4

Sandy Hook, Kentucky

They were there. For the last week the two-man team had scouted the mountain, settling on a sheltered rock house on the forested hill above him. Talen watched them from the opposing hillside, his eyes narrowed, his body hidden in the thick laurel, rose brush, and ferns. They were using regular binoculars today he estimated, as he watched one of them fit the thick piece of equipment against his face.

The infra-red was good only at night, thankfully Talen didn’t do too much mountain hopping at night. Despite his excellent night vision, he preferred other avenues of entertainment.

“They’ve haven’t moved all day. What are they up to?” Serin whispered at his side, her voice barely lifting above a whisper.

He hadn’t intended to take her with him. Her training had barely begun, but at the last minute he had changed his mind. She needed to see, to be close enough to the danger to know its scent.

“Patience.” He shrugged, watching as one of them sat back and snacked on something from a bright yellow bag. Potato chips, he thought, shaking his head. Hell of a diet for a soldier. “Ninety-nine percent of their job is waiting for the perfect moment.”

The perfect moment to send a bullet, or worse yet one of the highly effective tranquilizer darts they carried with them, sailing into his body. He was worth more to the Council alive. If they could make him breed, then they would have a ready-made army to train from birth. Talen swore he would die first.

“Nerve-wracking.” Serin settled deeper in the soft brush, though her eyes stayed trained on the pair surveying from the ridge. “How can they stand to just sit there for that amount of time?”

“You can do a lot of things for a million dollars and like it just fine,” he told her with an edge of sarcasm. “Unless the price has went up since last I heard, that’s the going rate for one live, healthy human/feline hybrid this year.”

“If you ask me, I think you’re overrated.” The droll amusement in her voice sent his shoulders shaking with silent laughter.

“Think so, little sister?” He grinned as he glanced over at her. “Maybe you outta send them a fax and explain why. Maybe they’ll lower the price and then leave me the hell alone for a while.”

“Then again, I could make them up the price too. From what I understand, you could breed all night long and half the day if you’re in the mood too. They could have you underrated.” The smug suggestion of knowledge had his eyes narrowing now as he watched her.

“And just what do you think you understand, Serin?” He grunted. “Don’t women ever talk about anything other than sex?”

“Well, Mary Beth was a little ticked that you didn’t call her back after the night you spent with her.” Serin kept her voice low, but Talen could hear the barely contained laughter. “She regaled me with the full night’s encounter. Really Talen, all you didn’t do was purr for her.”

Talen could feel his cheeks heating with embarrassment, and fought to ignore it. He’d be damned if he would comment. He’d rather sit and watch the soldiers, at least he understood them.

The soldiers were watching the small cabin below, with its unassuming black shutters, and chain length fence. The gate was closed and locked, with only a few people aware of the combination to open it. To the pair that watched, a vehicle drove up, blew, and the gates opened by some unseen person inside. What they didn’t see was the automatic lock release that each of his family carried. Not that they used the gate often, other than Damen. For the most part, they used the hidden cavern entrance below the house to get to him.

The hidden entrance to the house was a secret confined to only the six of them. The small cavern located under the cliff, and the hidden set of steps that led up to the cabin wasn’t known to many people, even the old timers of the county. It had been ingenious, and a stroke of luck that Talen had found the shaft that led to that cavern during his earlier years at home. He had seen then, the effectiveness of having an unknown, undetected escape route.

“These two are damned good,” he grunted as he watch one of them sneak from the rock house and make his way to the edge of Talen’s property while the other covered him.

Efficiently, the soldier set a small motion detector and covered it quickly with leaves and brush before returning to the shelter.

“How did you learn how to evade them, Talen?” Serin asked him softly, interrupting his thoughts, her earlier teasing of him forgotten as she watched as well. “I wouldn’t have known they were there if you hadn’t pointed them out.”

“You would have smelled them in time.” Talen shrugged, knowing the mention of that particular trait bothered her.

“I wouldn’t have,” she whispered. “And I would have likely ignored it if I had.”

Talen sighed roughly, wanting to close his eyes in frustration.

“You learn, Serin. When you’re hunted long enough and hard enough, you learn how to control the self destructive instinct you’re carrying,” he told her roughly. “You come to a point that you want to live, if for no other reason the fact that they don’t want you to. And you want freedom because the need for it is a part of you.”

“You didn’t have such an instinct. One determined to kill you. Why do I? Why does Laney?” It bothered her, having a part of her take over in such a way.

“But my experience in the labs was different. I knew what I was, but the scientists who raised me sheltered me from the cruelties of the soldiers. I don’t have the self-destruct, I believe, because of that. But the others do in one way or another. It has to be faced, and mastered. For Damen, it was fighting. He wasn’t given the chance to fight for his life in the labs, so after he escaped, he fought everything and everyone.

For Dayan, it was physical labor. He would work himself unconscious if we didn’t watch him, because it was the only way he could live with the memories. For Webb, it was sleeping. Instead of staying awake, he went to sleep. He said it was the only time he knew any peace. You have to face what they did. You have to face the fears, then you can turn the self destruct button off. It’s the only way.”

For Laney and Serin, the self-destruct was more ingrained, and the fears deeper and harder to face, Talen knew. They could ignore it, until the danger reared its horrific head once again, but when it did, the effects of it hit the girls harder.

“Do you think they’ll ever give up, Talen?” Serin asked him, changing the subject, her voice holding an edge of resignation, despite the question. She knew, just as he did, that they would never give up.

“They’re getting smarter anyway.” Talen shrugged, ignoring the obvious answer to her question. “These two haven’t tried the yard yet.”

The others had though. At first, Talen had used guard dogs to hold them back, until the first time he had lost his dogs to the bullets. One by one, they had picked the dogs off, then broke through the fence. The electric sensors ranged around the house had been all that had stopped them. The ear splitting sirens were enough to wake the dead, as well as the few neighbors Talen had further down the road. Within minutes the Sheriff was speeding into the driveway, scaring the soldiers off.

The Council didn’t want to advertise itself, it just wanted Talen dead, or under control. So far, Talen had thwarted them.

“You would think they would get smarter eventually.” Serin yawned; watching the soldiers sit and watch the house all day was getting boring.

“Don’t underestimate them, Serin,” he warned her. “They’re smart as they come, they just haven’t been given the right opportunity to take me alive yet. So far, the Council doesn’t want me dead.”

It was the only reason he was still alive, Talen knew. The soldiers carried tranquilizers for the most part. And waited for the right moment to cap one into him. He hadn’t yet given them that chance. They were effectively barred from taking him out in any public place, or killing him, or involving innocents. Hell of a way for a soldier to have to fight.

The Council, Talen knew, was paranoid on the subject of blood being spilled and questions being raised. They wanted Talen to simply disappear, no questions asked. If bodies suddenly started turning up, then questions would be raised, and nosy reporters, or God forbid, nosy federal agents would suddenly begin putting two and two together, especially if the notes and reports Maria had stolen made it to light.

“And when they do?” Serin asked him.

“Then I’ll be dead.” He slanted a look at her, seeing the fear in her face. “They know about me Serin, I can’t hide forever. But you can, if you’re smart, unless you let them find out about you. Then you’ll have to hide, and hide deep, because they won’t let up on you.”

Reality wasn’t easy, Talen knew. Serin should be enjoying her life, not fearing for each second of it. She was twenty-four, and alone. She had no lover, no husband, no children, and knew the risks should she ever decide to have the last two. It made for a lonely life, but the cruel reality was that she didn’t have a choice. Not if she wanted to live.

As he started to speak again, a soft pulse at his thigh brought a frown to his face. Talen pulled the cell phone from his pocket and answered it shortly.

“We might have a problem.” Damen’s voice was filled with irritation.

“It’s a certainty,” Talen grunted. When was there ever anything else? “What on your end?”

“A reporter. Maggie Taylor. She just rolled into town and she’s asking everyone she sees about you. She’s heading out to Big Caney with enough camping gear for three families. You better get out there.”

Talen cursed, flipping the phone closed and tucking it back into its leather case.

“Let’s go.” He began scooting backwards slowly, heading for the curve of the hill where they could stand safety and retreat. “I have to get to town.”

“Problem?” Serin asked, following him slowly.

“Sounds like it,” he bit out. “A woman reporter named Taylor. Just what I need, another part of Maria’s past to haunt me right now.”

Talen cursed silently, profanely. He didn’t need this right now, not on top of those two mercenaries camped out looking for him. And they didn’t stay confined to the shelter they had taken as their own either. He had watched them, tracked them several times as they made wide forays around the mountain, hoping to find a way to catch him.

They were smart enough to know he wasn’t spending all his time hidden in that house. They just hadn’t figured out where he went, or how he got out yet.

The last thing he needed was for one of them to catch wind of the journalist asking for him. It would be reported to the Council immediately, and then only God knew what would happen to Stephen Taylor and his family if the Council thought they had any information concerning him, or the experiments.

“What are you going to do?” Serin asked worriedly as they made it to the pickup.

“Beats the hell out of me.” He unlocked the door and jumped in before reaching over to unlock hers as well. “Get in and let me get to town so I can find out just how much damned trouble we’re in. Just what I need, a damned journalist, and a woman to boot. Stephen Taylor must have lost his ever lovin’ mind.”

He started the motor quickly and eased out of the spot he had hidden the truck in. He was less then ten minutes from town, but he could feel the knowledge in his gut that every minute was going to count.