The Change (Unbounded) by Teyla Branton Read Free Book Online Page B

God for the miracle. Ava approached me the next day and explained that I was Unbounded and had undergone the Change. My father didn’t have the active gene and was never let in on the secret, so my grandfather and uncles in Italy had asked her to watch over me when I neared the age of Change. I was excited to learn the truth. My parents never knew, though I confided in my younger sister.”
    “You didn’t go to Italy to be with your Unbounded relatives?” I asked.
    “I’ve spent some years there off and on, but this is my family now. Besides, I have my sister’s posterity to look after. Two in Oregon are nearing the age of Change. Now that you’re safely with us, we’ll be moving there to keep an eye on them.”
    I looked at Cort, but he shook his head. “No trauma here, either, except that I had no one to explain what was happening to me. My Unbounded ancestors either weren’t aware of me, or they were killed long before I came along. I was born in Germany and lived a normal life—until I stayed young while everyone around me aged. Fortunately, my talent is in the sciences, so I made accurate conclusions rather quickly. I moved to America during the revolution, but it wasn’t until about thirty-five years ago that I heard a story of two high school buddies meeting after fifty odd years and one swearing the other hadn’t aged. That led me to Laurence and eventually to the group.”
    “He was lucky he found us and not the Emporium,” Stella said. “Or that they didn’t notice him first.”
    The scariest thing was that I utterly believed them.
    Not that believing them would stop me from being with my family or Tom. Leaving them behind wasn’t an option, and neither was waiting until we returned from whatever Ava wanted me to do in New York. Tomorrow my mother and father would bury what they thought was me, and I couldn’t let them endure that horror for a second longer than I had to. As for Tom, the idea of him mourning both Justine and me by himself gnawed at me constantly.
    “Erin, are you okay?” Cort took my elbow and led me to the couch, sitting so close to me our thighs nearly touched. “I thought you were going to faint there for a moment. Stella, can you bring her a drink?”
    “Thank you.” I touched his hand in gratitude before easing away from him. Tension winged between us, like a current of electricity I couldn’t see.
    “It’ll take a while to get your normal strength back. Even though you may look and feel well, you’re not a hundred percent. You’ll recover soon.”
    I had the odd sense that he was hiding something, but as I studied him, his face showed only sincerity, his eyes an eagerness to please. Maybe it was his physical closeness that made me uncomfortable, and the odd heat that reminded me of soft sheets and blanketing darkness.
    Or maybe I’d landed on the wrong side of the Unbounded issue. It was possible that the Emporium were the good guys, and I was being set up by the Renegades to do something in New York that I’d regret forever. Something that would hurt not only my family but all humanity.
    Because in all the talk about John Halden and the software, I realized that everyone had carefully avoided mentioning what program we would receive from him in return.
     

 
     
     
     
     

     
    S TELLA RETURNED WITH A CLEAR liquid in a tall glass. “It’s curequick, but this tastes better than the gelatin version.”
    The other had tasted good enough, so I eagerly drank down the liquid, feeling energy seep through my body. “You really invented this?” I asked Cort.
    He shrugged modestly. “I had a little extra time on my hands.”
    My unexpected laugh was cut short when Ava entered the warehouse and strode toward us, unzipping a white lab coat.
    “Well?” Cort asked.
    “Definite tampering with files,” Ava replied. “However, no one at the burn center is aware of anything amiss, and we can’t find a link to Erin.”
    “There has to be a link.” Stella crossed