She retreated until the bed stopped her, and she fell back onto it. The words came in a rush. “There’s a storage facility. I kept it separate from Legratia in case something ever happened. It was my insurance policy.”
Kong let out an aggressive sound. “Give us the address. Now.”
She gave it up, and Kong pulled out his phone to enter it.
“And these cells we need?” Erik asked. “They’re there?”
“Yes. Cryopreserved and labeled with each test subject’s alpha-numeric ID, so autologous, less chance of rejection.”
They might be able to give Jayla back her legs. “We need the details of the facility. Pass codes, security measures, layout; everything.”
Kong recorded her as the doctor rattled them off, as well as the procedures they’d need to follow to safely remove and transport the cells.
It looked like Doctor Dietrich got to live a little longer. When they were finished, Erik turned for the door. “Thanks,Mom,” he uttered, his voice dripping with derision.
“It’s true, you know.”
Erik looked back at her, and she added, “In your case, it’s true.”
“Excuse me?” He had to be misunderstanding.
“Holy shit fuck,” Kong uttered under his breath.
“You. My first success.” Doctor Dietrich stood with a look of pride. “You were created from a combination of my genetic material and that of a brilliant tactician. I carried you in my womb. Birthed you, and watched you take your first breath.”
Erik felt like he’d been kicked in the solar plexus. He stared at her, scrutinizing her face, wanting it to be a lie, but he could see that it wasn’t.
Erik let out a humorless laugh and motioned to his face. “You realize that only makes this worse?”
She dropped back down onto the bed, like her knees could no longer support her. “I know.” She stared at her hands. “I was never meant to be a mother.”
“On that we agree.”
“I wasn’t the nurturing type.”
“No argument here,” Kong chimed in.
“But I love you all.” When Kong scoffed, she added, “In my own way. When I first came here, I was so sure…” For a moment, her eyes looked haunted before she shook it off. “Since then, I’ve had time to reflect.” Resolve showed on her face. “That’s why I’ll help you with this. This, and with your facial reconstruction, and anything else you need.”
“And you think that’ll buy you, what? Redemption?”
“Not redemption. Atonement.”
“We’ll keep that in mind.”
Erik left the cell with Kong right behind him. As soon as the door shut, he said, “We need to brief the general, put together a team.”
“Sure, yeah, okay.” Kong looked him up and down. “Are we going to talk about the fact that you’re the spawn of fucking Satan?”
“No.” Erik didn’t even want to think about it. Right now, he just wanted to get back to Chloe and pretend he never heard that confession. He’d never cared to know who’d donated their cells to his creation, and could have gone the rest of his life without knowing. Especially now that he knew it was her.
“Okay. Tomorrow then?”
Fucking Kong.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chloe startled awake. Thebedroom was dark, but for the dim illumination of the stove light she’d left on in the kitchen, and there was a masculine silhouette in the doorway. For a moment, fear raced through her until she remembered where she was. “Erik?”
