ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ Tethered ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ

Chapter 3

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• Luna •

Luna's body was burning again. Worse than the time she was ambushed by Ramsey Sanitariums' security system or had phycyne smeared across her skin. Her body's heightened cells bounced frantically as if attempting to calm down. Maybe they were. She felt like she'd been stretched wide open, and her cheeks were wet.

She slowly realized they were tears.

Her tears were consumed by hatred and misery, a fury that tasted like blood in the back of her throat. Or perhaps it was blood. She might have been suffocating in her liquids.

Her memories after Amir's door had been sealed shut were blurry. Every waking moment was haunted by his parting words. I'm here for you, Moon. There had been a hissing sound above her body, and she had begun battling her way out of the room.

She noticed the staff cover him, and that was it.

Everything had gone black, and she'd woken in a new room where breathing hurt. Remembering her husband's voice and words helped to relieve some of her suffering. But then she remembered Major Thibeau's devious grin while holding a tanzanite necklace—her necklace, the one Amir had given her just before she was kidnapped by John Davenport—and her rage exploded. Not only had she agreed to have any amount of pain and suffering inflicted on her in exchange to see Amir, but they had both been captured, and she had no idea what lay ahead for either of them.

She didn't know anything.

• • •

She realized a day had passed when she wasn't allowed to see Amir, but she was given three meals, every six hours. Nurse Evans was the only one who seemed to know what was going to happen, but even she was somewhat chatty.

Luna was taken into a treatment room later in the afternoon, where Hisyl and Chemnisol were gnawing away on her body.

Dragging herself off the floor, she was drenched in sweat and chilled to the bone. She had no idea how long it had been since the first dose of hisyl had been initiated and the last blast of icy water had knocked her flat on her rear.

Giving in and letting them do whatever they wanted didn't seem like a choice initially. She was attempting not to make things too simple for them because the pain wasn't worth their time. But as soon as the chemicals were washed off her skin and she could move, she dashed for the door. She wasn't making progress, and by the third cycle of being doused with phycyne and soaked, she was finished.

She was truly finished. Or, at the very least, she wanted to be finished.

Luna shuffled around the cold table in slow, achy steps once she was able to stand without collapsing. She was pretty sure the table's surface was covered in a thin layer of crystals. The amount of money needed to outfit a room, let alone an entire facility, in chemicals and gems had to be extremely high, which explained the country's economic downfall. And that shouldn't even be on her mind, but she believes Chemnisol had shorted out her brain.

Major Thibeau had come and gone throughout the process, replaced by men dressed in military uniforms. Their berets concealed most of their faces, but from what she could tell, they weren't much older than her, maybe in their twenties.

Two of them had entered the room, both with firearms strapped to their thighs. A part of her was surprised no one had used the sedatives, but the hisyl sufficed. The man in the dark green beret stood near the controls, one hand on his weapon and the other on a switch, watching her. The other stood guard at the door, his face shielded underneath a khaki beret.

It was like déjà vu all over again at St. Matthew's.

But this was a different location and time.

She placed her hands on the counter. Her fingers were too white and wrinkled through the wet ropes of her drenched hair. She was so cold and shivering that she wondered if she was having a stroke. "I can't . . . I can't handle it anymore," she rasped.

Khaki Beret arched his brow.

She tried to sit down because she knew she'd fall if she didn't, but the deep tremor in her muscles caused her to wobble to the side. For a brief moment, the room whirled. There could be long-term consequences. She almost laughed, because if they broke her, what good would she be to the organization?

Dr. Reynolds had entered the room and sat in the plastic chair, staring at her. But then he stood up, holding the pressure cuff. "Help her on the bed."

Green Beret approached her, his jaw clenched in determination. In a feeble attempt to put some distance between them, she pivoted. Her heart was racing at a staggering rate, and she didn't want anyone, especially him, touching her. When she was blindfolded, he could have been the one to touch her private area. His spicy cologne was a dead giveaway.

Luna took another step back, her legs shaking, and her muscles quit working. She stumbled and fell on her buttocks, but she was so nauseous that the pain didn't register.

From her vantage point, she could see the entire face of the soldier staring down at her. He had the most startling yellow eyes and creamy olive skin, and while he appeared to be sick of this routine, his stare seemed to be filled with sympathy. He wasn't just another person, she discovered; he was something else.

BARDA had created him.

The soldier knelt and picked her up without saying a word. Tears formed in her eyes as she recognized that he smelled just like the fresh detergent she used at home, back when she still had a home. He placed her on the bed without letting her fight, which would have been pointless. She held onto the bed's edges when he began moving away, and she had a familiar feeling.

She'd been in this same situation before.

She was given a cup of water, which she accepted. The doctor paused briefly. "Are you ready to cooperate, Mrs. Khan?"

Luna threw the paper cup into a nearby trashcan and pushed her tongue out. It was plump and difficult to control. "I've been cooperating."

"Really? Because you haven't made any progress. The results we need to see aren't coming through."

"Maybe you were hacked," she mused, silently hoping Titus had tampered with their system. That, however, was a long shot. She wished she could find out how her family was doing, but she couldn't right now. "I wasn't expecting these treatments to be so . . . so soon."

"Of course not." Dr. Reynolds slid the chest piece beneath her shirt, as he had previously done. "I know you weren't prepared for this, but time is ticking. We need to see what you can do under pressure. Now, inhale deeply."

She breathed, but the air got stuck. The line of white cabinets across the room became blurry. She didn't want to cry. She was incapable of crying.

Before speaking again, Dr. Reynolds checked her breathing and blood pressure. "You've had quite an ordeal, Luna."

She laughed. "Did you just figure that out, doc? Dr. Kim had much better bedside manners than you. And that's saying a lot."

He grunted as he stepped back, folded his arms, and placed the pressure cuff on the counter. "A full examination is required. I promise it won't hurt and will be like any other physical exam you've had. If it makes you comfortable, we have an OB-GYN doctor on staff who can assist you."

Her stomach clenched. Shivering, she wrapped her arms around her waist. "I don't want to be touched."

"We can wait for a little while, but it has to be done." He walked over to one of the cabinets and took out a white cotton towel. He returned to the bed and passed it to her. "You can go to the room next to Amir once you're feeling better and shower. You can't see him yet, but you can rest and recover for tomorrow. It's late, and you've got a big day ahead of yourself."

Shaking, she wiped her body down with the cloth. He was making it sound as if she was there of her own free will. "Will I be able to see the sunrise in the morning?"

He smirked. "I wish you could, Luna, but believe me when I say that the outside is not where you want to be right now. Chemnisol has been released into the atmosphere, and it has affected every region on the planet. Ordinary people, animals, and superhumans are dying in the streets as we speak. You'd have to wear a mask."

She fought the urge to punch him in the face. "You are murderers! Why would you do that?"

"Why shouldn't we?" the doctor countered. "Tethered Souls had brought this on themselves." He cocked his head to the side. "I know you think you're the good guys, but you're mistaken. You don't know the history of what ordinary humans had to endure under telepathic people."

Her eyes narrowed, and the impending surge of rage bubbled her insides. How dare he blame their species for what they have done to millions of innocent souls? "You're heartless."

Dr. Reynolds nodded at the soldier near the control panel. The man quietly left the room, leaving the doctor and Khaki Beret behind. "Mrs. Khan—"

"Shut the hell up!" she hissed, rage boiling inside her. "I know you people lie to others, manipulate the situation, and make yourself appear to be the true heroes. I know you've kept couples apart and used one of the spouses to get the other to do what you want. And when it didn't work, when they seemed to have failed, they were tortured. This organization is beyond evil."

"You don't know the whole story or why we've gone to such lengths to keep order around the planet," he said sternly. He cast a glance over at Yellow Eyes. "Greer, you've lived longer than Mrs. Khan and her husband. Could you explain to her why we're keeping such a close eye on the Origins?"

Before he could speak, Luna piped up, "Is that really what you're called?"

"Yes, Luna," the doctor said. "That's his name."

She snorted. "Okay. No first name?"

"Don't worry about it. Go on, Greer. Let's hear what you have to say."

He nodded as she turned to face him. "When subjects are admitted, they are often difficult to handle. After their abilities expand, some Origins and even Defectives become violent. Pairs that have an Origin between them are allowed to stay together until it becomes evident that there is a safety issue. That is why most couples are separated and are sometimes moved to different facilities."

She shook her head as she pulled the towel closer to her. She wanted to scream at them from the rooftops. "That had nothing to do with anything I had just said."

"I don't think you were listening," the doctor remarked. "Even Origins who have absorbed all of their abilities are unbalanced. And some of them continue to be unstable. That is beyond our control."

Knots bubbled in Luna's stomach. She couldn't understand why these people were terrified of superhumans like her. It made no sense. "What do unstable clusters have to do with me?"

"It has nothing to do with you specifically, but it does have something to do with the world."

She shook her head as she glared at him.

Then he continued, "We are eliminating humans from the ground because anyone could carry the Origin gene. They may become defective."

It occurred to her, gritting her teeth, why they'd activated the Trojans. BARDA was cleaning house for a screwup they conducted.

How sick . . .

Was she going to become dangerous after all of this? Should she believe anything these people tell her?

"That's why we need to do a full exam, Mrs. Khan."

She turned to face the doctor. "Are you implying that I might become unstable once you guys get rid of everyone you don't want living in the world?"

He didn't respond right away, and it felt like the bed had collapsed beneath her.

"There's a chance," he admitted. "You have a great power within you that has the potential to be . . . destructive."

She growled, clutching the towel. "But I'm going to die. Chase gave me a poison when he was conscious."

"Sadly, yes. And I'm guessing you've never told Amir about that."

She shook her head, even though it hurt her neck.

"Why didn't you?" he asked quietly.

Luna answered, meeting his gaze, "Because I didn't want Amir to go after him. I want to be the one to kill Chase, not my husband."

"Well, I can tell you that you no longer have to deal with him. Chase is still unconscious and has been moved to Toronto."

"And how about Matthew?" Luna croaked, even though she felt she shouldn't care how he was doing.

"Matthew is with his father. Nurse Julia Smith keeps a close eye on him the majority of the time."

"Oh."

The guard in the room exhaled.

"In any case," the doctor continued, "it is critical that we carry out every experiment we have on you. The poison in your system may not kill you right away. We don't know. However, when Origins use their electric ability, there is still an instability issue."

She forced her heart to slow down by breathing slowly, but it wasn't working. "I've used my abilities before. I can—"

"You have no idea what you're capable of," he said, cutting her off. "You will understand. What happened with some Tethered Souls and their incidents in our facilities was entirely unintentional. They could have been released once we were certain they could control themselves. And you—"

"Just stop," Luna snarled, surprised by her voice. "It's nothing but lies."

"You have no idea what's at stake, Luna, how dangerous the Origins are and the threat those who have been paired with them pose."

"Most Origins are not dangerous! And Tethered Souls wouldn't be either if you left everyone alone. We haven't done anything to you. We weren't doing anything until your organization came along—"

"Do you know why the organization was founded in the tenth century?" he asked.

"Yes." Her knuckles ached. "Back in the day, a group of scientists discovered superhumans, which they decided to exploit. You guys used that to your advantage."

"That's what you were told. But do you know why our founders even started the first experiment?"

"Because they lacked abilities and became greedy. Right?" She knew everything there was to know about Tethered History 101. The wealthy wanted supernatural abilities, so they hired scientists to conduct experiments on the captured superhumans. But the organization had developed far more than they had anticipated, and abnormalities were produced. "And you're just as bad as the things you've created. You're working for them."

Dr. Reynolds sighed. "Like any great conflict between humanity, Superhumans and the experimental Souls we've developed have been fighting for so long that I doubt many of them even know how long they've been battling each other."

"So you're saying that superhumans at war with ordinary people are doing this due to something we did? Like we're taking over the planet?"

Greer laughed at that.

"I don't even know why we're talking about this," Luna said, suddenly exhausted and unsure of her capacity to think clearly. "None of this matters. Everybody is going to die anyway."

"It does matter," the doctor said. "It just goes to show how little you know about anything."

"I guess you're going to educate me, then."

He smiled, and she wanted to smack him across the face. Unfortunately, that would require her throwing in the towel and mustering the strength to do so. "In the beginning, Tethered Souls were the most powerful and intelligent group in the world. Evolution, like every other set of species, evolved in response, creating a natural predator—the Defectives."

She focused her attention on the man. "What are you saying?"

He returned her gaze. "I'm saying that the Biological Research and Development Agency had no choice but to create Origins. Later on, we had to develop Trojans in the hopes of destroying the Defectives."

"And that clarifies . . . what?"

"Superhumans are not the victims of this war. You're the cause of it."

• • •

It was surprising for Luna that despite her brain's racing, she could do something as simple as change into new clothes—a pair of white jogging pants and a gray cotton shirt. The clothing fit increasingly well, even the undergarments.

The organization seemed to know her size.

They must've snooped around in her undies dresser at her house and searched her belongings.

She wanted to vomit.

Instead of thinking of the past, which would almost certainly result in her flipping out and being sprayed with chemicals and icy water, she trailed her gaze around her cell. It did look far better than the rooms she had seen at Ramsey. It was even larger than St. Matthew's room.

The room was about the size of a hotel suite, about six hundred square feet. The floors were tiled and cold under her bare skin. A king-sized bed was nestled against the wall, along with a square end table, a dresser, and a TV attached to the wall at the foot of the bed. The terrifying nozzles of pain were in the ceiling, but there were no water sprinklers in the room.

And there was a door across from the bed.

The opening to paradise. Amir was on the other side.

She paced towards it, pressing her palms against the cool metal door and leaning her ear over it, wishing she could walk in. But she couldn't do it. They've locked the door from the other side.

She could still feel his tingle and hear his heartbeat, which gave her some relief.

I'm here, baby, she said quietly.

Looking around, she noticed another door near the entrance and scuttled toward it. She cautiously opened it, half expecting a net of hisyl and other chemicals to be thrown on her, but nothing happened.

She exhaled a sigh of relief.

It was a small bathroom with a bathtub and a shower. That was different.

She spun around and returned to her bed.

The trip to her cell had not been pleasant. They'd walked straight out of an examination room and into an elevator that had opened directly across from where she was now. She hadn't even had a chance to look down the corridor to see the rooms or if anyone was in them.

But she knew her floor had at least a hundred rooms.

She sat on the edge of the bed, pulling down the white blanket, not knowing what day it was, whether it was sunny or rainy outside, or when they would come get her for more experiments. She sat with her back to the wall, tucking her legs against her chest. She stared, sitting across from her husband's door.

Amir was sound asleep, oblivious to what was going on around him. They'd told her she'd be able to see him again once she demonstrated her telekinesis ability. But she refused. That was for her to know, not for them to figure out.

A tear streamed down her cheek.

Her thoughts reverted to a dream she had a few nights before. She was in Elysium with Amir and their three children. They were living in a world where they had defeated the organization and the majority of the Trojans. Amir was a guard and a doctor who helped those in need. He'd be out on the field looking for survivors. Things were good, even though she knew it had taken a lot of effort and sacrifice to get there.

Wiping her chin against her knees, she hoped that he would be okay—as okay as he could be. That he wouldn't go into shock in the middle of the night because of his nightmares. She had them, too, so she understood how he felt.

She wanted him—needed to be beside him—to hold him, but she didn't want to add more conflicts to the situation they were in. If the staff did something she didn't like, all hell would break loose.

Luna closed