He stroked her cheek as the shaking of her body started to reside. She allowed her eyes to close for a moment, enjoying the peace that came in the eye of the storm.
“My brothers will be here soon. Are you ready?”
“Yeah. Should I whip up something for them to eat?”
“What they are hungry for, you can’t provide.”
They left his security room and made their way to the game room. She sat and eyed the VR game. She missed those few days where she had been learning about his world.
“I have a present for you.”
Her eyes lit up. What could it be? He handed her a pretty hair pin, a little on the heavy side. Was it real?
“Put it in your hair.” She reached up and put it in.
“Beautiful. Now take it out and close your eyes and imagine the small stick in the VR game.”
She closed her eyes and did what he said. When she opened them, that same Vesko was laying in her hand.
“Where did this come from?”
“It’s your weapon. The one I promised to give you.”
“That was in a game Niko, not real life.”
“There is so much more to life kitten than you can imagine.”
“I am going to teach you to slip into my mind, so you can see how to use it. There’s a specific weapon I want you to be able to use.”
“I can’t do that Niko. I can’t hurt anyone.”
“Dee, the created protect themselves, but it’s more than that. The created protect each other. You are a created now. You’re one of us. One day you may have to protect yourself or one of us. You may have to protect Rena. How will you do that?”
Her eyes closed and her shoulders slumped. “I only ever wanted to be Dee.”
Life shouldn’t be any harder. Hadn’t she suffered enough? Funny, but all she wanted to be was happy. Was happiness worth fighting for? Her years flashed before her face. Years where she had been abused and had accepted it. Years when she had abused herself one way or the other.
Then it changed. Now she felt self-worth. She felt accepted and loved. Would she let someone walk into her life and snatch it all away? Her shoulders shook and she cried, for herself, for her mom? She wasn’t sure, so she just cried good and hard. Then she stopped and smiled.
She found her way into Niko’s mind without his help. She could feel his pride. It was like water to parched lips. He showed her the weapon and how to use the Vesko to form it. She learned to use it. She had learned once that visualization was as effective as practice, if done right.
She felt every muscle in her body react as she ran through the moves. Muscle memory was such a tricky thing. He had been right. She was capable of so much more.
She opened her eyes and saw a perfectly formed weapon. They walked outside. She sighted a leaf on a tree and blew it apart.
She turned and looked at Niko with a sad smile on her face.
“You made me deadly.” Her weapon turned into a hair clip, she placed it in her hair as she walked away.
Chapter Twenty-seven
They were all assembled in Niko’s game room, their game room and they were all looking at her. No one pushed her or rushed her. They treated her like family, like they would treat a sister if women had been made for them.
Rena looked at her, but she held her silence too. It didn’t matter, because Rena could read her eyes. She saw the awareness in them that Niko had pushed her further than she had wanted to go.
She also felt the acceptance and the comradery. Rena had been pushed too. She took a deep breath. This wasn’t about her. It was about us. All of us.
“His name is Rick Vale. A nice simple name. Since when did the created start using such names?”
They all mumbled, protesting that each of their names was normal and simple.
“Rena, tell them.”
“I am not in it. Do you know how hard it is to find a keychain with the name Rena on it? Their names are everyday names when put next to mine.”
Dee shook her head and looked at Hale who had his laptop out. He was doing a search on that name right now, looking for an address. An address she knew they would be paying a visit to. No one was staying behind. The created didn’t work that way.
“What happens if we find him?”
“Then we take care of him.” Aran’s voice was hard when he spoke the words.
“What about the cops?” Rena asked, making Dee happy someone had her back.
“The cops will never know.” Sergey inserted.
“What about Vance?” Sure he made her upset at times, but she wanted to find him alive.
“If he has him, we will find him.” Aran spoke and nodded to Sergey who nodded back.
“Got him.” Every head turned to Hale. “He lives about two hours from here in a nice woodland area.”