“I’m not your servant.”
“Good.”
“I won’t let you handle me. I’m done with that life.”
“About time, if you asked me.”
“I didn’t work my entire life to find freedom only to give it up to a…what did you say?” Rafe laughed. “Baby, I like you feisty. I like strong women with intelligence, drive and beauty. Not to mention a body that has me hard from just a look. I want you to trust me, Erin. To really trust me. And quit thinking about yourself as a Creation. You were a prisoner, same as your brother and sister, that Blue Rim experimented on. And that’s Flor’s honest truth. Just keep reminding yourself of that. Because no matter where you came from, you were mistreated and abused, and you didn’t deserve any of it. So forget about Creations and Handlers, because I’m sure as hell not going to tell anyone about your origins, and that you can count on.”
He scowled, not feeling good about lying to his family about her but knowing he needed to, for Erin’s sake. Rafe refused to let her die because of some ancient law. Yes, those Creations had been lawless monsters. Erin, however, was anything but.
“Your sister and brother, are they like you?” He needed to know. He’d hate to have to put down her family, but he couldn’t risk the danger they presented if they weren’t like Erin.
“No. Anin’s much softer, very pliable, dangerously so. Ryen…he’s pretty fierce. I don’t know how else to describe him.”
Rafe rubbed her arms, from her shoulders to her unbound wrists, surprising himself by wanting to instil more discipline in the wilful woman. She was his fantasy made flesh. “Tell me what Blue Rim did to you, Erin. I want to understand. And once you tell me, you’ll never have to tell anyone about it again.” He needed to know about her on a basic level that surprised him for its intensity.
“Four years ago, Canunn produced a viable zygote—me—and two others. Anin and Ryen.”
“Hold on.” Rafe stared in shock. “You’re only four years old?”
“Technically, yes. But my education, physical and emotional maturation actually peg me as a female a few years from her third decade.”
He breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank Flor.”
“I was conceived in the laboratory, born, and with artificial stimulation, matured to adult stasis after one year. The past three years have been filled with tests and more tests to determine my abilities. As far as I know, I’m what they consider the only stable Creation ever developed. With the exception of my involuntary submissiveness to obey my Handler, I function independently, learn at an above-average rate, and possess the inherent skills of many of the System’s strongest races.”
“Which ones are we talking about?”
“You know most species in the System don’t mix. Genetic recombinants normally result in hybrids possessing only the characteristics of the dominant gene-type. But somehow Canunn manufactured a process by which I, and my siblings, possess the best characteristics of all of my contributors. I have the strength of a Ragga, the warring ability of a Zephyran and the physical appeal of a Nebite. And there are a few other factors in my genetic coding as well that my data discs could tell you.”
“Data discs.” Rafe studied her, trying to process it all. “We need to destroy those discs and rescue those prisoners before we take down Blue Rim. That’s why you wanted a techie.” She nodded.
“Where are Anin and Ryen?”
Caution darkened her gaze. “Safe.”
“Good. Don’t worry, baby, I won’t press you for details.” His words eased her tension, and Rafe hugged her tight. “I’m not going to hurt you. I know it’s not easy to believe, considering we just met and all you’ve gone through. But Erin, there’s something between us… You’re new to sex, so you don’t realise how precious our joinings are. My kind don’t experience wainu— that peaceful, rich sensation after sex—with just anyone.
“Erin, you’re special.” My potential mate, he wanted to say, but didn’t want to overload her with something even he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear. “And there’s something else you should know.” He’d reasoned out that confiding in her might make her more liable to trust him. After all, she had nowhere else to go, and she needed to believe she had help. “I’m not Cheltam.”
She stared, her gaze turning from soft to hard in seconds. “Then you look just like him.”
“I do. He’s my brother, the one you put down with Drekk in his study.” Erin’s eyes widened. “I thought your clothes looked different the second time I took you down.” He winced at the remembrance. “You two look completely alike.”
“Mostly. But you need to know that he’s concerned about us. And I wouldn’t be surprised if Drekk is close to finding us. Before your escape through the forest, Gar warned me he was sending him after us. And Drekk’s a damned fine tracker, so if he isn’t already here, he soon will be. But don’t worry, he’s a loyal guy. A friend of mine, actually.” Erin nodded, staring at him with consideration. “So Rafe is your real name, then?”
“Rafe of Mardu, at your service.” He paused. “I’m a peacemaker.” She tensed, and he gentled her.
“I won’t hurt you, Erin. Look, if I’d wanted to take you in before now, I would have. I only want to help, but to do that, you have to trust me completely.” She considered him, and at her hesitant nod, he continued. “I have contacts I can trust. When I tell you we’ll take down Blue Rim, believe me when I say we will. But first we need to wipe out any and all references of your family from their database.” He thought about it. “And I think there’s someone I know to do the job.”
Erin sighed and leaned in to the hand now cupping her cheek. She closed her eyes, and after a moment opened them, her sombre gaze fixed to his stare. “In the labs, I learned to endure,” she said quietly. “No one looked at me or my family as if we were anything more than experiments. They broke bones, injected me with awful chemicals that burned my blood and blistered my skin. I was forced to kill animals with my bare hands, to tolerate poisons and radiation, all to see what I could withstand.
“They forced me to bond to my siblings, who aren’t genetically my siblings, in the truest sense. Another attempt to monitor, to test, to see if a simple Creation could feel affection for another. An experiment that, to their surprise, worked. I love my brother and sister as much as I learned to hate my Creator and Handler. But you, Rafe, are the first person I’ve ever met who wants to help me. You’re the first decent person I’ve met outside of a laboratory, the first one I want to love.”
Rafe felt moisture on his palm from her tears. Dammit, Erin was crying.
“Please don’t destroy my trust. I can handle a lot, and I have. I’m strong, I’m quick, and I can be dangerous. But I’m also a woman with needs; I have deeply seated emotions. So please, don’t kill this wonderful feeling growing for you. I don’t think I could survive that, despite what I’ve already gone through. Even losing my freedom again wouldn’t hurt as much as your betrayal.”
Her honesty cut him to the quick, and he had to clear his throat to speak. Stroking her soft hair he answered. “I won’t betray you, Erin. And I won’t let you down. There’s so much more to life than what you’ve seen. And I’d consider it an honour if you’d let me show it to you once we take care of this mess.”
She relaxed enough to smile, and she chuckled as she blinked through tears at him. “I guess Anin was right. Good sex does have a positive effect on the male mindset.” Rafe laughed with her. “Baby, I hate to break it to you, but it’s not just the sex. I can get a piece of—ah, a woman—wherever and whenever I want it.” The frown of jealousy on her face delighted him. “But the sex has never been as good as it is with you. And no, that’s not the reason I want to help you.” I love you, he wanted to say, but he didn’t feel the timing was right. “What Blue Rim is doing is wrong. They hurt you, and that’s not right. I can’t help wanting to fix what’s wrong in the System. That’s who I am, why I became a peacemaker in the first place.”