which meant she really, really didn’t want to die. So she would put off discovering just how likely that was for a little while longer.
Finally, she took a deep breath and leaned away from him. Time to get real. Find out if they had a future. She glanced around and recognized immediately where she was. In her old room on the Trakis Four. In her old bed, and she was wearing a pale blue hospital gown that fastened at the front. “How did I get here?” she asked. “What happened?”
He looked away for a moment and she got the distinct impression that he was trying to work out what to say, and from the frown between his dark brows, he was worried about her reaction.
She reached out and rested a hand on his arm. “Tell me.”
“It’s not…good.”
“I can take it.”
He considered her; his head cocked to the side. “Yes, you can.” He took a deep breath. “It seems Luther Kinross has a heart condition. He was born with it. He’d had a transplant before he left Earth, but it was already failing. Your Dr. Yang—”
“She’s not mine,” Destiny said. “She was never mine.”
“Anyway, she was brought along to find a solution to that problem. Kinross got her taken on as a crew member and places for her daughters on the fleet. Basically, a future in the new world. All she had to do was provide him with a new heart. That’s where you come in. She made you.”
“I’m a clone, aren’t I? Of Kinross? But he’s a man.”
“And you’re not. For which I am immensely glad. Apparently, it can be done, something about manipulating chromosomes.”
She pressed her lips together as she thought it through. “But he’s…horrible.”
Milo let out a startled laugh. “And again—you’re not. So obviously, that can be done as well. And on the plus side, you have enhanced everything, IQ, physical strength, and some sort of weird shit anti-aging stuff that the doctor had been working on for years.” He studied her some more. “Anyway, I came to rescue you. I appeared in your cell, ready to whisk you away. Except you weren’t there. Dr. Yang was. Handcuffed and gagged.”
“She tried to kill me. I think she wanted to cut out my heart so Kinross could never have it.”
“That was my fault. I told her that her family was dead, and it was Kinross who had killed them. I wanted her help, but I guess it sent her over the edge. She told me I was too late. That you were being operated on and we couldn’t reach you in time.”
“But you did.”
“I blew the power supply which gave us a little more time. And I got to you before…”
“Before they cut my heart out and gave it to Kinross. Thank you.”
He studied her. “You don’t seem as upset as I thought you would be. I expected you’d be devastated by this.”
“Maybe a few days ago I would have been. Now I’m a different person. I’ve learned so much, come so far.” She thought for a moment, trying to come up with the best way to explain. “We can’t control where we come from, who our parents are, or in my case who we were cloned from, but that doesn’t stop us thinking for ourselves. We can choose what we are. If we can see past the lies that other people tell us.” She pressed her lips together and frowned. “That doesn’t mean to say that I’m not unhappy about this. I mean, there I was thinking I was the hero in some fairy tale, a savior of humanity.” She sniffed. “Instead, I’m nothing but spare parts.”
“But gorgeous spare parts.” His expression went serious. “You’re the best person I’ve ever met.”
His tone was fierce and warmed her inside. She grinned. “And you’re the best warlock I’ve ever met.”
“I’m the only—”
“Don’t,” she said, still smiling. “Just take the compliment, Milo.” She blew out her breath. “So what are we going to do?”
“We’re going to kill that bastard Kinross.”
She thought about his words. Part of her wanted to see Kinross dead so badly it was like a pain in her insides. But the rest of her—most of her—wanted to get away from here as fast as she could. She wanted a life with Milo. That was more important than killing Kinross.
Except he needed to be stopped. He was evil and wicked and could not be left in charge. He had lied and cheated and used child labor and tried to