Valor, Variant - 2: A Dark Genetic Manipulation Romance, page 23
“I know some of you have already had basic medical treatment, but I suggest you have our people look at your injuries again. We want to be sure you heal well and there will be no risk of infection. If you need nutritional supplements to get you back to your normal healthy levels, we can take care of that, too.”
Law paused to see if any of the males, or remaining females had anything to contribute or ask. When no one did, he pointed toward the golf carts still parked under an overhang beside the heliports. “Alright then, since we have no questions, lets load up and we’ll show you around, then go on over to medical.”
Steel drove slowly down the white gravel road leading from the heliports toward the medical building at the opposite end of the community. As he passed the house they shared, he saw the front door open and Feral came out dressed in a pair of running shorts and a tank top. He made eye contact with Steel.
“You good?” Steel called.
Feral gave a single nod, then took off on foot, not at a relaxed jog, but a run, toward the wooded parts of Alliance, where’d they’d all helped train Nina. It wasn’t unusual for anyone to lose themselves in the quiet of the wildlife and undeveloped areas surrounding their community, but there was something about Feral that just seemed off since they’d found the females on this last mission.
Steel kept driving, but turned and glanced over his shoulder to confirm the direction Feral went, before once again paying attention to the road.
“I’m going to have to check on him later,” Steel remarked, looking over at the female who rode quietly beside him.
She looked at Steel, but didn’t speak.
“It’s all going to be good. It’ll work out, you’ll see,” Steel said.
The woman simply watched him for a moment before returning her attention to the community they drove through. She didn’t seem concerned in any way, and that was just fine with Steel. She had no reason to be. He had no intention of letting her too far out of his sight no matter what she decided once she was ready to make choices for her future.
“Can you tell me your name?” he asked, trying to get her to talk to him now that it was just the two of them.
She looked at him again and her brows pulled together, indicating her confusion. Finally she shook her head.
“It’s fine if you’d rather not. You don’t know me well yet, I get it,” he said.
She still watched Steel. “I don’t remember,” she said softly.
Steel looked over at her again, before watching the road once more. “What do you remember?” he asked.
She shrugged, and let the ducks up ahead steal her attention from him. “Nothing to remember. Always been there,” she said.
“You remember being a child there?” Steel asked.
“No,” she said.
Steel was stunned. She had no memory. And if she didn’t, it was likely none of the other females did either. Instead of leaving these females as they’d found them to remember their pasts, they’d managed to take their memories from them as well.
“It’s okay,” he said, thinking she must surely feel adrift with no memory other than the facility they’d found her in. “I found you, and I’m not going to let anything happen to you. You’ll be fine.”
When she didn’t answer he glanced over at her as he turned off the key to the golf cart. He found her looking at him. “You already said that,” she whispered.
“I meant it,” he assured her.
She shrugged and sat patiently waiting for him to tell her what to do next.
“Come on, let’s go get you checked out, then we’ll get you something to eat.”
Chapter 21
Valor hopped off the back of the side-by-side as it drove past the duplex where Becky and Skylar lived on the left side of the duplex they shared with Two.
“I’m out!” he said, slinging the cushioned carrying case he kept his laptop in over his shoulder as he landed steadily on his feet and watched Lethal continue on toward the security building.
“See you later!” Nina called as she turned to wave in his direction.
Valor waved, then started toward Becky’s house. He grinned to himself as he stepped carefully around the colorful chalk garden his daughter had drawn. He stopped at that thought and smiled, the feeling one he wasn’t familiar with, but was completely enamored by. “I have a daughter,” he said. He chuckled then started walking toward the door again. He knocked and waited for Becky to answer the door.
His brows drew together when he realized he didn’t hear Skylar yelling or playing, or the T.V. on. He knocked again, louder, calling out this time. “Becky! Open the door. It’s me!”
Again there was no reply, and the house was far too quiet.
Valor pounded on the door. “Rebecca! Open the door!”
Still nothing. He tried the doorknob and found it unlocked. He stepped inside and looked around, struck immediately by the stillness of the place. They weren’t here. He went into Becky’s bedroom and looked around. There was nothing to indicate that she’d been there other than the towel she’d last used hanging over the shower curtain rod. Valor hurried to Skylar’s room, relieved when he found a few of her toys still there. Maybe they weren’t gone. Maybe they were just not home and were wandering around the property somewhere. He turned to leave and his gaze fell on the closet — there were still no clothes in it. “Gotta fix that,” he said to himself.
He hurried back to the living room, tossed his laptop onto the couch and set out to find Becky and Skylar.
~~~
Becky greeted Skylar with excitement when the teacher working the pickup line opened her back door and helped Skylar in along with her school bag.
“Hi, baby! How was your day?” she asked, doing her best to sound joyous and happy.
“Alright,” Skylar said, buckling herself into her carseat.
“Just alright?” Becky persisted. She hoped everyday when she picked Skylar up from school that there’d be some change in her disposition, but so far there’d been none. The once happy, always smiling child was now amiable, but barely interested in anything anyone tried to get her to participate in. She only did the bare minimum and spent her time watching television with the baby doll Two had given her.
“Yeah. I colored some pages, then I ate lunch, and now it’s time to go home,” Skylar said.
“What did you color?” Becky asked.
“Flowers,” Skylar answered.
“Oh, that must have been fun! I know how much you love flowers,” Becky said.
“It was okay,” Skylar answered.
Becky pursed her lips as she gave up for the moment, and drove them toward home. It had been almost two weeks since Sin had brought them back home — to their lives as Becky liked to think of it — and they hadn’t heard from anyone but Two. When she spoke to Two, she never asked about Valor, and Two never offered, so she wasn’t sure if he was back at Alliance, or if he was still out on mission. Either way it didn’t really matter. The one thing she was sure about was the fact that she just couldn't go back to putting her entire life on hold while she waited for a man she loved to come back from a mission. She and Skylar deserved to be first in his life, not a second or even third depending on what his team’s focus was that day. She wanted a man to help her raise Skylar and be a constant father figure. She didn’t want to live the life of a single parent while he dropped in occasionally to remind her she had a husband. Maybe it was selfish of her to feel that way. But she didn’t care, she’d done her turn at it and lost her husband in the meantime. She just couldn’t do it again. Alone was better — at least she knew what to expect.
Becky knew Skylar was having anxiety issues because she couldn’t understand why they weren’t with her daddy. And she knew Skylar was missing her daddy and Two as well. And she was angry with Valor for those things. He’d had no right to yank them into his world and expect her to just bow to his whims and go along with whatever he decided was going to be. She glanced at Skylar, who was staring dispassionately out of the window at the scenery. She was just going to have to work harder to lift the child’s spirits and make her a good life where they were. “What do you want for dinner tonight?” Becky asked.
“I don’t care,” Skylar answered.
“We have some macaroni and cheese at home. I could make us some and we could have hot dogs with it. And I think we have a little ice cream left, too,” Becky said excitedly.
“That’s fine,” Skylar said, not even looking her way.
Becky didn’t reply. She just focused on the road and getting them home safely. It didn’t matter anyway, Skylar didn’t seem to be interested in anything anymore.
“It’s going to be okay, baby,” Becky said a while later.
“Okay,” Skylar answered.
~~~
Valor glanced toward the ducks and didn’t see Becky or Skylar. He went to the recreation building next and pushed the door open, looking around for them. “Since when does this place have beer?” he asked.
“Almost two weeks ago. Where the hell you been?” Cynic asked.
“On mission,” Valor snapped.
“Ah. Welcome home,” Cynic said.
“You seen my wife and daughter?” Valor asked.
“In here?” Cynic asked.
“Anywhere!” Valor answered irritatedly.
“I don’t know your wife and daughter. But I haven’t seen any child anywhere,” Cynic said.
“Fine,” Valor answered, turning and walking out of the recreation building. He went to the admin building and glanced into the offices to be sure they weren’t there when he first walked in then he stood in the middle of the cafeteria looking carefully for either of them at any of the tables. “The fuck are they?” he mumbled. He spun on his heel, and noticed Two walking in.
“Hey!” Valor called out.
“Valor! Ya’ll are back! How’d it go?” Two asked, walking over to Valor.
“Good. Got the Doc, rescued four females and four Variant. Where are my wife and daughter?” he said, getting to his point right away.
Two’s smiled dropped. “They’re not here,” he finally said after an uncomfortable pause.
“I see that. Where are they?” Valor asked. “They petting the horses, or swimming or something?” Valor asked.
Two shook his head sadly. “They went home.”
Valor’s gaze became deadly as he canted his head and looked at Two from the corner of his eye. “Say again,” he said.
“They wanted to go home. Becky was sad and angry and she didn’t want to be here. She told Sin and he took her home before any of us even knew she was gone. I was worried and called them as soon as I could get her number. She sounds much happier now. But I miss them,” Two said.
“You let my wife leave?!” Valor shouted, his voice becoming a rumbling growl beneath his words.
“No!” Two shouted back. “Sin did! But I would have if I would have thought to ask her what she wanted to do! You should have asked her what she wanted, Valor!”
“She wants to be here with me!” Valor insisted.
“There a problem?” Sin asked, approaching them casually, not the least bit concerned with Valor’s outburst.
Valor looked at the male, knowing he looked familiar, but not quite sure who he was.
“No!” Two shouted.
“No!” Valor shouted at the same time.
“I cannot fucking believe you let my wife leave!” Valor accused, his voice still growly. “And my daughter! You were the one telling me what a fuck up I’d be if I didn’t step up and be a father, and then you send them away?! What kind of fucking friend are you?”
Two was angry. He didn’t like the way Valor was talking to him, and he didn’t like the way Valor thought he had the right to dictate to Becky what she was and wasn’t going to do. He snarled as he stepped toward Valor. “You have no right to decide for her what her life’s going to be! And you better stop yelling at me, or I’ll embarrass you right here, right now!”
“Oh! You think you can, big man! Bring it on!” Valor shouted.
Two moved toward Valor, but Sin got in the middle. He liked Two, and he knew that Two was a gentle soul. Nobody should be fucking with Two even if Two was more than capable of handing any male in Alliance their asses if he was pushed to it. There was no reason for him to be pushed to it. “Why do you want to fight your friend, when I’m the one that not only offered, but actually took them home?” Sin asked calmly.
Valor swung his cold, angry gaze to Sin. “You took my wife from me?” he asked, his voice low and deadly now.
“Yeah. I did. But that’s not the worst part,” Sin said.
Valor raised a single eyebrow as he waited, calculating just how many times he would have to slice this fucker open until he bled to death.
“The worst part is that anybody else could have and should have done it before it fell to me to have to man up.”
“Nobody had the right…” Valor snarled.
“You’re exactly fucking right! Nobody had the right to force a female to endure whatever the hell they decided she should endure! You didn’t fucking ask her if she wanted to be here. You didn’t fucking ask her if she wanted to be a part of your personal fucking hell, did you? You never bothered to think of what the fuck she wanted for herself or for her daughter! All you did was decide what you wanted, what you needed and tell her how it was going to fucking be, asshole! She has a goddamn life! She has a home and she’s proud of what she’s achieved. But did you stop for a single fucking minute to ask her if she wanted to give it all up? No! You didn’t. Not one of you motherfuckers did!” Sin bellowed, pointing first to Valor, then to Roscoe as he came out of his office to see what the commotion was about. “She didn’t want to fucking be here! She wanted to go home, so I took her home. Leave her the fuck alone!” Sin shouted.
“You have no fucking clue what she wanted!” Valor shouted. “We mated before I left! We bonded! She loves me!” Valor snarled.
“Oh, and you never fucked somebody just for the pleasure? Did she say she loved you?” Sin taunted, just because he was Sin and that’s what he does.
“She didn’t have to! I felt it!” Valor growled.
Two was shaking his head.
“What are you shaking your head about?” Valor demanded.
Two looked at Valor sadly. “She loves Aiden. You’re not Aiden anymore. You shouldn’t have tried to have sex with her until you knew she wanted to be here, until she loved you. But you never asked. None of us asked what she wanted. We just told her she had to be here and be patient while we worked it all out. And then you just left on mission, not telling her where you were going or when you’d be back. And she said she can’t live her life waiting anymore.”
“Waiting for what? I’m right fucking here!”
“For you to come home from every mission again, just to find out that one day you won’t make it back again. She said she’s been a single parent all of her life, and felt single when she was always waiting for you to come home. She can’t do it anymore. Whether you’re Valor or Aiden, she’s not strong enough anymore.”
The furious expression on Valor’s face disappeared, replaced by one of shock. He blinked several times, hearing Two’s words over and over again. Then he met Sin’s still hostile glare, while still hearing his accusations in his mind as well. He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again, before turning his back on them both and walking away.
~~~
Nina stood outside the cell with Lethal, Brutal, and Hal, watching one of the medics tend to Dr. Scarborough. She’d screamed and eventually passed out from the pain as the medic cleaned the shredded skin around her ankle. “I still need to treat her bullet wounds, and she’s passed out from me cleaning just the ankle!”
“Told you she was a little bitch,” Nina said.
“She’s been shot, twice, and her ankle is sliced to the bone. She was still awake when you brought her in here,” the medic said. “The least you can do is allow me to give her something for the pain.”
Nina raised her face to look at Lethal. “Is he saying I’m wrong? That she’s not a little bitch and that I should want her to not feel pain?” she asked.
“No! No, he is not,” Brutal rushed to assure her. “Tell her that’s not what you’re saying!” Brutal ordered.
Nina looked at Brutal, then the medic. She narrowed her eyes as she regarded the medic, deciding whether she wanted to whip his ass or not.
“I need to get her to medical so I can remove the bullets in her legs, and clean up her ankle so I can stitch her up properly,” the medic said.
“No, you don’t. Whatever you can do right here is fine. And she doesn’t need any painkillers either. Fuck her, let her suffer,” Nina said.
“How can you be so cold hearted?” the medic asked as he turned and pinned Nina with a glare.
“Seriously?” she asked, taking a step toward him.
“Did you see the male with his flesh practically whipped from his body?” Lethal asked, reaching out and gripping Nina by the shoulder from behind.
The medic sobered. “Yes. I treated him when he first arrived.”
“And the one who was almost starved to death?” Lethal persisted.
“Yes,” the medic answered.
“Did you see the other two males with scars proving they’d been whipped, too. The females who were practically emaciated from not being fed properly. The scars and bruises they all had because the doctor running their facility decided the males were her own sex toys and paid the male orderlies to rape and beat the females for her own viewing pleasure?” Lethal snarled, his hazel eyes bleeding to black as he described what they'd found.
“I did. What they survived is horrendous!” the young man said.
“Meet Dr. Scarborough, asswipe! She’s responsible for all of it,” Nina snapped.
The young man looked at the woman he’d been trying to tend, and then back at Nina and Lethal. “I didn’t know.”
