Born to Darkness Read Online Free PDF Page B

wasn’t surprised. He knew from the way she’d looked at him as he’d helped her to her feet, that she’d received a full dose of the anguish he’d fired off at tonight’s villain. Stephen, however, hadn’t gotten hit by that particular wrecking ball—he didn’t have the same empathic skills that Mac did.
    But that was to be expected. No two Greater-Thans accessed the exact same neural pathways. And even though Stephen and Mac were both rare Fifties—fifty percent integrated and highly advanced—their mental skill-sets were as varied as their eye color, their skin tone, and even the number of freckles upon their faces.
    Annie’d had too many freckles to count, with the main concentration running across her sun-kissed cheeks and nose, beneath her sparkling blue eyes.…
    Bach had to stop and take a breath, because the magnitude of his loss still made his stomach clench. And while it was true that time healed all wounds, and he’d had plenty of it to work out the guilt and the blame, he hadn’t yet mastered the regret or the soul-crushingsorrow. So he’d never progressed beyond more than a thick scab, which he usually easily ignored. Tonight, however, he’d intentionally torn it open.
    Someone touched his arm, and Bach spun toward the potential threat, only to find Elliot Zerkowski backing away from him fast, hands raised in alarm.
    “Whoa,” said the research and support department head. “Whoa, I was just …” But then he moved back in, his concern palpable. “You okay there, Maestro? You’re looking a little pale. How’s your back?”
    “My back is fine.” Of course, it twinged, just slightly, at that very moment, but that didn’t make him a liar. A slight echo of discomfort
was
fine. Bach forced a smile as he waved the other man off. He gave a nod to Haley, one of his top research assistants, who looked as if she were thinking about asking if he needed help. She glanced at Elliot, who nodded a reassurance, so she didn’t stop.
    “I’m fine,” Bach repeated as Elliot turned to look at him. “But it was a difficult night.”
    “I heard. Let’s get you into a room—”
    “Not yet,” Bach said. “I still need to—”
    “Fall on your face in the hallway? I don’t
think
so. Kyle,” Elliot called to one of the nurses hurrying past them toward the ER, “let the med team know I’m putting Dr. Bach into exam room one. And round up Doctors Diaz and Mackenzie—I want a full on them both tonight.” He turned back to Bach. “I was coming to find you anyway. It’ll be just as easy for me to ask some debrief follow-ups and to give you a sit-rep while we’re checking your vitals.”
    Bach didn’t argue, because he knew it had to be done. He’d already filed a preliminary report on his way back to the Institute, but he’d known there’d be additional questions because he’d been purposely vague.
    And
he
had some questions, too. “How’s Nathan Hempford?” he asked as he preceded Elliot into room one—just a few convenient steps down the pristine and sterile-looking hall.
    “Nuh-uh,” Elliot said. “I go first. You know the drill.”
    Bach did. Still, he had to know. “At least you can tell me about his family. Are
they
okay?”
    “They’re fine, but you were right about the three-year-old. She has a mild concussion. We’re monitoring that.” Elliot was also monitoring Bach closely, watching to make sure he didn’t do a nosedive as he took off his overcoat and hung it on one of the hooks by the door, kicked off his boots, and stripped down to his T-shirt and shorts—a prerequisite for a full, detailed medical scan.
    With Dr. Obermeyer’s cutting-edge technology, it was possible to do what many doctors called a shortcut or
jot
scan—with a patient fully clothed and in motion.
    But a full, detailed medical scan required complete stillness from the patient, and as few layers of clothing as possible. It took anywhere from one to three minutes, depending on the hardware—which