Chapter 37
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Kenna stepped out of the bathroom and found Jax in the hallway, leaning against the wall. “How is your head?” She checked there was no one else within earshot and stepped into his arms.
He shrugged, sliding his arms around her waist. “How are you?”
She made sure she didn’t press against his chest. “Wondering why they’re bothering me, and then wondering why I bother?”
“Pretty much.” He looked exhausted. “At least the RV is still in one piece.”
“We need a phone, or a computer terminal.” She glanced around, then spoke so quietly she was almost mouthing the words. “If we can let Maizie in their system, she can expose all of this insanity. Or MSI can swoop in and…”
She didn’t want to say take them all out aloud. After all, she’d be speaking of murdering the president. That kind of talk would get all of them put in jail.
Kenna dipped her head and laid her forehead on his shoulder instead of his sternum, where he’d been shot.
“I’ve been ignoring MSI for weeks, trying not to get dragged into a plan that puts people in danger.
Refusing to give them intel and trying to stay out of it.
Now here we are.” She shook her head. “Right back in the middle of it, whether we like it or not.”
He hummed agreement, and she felt the rumble under her cheek. “It feels like a bunch of murderers decided they’re going to rule the world,” he said. “But as long as they’re not trying to kill us, I’m prepared to stand down.”
She figured that didn’t mean he would back off. “Maybe we should tell them to write that clause into the treaty wording.”
He said, “They should add in that you’re in charge of Dominatus if something happens to the rest of them.”
Now there was a horrible idea. But it was also kind of intriguing.
She hadn’t wanted anything to do with these people.
The idea that she might be in charge of the whole thing someday wouldn’t mean she was in any less danger than she was already.
She would be able to steer the ship in the direction she chose, and she’d have resources to enact that plan.
The temptation to decide people’s fates that came with so much power was something that could corrupt anyone. It would be much better to shut down the entire organization. Dismantle them from the inside and make sure they were never again connected as a group.
The end.
Kenna looked up. “What I don’t get is, wasn’t there supposed to be a vote? That’s how they get a new Imperatoris, right?”
Jax shifted, his attention over her shoulder.
“In this case,” the president said, “they agreed to supersede the vote and rule as a group. For the betterment of the world.”
Kenna turned to her, not letting go of Jax. “And where do you fit into that?”
The president looked down her nose at them. “Peace is a good thing. As is order.”
“You think that’s going to keep you safe? It’s like negotiating with terrorists.” Or what Jax had said. “Convincing a murderer you believe him when he says he won’t do it again.”
“You fail to understand the constraints of my position, Kenna.”
Kenna could see it plainly, considering this woman existed constantly surrounded by armed Secret Service agents. “It’s you who isn’t thinking big enough.”
“You want me to overthrow them? Take control?” The president shook her head, almost laughing.
“That is not the way the world works, Kenna. Despite what people choose to believe, we’re still the same savages we’ve always been.
The strong are the ones in control. Everyone else is a pawn, or a victim. ”
“Good thing you didn’t explain that during the presidential race. I don’t think you and your running mate would’ve won.” A lot of people had voted for her predecessor because of his family values, and even Kenna hadn’t known the vice president was an asset for Dominatus.
The former president had tried to go up against them. Now he was dead, and his vice president had assumed his role. In the end Dominatus got what they wanted.
“Now you know the truth.”
Kenna stared at the president, unsure if she believed that. Did these people ever tell the truth? “That remains to be seen. What did you mean, the firstborn of all the offspring?”
“Your child is the first of a new generation.”
“But she isn’t one of your children.” Jax was the father, not some Dominatus sperm donor. Kenna didn’t want to think about all these guys purporting they were her father. She pushed those thoughts away. This child would know exactly who she was, and it had nothing to do with Dominatus.
“You fail to understand,” the president said. “No child has been born to one of us in this generation.”
“Any of the kids born around when I was, or after? No one’s had a baby?”
“You are the first.” President Tetherton sighed. “Many believe this generation was born sterile. Until you.”
Jax pulled Kenna closer. “I’m not part of Dominatus. Maybe that’s why we conceived.”
That would make a lot of things make sense. Like why Buzard had those men retrieve a sample of Jax’s blood. He might’ve been trying to figure out a solution to an infertility problem.
The president nodded, a single bow of her head. “That may very well be the case.”
“We aren’t research subjects for you to figure out.” Kenna was emphatic about that. “Don’t ask. Don’t come calling. No more kidnapping or co-opting, or anything. All of you are going to leave us alone.”
“The life you carry means we continue. That’s something we have to explore—”
“I’m not part of your sick agenda.” Kenna let that sink in. “Never, not ever. None of my family, no matter who they are or what they do.”
A tendon shifted in the president’s jaw.
“Maybe I should go explain that to the men.” Kenna turned and walked the hall back to the main room, Jax beside her. “Do you have cell signal here?” she whispered.
“No.” He slid the phone back in his pocket. “We need to get out of here, before they decide they need us for something else. I’m pretty sure Marine One is outside. What do you say we steal the president’s helicopter?”
They passed two Secret Service agents standing near the door.
Jax said, “Kidding.”
Kenna thought it was a great idea. “We don’t need to get arrested. But I agree we should get out of here.”
He held the door for her, and she strode in like she was the one in charge here. A little command presence so they remembered she wasn’t someone they could push around.
“Where do I sign?” She glanced at the general, who stood on his side of the table with his hands braced on either side of a long paper. Petyr sat on the far end, his arms folded across his chest. Apparently, they weren’t in agreement. “I’d like to get out of here. I have an appointment.”
But right now, her biggest problem was that Ramon, Zeyla, and Bruce where nowhere to be found. Where had they been taken?
“Whatever you have so far, figure the rest out later. Send me an amendment, and I’ll e-sign it.” Kenna stopped about ten feet from the table, Jax beside her. “I’m done here.”
The major general straightened, a look on his face that she didn’t like at all. “I’ll get the ceremonial dagger. We can all spill our blood and sign.”
Kenna nearly walked out right then. “I just have one question. For Petyr. Why did you pretend Schnell was trying to kill you?”
She presumed the lawyers were pawns caught in the crossfire, but maybe it was someone’s idea to target them as the perpetrators. The president, maybe? Would she cut down women she should consider sisters? More likely it was either Petyr himself or Schnell even.
“You malign my integrity?” the general said, a deadly severity in his tone. He picked up a dagger from the table and slid it from its sheath. “Sign.” He pointed the knife at the Croatian president.
Petyr stared at him. “And swear an oath to terms that are favorable only to you? I don’t think so.”
Kenna rolled her eyes. “We’ve been going over this and over this for hours. You aren’t going to get a better offer than what’s written in that agreement. It’s been in the works for months, if not longer.” She’d been listening to them drone on and on for hours.
A boom sounded from somewhere not in this building, though it shook. A window shattered on the far end of the room.
Jax’s arms surrounded her, and he turned her around. But neither of them could tell where the threat was coming from.
The general yelled to one of his soldiers.
Jax said, “What’s going on?”
No one answered him.
Petyr stood up and said something loudly in Croatian.
Secret Service agents shoved open the door Kenna and Jax had entered from the side hall. The president in the center of the huddle, surrounded by her protectors.
“This way.” The lead agent said, heading for the door.
But the president shoved out of the huddle. “What is the meaning of this?”
“Ask her.” The general pointed at Kenna.
“I didn’t do anything. It sounded like a bomb went off.” Although, no one had located Amara, so maybe it did have to do with her team. Just not Kenna specifically. “Where are my friends?”
The general said, “I supposed we’re all making sacrifices today.” He grabbed Petyr’s hand, and before the Croatian could get free, the general sliced his palm open and slammed it down on the paper. Then he let go, doing the same with his own hand. “It’s signed.”
Petyr’s face reddened. “These are not our ways!”
The Secret Service agent closest to the president said, “Ma’am, we need to get you out of here.”
“Let’s go.” Kenna squeezed Jax’s sides. They headed for the door, right behind the huddle of Secret Service agents.
Out into the open where the air was laced with smoke.
A presidential helicopter had landed farther from the entrance than the chopper Kenna, Jax, and Zeyla had arrived in. Armed Marine guards stood on either side of the open door.
President Tetherton yelled, “Wait!”
The agents wouldn’t agree to that, but she was their boss.
The president walked to the side, all of them still guarding her. She wasn’t the target of a threat. But this situation wasn’t without its dangers.
Jax held Kenna’s hand, and they headed for the corner of the building. “Let’s see what she’s looking at.”
Kenna nodded.
The guards were gone. Most of the soldiers were nowhere to be seen, until she looked all the way past this building to the far end of the base.
Smoke rose into the sky, thick and black.
People poured out of the destroyed concrete structure.
All of them dressed in white scrubs. At least a dozen interspersed with Kenna’s team, who were assisting the “patients”—if that’s what they were.
Many were bandaged or missing a limb. More than half of them at least.
“What on earth?” Jax breathed out the question on an exhale. Kenna held on to him, seeking comfort from her husband.
The general shoved past them and looked around, as if unsure where to go.
Jax moved in front of Kenna, guarding her just in case. She looked at the president and saw the horror on the woman’s face and the faces of her team. “She can’t ignore this. None of them can.”
“Agents, arrest Major General Schnell and all his men!” the president screamed. “And call the FBI!”