Turbulence (16 page)

Greyson shook off the blow. He swung his fist, bashing the
other male in the face. Moving as fast as only a Jhetan could, Greyson swept
his foot out, taking the young male’s feet from under him and causing him to
slam to the ground.  Greyson dropped down and pulled a blade from somewhere so
fast that Avalon didn’t even realize he had it until it was pressed against the
young man’s throat.

“What the hell are you, Nile?” They knew each other?

“Something you will never be, Greyson. Or should I say
sir
?”
The male cackled despite being seconds away from being killed.

“You’re going to tell me everything you know about
Department X this second or you’ll end up like your two friends over there.”

“Kill me. I don’t care. I ain’t telling you nothing.”

“Suit yourself. Sorry this had to happen to you. Yeah, not
really.”

Greyson readied for the killing strike. She couldn’t let him
do that. He had two deaths on his hands. Avalon wouldn’t let him make it three.
She couldn’t stand there and watch him kill someone. A young person at that.

“Greyson, no!”

His head whipped around. The fury in his eyes was
unmistakable, even in the darkness. “Damn it, Avalon. I told you to run.”

“I couldn’t leave you.”

The young male cackled again. “They’re here.”

Greyson turned his attention back to male beneath him. “Who?
Who? Answer me!”

Avalon saw something move in the shadows. She screamed out
Greyson’s name right before something hit her over the head and she sank into
darkness.

Chapter 16

Greyson fought through the fog of his brain to reach
consciousness. He groaned. The pounding behind his eyes was excruciating. Did
he drink too much again?

He opened his eyes. What the hell…? He was strapped to a
table. Belts held his wrists and ankles down. The room he was in was all white
and clinical looking like a doctor’s office. In front of him was a clear glass
window.

Where was he? What was he doing here? Where was Avalon? The
last thing he remembered was her yelling his name in panic before he was about
to kill Nile. After that, he didn’t remember anything.

Nile was not the teenager Greyson remembered from a year
ago. He was something new, something other. He had grown a foot, filled out as
well. But it was something else that made him different. Something inside of
him was off. Though he didn’t seem as robotic or skilled as those with him—he
must have been recently changed—he was bad news.

If he was a product of Department X, then there was no
telling what was going on with him. Department X performed experiments on
people. Lily’s sister was a prime example of that. According to Lily, Shay was
never the same after they finished with her. Nile wouldn’t be either.

Wherever Greyson was, he couldn’t count on Nile to help him
out. The boy was obviously on Department X’s side. Whether that was voluntary
or not didn’t matter. Greyson had to figure out a way to find Avalon and escape
on his own, which was going to be hard to do at the present with him strapped
down and a headache the size of the sun nagging him.

“Ahh. You’re awake. Delightful.”

The voice sounded as if it came from everywhere and
surrounded him, but Greyson saw no one. It must have been coming from speakers.

“Who are you?” He didn’t like this feeling of powerlessness,
didn’t like not knowing anything.

The male voice chuckled. “That is for you to find out later.
But I know who you are, Greyson. You learn so much from emptying a man’s
pockets, even though I knew who you were anyway.”

“Where is Avalon?” That’s all he cared about. He just needed
to know she was safe and unharmed.

“So full of questions. Don’t worry. You’ll get to see your
lady in a moment. First, I need you to do something for me.”

“I’m not doing anything. Let me go.” Greyson jerked against
the restraints. He got nowhere. “Where am I?”

The voice sighed. “You’re with Department X, of course.
You’ve heard of us, I’m sure. We left you and your Homeland Security friends a
few messages. Did you receive them?”

The dead bodies. Those were all messages? The anguish and
fear caused by them were all because of dumb messages? “You asshole. Let me out
of here and I won’t rip your damn head off right away.”

“Seeing as I’m not even in the same facility as you are, I
take that threat lightly. Listen to me for a second, Greyson, and see if you
won’t change your answer about helping me.”

Maybe if he listened, Greyson could find out something that
might be of use in getting out of here. He needed any intel he could get. “Talk
then.”

“Very well. I’m sure you’ve gotten the wrong idea about us.
You probably think we’re the bad guys. That’s not true. We are here to help the
Jhetans, to help you.”

Greyson rolled his throbbing eyes. “Yeah, by killing and
experimenting on us. Forgive me if I don’t want your kind of help.”

“Science involves trial and error. How do you perfect things
without tests, hmm? The individuals that unfortunately died during the
experimentation process were a part of a larger purpose than they could have
understood. The soldiers I sent to retrieve you tonight were different than
anyone you have come across, yes? I take your silence as agreement. They’re
bigger, stronger, more powerful than you can imagine.”

“If they’re so powerful, why did I kill two of them?” he
retorted.

“The orders were to subdue, not kill you. Taking it easy on
you unfortunately allowed you an advantage. That’s fine. I know not to
underestimate you anymore, hence the restraints.”

“That still doesn’t explain all the dead people these past
months. They weren’t all messages.”

“You’re right,” the voice agreed. “They weren’t. Sometimes
my soldiers get a little out of hand when first coming to terms with their new
natures. Other times, I send them out to recruit humans and Jhetans to build my
army. As difficult as it may be to believe, people refuse. They have to be
killed. They know too much.”

Davie would never have joined Department X. He was killed
because of it. Greyson was even more pissed off. If that was possible. “Why do
you need an army?”

“There are plans in place,” the male voice responded.
“Bigger than you, bigger than me. Well, maybe not me. But you get the idea. It
is time the Jhetans are brought to the forefront of this society. Why continue
hiding? With your help, Department X can take over this country, this world.”

“That is insane.”

All it would start was a war between Jhetans and humans. One
the Jhetans did not need no matter how many soldiers Department X created.
Things were fine the way they were, living under the humans’ radar. Why disturb
the peace they desired?

“Insane? I think not. You are the leader of a large group of
individuals. Most Jhetans are under your command. They are loyal to you,
probably even in your death. Turn them over to me for my plan of domination to
work. I could take control by force, but I’m afraid it would be
counterproductive.”

“Hell, no. You’re crazy. You have done more harm than I care
to think about. Let me out of here.”

A sigh. “I thought you’d say that. Larsen!”

The table Greyson was strapped to rotated until it was
vertical. A light flashed on behind the glass window. A roar escaped Greyson
before he could stop it. He yanked at the belts holding him down until his
wrists and ankles were rubbed raw.

Avalon was on the other side of the glass strapped to a
vertical table as well. Her big violet eyes were wide with terror. The dress
that looked so lovely and elegant on her small frame was now spotted with dirt
and torn at the bottom. If anybody touched her inappropriately, Greyson was
going to go bat shit crazy. He was already nearly there.

“Avalon!”

“She can’t hear you or see you. Don’t worry. Larsen is
taking good care of her.”

For the first time, Greyson noticed the man standing to the
side of her. He was bald and stern-looking. Larsen. Larsen. Where had he heard
that name before? Then it hit him. This was the man who escaped when he, Dex,
and the sentries invaded the Department X headquarters to rescue Shay. Larsen
wouldn’t be so lucky this time. Greyson swore it.

“Let her go,” he snarled. “Do what you want with me, but let
Avalon go.”

“Look at that. Love makes a man weak. Willing to sacrifice
yourself for a chickadee. Tsk. Tsk.”

“Please,” Greyson begged. He wasn’t above it in this
situation. He was willing to do anything for Avalon not to go through this.

The voice laughed. “Begging. A new low. Would you like to
talk to her? I can make that happen.”

“What do you want?”

“I already told you that. Power. Turn your people over to
me.”

“No.”

“Then consider this an act of goodwill. Larsen, turn on the
sound system.” Larsen moved to the side and pressed a few buttons on the wall.

“Go on,” the voice directed. “Speak to her.”

“Avalon?” Greyson said tentatively.

“Greyson?” Her eyes darted back and forth, searched for him.
“Greyson, where are you?”

“I’m in a room across from you. We’re both a little stuck at
the moment, sunshine.”

“Where are we?” Her voice shook and he wanted to kill
everyone in this place for putting fear inside of her.

Greyson replied as calmly as he could to keep her from
knowing how screwed they really were. “With assholes called Department X. Don’t
you worry. We’ll get out of here.”

“How?”

“I don’t know yet. I’ll figure something out.”

The voice chuckled again. When Greyson finally met who it
belonged to, he would slaughter him and make the process long and brutal. “Ah,
hope. Everyone has hope, including me, which is why I must do this. Larsen,
proceed.”

Larsen produced a needle and vial from his lab coat pocket.
He ripped the covering from the needle and filled it with what was in the vial.

“What are you doing?” Greyson asked in alarm, glancing
between Avalon and Larsen.

The voice responded, “Ensuring your answer is what I want to
hear. I’m being nice. Really. What do you say to my proposal? Will you command
your people to follow me? We can take over the world.”

“Greyson, no!” Avalon yelled, shaking her head frantically.
“Don’t do it.”

Larsen held the needle up to her arm. What choice did
Greyson have? He didn’t want to start a war. Yet he didn’t know what they were
threatening to give Avalon.

“Go ahead, Larsen,” the voice directed.

A rush of cold air expelled from every pore in Greyson’s
body as he watched the needle sink into Avalon’s slender arm. Within seconds
her eyes rolled into the back of her head. She slumped forward and would have
fallen had she not been strapped to the table.

Even though it was useless, Greyson jerked against the belts
to get to her. “What did you do to her?”

“What was necessary. She’ll die without the antidote. Maybe
not today, tomorrow, or next week, but she will die. Agree to my request and
you can save her. I’ll give you some time to think on it.”

“I agree!” Greyson shouted. He got nothing in return, not
even a chuckle. “I agree.”

Avalon was dying, they were both captives of Department X,
and the world was on the verge of an alien takeover. Could things get any
worse? Yep, he decided. A whole lot worse.

The door to the room burst open. Two big men stalked in.
Greyson couldn’t tell whether they were Jhetans or humans or both. Their
energies were off and the prickle in his brain that alerted him to other
Jhetans was silent. Something was off with their eyes too. Whatever they were,
they were products of this place. They reeked of death.

Both of them retrieved masks from a cabinet and pulled them
over their noses and mouths. Why? He found out when an odorless mist descended
from the ceiling. The table rotated back to horizontal.

Greyson’s eyelids grew heavy. He couldn’t even fight when
those two jokers began unbuckling him. He just closed his eyes and slept.

----

When Greyson awoke again, he was sprawled on the ground of a
room—if it could even be called that. It looked more like a dusty, old dungeon.
No windows. The door in the room had no knob, only a small sliding panel that
he could in no way fit through even if he was as small as Veeva. It was more
than likely this was a cell of some sort and he’d bet it wasn’t the only one.

Greyson didn’t know how long he’d been out or what they used
on him. His wicked headache was back. His body ached from the hits and scrapes
he took from the fight however many hours ago.

He pulled himself to a sitting position. How much time had
passed since he and Avalon took that evening stroll? And where in the hell was
he? He couldn’t be too far from home. The murders that occurred were mostly
within a thirty mile radius of Forest Hills. If Greyson could find a way to get
a message to Dex or Ross, they might be able to find him.

How did he get himself into this mess? All he wanted was to
spend a nice romantic night with Avalon and convince her to forgive him. It was
all going so well until that reckless walk. It was dangerous out there. He knew
that. He warned everyone about it. Yet he put himself and Avalon in harm’s way
anyway. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

The sound of locks sliding back got Greyson’s attention.
Though he wasn’t in the best condition, he readied himself to attack. All the
fight rushed out of him when Avalon was flung to the floor like a ragdoll. He
let the overgrown Department X experiment leave without trouble while he
scrambled to Avalon’s side.

She was pale, paler than normal. The bun she kept her hair
in had fallen down, leaving a single, messy braid where more hair was outside
of it than in. He pulled her into his arms, caressed her cheek.

“Avalon. Wake up, sunshine.”

Her eyelids fluttered open. “Greyson?” she asked in a weak
whisper. “Is that really you?”

“Yes. It’s me. How do you feel?”

“Like your spaghetti might have been rotten.”

Greyson smiled. That was his girl. “It’s okay. You’ll be
better soon.”

Jhetans didn’t catch human sicknesses and diseases, which
meant whatever Larsen gave her was something never seen before.

“I’m sorry, Greyson.” Her violet eyes filled with the sheen
of tears. “This was my fault. I should have never told you to stop. If you
would have killed that guy like you planned—”

“No,” he interrupted. “None of this is your fault. If it’s
anyone’s, it’s mine. I should have protected you better.” Greyson would never
forgive himself for not doing so.

“You told me to run. I didn’t listen.”

“None of that matters anymore. We’ll be getting out of here
before long. You can finally use those skills Amelia and I taught you, okay?”

“I can do that.” She paused to lick her dry lips. “Greyson,
no matter what happens, don’t give in. Don’t do what that man asks of you.”

“I have no choice.” He was stuck between a rock and a hard
place.

“There’s always a choice.”

“He has the antidote to whatever they gave you. I won’t let
you die. If I have to sacrifice the whole world for you to live, I will.” In a
heartbeat he would give his life for hers. He would take that injection instead
of her.

She squeezed her eyes shut. “Oh, Greyson. Everyone has to
die one day. Some sooner than others. I’ll bet whatever they injected me with
was temporary. I feel better already.”