by Maya Carnage
Scratch that; she will make sure everyone else comes out unscathed. There’s no hope for her. She’s too clumsy for that to happen. She trips going upstairs, so no, she’ll probably get hurt somehow before the day is through.
“I’m good. Something caused the rovers to explode. I don’t think anyone was close enough to get hurt. I hope the ship’s close enough for us to walk it.”
“There’s a field a mile from here. Zekk probably parked it there,” Gregor says.
Good.
Rosalind sighs as she looks around. “We need to get moving if we want to be gone before the Malviks get here.” And knowing Seesil, he is probably already on his way. The male has a way of sensing chaos or evil.
She steps out of Gregor’s hold. Turning around, she scans the open yard for Dawn or Kayla but doesn’t see them. However, she does spot the white blonde hair that can only belong to one person.
“Maisie!” She runs over to her friend. They collide together and throw their arms around each other.
Rosalind is the first one to pull away. “I’m glad to see you, but what the heck are you doing here?”
A wide grin spreads across Maisie’s face. “A farmer can be a badass, too.”
She shakes her head, laughing. “You’re crazy. What if you get hurt? Hmm? Can you even handle a cyborg on your own?”
“Can you?” She arches one of her perfectly tweezed eyebrows.
She has a point. There’s not a single rebel out there that can take on a cyborg by themselves. Well, maybe Dawn, but that’s because she would drive them insane by not shutting up.
Maisie works in the fields. She started out there the day her mom died. The Malviks said someone needed to take her place, and they plucked seven-year-old Maisie out of her caregiver’s house. She doesn’t talk about it, and even though she is smiling ninety percent of the time, it had to have devasted her.
It’s the reason why she helps the rebels aid those who want to leave the fields behind. Maisie is one of the kindest souls she’s ever known, and she has put her life on the line more times than Rosalind can count. And it’s all for her mom.
Maisie’s dedication and commitment would make her an awesome rebel, but she refuses to stop farming. Rosalind can’t understand why she would stay there and endure the harsh conditions the Malviks make them all withstand.
She’s asked her once, but Maisie was adamant about staying there until it’s no longer an option for her. Rosalind never asked her again.
But why in the world is she here now? Maisie’s not a fighter. Yeah, she risks her life to sneak out other farmers who want out, but to put herself right in the line of fire like she is now is unusual.
“Why are you really here?” Rosalind asks.
Maisie shrugs, throwing her hands up. “Kayla messaged me. They need some help getting everybody out of her today. She knew I was the girl for the job. I’m in high demand these days. Y’all are lucky I like you bastards so much.” She winks at her.
Rosalind chuckles.
“Who was the hunk you were talking to?” Maisie points at where she was standing with Gregor just minutes ago.
“Is now the perfect time to ask that?”
“We could die before today’s over!”
Throwing her head back laughing, Rosalind hugs her friend one more time. “I promise to tell you later, and there will be a later.”
“There better be, or I’m going to be pissed.”
Rosalind notices Dawn over by the lone cypress tree, and the two women go over to her. Dawn’s in the middle of talking with Axe when they stop in front of her.
“Zekk’s got the ship running. All he’s waiting for is us. We need to get this fucking group going before anything else happens,” Dawn says.
Axe nods. He kisses her on the lips before striding away, shouting for Enzo and Pax as he goes.
“What’s do you two bitches need?” Dawn places her hands on her ample hips and levels them with a bored expression.
Only Dawn would be at ease in the middle of a fight.
“Everyone’s out of the house,” Rosalind says.
“That fucking fantastic. All right, let’s get them all wrangled up, so we can set out.” Dawn orders them to collect everyone and form a line to march to Zekk’s ship.
“It’s right past that small patch of woods,” Dawn says, point to the outcropping of trees on the other side of the house.
Rosalind heads off, searching for Gregor as she goes. Her mind should be on finding everyone and pointing them in Dawn’s direction so that they can all get going, but she keeps thinking about Gregor.
He’d messed up when he told the Malviks their plan, but he’s redeemed himself by helping them today. What makes her gut clench is if he’s going to go back to Teraz with them or stay here?
The Malviks will know he had something to do with their escape today, and they will punish him for his actions, but that doesn’t mean he won’t accept whatever that is.
Gregor’s a proud man. His word is important to him. Today he broke it, again. He can’t be handling that easily. He’s probably already punishing himself inside that head of his, berating himself about how terrible he is, but he isn’t!
Everyone makes mistakes. Gregor has to realize that. He doesn’t have to stay loyal to the Malviks because he made a vow to them years ago, and now is the perfect time to leave them and fight for the good side. Her side.
She hopes she can convince him to let the past go because if she can’t, it’s going to break her heart.
Chapter Twelve
Gregor
A cyborg will fight to the death. There is nothing that will stop him when it comes to destroying those whom he battles. It is an unwavering command inside his body, and he doesn’t even try to ignore it or struggle against it. He charges into the mayhem, slaughtering his own kind.
Once the red haze of rage left him, all he got left with was the lifeless bodies of the men he called family.
Gregor’s chest heaves with each breath. His hands tremble slightly. It inches its way up his arms, down his abdomen, and into the soles of his feet until his whole body is shaking. He can’t distinguish if it is from shock or disgust.
He looks away from them.
“The rebels are on the ship.” Pax’s eyes skirt over the destruction. A small frown tugs at his lips.
“We’re not meant to kill our own,” Gregor mutters.
“We didn’t have a choice. They’re loyal to the Malviks. They would not have let us rescue the rebels any other way.”
“There is always another way! We don’t just murder our brethren, Pax.”
“If we didn’t, then they would have killed the rebels. It’s our job to protect the innocent.”
Gregor laughs bitterly as he paces. “Since when are the rebels’ innocent? They blow shit up and kill anyone who gets in their way on their path to destroying the Malviks. They are self-righteous pricks. They don’t give a shit about us! We’re nothing but pawns they can use against their enemy.”
Pax sighs.
“They are your enemy, too. Aren’t they?” Rosalind asks, startling him. “The Malviks brainwash their soldiers. They turn them back into the soulless people they were during the war a hundred-and-thirty-four years ago. The cyborgs are the Malviks’ pawns, not ours.”
The room shrinks until it feels like it is collapsing in on him. He looks to Pax for help, but his friend is not standing where he was a second ago. Gregor shakes his head. The bastard must have snuck out as soon as she walked into the room. Pax left him to deal with this problem on his own.
It is Gregor’s problem, so he can’t blame Pax for hightailing it the first chance he got.
Staring at Rosalind’s face that’s dotted with perspiration, he tries to figure out what to say that will wipe the hurt from her face.
He fucked up this time, but he can’t tell her that he didn’t mean what he said. That would be a lie, and he won’t stoop that low with her. She deserves the truth from him even if he
doesn’t want to reveal the ugly truth that lies inside of him.
It was stupid of him to want to be her hero, but that is what he wanted. He wanted her to look up at him with adoration in her eyes, and to see him for more than the monster she believes him to be.
That is what cyborgs are to humans, though.
They can save them a thousand time, but they will never forget that they are the ones who handed them over to the Malviks. Cyborgs are responsible for the rough lives they are living at the moment.
She might have never said it out loud, but he knows that is what she thinks, too. It’s written across her face each time she catches sight of a guard. Perhaps certain ones are above the scorn, but most of them aren’t.
He wanted to be one of the those she didn’t despise.
Rosalind wraps her arms around herself as she turns her face away from him. When she speaks, it’s in a low voice laden with sorrow. “I admire your steadfast loyalty. It’s unshakable. The rebellion could have used you.”
He takes a step toward her with his arms out, but she moves back, lengthening the chasm between them. His arms fall back down, hanging empty by his sides. Swallowing thickly, he says, “It’s more than that. If I fought with you, then I would be fighting against the cyborgs without free will. The Malviks control them. They are in the same position we were over a hundred years ago. I would have to murder those men and women who aren’t even in control of their actions. It wouldn’t be right.” He’s betrayed the Malviks three times already. He could do it a fourth if he really wanted to, but when he imagines switching sides the faces of those who conscience has been turned off by the Malviks force their way into his mind.
They are just as innocent as humans.
“I can feel your pain. Literally,” Rosalind says, pressing her hands into her chest. “Every emotion in this house floods my body with each beat of my heart, yours more than anyone else’s. I know how hard this is for you, so I won’t ask you to choose, but you’re not helping them by doing nothing.”
He lets her words sink into him, hooking their claws into his bones. He grits his teeth together and shuts his eyes. Her soft sigh bites at his soul. He’s let her down. Although, he didn’t promise her anything but what he’s already done today. He helped the rebels escape. That was all he was supposed to do, but somehow this woman with the deep penetrating eyes buried herself beneath his skin. Her scent. Her soft whimpers and sighs. The unruliness of her curl, and how she constantly tucks the strands behind her ears in annoyance. All of who she is is entwined with his life now. He didn’t even know it was happening until it was too late. Maybe if he was aware in the beginning, he would have built a brick wall around himself, shutting her out and protecting himself from further hurt. Perhaps this is his penance.
He is not a good man, and the fact that he refuses to fight to free the humans proves it. It’s good that she realizes who he is now so to save her from falling for him.
He opens his eyes, looks at her one last time to make sure he remembers every detail about her before he says goodbye. There is no other way for their story to go. Not that they had a story to begin with, but if they had, he’d want her to have the happiest of endings. There’s no way that can happen with him. “You need to get going. One of the guards could have alerted them about the attack. You’ll be safe when you’re far away from this hell.”
She nods and turns her head away, but not before he notices the shimmer of tears. It’s like a punch to the gut. “They won’t let you get off without blame. What are you going to do?”
“Accept the punishment they deem adequate for my offenses,” he says.
“Are you serious?” she asks, groaning.
He throws his hands up. “What the fuck am I supposed to do then? I’m not going to run away and hide. That’s not who I am. I went against their orders, and now I’ll face the consequences.”
“That’s stupid!” Rosalind storms up to him. Her face inches from his, and her hot breath fans his face. She takes his arms, shaking him.
He doesn’t budge. Arching a brow at her weak attempt, he says, “I might look like a human man, but that’s not what I am, baby.”
“I hate you.” She punches him in the chest. “No, that’s a lie. I wish I did then I could leave you here and not look back. There wouldn’t be this unbearable weight of guilt on my shoulders if I didn’t care about you. Stubborn butthead.”
She paces away from him, running her fingers through her curls. She groans when her fingers become tangled in a mess. He moves to help her unknot herself but stops as a curvy woman with blonde curls storms into the house. Quickly, he moves to stand in front of his woman.
“Maisie?” she says, peeking around his large form.
“We’re in a lot of trouble,” Maisie says, glancing back over her shoulders at the sound of car doors shutting. “More guards are here, but that’s not the worse of the news.”
“Spit the rest out!” Rosalind pushes her way around me, moving in front of her friend.
“The pirate’s gone.”
Chapter Thirteen
Rosalind
A spaceship can only stay hidden for so long before it needs to move or else it will get discovered. The guards must have sent an alert to the Malviks. Zekk probably had a scanner ready for that exact thing, and when it pinged with the message, he chose to flee.
Rosalind doesn’t blame. They need to get far away from this place before Seesil gets back. Who knows what he will bring with him when he makes it back here? He could arrive with a whole army ready to take down the rebels.
If Kayla and Rodrick are taken out, then the rebellion may fall with their leaders. But there is Dawn. She wouldn’t hesitate to step into her big sister’s shoes. She’d rain hell down on the Malviks’ heads if they hurt her sister.
But then this mission to free the world of the Malviks’ reign would turn into a mass slaughtering. The world could get ruined, so it is a good thing that Zekk left when he did. They need to think of what’s best for the overall mission.
And that means that she’s stuck on Earth. “We need to leave.” She turns around, heading into the kitchen. She grabs a canvas tote from a cabinet. Throwing open the pantry doors, she tosses protein bars, bottles of water, and anything else they can eat on the run.
“What the fuck are you doing? We need to leave,” Gregor says. His wide shoulders filled the doorway. He glowers at her, and she fights not to roll her eyes.
Honestly, he needs to stop with the intimidating stare. It won’t work on her because she knows he’s just a muscular teddy bear. A hot one at that, but that isn’t important.
Maisie, and a cyborg that Rosalind noticed fighting against the guards rushes into the kitchen, shoving Gregor out of the way as they enter.
Wide-eyed, Maisie nods at Rosalind when she sees her stuffing supplies into the bag clasped in her hand. “Do you need me to grab anything?”
“I don’t think there’s anything else for us to use. That’s unless you can find some kind of first aid kit around here?”
“Down the hall behind the staircase, there is a box nailed to the wall. A small first aid kit is in there,” Gregor says.
“On it,” she says, before leaving.
Rosalind frowns as the other cyborg in the room follows her friend. “Who’s that?”
“Pax,” Gregor says, looking behind him. “He’s harmless, so don’t worry about it.”
“He likes her.” Rosalind raises both her eyebrows.
Gregor chuckles. “Do you want me to beat him up, warning him to stay away?”
“Maisie is one of my closest friends, but she’s skittish. She won’t risk her heart over him. He could end up getting hurt.”
“He’s a big boy. He can handle himself.” Gregor strides over to her. He towers over her, and for one small second, she wishes she was taller. It would make kissing him so much easier. She wouldn’t have to go up on her toes and yank his head down to meet hers. She’d just have to lean forward.
&n
bsp; “Is something wrong?” Gregor looks down at her with furrowed brows.
“What? Yeah. Why would you ask that?” She takes a step back as she tries to calm her racing heart.
“You sighed loudly. I thought something might be wrong,” he says, frowning.
Rosalind laughs nervously. “I’m great. Peachy, really.”
Shaking his head, he reaches up to the top shelf and grabs the bags of jerky down. He tosses it into her bag.
Having forgotten she was holding it, the bag slips from her fingers and crashes to the ground. Her face goes beet red as it’s weight slams into her foot.
Gregor curses, bending over to pick up the tote. “Are you sure you are okay?”
“I’m just worried about Seesil,” she says, realizing that it’s true.
The longer they stay here, the more at risk they are, and they need to get their butts going before any more guards show up. She doesn’t want to spend another moment enduring the painful tortures Seesil has planned for her. They aren’t just physical; they are mental and emotional.
The shock treatment was terrible. She wanted to scream, but he shoved a gag into her mouth to prevent her from biting her own tongue off. She’d rather have risked it, then to have choked on the onslaught of emotions that burst alive inside of her.
With each crank of that dial, every emotion inside the house roared inside her body. She’s never felt them that intense before. It was agony.
She doesn’t want to experience that again. “Come on, let’s find Maisie and Pax so we can get out of here.”
◆◆◆
Seesil will hunt them down. The four of them can run as far away as they want to, but as long as they are without protection and out in the open, they risk getting found.
He’ll execute Maisie for her involvement. Seesil’s smart, too. He’ll figure out she was the one who helped them rescue the agriculture farmers all those times before. Knowing the Malviks, they’ll make a public display of her. They will want to drive fear into the humans and rebels left behind. Their fear will force them to cling to the protection they have.