None of them had wanted to chance being someone's science experiment again.
Kira understood.
There was no way she could assure them that humans wouldn't resurrect the project again, their aim to create a super-soldier.
Alone, Kira had been deemed a freak, her abilities mostly kept under wraps and categorized as top secret, courtesy of Himoto. Only people like Raider and the Curs knew the full extent of what she could do. Everyone else had simply thought there was a new weapon or that the Curs were exceptionally lucky.
If the others came forward, the Consortium might have considered how they could replicate their abilities, and then the whole nightmare would have started again.
Knowing how painful this subject was for her, Elena slipped her hand into Kira's and squeezed. "Mother couldn't abandon the Phoenix so she joined her. For a time, the Phoenix and Sunshine were happy. Then Mother became pregnant. Sunshine knew a child of hers would draw the attention of those who sought nothing but death and destruction. To protect her child, she hid her—even from her lover and sister. In fact, she hid the child so well that it took the Phoenix and Tin Man years to find her again."
Raider was quiet as his gaze lifted to Kira's. "Did you know back then?"
"Raider," Kira started.
"Did you?"
"No," Jin said, answering for her. "It took a long time to put the pieces together. Kira was still in her coma when I finally tracked Elena down."
Raider's eyes held a glassy sheen as he dropped his gaze to his feet.
"I knew it was too dangerous for Elena to be in our vicinity, especially with Kira out of action. I placed her with a guardian I trusted," Jin said.
"Did you never think I had the right to know?" Raider asked through gritted teeth, clinging to control by only the slimmest of margins.
"I couldn't do that without risking Elena's safety."
Raider made a harsh sound rife with disbelief.
"Think about who you were then," Jin snapped. "You were damn near crazed. You both were. You'd just lost your surrogate family. Kira threw herself into the war. She damn near killed herself a dozen times. What did you do?"
Raider started to turn away.
Jin didn't let him, invading his space and hovering menacingly over Raider. "Because I remember the words you said after it all went down. How you wished it was Kira who died. I remember the messages I sent that you ignored."
"So that justifies keeping this from me?" Raider roared.
"Of course not," Jin snarled. "But it helps explain it. The war had just ended. You and any other Cur who survived were being shielded by the military, your whereabouts considered classified so our enemies didn't try to kill you. You were all targets."
Raider's eyes flared. "Do you really expect me to believe the great Jin couldn't have hacked that information?"
Jin scoffed. "Of course I could have, but not without arousing suspicions and possibly revealing Elena's existence."
Interest crossed Graydon's face. "Why would they have cared?"
Elena perked up, the tilt of her head coy. "Because I'm the first of my kind. Tuann, human—and other."
Kira tensed as silence descended.
Graydon and Harlow were still, motionless, as if they barely dared to breathe.
Kira watched them for signs of aggression.
Several long seconds passed as they considered each other.
Kira waited.
"That explains some things," Graydon said thoughtfully.
