Chapter 11 - Two Caesars)
The resemblance was close enough to be disturbing.
Adrian had Caesar’s height.
Similar dark hair.
Similar shoulders.
But his eyes were colder.
His nose had been broken at least once.
A thin scar crossed his chin.
And unlike Caesar, he smiled while armed men surrounded children.
Vittorio whispered, “Caesar.”
Adrian looked at him.
“Do not call me that.”
Vittorio flinched.
The reaction interested Caesar.
Adrian entered the room.
“I spent thirty-nine years hearing how another boy was living inside my name.”
Caesar stepped forward.
“I did not choose that.”
“No.”
Adrian looked him over.
“You simply enjoyed it.”
“I did not know.”
“You never wondered why doors opened for you?”
“I thought my father was rich.”
“Our father.”
Caesar glanced at Vittorio.
“No.”
Adrian laughed.
“Good. We agree on something.”
Amelia moved Evelyn behind her.
Adrian saw her.
“Amelia.”
Her face tightened.
“You should have killed me when you had the chance.”
“I tried.”
Caesar lunged.
Three rifles immediately pointed at him.
Adrian raised a hand.
“No.”
The rifles lowered slightly.
“I want him alive.”
“Why?”
Adrian looked at Samuel.
“Because the child requires both lines.”
Rose whispered, “That is not true.”
Adrian turned.
“Rose.”
She moved closer to Clara.
“You escaped.”
“You let me.”
Adrian smiled.
“Very good.”
Rose’s face drained.
Caesar understood.
“You wanted her here.”
“I wanted all of you here.”
Vittorio stepped forward.
“You have Samuel. Leave the others.”
Vanessa screamed, “You are not taking him.”
Adrian glanced at her.
“You were always emotional.”
“You promised he would be safe.”
Caesar looked at Vanessa.
“Promised?”
She closed her eyes.
Adrian smiled.
“She neglected to mention our arrangement.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“Do not.”
Caesar stared at her.
“What arrangement?”
Adrian answered.
“Vanessa has been reporting to me since before Samuel was born.”
Amelia looked at her with disgust.
Clara whispered, “You lied again.”
Vanessa began crying.
“He said he would kill Samuel if I stopped.”
Adrian laughed.
“I said no such thing.”
“You showed me photographs of Evelyn at school.”
“A precaution.”
“You threatened them.”
“I reminded you what disobedience costs.”
Caesar walked toward Vanessa.
“Did you tell him about the memory card?”
“No.”
“Did you tell him Clara was here?”
“No.”
“Did you tell him about Samuel’s condition?”
“He already knew.”
Adrian interrupted.
“Enough family therapy.”
He approached Samuel.
Clara stepped back.
“Do not touch him.”
Adrian stopped.
“Do you know what is inside his blood?”
“He is a baby.”
“He is the first viable second-generation convergence.”
Caesar said, “Speak like a human being.”
Adrian looked at him.
“You were engineered from selected markers. Amelia came from another protected line.”
Amelia frowned.
“My family was involved?”
“Your mother helped create Orpheus.”
Clara shook her head.
“Our mother was a teacher.”
“Your mother was a geneticist before she became a teacher.”
Clara went silent.
Adrian continued.
“When you and Amelia produced Evelyn, Orpheus finally had a child carrying both successful lines.”
Caesar looked at Evelyn.
“And Samuel?”
“Samuel was created using preserved material from you and Amelia. He represents a second successful combination.”
“Then why does he need stabilizer?”
“Because success is not perfection.”
Adrian looked toward the vial.
“His metabolism cannot regulate a specific protein cascade. Dr. Vale developed a temporary treatment.”
Vanessa whispered, “And you killed him.”
Adrian’s smile faded.
“He became sentimental.”
Caesar moved toward him.
“You keep using that word as if loving children is a disease.”
Adrian’s eyes sharpened.
“You think you love them?”
“Yes.”
“You spent six years marrying the woman who helped steal your wife.”
Vanessa recoiled.
“You spent four years accepting Amelia’s death because a certificate told you to.”
Caesar stopped.
Adrian continued.
“You never investigated why Evelyn cried every time she saw the lake.”
“Stop.”
“You never noticed she stopped sleeping alone.”
“Stop.”
“You never asked why your mother deteriorated only when your father visited Switzerland.”
Caesar hit him.
It happened before the guards reacted.
Adrian stumbled back.
Caesar struck again.
The brothers crashed into a desk.
Weapons rose.
Vittorio shouted, “Do not shoot either of them.”
Caesar and Adrian struggled violently.
Similar strength.
Different styles.
Caesar fought with control.
Adrian fought like someone who had learned survival before rules.
Adrian drove Caesar against the wall.
“You got the warm bed.”
Caesar punched him.
“You think that made me him?”
Adrian hit him back.
“You got my mother.”
Caesar froze.
“Isabella?”
Adrian’s anger cracked.
“She visited me once.”
Vittorio went pale.
Adrian turned toward him.
“You told me she did not know where I was.”
Vittorio said nothing.
“She held me for eleven minutes.”
Adrian’s voice broke.
“Then your men dragged her away.”
Caesar looked at Adrian differently.
For one instant the enemy disappeared.
There was only a boy who had been abandoned because an older man decided children were interchangeable pieces.
Vittorio had created both of them.
And destroyed both differently.
Caesar lowered his fists.
Adrian hesitated.
Then a gunshot sounded.
Vittorio jerked.
A red stain spread across his shirt.
Everyone froze.
The shooter was Vanessa.
She held Daniel’s dropped weapon.
Her hands trembled.
Vittorio collapsed.
Vanessa stared at him.
“That was for my daughter.”
Rose looked at her.
“What?”
Vanessa began crying.
She looked at Rose.
“I never stopped looking for you.”
Rose’s face changed.
Vanessa whispered, “I carried you.”
Then alarms screamed again.
Marcus checked his radio.
“Fire.”
Smoke already curled beneath the doors.
Adrian’s armed men turned in confusion.
Adrian looked toward the ceiling.
“This is not mine.”
Caesar stared.
“Then whose?”
A female voice came through the speakers.
“Thank you for gathering every surviving Orpheus asset in one building.”
Rose whispered, “The Keepers.”
The woman continued.
“Now we can erase the project forever.”
The doors automatically locked.
Flames appeared in the hallway.
They had been trapped together.
May you like
Not by Adrian.
By the people Rose had believed were rescuers.
