Human Bait

Chapter 60: The Recipe

I gripped the handle of the knife behind my back, hard enough the smooth metal dug into my skin. Could I risk attacking him now, with that vial so close to Rekkan's ear?

Would I get any better opportunity?

"Do you have a knife behind your back, Ru?" said Ivogg, tone still cheerful.  "Actually, no need to answer that — doesn't matter. You see, I've got something of a 'triple threat' against you." He released an apologetic 'tsss' of laughter. "I'm sure you noticed the Implanted fly in this vial and the Implanted people waiting outside the door, but you may not have seen the third threat."

He snapped a finger gun at the bedside table, where a digital remote screen glowed green. "At my command, this remote initiates Plan C."

My mind pushed open the door to Plan C once more to view... nothing. Plan C was nothing. A power outage leaving no one alive. No evidence.

"What did you do to Rekkan?" My voice came out ragged and vicious, like a chainsaw over a cement wall.

Ivogg smiled, almost fondly. "He'll wake up. As you know, he is a bit — heh, more than a bit — impulsive and violent, so I had to tranquilize him." His slender fingers brushed Rekkan's neck as though petting a cat.

I gripped the knife tighter. "Don't touch him."

He chuckled. "Not to worry; I'm not 'after your man' or anything.' Rekkan is just the bait. I'm only after you."

"After me," I repeated numbly. The reins in my brain tugged different directions. The idea of Ivogg wanting me was repulsive, but the vial near Rekkan's ear trapped my rebuttal in my throat. I had done repulsive things to stay alive, and I would do worse to protect Rekkan. "After me for what?"

"You're special, Ru. You're the only one who could possibly understand. That's why even when you started to suspect me, I didn't want to Implant you."

Footsteps clomped down the hall nearby, a staggering rhythm. A howl wailed shrill and slid back to a growl like an alligator retreating into a swamp.

Rekkan's hand twitched. Was he waking up? If I could keep Ivogg talking, maybe Rekkan would regain consciousness soon enough to help me. Luckily, keeping someone talking was something I had practiced extensively — another skill for which I could thank my mother. I could never persuade her to stay, but I could always delay her leaving.

I peeled my tongue from the dry rough of my mouth. "So that's why you faked your own Implantation?"

He chuckled, a wheezy shuffling like a balloon losing air. "Did you like that show I put on? Quite impressive, was it not?" He mimicked rocking back and forth, head drooping the opposite way of his shoulders. "Freedom, freedom at last!' And with the purple spots and shaved head... I really had you all fooled!"

"Truly genius," I said. "But what inspired the creation of the Implant in the first place?"

"Well, I'm sure you've figured out the first part by now. That I'm —"

"Half Southie."

Another smile and nod. "I was born at a time of peace — if you can call that peace. A few wary traders crossed the border, but no one truly intermingled. Well, no one except my father, a Southie wooing a Northerner. Can you imagine?"

"So your father moved to the North to be with your mother?"

"Actually, at first, we lived in the South. And that was wonderful. My parents were so in love. Like your mother and father."

That last bit socked me in the stomach and sucked the air from my lungs. "My mother and father... were in love?"

Luckily, he didn't appear to notice my change of mood. Funny how Rekkan, who claimed he was not good at people, always noticed every little change in my mood.