Manipulative Attraction

51. ⚛️ The End Is Near

Once inside the cave, Anatoly sprinted ahead to get the van ready for a quick getaway.

Demetri took it slow and easy. He had all the time in the world. There wasn't another entrance—except for the hidden one he'd created.

"Where're you taking us," Shon asked. He was in the lead with Jeannie behind him.

"We'll be going to Romania, son, to complete the final experiment."

"I'm not your son," Shon spat, his lips curling in disgust." My adopted parents told me—"

"Oh, but you are." Demetri's mirthless chortle sounded like a metal chair scraping on concrete. "When I look at you, I see my father. May there be no mercy on his soul."

Demetri pushed Jeannie ahead, pointing for her to walk beside Shon. As a precaution, he pressed the gun into her ribs.

Demetri wanted a clear view of his son in the dim pathway lights. He wanted to note Shon's reactions as he spoke. "I didn't want to give you up, Shon, but I had to. The Istochnik was getting too close. Your parents did not understand what they were adopting when they sought a baby from Russia. They paid a lot of money for you, which funded my research for a long time."

Demetri went on, spouting his madness. He sounded like a proud papa as he extolled his son's genius. "I kept an eye on you. Reveling in all of your accomplishments and feats of excellence—"

Jeannie stumbled on a dip in the pebbled floor. Demetri gripped her arm tighter. She winced in pain when the muzzle of the gun dug further into her side.

"Don't do that again or you will suffer before you're allowed to breed."

"The ground is uneven, and I—"

Demetri clouted Jeannie in the back of the head, shoving her forward a few steps with the force. Shon let out a hiss and gathered Jeannie to him, hoping to ward off further abuse.

"You're no father of mine," Shon said, his anger rising so fast his face turned a splotchy red under his tan. His body trembled with ire. "You may have 'created me' but that's where it ends. And if you think for one moment, you'll keep a child of mine as your pet, you're crazier than you look."

The maniacal life from Demetri's eyes. His tone turned flat and deadly. "Walk. Now."

Jeannie slowed her steps as much as she dared. She had to give Thorne time.

Demetri jabbed the gun into the small of her back, and Jeannie let out a moan.

Let him think I am afraid.

Every passing moment saw Demetri falling further and further apart at the seams. During his next episode, Jeannie would strike.

As if sensing her plan, Demetri hurried them along. "You two may resist at first, but you will see reason, eventually. I have my ways of... persuading you." He went on, as if speaking to himself, "Yes, it might take longer to get a viable child, but that is fine. I still have plenty of years left on this cursed earth."

"Not if I can help it," Shon mumbled.

"What?" Demetri moved nearer to Shon, away from Jeannie. "What did you say, boy?"

Jeannie wanted his attention on her, not on Shon. He was just a civilian. Bile rose in her throat at the thought of Shon coming to harm. She'd never forgive herself if that happened. She was the one that brought Shon into harm's way by accepting the assignment. All she'd wanted to do was help her father get better. Not this... this kidnapping and breeding.

She had to do something. And soon. If Demetri were successful in putting them into the van, there would be no other chance to escape. Thorne would never find them.

She needed more time.

Jeannie surreptitiously slowed her steps even more and opened a dialogue with the crazed man about his favorite subject, "How did you convince my mother to... to take part in your experiment?"

"Oh, that was easy. I threatened to have her watch as I told your father of our affair right before I killed him. I had nothing to lose. The Istochnik had seen to that when they forbade Valeria and I from being together." He scrubbed a hand down his face. "Rest assured, if your mother refused to comply, your parents would have ended up six feet underground, and you would have never been born." Demetri scratched his hairless chin with his free hand. His cold eyes softening with curiosity. "It's a pity I won't be able to test my theory about Hawthorne just yet."

"What do you mean?" Jeannie asked her heart leaping at the mention of her warrior's name. He could never come for them now as the van, engine running and the taillights glowing like bright red jewels, was insight.

Demetri answered, "Only that he may have friends in high places."

"Who?"

"Shut up," Demetri hissed at her like an angry cat. "I'm done with explaining things."

Anatoly sat with the van running. He wiped at the nervous beads of sweat, which had gathered on this thick brow. He needed to calm down. Perhaps some calming music was in order—classical or easy listening jazz. He placed a beefy hand on the dial, stopping when he felt a gun pressed into his bull-like neck. He didn't even feel it when the weapon released a dart full of a sleeping agent.

Anatoly slumped forward. The shooter caught him by the collar before his bulk pressed the van's horn.

The shooter nodded to the other agent in the back of the vehicle just as Demetri knocked with his hand for Anatoly to open the door.

The door flung open, dislodging the gun from Demetri's hand. It clattered near Shon's foot. He picked it up, holding it firmer than Jeannie would have thought possible.

Demetri regained his footing. Jeannie got a good kick to Demetri's backside, shoving the man forward into Shon. Demetri with the reflexes of a cat, grabbed at the gun in his son's had. They grappled for a moment. Jeannie leapt on Demetri's back. Shon, Jeannie, and the crazed man were a tangle of arms and legs when they hit the ground of the cave, rolling. Agents from the Istochnik stood around, afraid if they fired, they would hit Jeannie or Shon.

Suddenly, a gun went off.