Dax’s green eyes appeared in front of me, his lips turned down into a frown. “Reaper made him leave, Oz. In that Military Model’s head of his, he saw no reason for Viper to stay. You aren’t his female.”
“That and he stole her from my quarters and had her locked up like some type of criminal!” I felt Axios’s frame vibrate with fury. He cupped my face, his eyes wet. “He had no right, Oz. He went too far and it almost cost you your life.” Axios’s blue eyes blazed. “He doesn’t deserve to stay by your side, not when he is the reason you almost died.”
“I didn’t, Axios.” I squeezed his arm, trying to reassure him.
Dax cleared his throat. “Not this time. And the next time? I’m brilliant, but there are some things not even I can fix.” His green eyes bored into mine. “This was too close of a call, Oz. I may have stopped the destruction the implant caused, but your brain still needs time to heal. The tissue was severely damaged and even I am unsure of the lifelong consequences that you might experience because of it.” His eyes roamed over my body, and I wanted to sink into the exam table. “I didn’t need the scanner to tell me that you have not been taking care of yourself. Your weight has decreased and the dark circles around your eyes indicate that you have not been sleeping much, either.”
“It’ s all because of him!” Axios shouted. I didn’t need to ask who he was referring to. Axios’s blue eyes blazed. “He did this, Oz. He should never have taken you!”
“You’re right. He shouldn’t have, but, Axios, this isn’t all Viper’s fault.” I let out a deep sigh. “I stopped taking care of myself. I let things that I thought I buried get to me. Truth is, I shouldn’t have come here. All I ever do is bring trouble with me.” I met his worried eyes. “You don’t really know me. You don’t know what I’ve had to do,” my voice cracked, hurt spilling free.
I wanted to blame it on the damage in my head, but I was so tired. Tired of running, tired of hiding. I had hidden from Poe all these… “Fuck. Poe.” The conversation in the bathroom came rushing back to me. All the anger. The way I had yelled at her to get out.
My eyes scanned the room. She wasn’t here. I clutched Axios’s arm. “I need to talk to Poe.”
Dax shook his head, “I don’t think that is a good idea. You need to rest. Did you not hear anything I was telling you? You…”
“No.” I cut him off. “Youdon’t understand. We had a fight.”
Dax’s eyes narrowed. Yeah, I knew he wasn’t going to be happy with me. Poe’s cyborg was fiercely protective of her. He wasnotgoing to take this well.
And I knew he would blame it all on me.
“Please, Dax. Can you comm her for me? I know she has probably worried herself sick. The shit that went down was personal, okay? I don’t feel like getting into it right now-“
“If it’s about your past, then I already know. Poe informed me-”
“What?” Pretty sure my shout could be heard through all of the cyborg rebellion. “She didn’t…” I shook my head. “Why?” Another stab of betrayal shot through my heart. I had been ready to let it go. To forgive her. But her telling Dax? That was worse. Fuck. I looked away, not able to even look him in the eye.
“Poe doesn’t keep secrets from me.” Dax must have assumed I wanted an answer to my question of why.
I didn’t.
No one had any right tomypast.
“You shouldn’t be ashamed. We all do things-”
“Stop.” I let go of Axios and jumped off the table, ignoring the wave of dizziness that nearly buckled my knees.
I clutched the table, my fingers digging into the unforgivable metal. “I wouldn’t finish that if I were you, Science Model.” My voice dropped, hurt echoing through it.
“Now she sounds scary.” Theo piped up from somewhere behind me. I had totally forgotten the little cyborg was here. I couldn’t stand an audience.
“I am leaving.”
“I wouldn’t advise that, Oz. You need to stay here so I can continue to monitor you.”
My eyes narrowed. “Oh, you misunderstand me, Science Model. I don’t mean I’m leaving the lab. I mean I am leaving the cyborg rebellion completely. I am done.” I shoved off the table, my legs giving a little wobble before they straightened out.
“You can’t!” Both Dax and Axios shouted.
“Watch me.” I stormed to the door and out into the hall, ignoring Axios’s and Dax’s cries to come back. I looked to my left then to my right. Honestly, I had no clue how to get the fuck out of here. Didn’t mean that would stop me. I went left, figuring I would eventually find my way out. I had to get out. The walls felt like they were closing in and my chest grew tight.
To hell with them.
To hell with all of them.
I made it a good distance away from the lab, taking different corridors that seemed promising until I ran into a wall of cyborgs.