right?”
“No thanks to you,” she snapped, but her heart still hitched at hearing her name on his lips.
Samil cleared her throat, drawing their gazes back to her. “Welcome, Major. Captain. I thought I’d taken care of you with your other comrades. I see you escaped.”
Dallas aimed his gun at Samil. “As a matter of fact we did. Luckily, the Athena got a warning message before the attack began. We were able to evacuate quite a few of our facilities before your drones struck.”
Relief flooded through Renna. It had worked. Her connection with the Athena had saved lives. She turned back to Samil. “For someone so smart, you sure do make a lot of mistakes.”
For the first time in days, she truly believed they were going to beat this woman. They were going to win. And then she was going to have a serious discussion with Captain Nick Finn.
Samil shook her head. “I prefer to think of it as an experiment, not a mistake. Because each time I fail, I learn something new. For example, after you escaped my warehouse, I realized the virus had indeed connected you to my neural network, but you’d resisted a full upload. Which allowed me to alter the frequency and gain more control over my followers. It also allowed me to create a failsafe. If you came in contact with the network again, I laid a trap that would allow me to connect to your implant.”