Tempting Eden Read online

  Tempting Eden

  By Michelle Miles at Smashwords

  Copyright 2013 Michelle Miles

  Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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  Chapter One

  Sabre knocked on Helene’s door and waited for her to grant him entrance. When she didn’t he pushed it open and peered into the small confines of her apartment. In the darkness he could see shapes of her furniture strategically placed in her home. She was meticulous in her décor and he knew there wouldn’t be as much as a speck of dust on anything. He could see sunlight slashing through the cobalt waters beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows and fish swimming by as though they had not a care in the world.

  Stepping inside, he closed the door and listened in the silence for some hint of life.

  “Helene?”

  No answer. He flipped on a light to chase away the shadows and scanned the room. Everything was in its place. The sofa sitting atop the handmade Atlantean rug, the modern art on the walls and the heavy wood coffee table and end tables. Yet there was no sign of his sister.

  “Helene, are you here?”

  Her bedroom door opened but still she did not emerge. She knew he was there, opened the door to let him know where she was yet didn’t come out to greet him. Balling his fists, he charged toward her bedroom…and stopped short in the entrance.

  His baby sister was curled on her side on the bed with her knees drawn up to her chest. Her eyes were closed and her dark hair was fanned out on the pillow behind her. A stabbing pain slashed through his heart.

  “I came to check on you,” he said.

  “I don’t need you to check on me, Sabre.” Her voice was cold, unfeeling. Desolate.

  He paused, not sure how to proceed. He knew she was hurting. He knew she was devastated. He also knew she would survive. She had to. She was all the family he had left. He couldn’t bear the thought of losing her too.

  He didn’t want to ask about how she was feeling—he knew the answer. He also didn’t want to tell her he wanted to make sure she was all right—that would cause her more pain. She’d lost her child after all. She’d been angry and depressed since.

  He’d talk to her about something else.

  “I’ve been called to a special meeting with General Bastian,” he said.

  “So?” She never opened her eyes. Never looked at him.

  “It’s also a meeting with the president. Top secret.” That got her attention and she finally blinked open her eyes. He pressed on. “General Bastian thinks it’s about what’s happening.”

  “What’s happening? You talk as though it’s nothing to be concerned about,” she snapped. “Do they even really care, Sabre?”

  She sat up, her chocolate locks falling around her face. Her thin, gaunt face. He could see the shadows under her eyes and her sunken cheeks and it pained him. She was not the lively young woman of their youth he remembered. The one who looked up to him as her hero. The one who used to tease him about his fascination with humans. It was why he joined the Guardians and why he worked so hard to become General Bastian’s second-in-command.

  Why he wanted to keep her safe and make sure nothing ever happened to her.

  “Yes, they do. And they are concerned. That’s why they’re going to do something about it.”

  “What can they do? We’re a dying race and everyone knows it.” She clutched the blanket tighter around her shoulders, shivered and laid back down. Her back was to him as though she’d shut him out already.

  Sabre feared their world—the one they’d so carefully built over the last few centuries—was coming to an end. He’d known it was bad—he’d experienced it firsthand when his sister miscarried. Her husband, devastated by the loss, committed suicide. The losses had been so hard on her she’d fallen into a deep depression. One he couldn’t get her out of.

  But their tragedy wasn’t unique. The women of Atlantis could seldom conceive and if they could, like his sister, they couldn’t carry the babies to term. Atlantean geneticists had determined their race had become too small for them to survive. Even his general wasn’t immune to the tragedy. His wife had lost their child.

  The men and women of Atlantis would soon be extinct.

  “What if they found a solution?” he asked. “What if they discovered a way to allow us to continue on? To make sure you could conceive?”

  “What if who cares?” She flopped over, sat up and glared at him. “I’ve begged you for weeks now, Sabre, to get me out of here. I don’t want to stay here any longer. Can’t you understand? Take me to the surface. Leave me there. Why can’t you do that?”

  “You know why I can’t.”

  He clenched his fists. They’d had this argument so much it was old news. Why couldn’t she understand her place was here? Going to the surface was strictly forbidden and she knew it.

  “Yeah. Duty and honor and all that shark shit.” She rolled her eyes. “Leave me alone.”

  Frustration clawed through him. It took all his self-control not to grab her and shake some sense into her. Going to the surface was never a good idea. Humans weren’t stupid. They would be able to see she was not one of their kind right away by the tiny gills behind her ears. And then they would run tests and ask her questions and demand to know where she came from. Which would lead them right to the lost city of Atlantis.

  Several centuries ago a human scientist found the location of Atlantis. He had come to their world and learned everything he could about them before returning to the surface. The mistake had been allowing the human scientist to return. He’d spread the word about the fabled lost city. The next thing they knew the Atlanteans were invaded by humans determined to “out” them and make the location of the secret continent known. They’d raped their women and pillaged their city, stealing artifacts to take back. That left the Atlanteans no choice but to fight back and that was when the Guardians had been formed.

  “I’ll go,” Sabre said at last. “But if there’s a way for our race to survive I will do whatever necessary to make sure that happens.”

  She said nothing as he turned and left her. He closed the door behind him and headed to the conference room to meet General Bastian and the president of Atlantis.

  Chapter Two

  Sabre wasted no time getting to the conference room. When he entered General Bastian, leader of the Guardians of Atlantis, stood at the window, his hand pressed against the cool glass. Sabre joined him and peered out at the dark waters, watching the sea life come and go, swimming by as though oblivious to the Atlanteans under the ocean. And they were—there was something special about living under the surface.

  “It’s as though I can feel the pressure of the ocean,” Bastian said. “Even though I know this thin glass protects us from it.”

  “Yes, sir,” Sabre said, agreeing. Because he didn’t know what else to say.

  “Do you think we can be saved, colonel?” He turned to him as he asked it, his dark eyes glittering.

  “I don’t know, sir.”

  He sighed. “I hope for our sakes we can. I’ve lived my entire life protecting Atlantis secrets under the sea. My Guardians have gone to great lengths to keep humans on land from leaning our location. But now I wonder how wise that was.”

  Sabre’s brows knit. “What do you mean, sir?”

  “Were we so arrogant to think we could control our environment? Perhaps we
should have let the humans know we were here. Then maybe we wouldn’t be dying. Maybe we could have had an alliance with them. Something that would allow us to live in harmony.” He shook his head.

  “We tried once, general, when the human scientist came here. Dr. Rabbin nearly destroyed everything we built.”

  “Could have been an isolated incident.” He smiled and clapped Sabre on the back. “I should forget it. It’s merely wishful thinking on my part.”

  Behind them the door swished open. In unison they turned to see the lead geneticist and two other scientists as well as the Atlantean president and vice president file into the room. Sabre had expected his general and the president to be at the meeting. He had not been prepared for a meeting with everyone else. Surprise quickly followed by unease went through him. Bastian and Sabre took a seat across from the leaders and scientists.

  President Otes wore his usual dark suit with his black hair slicked back from his regal face. He couldn’t look more like a politician if he tried. Vice President Invonna—a woman not much younger than the president—had a studious look on her pinched face. Wide eyes. Mousy brown hair pulled back in a tight bun. She never wore makeup either giving her that severe unattractive look. The lead geneticist, Dr. Franco, had thinning brown hair, an elongated face and pointed nose. He spoke with a grating nasal tone of voice.

  But seeing the scientists gave Sabre hope they’d solved their infertility problem. If they had then perhaps he could tell his sister and convince her to try whatever method they’d discovered. Maybe it would pull her out of her darkness. He knew how much she wanted a family.

  “General Bastian and Colonel Sabre, thank you both for coming on such short notice,” President Otes said.

  “What’s this about, Mr. President?” Bastian asked.

  With a glance to his left and right at the others, the president cleared his throat. “I’m sure you are both aware of the state of our society.”

  “I read the doctor’s report as did Colonel Sabre.” Bastian nodded to Dr. Franco. “The outlook seems fairly grim. I’m not sure why I was given the report or what the Guardians can do to help.”

  “The Guardians have long been heralded as the warriors who keep our land secret from the humans,” Otes said. His glance went between Sabre and Bastian.

  Sabre wondered where this was going. He knew as everyone did the elite soldiers were the only ones authorized to return to the surface. It was how they could keep their underwater world safe from those who would destroy it. His heart sped up a notch.

  “Now it seems we must look to them if we intend to save ourselves,” Otes continued.

  Bastian leaned on the shiny table lacing his fingers. “How?”

  Otes shifted in his chair in discomfort and pressed his lips together. Whatever he had to say he didn’t want to say it. It was common knowledge the soldiers could go to the surface—they’d been engineered by Dr. Franco. Not only did they have the small gills behind their ears, but the doctor also discovered a way to give them the breathing capacity of a fish. They could survive the water pressure as they swam to the surface and back. They didn’t need a protective suit as the humans did when they dove thousands of feet into the sea. The Guardians of Atlantis often had to patrol the surface to get rid of the nosy humans.

  “What the president is trying to say, general, is in order for our race to survive we must find other ways of procreating. By mixing our DNA with human DNA we believe it can strengthen our lines. The human women will be able to carry to term. I believe human DNA is what can save us,” Franco said. “My suggestion to the president and the other leaders was to have your soldiers swim to the surface and bring back healthy females.”

  Sabre stared at Franco in disbelief. He intended to mix their pure Atlantean blood with a human’s? Beside him his general tensed.

  “Are you out of your minds? Not only are you talking about kidnapping, but you also intend to bring humans into our city? A city we’ve painfully kept from them for thousands of years?” Bastian asked.

  “The subject would have to come willingly,” the doctor said without feeling. The words “the subject” sounded so clinical.

  “If we don’t do this,” the president said, “then we will all die. There will be none of us left to carry on our society.”

  “Then we die.” Bastian’s tone was cold and harsh. “What do you think will happen if the citizens of Atlantis learn the truth about what you’re doing? There will be an uprising. They wouldn’t approve of the powers-that-be playing god. And, frankly, neither do I.”

  “That’s why this entire operation is to be kept top secret, general,” Otes said. His gaze landed on Sabre then. “Is that clear?”

  “Top secret, yes. But this is madness,” Bastian said.

  “You’re to handpick the men who will be involved in his campaign,” Franco said, as though he hadn’t spoken.

  “Men?” Bastian looked from Franco to Otes. “How many am I supposed to send?”

  “The more trustworthy as you can spare,” Otes said.

  “The whole idea of the Guardians was to keep the continent safe from humans. Whenever one got close to discovering us we made sure they were removed. They are a threat to us. If we’re discovered they’ll destroy everything we’ve built. Or have you forgotten Dr. Rabbin and the disaster he caused?”

  “No one has forgotten,” Franco said. “Something must be done to preserve our race.”

  “So what do you intend for us to do? Bring them here and rape them? We are better than that. All of us.” Bastian’s gaze landed on each of the men and one woman in the room, daring them. Glaring at them.

  Disgust crawled through Sabre. He was revolted by the thought of what they wanted. And clearly so was his general by the way he leaned forward on the table, his hands clenched so tight his knuckles were white. Sabre’s stomach twisted in a tight knot. The hope they’d found a way for their women to have children died within him. Worry for his sister gnawed at him. What would become of her?

  “No, we wouldn’t do any of those things,” Otes said. “As the doctor said they must be willing to come along. What I’m proposing is sending several of your most elite warriors to the top to find suitable mates to bring back to us.”

  “And how will the women survive the trip down here? They cannot breathe as we can. Even if they could the pressure would kill them.”

  “The subject will be injected with a serum allowing her to be brought here without drowning. I will distribute a syringe to the men you chose to send. I also have a specially designed wet suit for the women to wear. It will protect their bodies.”

  Bastian clenched his jaw. “And then what happens to the women?”

  “They will be turned over to our team of scientists to be impregnated,” Franco said.

  Such coldness. Sabre stared at the doctor. Everything about the doctor grated on his nerves.

  “You intend to impregnate them in a lab?” Bastian asked.

  “Yes. The subject will be monitored from the time of conception until the time the baby is delivered. We cannot afford to lose the babies.”

  “The subject, doctor? You talk as though this isn’t a thinking feeling human. A woman. Human or Atlantean, they shouldn’t be treated this way,” Bastian said.

  And Sabre couldn’t agree more.

  “I’ve had several meetings with the top executives. We believe this is the only way,” Otes said.

  Bastian pinned his glare on the lone woman in the room. “You too, Vice President Invonna? You believe this is the only way?”

  Her eyes fluttered downward staring at her hands clasped in her lap. “I agreed to it too.”

  Sabre thought she may have agreed to it but that didn’t mean she liked it.

  “It’s in direct conflict with everything we’ve worked to protect. It’s too dangerous. I won’t do it and I won’t order my men to do it.” Bastian leaned back in his chair as though his decision was final.

  Franco and Otes exchanged a glance. On
e that sent a cold chill up Sabre’s spine.

  “We thought you’d say that,” Otes said.

  The door burst open and three regulators entered with guns drawn.

  “I’m sorry to have to do this to you, general, but you give me no choice. You’re under arrest and will be taken to a holding cell,” Otes said. Though he didn’t sound remorseful at all.

  “You can’t do this to me,” he growled.

  “As president I can. I will order your men to the surface to bring us the females. I’m not letting our civilization die because one man stands in the way.” He gave a nod to the regulator behind him.

  Bastian was pulled from his seat and cuffed. “You will regret this decision, Mr. President.”

  “Perhaps. Take him away.”

  The regulators led him from the conference room but Bastian wasn’t going to leave without having the last word.

  “Sabre, find a way to stop this madness! We cannot allow this to happen!”

  One of the regulators punched Bastian in the head to make him stop talking. He crumpled in half but they dragged his dead weight through the conference room doors. That left Sabre alone with the president, Dr. Franco and the others.

  “Now, colonel, shall we discuss what needs to be done?” President Otes asked. It was his turn to lace his fingers and lean on the table. And he looked menacing. Not at all like the congenial man who had been elected.

  “What’s to discuss? I follow General Bastian and his orders.”

  “No longer.” Otes shook his head. “From now on you report to me. You do as I say. Your general is no longer in command of you or the Guardians.”

  “You would force us to do this?”

  “To save our race I would do anything,” Otes said.

  And Sabre truly believed that. It was disgusting. He never thought the president was that way but now his actions proved it.

  “Do you intend to follow your general’s orders?”