Reckoning (The Variant Series, #4)

By Jena Leigh

Alexandra Parker came home from the past only to find herself in the middle of an underground war—one that could affect the fate of Variants everywhere.

Fighting an all-powerful government agency is tough enough, but when a secret from John Grayson’s past comes back to haunt them all, the group’s united front begins to crumble. And when Alex’s own painful memories threaten to push her past her breaking point, the uprising stands to lose its most powerful weapon.

With their lives and their freedom on the line, can Declan, Nate, and the rest of the Grayson family hold it together long enough to bring down Director Carter and derail Brian’s apocalyptic visions?

As Alex struggles to master her most volatile ability yet, only one thing is certain: the uprising’s cold war with the Agency is about to turn red hot.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jena Leigh
• Release date: Jun 19, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370560370

Jena Leigh

Jena Leigh is the author of the Variant Series novels REVIVAL, RESISTANCE, REDUX, and RECKONING. Born and raised in the lightning capital of North America, she eventually made her home in the Smoky Mountains of Western North Carolina. A shameless geek, she loves coffee, loud music, bad sci-fi movies, Skittles, and shenanigan-filled road trips to faraway concerts.To find out more about The Variant Series and author Jena Leigh, visit her online at www.jenaleighbooks.com or @jenaleighbooks.

Book preview

One

Alex Parker was not where she was supposed

to

be

.

Technically speaking, she was supposed to be safe and sound back at the uprising’s Montana compound. Instead, she was silently threading her way through aisles of decaying office furniture and past metal shelves lined with boxes.

A damp, musty odor assaulted her senses as she clung to the inside wall in an effort to locate her objective.

"For the love of… Have you gone deaf, Declan? What did I just say? I told you to hold, so

freaking

hold

!"

Nathaniel’s roar sent Alex’s hand flying to adjust her earpiece.

She stopped herself just short of telling him to keep it down. After all, as far as the others were concerned, she wasn’t there.

Alex worked her jaw in a useless attempt to silence the ringing in

her

ears

.

For the third time in as many missions, she found herself longing for a wireless comms device equipped with volume controls. She really needed to ask Ozzie—their snarky, bespectacled tech genius in residence—about an upgrade.

Declan’s hearing might be the one in question right now, but if Nate didn’t take it down an octave, Alex would be the one facing permanent damage.

Sighing, she resumed her search.

The basement was cold, gray, and poorly lit, typical for a subfloor in an office building constructed before the advent of color television. Over the years, numerous renovations had left the exterior of the complex gleaming and transformed the upper floors into bright, welcoming spaces.

But the basement?

From the look of things, it had never once been altered. It certainly hadn’t been cleaned in years.

As her hearing returned, Alex listened to Nate draw a steadying breath, only to blow it out again in

a

huff

.

You’ve got almost a dozen agents between you and the stairwell you’re gunning for, Decks, Nate said from his seat in the surveillance van roughly a

block

away

.

His voice held a quiet, understated fury. Alex recognized the tone immediately. One that only crept to the surface when Nate struggled to remain calm during his arguments with Declan.

Arguments that had become far more frequent since Alex and Declan’s return from their disastrous journey to

the

past

.

Near as Alex could tell, the underlying cause of the brothers’ bickering had little to do with the laundry list of petty topics they squabbled over on any given day, and everything to do with Nate’s unwanted role as a double agent. The others had been quick to understand and forgive, but Declan?

Not

so

much

.

For nearly a year, Nate fed the Variant Protection Agency sensitive information regarding the entire

Grayson

clan

.

From the beginning, Nate did his best to do as little as possible, giving the Agency bare minimum intel. Just enough to satisfy Director Carter’s curiosity, but nothing that could hurt Alex or the family.

And never anything that might put their lives in danger.

In that impossible situation, Nate walked a razor-fine line with amazing dexterity and no small amount of skill.

His efforts guaranteed that Alex and Declan’s actions in the past wouldn’t unravel their present. More importantly, he bought them time to find a cure for Declan after Samuel Masterson poisoned him with a modified version of the

VX

-

2

.

Nate’s deal with the Agency was the only reason they’d been able to save

Declan’s

life

.

It didn’t seem to matter that even though Nate had been the one stuck carrying out the plan, the entire arrangement had been Alex’s idea—a fact she stressed every time the subject came up. As far as Alex was concerned, she held the lion’s share of the blame. If Declan was going to be angry with someone, it ought to be her. Not Nathaniel.

But Declan, bullheaded as ever, refused to forgive his brother for the way events

played

out

.

They’re freaking paper pushers, Nate, Declan’s voice whispered in her earpiece. "What are they going to do? Chuck a stapler at me? I’m telling you, I

got

this

."

Paper pushers, sure, but Alex was willing to bet that a vast majority of the employees in this Agency-run facility were armed with a lot more than office supplies.

For all he knew, every employee on the third floor could be a top five Variant, possessing the most dangerous supernatural abilities in existence.

Two minutes earlier, Declan missed his window to slink toward the exit unnoticed when a group of agents returned early from a meeting. Judging from the increasingly heated discussion taking place on the comms line, he was now trapped in an empty cubicle.

From the hijacked security feeds, Nate counted six men and three women blocking the path to the stairwell. Even sporting multiple abilities, there was little chance Declan would be strong enough to overpower the entire group.

If you move now, Decks, you’re toast, Nate said. "Just give us a minute and we’ll find you another

way

out

."

Ahead of her in the basement, the rows of shelving ended abruptly, opening into an empty stretch of wall that dead-ended at the building’s

north

face

.

There

it

was

.

Or, to be a bit more accurate, there

they

were

.

Instead of the single breaker box Alex expected, she confronted six different wall-mounted panels.

She chewed anxiously at her

bottom

lip

.

Ozzie hadn’t said anything about multiple boxes.

Uncertainly, Alex turned her attention to the largest panel: a floor-to-ceiling monstrosity that seemed to be the closest thing to an electrical nerve center the basement had to offer.

She could only pray that it was the one she needed. There wasn’t time to go back and ask Ozzie for clarification.

An electromagnetic shield still shrouded the Agency facility, rendering her jumping ability practically useless and making teleportation impossible. But it couldn’t stop Alex from manipulating the building’s electrical currents to a certain extent.

A slight crackle of interference carried over the comms line. Alex reigned in the electrical charge she was infusing into the baseball-sized machine in her hands.

According to Ozzie, a small charge should be all she needed to activate the feedback loop in the device she was holding.

In the earpiece Alex heard Declan murmur a reply

to

Nate

.

"I’m outnumbered, outgunned, and out of options, Nate. And according to my watch I’ve got less than two minutes before our window closes and someone realizes we’ve hijacked the surveillance feeds. Eventually security’s going to sound the alarm and put this entire facility on lockdown. So unless you’ve got a miracle waiting on standby, my only choice right now is

to

move

."

Alex quirked a smile.

A miracle, huh? she said aloud, keeping her voice low. I’ve been called worse things.

Dammit, Lex! Declan hissed.

Things like dammit, Lex, for instance.

Nathaniel’s curse was at least four decibels louder. "You were supposed to take the flash drive back to the safe house and stay there until the mission ended, Alex, he said. Those were your orders."

And leave Declan stuck inside an Agency facility without backup? Alex asked. "In what universe was that ever going to happen, Nate? Of course I planned to go

back

in

."

Like hell you will, Declan whispered. "Don’t even think about

it

,

Lex

."

Too late, she replied. Already inside.

An amused snort accompanied Nate’s groan of resignation.

Attagirl,

Kenzie

said

.

Alex smiled, recognizing the note of approval in her friend’s voice.

Like Nate, Kenzie had also been sidelined to the surveillance van for the duration of the mission. Nate was there because he’d been charged with overseeing the op. Red was there on account of her latest demotion. She’d gone off script during both of their last two operations, simultaneously pissing off the boss and ensuring the success of both ventures.

Unfortunately for Kenzie, winging it was decidedly not one of John Grayson’s preferred operational tactics.

And oh, was Grayson ever going to hate what Alex currently had in mind to assist Declan.

I’m going to create a distraction, she said. "Ozzie was a little vague about what this machine actually does, but he swears it will—and I quote—‘play merry hell with the building’s electronics.’ So when that happens, Decks, make a run for it. Not a second before.

Got

it

?"

Declan was having none of it. Get free of the EM shield and jump back to the safe house now, Alex, he said. That’s an order.

She rolled her eyes. "An order, you say? Well then, mon capitaine, I guess you’re just gonna have to court martial me later, she whispered. I’m roughly forty seconds away from saving your ungrateful butt. So how about you table the objections, take your brother’s advice, and stay exactly where

you

are

?"

Don’t even think about it, Alex, Declan warned.

What part of ‘too late’ are you not getting, Decks? she asked. Thirty seconds!

Declan and Nate swore in unison.

The sound of a van door sliding open carried over the comms line, and a faint but familiar Manchester accent bellowed, "Your window of darkness is half a minute from closing and Declan’s still not here. What the hell is going on in there?"

Grayson? Where had he come from? He hadn’t left the safe house in weeks.

In a nutshell? asked Kenzie. Mom and Dad are fighting again.

A pause.

Oh, you meant with the mission? she asked sweetly.

Alex could easily picture the irritated scowl with which the Grayson family patriarch fixed his adopted daughter.

Another long

suffering

sigh

.

Poor

Nate

.

Calling the shots on this mission wasn’t the cakewalk he’d been promised—more like

wrangling

cats

.

Surly, insubordinate cats with a penchant for improvisation and incessant bickering.

She might have felt bad for him if she hadn’t been focused on not dropping the jerry-rigged bomb in her hands.

Ozzie had been clear. Jostling the device after she activated the charge would be a Very

Bad

Idea

.

She just hoped the trembling in her hands didn’t count as jostling.

Declan’s still trapped on the third floor, Nate said. "Too many agents blocking his way to the exit. Alex went back in to

extract

him

."

"She

did

what

?!"

Alex winced. Judging from the boss’s reaction, Red wouldn’t be the only one exiled to the van during their next mission.

That was assuming, of course, that Alex eventually made it out of this building alive, which was not exactly a given at this point.

Ozzie had also suggested that once the pulse went off, the breaker box could explode instead of just sending a concentrated electrical charge into the system.

So Alex had that to look forward to

as

well

.

As she pressed the device against the metal panel, it emitted a low whine that began cycling upward.

Ten seconds, Alex whispered.

The comms finally fell silent as she finished securing the device to the panel in the way Ozzie had instructed—and then she ran

like

hell

.

Four…

three

…

two

…

Alex dove behind a nearby support column, the only solid shelter she could find in the relatively

cluttered

room

.

Nothing happened.

When another ten seconds passed, Alex cautiously stepped around the side of the pillar to inspect the device.

Declan’s voice was wry as it drifted across the comms line. "Exactly what sort of distraction am I waiting on here, Lex? ´Cause I’ve got jack all happening

right

n

—

"

A piercing howl truncated Declan’s sentence in the same instant a blinding white light enveloped the device and the breaker box. A wave of heat knocked Alex off her feet and flung her backward.

Her right shoulder slammed into the steel column and bounced off, sending a wrenching pain from her neck to her fingers when she hit the ground.

Alex cried out, trying in vain to blink away the afterimage of the flash. She’d been staring right at the device when

it

blew

.

For a moment she could only lay there dazed, sprawled on the cold concrete floor.

As the ringing in her ears subsided, shrieking feedback over the comms line took its place. Alex clawed at her ear with her good hand and removed the device.

As silence descended, she pushed herself gingerly up onto her knees, gradually coming to realize two very important things.

First, the air around her no longer felt like a suffocating shroud. Add that to the malfunctioning comms and it seemed obvious that Ozzie’s bomb had done the trick. The building’s EM shield was down for the count.

And second?

The ache behind her eyes was absolutely unparalleled. Face twisted in pain, Alex groped blindly for the column with her good arm, attempting to steady herself as she climbed the rest of the way to

her

feet

.

The good news was that, since her return from the past, Alex had been able to teleport without any prolonged side trips into that horrific dimension they now casually referred to as limbo.

Any trace of the time jumping ability appeared to have vanished the moment she returned to the present. Alex might never again be able to travel into the past, but she no longer needed to worry about getting trapped in limbo for all eternity every time she attempted

a

jump

.

At least, that was Ozzie’s working theory.

Alex, on the other hand, couldn’t help but have her doubts. Even the dimmest prospect of becoming trapped in an interdimensional hellscape generally made a girl want to err on the side of caution.

Now that the shield was down and her borrowed jumping ability was at full strength, all Alex had to do was teleport to safety.

Before she could manage that, however, she first needed to derail the freight train of anxiety that hit her every time she even thought about teleporting.

Who was to say that her next jump wouldn’t be the one that proved Ozzie’s theory wrong?

Alex took a slow, steadying breath. The pain behind her eyes was fast becoming unbearable. She couldn’t hang around in this basement forever.

She needed to get out of there, limbo or no limbo.

Calling up the memory of the empty side street where they’d parked the surveillance van, Alex rallied her courage and jumped.

Two

Aforce slammed into her, shifting Alex away from her intended destination. She materialized a few feet from her target. Apparently, someone else was already standing there .

The ground beneath her was uneven. One foot materialized, resting on solid ground. The other found nothing but

open

air

.

Alex, still blinded by the afterimage of the blast, listed to one side and let out a yelp as she started

to

fall

.

A firm pair of hands gripped her shoulders, held her steady, and guided her back onto the sidewalk. She bit back a whimper as a spike of pain travelled the length of her right arm. Whoever was holding her must have been able to read the agony in her expression because their grip on her shoulders immediately weakened.

Oh, Lee-Lee! What happened?!

Aunt Cil?

asked

Alex

.

Realization dawned an instant later. Grayson would have needed a lift to join them in Chicago. Who better to hitch a ride with than a jumper like her Aunt Cecilia?

Alex turned her head toward the source of her aunt’s voice. The world around her was nearly blinding in its intensity. She could make out little more than two shadowy, human-sized figures standing beside her, along with the murky outline of the white utility van Nate and Kenzie had been using to oversee the mission. From the hint of a shadow at the van’s center, its sliding door

stood

open

.

Unable to stand the dazzling brightness any longer, Alex allowed her eyes to close, hoping to ease the pain being inflicted by the mid-

afternoon

sun

.

Are you okay? asked Nate from somewhere inside

the

van

.

Geez, said Kenzie. "What the heck happened to your eyes? You look like Brian did that time we tried to adopt a

stray

cat

."

Alex felt a rush of cool air brush past her and a static charge radiate through the atmosphere.

Heck of a way to find out you have an allergy, Kenzie added. "Poor kid looked like he was baked out of his mind for the next three days. Although, let’s face it, that’s a hilarious look for any four-

year

-

old

."

Someone blew out a slow breath.

Alex figured it was

probably

Nate

.

Are you alright? asked Grayson. Judging by his close proximity, it was his hands that currently rested on

her

arms

.

She wasn’t entirely sure whom the boss was addressing so, instead of replying, she turned her head toward the area where the newcomer had appeared. "Decks? Is that you? Were

you

hurt

?"

There was a moment of quiet during which Grayson released her and the newcomer took his place.

Warm fingers took hold of

her

chin

.

She didn’t need her sight to know who was standing in front of her. The shiver of electricity. The warm, enticing smell of cinnamon laced with ashes….

Declan.

Let me see, Lex, he said. "Open

your

eyes

."

His voice was low, stripped of inflection. Alex could tell he was pissed.

She did as he requested, clenching her teeth in an effort to keep the pain from showing. Any time she opened her eyes, they burned like the devil. It was why she’d been trying to keep

them

shut

.

Her aunt gasped, standing much closer now than she’d been just a moment earlier. What happened?

"I was standing too close to Ozzie’s electrical… disrupter… thing… when it went off, said Alex, blinking away the tears that filled her eyes as she held them open. It didn’t detonate when it was supposed to and I was afraid I’d set it wrong, so I stepped out from where I’d taken cover to check it out and, well… It sort

of

just

…"

Bang? Kenzie offered.

She nodded slowly. The blast was painfully bright. It felt a little like being blinded by a camera flash, only a heck of a lot worse. I still can’t really see anything.

"How could you have been so stupid, Lex? Declan demanded. You never should have gone back in. I’m going to kill Oz for giving you a feedback device when you obviously had no clue how to use one. It’s not a damn toy, Alex. You could

have

been

—

"

Have Ozzie take a look at her eyes and check her over for other injuries as soon as you’re back at the safe house, said Grayson, cutting Declan off

mid

-

rant

.

Alex huffed. Her own interruption would have contained, at the very least, three inventive curse words and an unrelated insult pertaining to Declan’s parentage.

What right did he have to be so angry? If she hadn’t gone back in for him, he’d still be stuck on the third floor playing hide-and-seek with a room full of agents.

Grayson’s voice seemed to be moving away from the van as he added, Tell Oz I want a full report on the contents of that flash drive as soon as possible. Cil and I will meet you at the safe house later. We have other business to attend to first.

"Let me know what Ozzie says, okay

Lee

-

Lee

?"

"I will,

Aunt

Cil

."

Ozzie was more tech wizard than actual physician—or in this case, ophthalmologist—but before he came to be known exclusively for his specialty with electronics and information acquisition, he actually spent three-and-a-half years in med school.

She’d called him Dr. Oz exactly once since

finding

out

.

Her ears were still burning from the verbal rebuke that followed.

Grayson’s voice was a fair distance away when he added, Oh, and Declan?

"

Yeah

,

boss

?"

If Ozzie thinks Alex’s eyes won’t heal on their own, take her to see Holly, he said. "I promised Kento Nakamura I’d keep both of his children out of this mess if I could help it, however, so you’re only to involve Holly as a last resort. Understood?"

"

Yeah

,

boss

."

Holly Nakamura—Holls to her friends—was a delightfully brazen, pixie-haired childhood friend of Declan and Kenzie. She had a mouth on her that could shame a sailor and a regenerative Variant ability that had the potential to heal Alex’s eyes in an instant.

They’d met briefly when a quick trip to Ireland had gone awry, leaving Alex with a laundry list of injuries—not the least of which being a punctured lung. Holls had been called in to help Alex heal her wounds.

Their interaction had been fleeting, but memorable, and Alex had always hoped to meet the girl again someday.

Her train of thought was immediately sidetracked by another, more pressing issue. Her eyes really, really hurt. The pain slicing through her temples was unlike anything she’d ever experienced. She wiped again at the involuntary tears trickling down her cheeks.

We’re clear, Alex, said Nate. "No witnesses. Now’s as good a time

as

any

."

Nate’s words caused her chest to constrict.

Time to jump, he means, she thought.

Alex swallowed hard and prayed her reaction hadn’t been obvious to

anyone

else

.

Yeah. Got it, she said. She reached her left arm out in the direction of the van, but her hand found nothing but empty space. "Um, Decks? A little help finding something to grab

on

to

?"

Declan took hold of her wrist and guided her fingers toward the door handle, saying, "You do realize you’ve just asked a blind girl to teleport four people and a van a distance of over a thousand miles,

right

,

Nate

?"

Kenzie snorted. "Last time I checked, distance wasn’t a factor for jumpers as powerful as

you

two

."

And blindness? asked Declan. "What

about

that

?"

Alex gripped the door handle. "Hey, I jumped back to the van without issue,

didn’t

I

?"

Who else is going to do it, Decks? asked

Nate

. "

You

?"

The comment was a low blow, but Alex was far too annoyed at Declan to bother with coming to his defense.

Declan had teleported a vehicle and its occupants once before, but that Mercedes Coupe had weighed significantly less than the utility van in question. And in all the time since, Declan had never once been able to jump with any vehicle larger than his Honda

sport

bike

.

It was true that Declan had been injected with the VX-2 and that he now possessed the same absorption ability as Alex and Samuel Masterson. But in an unexpected twist, either the treatment that saved his life or the altered version of the drug itself had turned him into something altogether different from either

of

them

.

Something significantly weaker.

The nearly unbridled power that accompanied Alex’s and Masterson’s absorbed abilities was missing in Declan. He was still noticeably stronger than he had been before his DNA was altered, but not by much. He might have been leaps and bounds beyond most normal Variants, but he was nowhere close to approaching Alex or Masterson in terms of strength.

For Alex, teleporting the van and its occupants was a walk in

the

park

.

For Declan, it had—so far, at least—proven itself to be just as impossible an undertaking as it had been for him in

the

past

.

Personally, Alex thought he might still be capable of the task if he simply tried a little harder, but Declan’s wounded pride had prompted him to give up trying

ages

ago

.

Unless you want to be the one to explain to Grayson why we abandoned our lone surveillance vehicle in a Chicago alleyway, Decks, I suggest you quit your bitching and get in,

said

Nate

.

A moment of silence followed before the chassis gave a faint creak and Declan climbed into the back of

the

van

.

We still clear, Nate?

asked

Alex

.

Do it, he replied.

She drew a slow, steadying breath, threw any sense of self-preservation out the window—and jumped.

Alex, the van, and its three occupants disappeared from the deserted alleyway in a flash of violet light and a crackle of electricity.

---

Cecilia Cross scowled at the man seated across from her in the booth. "So you won’t help us

at

all

?"

She wished his cowardice came as a surprise.

Sadly, Carson Brandt was nothing if not predictable. This meeting was proving to be exactly as disappointing as she’d warned Jonathan it would be. Why they were even bothering with this futile recruitment attempt was

beyond

her

.

Cil shook her head in disgust. "You’re just going to sit back and watch while our kind fight and die to settle a dispute that affects you just as much as any of us? Do you even realize what’s at

stake

here

?"

The Scotsman’s trademark sneer had somehow grown more obnoxious in the six weeks since she’d last seen it. When everything first hit the fan a few months earlier, he’d been a frequent guest at the safe house. At the time, she’d assumed he understood the importance of their cause and had decided to do his part. Instead, just as soon as Alex returned to the present, he left again without so much as a backwards glance and had yet to return.

He shrugged. "Hardly any concern of mine now, is it? I disappeared from the Agency’s radar once before. I can easily do it again. And it’s not my fault you lot kickstarted the apocalypse."

Cil was suddenly struck by the similarities between the fire-summoning, morally-bankrupt, arsonist for hire seated in front of her and a lowly cockroach. Both filled her with the same sense of repulsion—and they were both equally as likely to be the last creatures standing in the wake of a world-ending holocaust.

"I’d hardly consider this the end of days, Carson." John Grayson wiped a spot from the white ceramic mug in his hand with a napkin before taking a slow sip of his coffee.

Give it time, brother, said Brandt. "You’ve done more than poke the bear, this time. You flat out kicked the

hornet’s

nest

."

Grayson frowned at that. If you’d been paying attention, he said, "you would have noticed that under the circumstances we had little choice but to defend ourselves and retaliate. What Dana Carter and her Agency lackeys did to Nathaniel, Aaron Gale, and Alexandra was absolutely unforgivable. She crossed a line and it forced

our

hand

."

Brandt cocked his head to one side, staring at Grayson as though the reply amused him. "And how, pray tell, do you see this fiasco ending, Jonathan? Peaceful de-escalation? A treaty signed over afternoon tea and a tray of biscuits? It was his turn to snort in disgust. For one of the world’s most powerful pre-cogs, you’re alarmingly naive."

Cil sighed, more than ready to leave this diner and abandon the murdering nutjob seated across from her as a lost cause.

She ought to be back at the safe house right now taking care of Alex. Not sitting in an uncomfortable booth a thousand miles away, drinking coffee with a madman.

Damn that Ozzie and his slipshod inventions. What on earth was he thinking, giving Alex that machine when she hadn’t been trained to use it? The little man would be getting an earful the next time she

saw

him

.

Across the table, Brandt was still studying Grayson.

Grayson, for his part, was studiously analyzing the contents of

his

mug

.

Frustrated and eager to get this meeting over with, Cil broke the silence.

Jonathan’s right, Carson. This isn’t the end of days, she said. "But it will be the end of our freedom if the Agency is successful in crushing this uprising. Do you really want to live in a world where you’re cataloged and quarantined at the whims of an organization that sees us only as weapons to be wielded or threats to be dealt with? Dana Carter wants only to use Variants to her advantage—and there’s no room in her future for anyone that opposes her. She’s made that abundantly clear."

Brandt narrowed his eyes. When he opened his mouth to reply, Cil cut

him

off

.

You have two choices, Carson, she continued. "You can either run and hide until the Agency inevitably catches up with you—at which point they’ll either deposit you in an icy grave or lock you away in the deepest, darkest pit they can find…. Or, you can embrace whatever shreds of