Page 67 of After the Fall

Harper took it and handed it to me, but I held up my palms. “Keep it.”

Joe took the handkerchief and Harper returned to my side.

“Sunbeam, I would never have left you and your mother unless it was a life-or-death situation. And it was. But now you’re in even greater danger. And not just you – all of humankind is at risk. And this time, I’m going to do something to stop it.”

“Tell us what’s going on.” Harper had needed that moment with Joe, but if the situation was as dire as he intimated, we had to get on with it.

Joe sighed. “I don’t know where to start.”

“Just start,” I growled. My patience was wearing thin.

With a nod, Joe shoved the handkerchief in his pocket. “The Carders are putting together an army of hybrids. Half human, half… whatever you’d like to call yourselves.”

“Let’s go with sasquatch.” I appreciated his respect, but gestured for him to continue.

“Why are the Carders doing this?” Harper clutched my forearm with both of her hands.

“Why does anyone do anything?” Joe’s caterpillar brows rose again. “Money. They’re going to sell this freak army – sorry…”

“Half of you and half of me? That is a freak.” I didn’t disagree with his word choice. “Do they have a buyer?”

“I’m not sure. Whoever presents the biggest bucket of cash or crypto, I guess. They’re planning a demonstration of their army when the CEO of Ricroft, Jeremy Croft, visits Seattle. They’re going to take him out.”

Harper gasped. Ricroft was a mega-conglomerate and one of Genocorp’s biggest rivals. They also had a mining division, which was a direct competitor of Grandview Gold. I had met their CEO a handful of times over the years. He wasn’t good or bad, just a stereotypical businessman. One who didn’t deserve to die.

“When is he going to be in Seattle?” Harper asked.

I was glad that Harper was asking the important questions. I also wished that I still had my handkerchief. The stairwell seemed to be ten million degrees. Sweat beaded on my forehead.

Joe inhaled. “I’m not sure of the date, but it’s going to be on the next eclipse.”

“That’s bizarre.” Harper bit her lip.

“There are no coincidences, Sunbeam. Maximus has reasons for everything he does. What it is in this case, I don’t know.”

Harper turned to look at me. “Do you know?”

I wiped my brow and shook my head. “I don’t. But I agree with your father. There’s got to be a reason. How strong are these hybrids, and how many do they fucking have?”

Joe couldn’t meet my gaze, and I knew we were venturing into some sensitive territory. “I’m not sure. I was the first successful hybrid. They haven’t been able to make the others work the same as me.”

“What do you mean, work?” Harper asked.

“When I escaped, I destroyed the files so they couldn’t replicate the experiments I was doing… on myself.”

Harper gasped. “You were doing this to yourself?’

That asshole. I took a deep breath. If I clenched my fists, I could break Harper’s hand. Joe Davis’ experiment was the reason we were facing an army of hybrids, on sale to the highest bidder.

“It’s complicated.” Joe took a vial of pills from his jacket pocket and handed them to me.

“What’s this?” I unscrewed the cap and looked at the capsules. They looked like any old white-powdered pills, but I recognized the smell.

“Before I escaped, I was secretly working on a reversal. I knew that what we were doing was wrong. These pills contain a mixture of your white moss. The plain white stuff doesn’t work on hybrids like me, but with a few modifications, I was able to formulate something similar.”

I blinked hard. “You know about our white moss?”

Joe chuckled, and for the first time in our interaction, seemed to relax. “Of course I do. You need better security in your greenhouse.”

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