I snarled. I was being talked about like I wasn’t even here. I knew Reaper was stubborn, but this was beyond reason. Not once had he asked me. “What about what I want?” I gave his frame a hard shove. His eyes went wide as he stumbled backward, his mouth dropping open.
I pushed myself into his space, my larger frame crowding him until his back hit the wall. “Don’t make me fight you, Reaper. We both know I will win.”
A hand touched my arm. “Brone, this isn’t the way to get what you want,” Dr. Shaw said softly. “I know you are upset.” She stepped around me to glare at Reaper, “and Reaper is being a bit of an ass.”
The sound of shocked gasps filled the room. Dr. Shaw using a swear word, even one as meek as ass, was out character.
She rolled her eyes. “What? You think I have never sworn before? I might prefer less colorful language, but when the situation calls for it, I will.” She waved a hand at Reaper, “and this one definitely does.” Taking a step, she moved closer to Reaper, her gaze narrowing. “Even if there was a way to reverse the bond, I won’t do it, and neither will Dax.”
Reaper’s lips curled into a smirk. “Then I’ll ask the other one. Dex.”
An amused snort echoed behind us. “Yeah. No. I don’t think so, Military Model. I don’t work for you.”
Have you ever watched a Military Model start to lose it? Reaper’s hands curled into fists, his eyes flashing wildly as his whole frame stiffened. A vein in his neck started to pulse as his right eye twitched.
“You work for Lennox,” he spit out through gritted teeth at Dex, “and she agrees that the female can’t be trusted!”
Dex strolled into view, joining the standoff. His eyes roamed over me, Dr. Shaw, and Reaper, a smile forming on his lips. “Sorry to disappoint, but I don’t work for her, either. The work I do around here is because I want to, not because I am Lennox’s errand boy. Whatever the hell is going on here, I want no part of it.” He turned to me, and for a moment, those eyes stopped me in my tracks. Dax is one of my best friends, and Dex looks like a carbon copy of him. There is an air of familiarity but at the same time, it’s like staring at a stranger.
Dex’s emerald lips tipped up into a smile. “Besides, the Tank Class should be able to make his own choice.”
Reaper let out a growl at Dex’s suggestion, causing the Science Model to chuckle. “Goodness, you guys are fun.” His eyes sparkled as he gave Reaper’s cheek a quick pat. “I know a hundred different ways to reprogram all that aggression into something more entertaining.” His eyes narrowed, the grin falling from his mouth. “Don’t fuck with me, Reaper. I’m not Dax.” With a quick spin on his heel, Dex stormed off, leaving two stunned cyborgs and Dr. Shaw in his wake.
“Guess we should never tell him about the time you choked his brother.”
Reaper’s mouth opened then snapped shut before I watched the tension drain from his frame as he let out a sigh. “I am being an asshole again, aren’t I?” He hung his head. “I can’t watch another cyborg I care about get hurt, Brone.”
He lifted his head, his eyes finding mine. “I know you want to see where this goes between the two of you, but I don’t trust her. Even if she meant what she said, the Global Allegiance will never stop hunting her. She puts us all at risk. And if you bond with her…” He didn’t finish. He didn’t have to.
If we bonded and Nara got recaptured, I would be the first cyborg they would terminate without hesitation. And if they killed her outright? I would follow. That is the one thing I do know about the bonding process. It is why Reaper injected Iris with Dax’s upgrade serum, despite not knowing the risks. He refused to watch Iris die and take Dash with her.
My life would be in Nara’s hands.Could I trust her with it?Everything in me said yes. I gripped Reaper’s shoulder. “You don’t have to trust her. You simply need to trustme.”I stared at the face of the leader of the cyborg rebellion. The one cyborg I had followed without question.
I would die for Reaper.
But I wanted tolivefor me. And that meant making the choices I knew in my heart were correct. Nara was meant to bemine.The moment I swung her over my shoulder and carried her out of that awful place, I felt like I’d found home. Every bit of my programming had settled like it knew she was the reason I had been created.
Not for war and death. But to love…and be loved in return.
“Do you trust me, Reaper?” My eyes pleaded with him. Everything rested on his answer.
Reaching out, he grasped my forearm, holding on tight. “With my life.”
Nara
The Cabin
“What do you mean he isn’t available?”
Ion’s features were etched with sympathy. “That is all Lennox would tell me.”
My shoulders slumped. “You told her what happened to me, right?”
Ion nodded. “I was very thorough with my explanation. I made sure she knew I believed whatever was happening to you was real and it was imperative that you be allowed to talk to Brone.”
I dropped down on the couch. “Well, I guess that’s it.” Pulling my legs up, I tucked them under me with a sad sigh. Part of me expected this. I was a problem they didn't know what to do with and sending me here was a way they could forget about me until they came up with a solution.
Out of sight, out of mind, right? Screw them! It was time for me to stop moping around and think my way out of this. There had to be a way to protect those I cared about while keeping myself out of the Global Allegiance’s clutches. I had been letting my guilt run the show. No more.