He’d seen her. She was as beautiful as he had known she would be. He’d expected nothing less. If her gift proved to be as brilliant as her physical beauty, then she was truly magnificent. Discovering the depth of her abilities would require that he get closer…much closer.
But the Enforcer was in place already. He’d expected as much and yet it infuriated him. She was his creation. His masterpiece, just as the male no doubt was.
Center would send her other half—that he knew with certainty. The two had been designed to complement each other. Even now, he imagined that the bond drew them on every level. She would not fully comprehend what was happening, but the Enforcer would know.
Eve represented the only female created. She was immensely special. But O’Riley and Archer had deemed her a failure. A big mistake. He had been too careful, too meticulous, in his work. He had taken certain steps to ensure her perfection.
Fury whipped through him when he considered that Archer had ruined everything. The Enforcers were not created to suffer the same weaknesses as other humans. He had intended that they rise above those fragilities. But the Collective had overruled him, forced the change.
He had walked away, turned his back on all of it.
Years of bitterness had pushed him to retaliate—to fight for what was rightfully his. Despite all his efforts, his creations were still credited to others. His every attempt to regain what had been taken from him had failed.
He would not fail this time.
Nothing could stop him.
The male, Aidan, appeared on her balcony. He surveyed the courtyard, searching for the disruption he sensed in the fabric of the darkness. He listened for the slightest sound, his hearing so keen when he chose to listen closely that even a whispered sigh across the courtyard would be heard. He sniffed the air, every instinct warning of his enemy’s presence.
Waylon Galen smiled. It was 2:00 a.m. She had allowed him to stay the night. Already the bond was reigniting, like fire in their souls. These two Enforcers were different from all the others. He had set aside risk analysis and pushed the envelope all the way, had overlooked nothing. Ensuring that their potential was far greater than any of the others, but only if they chose to hone their talents. The ability to turn down or off those dangerously elevated senses was absolutely essential.
Aidan and Eve were created to be together. Their combined talents would be awesome. The male would show her the way. That needed to happen first. Too many years had passed for her to willingly accept her destiny. She would require prompting since her memory had likely been displaced. Galen knew how to make that happen regardless of whatever plans Center had. He would set a trap she could not run away from, one her protector could not ignore. To ensure his future success, he would need to show her how to tap into that special gift.
Galen wasn’t foolish enough to believe he could control the two of them. The male would be entirely too powerful, too well-trained. But she would be easily contained, easily influenced. He knew answers to questions she hadn’t even asked herself as of yet.
Answers that would change all that she believed to be right and true.
Aidan moved. Swung over the balcony railing and quickly climbed down the trellis. He faded into the darkness like a shadow, like a part of the night. Galen slipped back through the gate, hurried to his car and took off before the Enforcer could reach his position. He would not risk being caught now. He needed time to set things in motion, time to devise an infallible plan.
AIDAN WATCHED the gray sedan fly through the night. The headlights remained off until the driver had turned onto St. Charles. But he needed no license plate number or visual contact to identity his enemy.
Dr. Waylon Galen had made his first appearance.
Aidan performed a quick search of the grounds around the building. Though he was not particularly concerned that Galen had left anything behind, it was necessary to be certain. Galen would not want to harm the woman. His plans would require her to be alive. Aidan’s fate would be another matter. But that did not concern him, either.
He sensed no other presence in the courtyard. A brief call to O’Riley was in order. Aidan withdrew his cellular phone from its clipped position at his waist and opened it. He entered O’Riley’s number and waited for an answer. The man rarely slept. He was always on call.
“Galen is here. He knows her location.”
O’Riley ordered him to carry on with Operation Prophecy as previously outlined.
Aidan put his phone away and checked the small handgun strapped to his ankle. Enforcers not primarily used as assassins only carried weapons when absolute necessity required it. Their powers of stealth and unparalleled strength allowed for disabling their targets with other methods.
O’Riley had deemed an external weapon necessary for this operation.
A rush of energy slammed into Aidan, then receded, dragging his mind back to…her. His gaze went immediately to the balcony, to the open French doors. She was dreaming…reaching out to him with her mind.
He scaled the trellis in seconds, hopped over the balcony railing and moved through the wide-open doors. He crossed the living room, stood in the open doorway of her bedroom. Closing his eyes he braced himself against the wood frame and opened his mind to her…allowing her access. He could not see her dreams unless she showed him, but he could feel her distress, her desperation. She needed him and she didn’t know how to connect on that level yet, didn’t know how to touch him the way he could touch her. She’d let him in all the way that once.
