It was rare that a relationship between a cyborg and his bound one didn’t work. Honestly, it was almost unheard of.
Maybe she saw something that simply wasn’t there, but something had made the cyborg soldier betray her and everyone at MedAct.
Something had happened at the warehouse.
That much she understood.
Jade blinked and looked around. She was inside a small but fresh room with white walls. There were no windows. There was only the bed she lay on and a toilet. A curtain could be pulled around it. The place had a claustrophobic feeling. Thankfully, she had no such issues, but the tension in her body grew.
Was she inside a prison?
Being around newborn cyborgs on a daily basis sure put things on perspective because of their overprotective nature. Tension and fear were common feelings, but this was something completely different.
She took a deep breath, not allowing the fear to set, but it was difficult. She had no idea where she was and no idea what awaited.
Trusting Celise’s word that she wouldn’t be harmed, was hard. She doubted they’d hurt her as long as they needed her to save Nightmare, but after that?
Who knew.
A rush of worry filled her. What if Nightmare was beyond saving? What if, not even she could save him?
Jade bit down, holding back tears. That idea was the last thing she needed right now. She didn’t know the details, but she’d never forgive the Fighters, if it turned out to be too late.
The ache in her heart grew.
Nightmare had threatened her life plenty of times, but all she wanted was for him to abandon his pointless running around as a Fighter and come back home to the other cyborgs and MedAct.
Every cyborg needed MedAct and a bound one. There was no other way for them to be complete.
The Fighters agenda was unknown, because she and the other doctors didn’t force information out of them. That wasn’t MedAct’s way.
Instead, Jade wanted the Fighters to understand they had nothing to fear, but no Fighter had ever trusted her with that reassurance.
They’d all laughed instead.
That didn’t make sense.
Why did most cyborgs turn their backs on MedAct after their bound one’s death? Those who returned never looked at the doctors and the scientists the same way ever again.
Did they know something she didn’t?
The door jerked open, and she winced.
She stared at the red-haired cyborg who’d entered. He was attractive, fit, and tall, but his shining eyes glared with hatred.
Blaze.
Jade whole body went stiff. She’d never met him, but she’d heard of him. Even if she hadn’t known his name, the hint of red in his eyes gave him away. He was the only cyborg with those type of eyes.
His anger wasn’t personal, but keeping her distance would be wise. The anger was directed at MedAct, and as the CEO, she was his main target right now, because Blaze was convinced MedAct killed his bound one a few years ago.
She’d investigated his claims several times without ever finding any proof, but his feelings for the company were well known by all the doctors and scientists—like all the Fighters.
“Doctor Jade Silva,” he said. “We finally meet. I can’t say I’m happy to see you, but since there’s no other way, your presence is necessary. I assume you know who I am.”
She nodded. “Blaze.”
“And you’ve heard my story.” It wasn’t a question.
“Yes.”
“Good. Then you know to keep your distance.”
She didn’t flinch. She wouldn’t be intimidated by him.
Jade worked with cyborgs and knew how to handle them. Besides, she was familiar with many of the Fighters. Their names, their stories, even their serial numbers. Some, she’d even created. They were nothing new, nothing to be surprised by.
Celise entered. Her expression was stern and distant.
It was the same expression every Fighter had when they encountered someone from MedAct. The disappointment in the doctor’s eyes was unmistakable, but why?
Wind was just behind her.
“How are you feeling?” Celise asked.
“I’ll live.”
For how long, only they knew.
“I must say, I expected it to be more difficult to kidnap you.”
Jade snorted. “It’s the consequences you should worry about.”
A few breaths passed before she answered. “We knew what we were doing.”
“Really? Then please explain, because I have no idea what’s going on.”
“We need your help to save Nightmare.”
She glared. Her heart clenched from hearing his name, and she tried to ignore it. “You mentioned that, but you’re not answering my question.”
“You haven’t asked one.”
Jade clenched her fists. “Why are you here? Why on earth are you working with the Fighters? When did that happen? You were one of my best doctors, and this is how you repay me?”
The sternness in Celise’s eyes melded into anger. “You know very well why I’m here, why I joined them.”
Frustration washed over her. “No, honestly, I don’t.”
“You lied to me. You lied to all of us. MedAct is fake. You know why the Fighters hate you more than anything. They learned the truth about the bond when they survived their bound one’s deaths.”
Silence filled the room.
Jade stared, and for a long moment, didn’t move. Instead, she tried to grasp what her colleague had just said. “You sound like one of the Fighters. What did they brainwash you with?”
Celise stomped her foot. “Don’t lie to me!”
She jerked back. “What the heck happened to you?”
The younger woman frowned. “You know what the bond really is.”
Had Wind’s bound one gone crazy?
“The bond is a program that the cyborgs need to live. They can’t function without it, and when their bound one dies, the bond collapses, which kills the cyborgs. The Fighters live because a small part of the bond survives. There’s nothing else. Never was, never will be. You know this.”
Another silence filled the room, and the air thickened.
Wind, Celise, and Blaze exchanged gazes.
Confusion and anger radiated in their eyes.
Disbelief as well.
“How can you be so sure?” Blaze asked. “You barely know anything about us. You just recently learned an intimate touch can initiate the bond. Until then, you knew nothing.”
How did he know that? Maybe Celise had told him.
“Because there can’t be any other explanation.”
Blaze’s mouth pulled down at the corners. “So, you’re saying you have no idea what happens with the bond when our bound one dies?”
Jade blinked. Hadn’t she just explained that?
The surrealness grew by the minute. Sure, she could tell him more about how the bond collapsed, but that wasn’t what he was after.
He wanted to hear something else, but what?
“You’re all out of your minds.”
Blaze sighed. “Enough.” He grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet. “We don’t have time for this.”
She didn’t get the chance to respond.
He dragged her out of the room and into a long and white hallway. It was well lit, and with doors on each side every few feet. Was she in a hospital?
“What is this place?”
“The less you know, the better,” Blaze said.
Jade was led into a huge space filled with computers, pool games, and other entertainments, but what filled her with dread wasn’t the room itself.
It was all the Fighters there, all with their furious gazes set on her.
She’d never felt this small before.
Jade recognized several of them, and when one stopped in front of her and Blaze, she almost squeaked.
Thankfully, she managed to keep it together and not make a complete fool out of herse
lf by following her instincts and run.
The Fighter didn’t say anything, but he scowled with his big and shining eyes. He was tall, with the body of a dancer and an androgyny-like appearance.
His copper-red hair was combed backward and styled. The only thing that interfered with his slightly feminine beauty was his strong jawline and strict lips.
Phoenix.
“You’re alone. No one wants you here,” he said. “I’m the only one who has some patience with you, because you saved my life many years ago. Remember that.”
She gave him a stiff smile. “It’s nice to see you, too.”
Blaze pushed her. “Nightmare’s waiting.”
They entered another white hallway and followed it before stopping in front of two double doors.
Jade swallowed for what felt like the hundredth time. Was Nightmare on the other side of those doors?
She barely dared to imagine what she’d see, but an image of him lying on a bed with pale skin, attached to tons of different machines danced into her mind.
Tremors chased each other down her spine. What if there was nothing she could do for him?
What if it was too late?
Blaze pushed a button next to the doors, and they opened.
She inhaled, unable to ignore how her heart thundered, but she followed him inside, expecting the worst.
CHAPTER 5
The doors closed behind them, after they entered the room.
Jade looked around. It was an infirmary; bright, clean, and filled with everything a doctor could possibly need to help someone.
There were beds, cabinets with drugs and medical equipment; all kinds of machines, but also cabinets with towels and clothing.
Apart from the beeping of a machine, the room was quiet.
Her heart cantered, and when she spotted the still figure on one of the beds, it clenched, then stuttered before beating again. For a split second, she forgot to breathe.
The machine was next to his bed. Lines and wires went into his body. It monitored his pulse and blood pressure, but also his cybernetics. The screen displayed that everything was fine there.
Her feet moved on their own. Slowly, she approached the bed.
Nightmare’s eyes were closed, and his handsome features were calm. It was an unusual sight.
Jade was so used to seeing him angry, it was almost shocking to see him unmoving. Even the dark and hostile aura that usually surrounded him wasn’t there. Not even the scar on his throat managed to amplify the dangerous vibes he always radiated.
Nightmare looked like any other cyborg about to wake up and start his life with his bound one.
His long hair lay beautifully around his head, but part of his black locks were covered with bandages. His shirt was open a slit, and the slight reveal of his fit and muscular chest awakened butterflies in her stomach. If that wasn’t enough, the sight made her sex clench from desire.
Jade pressed her lips together. How she hated him for awakening this need every time they met, but she couldn’t help it. It just came over her, making it almost impossible to pull her gaze away from the masculine attraction that he was.
She placed her hand on his arm. The feeling of his warm skin against her palm calmed her.
Thank God he was still alive.
Blaze and Celise stepped up the other side of the bed, and both studied her with narrowed eyes.
Jade pulled her hand away. “He seems well taken care of,” she blurted. “What do you want me to do?” Her breath stuttered. Being this close to him, without him cursing at her or threatening her life, was almost thrilling.
She could stay by his side, hold his hand, and just allow the silence between them linger like a comforting blanket.
If she could get just one moment like that, just one, she could live on it for the rest of her life.
“He’s not waking, even if he’s healed,” Celise said. “There’s something wrong with his program, and we can’t fix it, but you can.”
“I see.” That was all she could muster, but on the inside, the calmness she’d felt for a split-second, washed away.
How could they have allowed him to get hurt?
Why hadn’t they stopped him from going? Hadn’t he understood how dangerous it would be?
What an idiot!
Jade took a deep breath to stop from screaming out her anger.
Blaze, Celise, and the others still watched her.
Soul wasn’t there though. Where he was, she didn’t know, and she didn’t care. He wasn’t a friend of hers anymore.
“Do you have the data?”
Celise handed her a tablet. “I’m unable to decipher most of it.”
She scrolled through the code, and gasped. With each number, each page, her hands trembled even more.
No one said anything, but no doubt, they noticed. They’d to be idiots not to notice how much her hands shook.
Jade almost dropped the damn device.
Nightmare’s body was fine, thank God, but the chip inside his head containing his program was a complete mess.
It was beyond repair. He needed a new one, and he needed it fast.
The old one had to be removed.
Now.
… Or he’d die.
Honestly, it was a miracle he was still alive. It’d been days since he’d been shot.
“Is the tank operational?” she asked.
“No, why?” Blaze asked.
“He needs brain surgery and to be put inside the tank directly after.” It was hard to keep her voice calm. The anger boiling in her veins wanted to explode. “The artificial chip inside his head is destroyed. Without it, he’ll never wake up. It needs to be replaced and reprogrammed.”
The medic cyborg’s gaze hardened. “We’ll do as you say, but if you try to kill him, you won’t last long.”
Jade shot him a glare. “I’d rather kill myself than let him die.”
The Fighter winced and his eyes went wide. Shock was all over his expression.
The same astonishment reverberated among everyone else, too.
Damn.
She’d said too much.
“Please tell me you have all the necessary components to create a cyborg,” she said, trying to ignore the awkward silence that’d fallen over the room. “I’m sure you stole some from the warehouse.”
Blaze nodded. “What do you need?”
“I need a S.T.E.L-A chip, model fifty-one. It’s ten times smaller than a fingernail and thinner than paper. We keep them in vacuum-sealed silver boxes. It should be easy to find.”
Everyone in the room started to move, but Jade remained still.
Her gaze returned to Nightmare. She placed her hand on his arm again, and this time, she didn’t care about the side-look Celise shot her.
CHAPTER 6
Jade couldn’t remember the last time she’d been this exhausted. Her body ached from the long hours on her feet, and she wanted nothing more but sleep.
When she looked at the tank displaying Nightmare’s sleeping figure through the glass, she straightened her back.
He needed her.
She couldn’t go to sleep yet.
The surgery had gone well.
Celise and Blaze had been by her side. She’d taught them how to replace the chip, but she’d been the one to perform the procedure, since neither of them had the training.
Her colleague had devoured the knowledge like a sponge. It’d made Jade’s lips twitch. Even if Celise was on the Fighters side now, her eagerness and desire to learn how to create cyborgs was still there.
Thankfully, they’d taken good care of Nightmare before she’d come into the picture. They’d successfully removed the bullet from his head, and the wound had healed without issues, but the artificial components were on a completely different level.
Removing a bullet and replacing a damaged chip was like night and day, but thanks to their fast actions, Nightmare was still alive.
The worst was over. Now, he needed time to heal.<
br />
The Fighter’s leader had been given drugs to speed up the healing process. A wound that usually took weeks for a human to heal would heal within a day or two for a cyborg. The tank also sped up the healing process even further.
She’d helped Celise and the Fighters to get it up and running. Without it, things would’ve been more complicated, but at least he was inside it now.
His condition was stable, and the new chip was one hundred percent operational and functioning as it should.
Even Faye and Silver had been by the operating table, but they’d just watched.
At first, it’d annoyed Jade. Usually, she didn’t allow unnecessary personnel in the room during surgery, but she’d kept her mouth shut. After all, this wasn’t her operating room.
Faye had observed everything.
Celise was obviously teaching her, and Silver had been there to protect Faye. From what, she had no idea.
Had he expected her to hurt his precious bound one? Jade snorted—then and now. Who did he take her for? She was surrounded by Fighters. What could she possibly do?
Stupid Fighter, but at the same time, she couldn’t blame him for being overprotective. Every cyborg wanted to protect his bound one.
The infirmary was quiet.
Only Celise and Blaze were there.
They were doing something in the background, but Jade didn’t know what.
She heard them mumble but couldn’t tell what they were saying. It was obvious they didn’t want her involved. They didn’t trust her, and that hurt.
She took a deep breath and tried not to think too much about the future, but it was hard.
She’d saved Nightmare’s life, but now what?
Would they get rid of her?
Jade studied him through the glass again. At least he was alive.
The leader of the Fighters would barely have a scar once everything was healed. New hair would grow out on the small area she’d to shave. The signs from the wound would almost be invisible.
Her gaze lowered to his throat. She had no idea how he’d gotten the ugly scar there. It must’ve happened a long time ago, long before she’d come into the picture, but it hadn’t healed well, and was now a long and uneven piece of bulging scar tissue.
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