“Don’t, V.” Sorrow flashed across her face. “I won’t bond with you. Not today. Not ever. And I know if I stay with you, I’ll be weak and give in at some point. So this thing between us needs to end.” She squared her shoulders before turning her back on me and walking away.
I don’t know what happened. One second, I stood there frozen, and the next I was running towards her, grabbing her to toss her over my shoulder.
Everything in me was screaming that I couldn’t let her go. That I had to fix this somehow and if she walked away now, she would never come back.
“Put me down! You can’t be fucking serious! Are you kidnapping me again right now?”
“No. Maybe. Yes.” I had no plan except to get her alone so that I could convince her not to leave me. And to apologize for royally fucking this up. To bond with your female should be something beautiful. I had seen how glorious it could be from observing the other couples. Dash and Iris, Reaper and Aria, Acer and Marley, and Dax and Poe-all of them had what I wanted with my Oz. Even if only for a moment.
My home was the female slung over my shoulder. Oz is where I belonged. I had to make her see that.
“Help! Somebody help me!” She hollered, her fists taking aim at my back. I moved faster. Her cries would bring other cyborgs to investigate. My quarters would be the first place they looked. I needed to take her someplace else. Somewhere they couldn’t find us easily.
Using my processors, I hacked into the rebellions security system. With a few clicks, I had unlocked the hidden entrance and shut off the alarms. Taking a right, I found the staircase leading up to the outside. I dashed up them, erasing the footage of us as I went. The camaras would have recorded my movements and I could leave no evidence as to where I had gone.
Once we were outside, I reactivated the system, not wanting to leave my fellow cyborgs defenseless. I had only wanted to buy myself some time.
“Bring me back!” Oz screamed. “Bring me back right now!”
“No.”
I took off running, dodging trees and downed branches as I became nothing but a blur among the foliage. The rebellion had mapped the woods surrounding our headquarters extensively. I knew every inch of this forest. There was a cave system a few miles away. I would take her there and hope she wouldn’t tear my head off as soon as I put her down.
She had to change her mind.
Bond with me.
Let me follow her into the afterlife.
Only then would I take her back.