Damion Read online

  Copyright

  Copyright © 2012 by Lisa Renee Jones

  Cover and internal design © 2012 by Sourcebooks, Inc.

  Cover and internal design © Sourcebooks, Inc.

  Cover illustration by Aleta Rafton

  Sourcebooks and the colophon are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks, Inc.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from its publisher, Sourcebooks, Inc.

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Published by Sourcebooks Casablanca, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc.

  P.O. Box 4410, Naperville, Illinois 60567-4410

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  Contents

  Front Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Glossary

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  An excerpt from The Legend of Michael

  An excerpt from The Storm That Is Sterling

  Back Cover

  To Diego—whose fight for the dream keeps me fighting. And to all the brave soldiers who fight the real fight and sacrifice so much for our country.

  Lethally passionate, wickedly dangerous…

  He is a soldier of soldiers, an enforcer of the code of honor—expectant of greatness and tolerant of nothing less. With ruthless precision, he calculates risks as deliberately as he does his lover’s satisfaction. Assessing, pleasing, and when needed… destroying. Inexplicably in control, there is absoluteness in everything he does, everything he is—everything he will make you feel.

  He is… Damion.

  Glossary

  Area 51—Another name used for Groom Lake.

  Bar-1—A brainwashing program that isolates brain neurons and allows brainwashing to occur. It will only work on females, not on males.

  Blood Exchange—A part of the Lifebond process done by choice, after the Lifebond mark appears on the female’s neck. This completes the female’s transformation to GTECH and links the two Lifebonds in life and death. (See Lifebond Process.)

  Dreamland—Though Groom Lake/Area 51 is often called Dreamland, in the Renegades series, Dreamland is the fictional military facility opened eighty miles from Area 51 by General Powell to take a stand against the Zodius who overran Area 51.

  Green Hornet—Special bullet that is so powerful it not only shreds human muscle and bone, it penetrates the thin bodysuit armor that the GTECHs—both Zodius and Renegades—wear when no other bullet can do so.

  Groom Lake—Also known as Area 51, this is the military base where the Project Zodius experiments with alien DNA took place. It was later taken over by the Zodius rebels.

  GTECH—The Super Soldiers who were created under Project Zodius and who divided into two groups—Zodius and Renegades. GTECHs are stronger, faster, and more agile than humans; they heal rapidly and have low fatality rates. They can wind-walk. Over time, many are developing special gifts unique to them, such as telepathy and the ability to communicate with animals.

  GTECH Body Armor—A thin bodysuit that fits like a second skin. Extremely light and flexible. The material is made from alien technology recovered from a 1950s crash site. Until the Green Hornets were created, no standard issue ammunition could penetrate the suits.

  GTECH Serum—The serum created from alien DNA that was gathered at a crash site in the 1950s and then used to create the GTECHs. The original sample was destroyed. Since the alien DNA will not allow itself to be duplicated, there can be no new serum created without new scientific discoveries. The remaining serum disappeared the day Area 51/Groom Lake was taken over by the GTECH Rebels known as Zodius Soldiers. The GTECH serum cannot be created from GTECH DNA. This has been tried and has failed.

  Lifebond Mark—A double circle resembling a tattoo that appears on the back of a female’s neck after her first sexual encounter with her GTECH Lifebond. After the mark appears, it will tingle whenever her Lifebond approaches. Only sexual encounters with one’s Lifebond will result in a Lifebond Mark appearing.

  Lifebond Process—A Lifebond is a male and female who are bonded physically for life and death. If one dies, so does the other. This bond allows the GTECH male to reproduce, and it offers the females the same physical skills as their male Lifebond. The Lifebond mark, a double circle resembling a tattoo, appears on the back of the female’s neck after the first sexual encounter. A blood exchange is required to complete the physical transformation of the female to GTECH, if the couple makes that decision. There is physical pain and illness for the female during conversion.

  Neonopolis—The Las Vegas satellite location for the Renegades, covertly located in the basement of the Neonopolis entertainment complex off Las Vegas Avenue.

  PMI or Private Military Intelligence—A company run by General Powell, the officer who created Project Zodius. PMI is used as a cover for top secret military projects that the government doesn’t want to officially show on the books.

  Project Zodius—Code name for the government’s top secret operation—two hundred Special Operations soldiers who were assigned to Groom Lake (Area 51) and injected with what they believed to be immunizations, but which was, in fact, alien DNA.

  Red Dart—A red crystal found at the same UFO 1950s crash site where the GTECH DNA was discovered. The crystal enables a red laser beam that enters the bloodstream and creates a permanent tracking beacon that is sensitive to sound waves. These sound waves can also be used for torture and control of the GTECHs. Thus far, U.S. military attempts to use Red Dart have been fatal.

  Renegade Soldier—A GTECH who protects humanity and stands against the rebels known as “Zodius.” The Renegades are led by Adam Rain’s twin brother, Caleb Rain.

  Shield—A mental barrier that a GTECH uses to block their psychic residue from being traceable by Trackers.

  Stardust—An alien substance that is undetectable in human testing and causes brain aneurisms.

  Sunrise City—The main Renegades facility, an advanced, underground city located in Nevada’s Sunrise Mountain Range.

  Trackers—These are GTECHs with the special ability to track the psychic residue of another GTECH or a human female who’s been intimate with another GTECH. If a female possesses this residue, then only that female’s Lifebond can shield her from a Tracker.

  Wardens—An all-female group of women who have joined to stop the abductions of other women by the Zodius.

  Wind-walking—The ability to fade into the wind, like mist into the air, and invisibly travel far distances at rapid speed.

  X2 Gene—A gene that appears in some, but not all, of the GTECHs by the fifteenth month after injection of the GTECH s
erum.

  Zodius City—Still known as the top secret U.S. military facility. Located in Nevada and often called Area 51 or Groom Lake, it was taken over by the rebel GTECHs led by Adam Rain. This facility is both above and beneath ground level.

  Zodius Soldier—A rebel GTECH soldier who follows Adam Rain, the leader of the rebel movement. Adam intends to take over the world.

  It lives because they live…

  A silent, raging battle, born of greed and lust. Of a hunger for power and a passion for misplaced greatness. A burn for control. A seed planted under the guise of growing peace. But instead, that seed evolved into death and despair, proving, as history has shown time and time again, that man is, indeed, his own worst enemy.

  This war, this seed, started as a quest for the perfect weapon, the last weapon, the ultimate weapon. The one that would end all wars. In this case, a weapon neither human nor inhuman. A man, but not quite a man. Created under a veil of secrecy inside Area 51, the program, code-named “Project Zodius,” recruited soldiers who were told they were being immunized against enemy pathogens. Instead they were injected with alien DNA found at a crash site the century before.

  Their lives were changed forever, and perhaps the destiny of humankind as well. Possessing super strength and speed, and able to travel with the wind, these soldiers became GTECH Super Soldiers. It was hoped they would eliminate battlefields and bloodshed simply by existing, by drawing a line in the sand that our enemies didn’t dare cross.

  One of these GTECH Super Soldiers rose against humanity, a power-hungry soldier who thought he was the chosen one, the one who could destroy the pathetic existence of humanity in all its weakness. His name is Adam Rain, and he believes he was created for a single purpose—evolution. He will create a better, stronger race, a Zodius race. One nation under a Zodius government—his nation.

  Humanity’s future lies with Adam’s brother, Caleb Rain, and his Renegade followers. These Renegades represent hope and honor, sacrifice and salvation. They are the last great warriors of humankind, defending their people while being shunned, even feared, by their creators.

  The war rages on…

  Chapter 1

  There was nothing unusual to a casual observer about a hot woman in a white string bikini, lounging poolside, a few feet from where undercover Renegade soldier Damion Browne leaned against the cabana-style bar, a beer in hand. In fact, from a purely male standpoint, there was absolutely everything right with this particular woman—a brunette with long, silky, dark hair brushing creamy white shoulders. But then, he was on duty, and he took that duty too seriously to allow primal urges to distract him. Still… something about this woman set his blood pumping, and like it or not, that translated to a distraction that was out of character for him.

  He told himself it was because she’d shown up ten minutes into the outdoor excursion of a Russian nuclear scientist and his family that Damion was covertly ensuring didn’t end up in Adam Rain’s arsenal of weapons. The last thing the Renegades wanted was the leader of the Zodius GTECH movement getting his hands on the nuclear technology Lev was selling the United States in exchange for citizenship. That’s why this woman was a potential risk, he told himself, not because she had long, shapely legs that belonged wrapped around a man’s waist—his waist, Damion thought with a rush of pure male heat. They belonged around his waist. Damn. What was wrong with him?

  Inwardly he shook himself, not sure what it was about this woman, but she could easily drag him into the linger zone when he didn’t go to the linger zone on duty. Scratch that, he thought, as he glanced at Lev and family and back to her. She already had him in the linger zone, and there was no forgiving his distraction, unless… That gnawing gut feeling was telling him that underneath all that sex appeal, she was trouble, despite Adam’s dislike of female operatives. Add that to the fact that the CIA team watching Lev had allowed him outside in the first place, and Damion had a bad, bad feeling about this. Suddenly, as if she sensed his suspicions, the dark-haired beauty’s head snapped in his direction, her attention settling on him, her eyes shielded by white-rimmed sunglasses. Time stood still for an intense, crackling moment. Certainty filled him. She had known the entire time that he was watching her.

  The microphone tucked discreetly inside Damion’s ear hummed a second before the voice of his Harley-loving, wild card, second-in-charge, Chale Bonner, spoke, “We reported Lev’s barking dog to the front desk several times. Looks like security is headed his way. We’ll have him inside the building where he’s less exposed in a flash.”

  Damion didn’t reply. He was still watching the woman, who, as abruptly as she’d given her attention, jerked it away. Reaching for her bag, she stood up, offering him a nice, heart-shaped backside view as she sashayed away. Her pace was slow, confident, but a bit too precise. She was hiding something, beside the intimate details of her body, details he wanted to discover beneath those tiny pieces of white material. Damion knew Adam didn’t typically work with women—he believed they were inferior beings—but somehow, someway, this one was the source of the warning in his gut.

  “Alert,” Chale added. “Doggy Patrol has arrived. Get ready for movement.” Damion eyed the back door of the hotel to find two uniformed security guards and a woman dressed in a suit headed toward Lev and his brood. “I see them,” Damion said, his gaze shifting to the fast-departing, bikini-clad female. But had she seen them? Was that why she couldn’t get away from this place fast enough?

  Damion set the beer down and discreetly touched the mike hidden in his ear. “Cover Lev. Something about that woman is bothering me.” He pushed off the bar and started walking, unable to use his GTECH ability to travel inside the wind without risk of garnering unwanted attention. This woman was dangerous. The kind of dangerous a soldier, a Renegade, didn’t let escape.

  ***

  Lara’s hand slipped discreetly into her oversized bag, wrapping around the hot steel of the weapon there, even as she rounded the diving board of the pool, carefully pacing herself, despite the urgency coursing through every pore. She was driven by the certainty that the man with the hot stare—and hotter body—by the pool was one of those GTECH monsters who’d killed her family.

  She’d suspected as much the minute he’d walked to the bar, looking like an all-American soldier, no matter the absence of a uniform—his swagger confident, his jeans and T-shirt molding a perfectly honed physique, and his light brown hair neatly trimmed. A lethal air crackled off him, belying the casual way he leaned back against the bar and sipped his beer with an air that said that he could not only kill you if he wanted to, but he was ready to do so at the drop of a hat.

  The hard edge of his assessing stare had settled on her, hot as it flickered across her barely clad body and then returned to her face. Lara had felt the intensely probing inspection with the unnerving feeling this man—this GTECH—could see beyond her dark glasses as surely as he’d glimpsed beneath the thin strips of fabric covering her. Heat had flooded her limbs at the daring way he’d looked at her, and having been warned about the unique, unpredictable abilities the GTECHs developed over time—that she too might develop over time—she’d jerked her gaze away.

  It had been a foolish, amateurish reaction, unworthy of the training she’d received when she’d joined Project Serenity. Part of her welcomed the man to follow her, welcomed a chance to unload her weapon between his eyes where even a GTECH would be vulnerable, where their incredible healing abilities wouldn’t matter, nor would their high-tech, second-skin armor protect them. But she couldn’t risk failing General Powell and making a misstep that would allow the GTECH to get his hands on Lev. Powell had given her her life back, given her a chance to protect innocents. She now had a reason to fight and a reason to live. Her orders were clear, as well as her intel on Lev and his security detail. She was to be the silent, second level of security for Lev Egorov, the protection against the threat the GTECHs represented, Renegade or Zodius. Neither GTECH group could be trusted with nuclear techno
logy—or trusted at all. The GTECHs outside of those on team “Serenity” were to be disposed of, before the public ever knew they existed. Only a handful inside the government knew, and the agents protecting Lev weren’t included in that circle.

  Determined to quickly and efficiently complete her task, she’d reached the trail directly behind the pool that led between this hotel and an adjoining property. A young couple walked toward her, delaying her plan to slip into the foliage and trees lining the path. She gave a friendly smile to the man and woman, a gesture that belied her racing heart and the worry that the GTECH would appear at any moment. She took that moment on the path to yank a red-and-white-striped cotton dress from her bag and pull it over her head. Then she kicked off her sandals and dropped a pair of Keds white tennis shoes to the ground before shoving her feet inside them. Not the perfect fighting attire, but better than a bikini.

  By the time she was done, the man and woman had disappeared down another path, and from her earlier surveillance, she knew that their path lead to a duck pond.

  Another quick glance around confirmed Lara was alone. She slipped off the path, behind the thick line of trees several feet deep that gave her ample cover, a mixture of pine needles and rocks crunching beneath her feet.

  Lara stopped behind the thickest patch of foliage beside a chain-link fence, the steel laced with thick ivy. She inched her gun, complete with silencer, over the edge of her bag and peered through the greenery.

  Surveying the pool area, Lara’s breath lodged in her throat as she found the GTECH missing. He was coming for her, and if he wind-walked, he could appear near her at any moment. Focus, she silently reminded herself. Do the job, then catch some wind of your own, and be gone.