Excerpt
Beta opened his swollen eyes. Craning his neck
sideways, he took a good look at his surroundings. Pain throbbed through his
skull and down his spine. Everything blurred, but the outline of the shelves
confirmed he was still in the storeroom. His mouth omitted a soft groan. The
screech of a heavy wooden chair sliding across the tile floor resonated in his
ears, and Beta winced. The slight flex of his facial muscles shot needles of
pain through the bruises on his face.
A blurry figure appeared above him. “How are
you feeling?”
He waited a moment for his vision to clear and
ignored the burning itch of his skin as his cells started the process of
regeneration.
Lacey hovered over him, brow furrowed and lips
pursed as she examined him. When he didn’t respond, she rested a hand on his
shoulder and gave it a little shake.
“Beta?”
The light touch of her palm sent a wave of
energy through him. He jolted upright. “Ouch!”
Pain so severe that he felt like the walls of
his head would collapse in on themselves riveted through his body.
She winced. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle
you. Please don’t move if it hurts.”
Beta scooted to the top of the bed and leaned
his back against the brass headboard.
“You didn’t startle me. I just…” His voice
trailed off. He couldn’t think of a way of saying what he meant without
sounding weak.
“Never mind.” She gingerly touched the edge of
his swollen eye with the tips of her fingers. “Are you in pain?”
He stiffened like the reflex of a beaten animal
the first time it knows the touch of a gentle hand. Why should she care? “It’s fine. We heal quickly.”
Her gaze slid across his face. She probed every
bruised nook and cranny. There was a hunger in her eyes as if she was the
question and he the answer. He felt something else too; an emotion or feeling
that he couldn’t put a name to. Something he'd never, in his short life,
experienced. Beta stared past her, his eyes focused on the faint brush strokes
of the wall’s dried white paint. If he could just ignore the strange new animal
that had awakened inside him, he’d rally again and escape.
He cleared his throat.
“Sorry.” Lacey pulled back. “You must be
hungry.”
She disappeared from the room and returned with
a tray of food in her hands. Then she unfolded two short legs from the bottom
of the tray and laid it across his lap. A loose strand of her ebony hair brushed
against his cheek. Beta’s fingers twitched, knocking his wrists against the
handcuffs. He wanted to tangle his hands in that silky-looking hair, just to
know what it felt like.
She dipped a spoon into a bowl full of watery
soup and pressed a mouthful to his lips.
Beta slurped down soft noodles with bits of chicken. Warmth
spread from his belly to the rest of his body. He glanced up at Lacey’s face,
inches away from his. Large red marks ran along the side of her jaw and neck.
His throat tightened, remembering he had been responsible for those bruises.
The little air he could suck in with bruised ribs tasted stale and stagnant.
Another new sensation breached the impenetrable hold of his heart, this one
unbearable. Beta swallowed hard. He had never regretted hurting someone before.
Chapter
One
BETA23 stood straight, with his arms at his
side, waiting for the man sitting behind the desk to acknowledge him. The room
contained the same gray walls and minimal design as the rest of the complex,
only larger than the other offices. Dr. Carol tapped the glass panel that
doubled as a touch screen on top of his desk, illuminating the surface.
“23,” he said without looking up.
BETA23 straightened his shoulders and inhaled
sharply. “Yes, sir.” He strained his eyes to read the graph displayed upside
down on the table.
Dr. Carol rubbed his chin. “Your comprehensive
results are very good. Second in your batch―only 0.02% behind 17.”
BETA23 flinched; he’d been chasing that 0.02%
his whole life. Never mind that he’d beaten thousands of others.
Dr. Carol glanced up at BETA23. “The company
has a mission for you.” He paused, emphasizing his next words. “Your future,
and that of everyone here, depends upon it.”
BETA23 returned Dr. Carol’s gaze with a
steel-hard look of his own. “Yes, sir.” His voice remained cool and collected,
masking the true excitement he felt over his first assignment.
Dr. Carol tapped the top of his desk and the
orientation of his computer screen rotated, displaying a picture of an
adolescent.
BETA23’s eyes widened as he took in the image,
and the text typed at the bottom, Alexander
Mitchell. It was an Original name, not a number.
***
