“Warden Egara gave us her vehicle when we arrived.” He started the engine and turned on the heater. Thank God. My teeth were actually chattering now that I didn’t have his strong arms and thick heat surrounding me.
“She give you the cell phones and ear buds, too?” I wondered, leaning back against the headrest and turning to look at him.
“You are observant, bride. And yes, she gave me this primitive communication device.”
He smiled and put the car in motion. We were not far from the bride processing center, if that was where he planned to take me. I didn’t much care where we were going at the moment. He didn’t seem to want to hurt me, which was more than I could say for most of the men walking around this city. If Clyde had known about my investigating, so did others. No one would look for me at the processing center though since no one knew I’d gone there before, so it was a good choice for a place to hide. After my previous interaction with Warden Egara, I trusted her enough to at least have a look at my wounds.
A hospital was out of the question. I’d be dead before they got my insurance information registered in their computer system. The cartel had eyes and ears everywhere. With Clyde dead, I didn’t have to worry about him telling his cartel buddies I was still here on Earth, but as soon as I showed up in the hospital’s system, they’d come for me. I knew too much.
I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the doorframe, too emotionally drained to do more than close my eyes and try to figure out what the hell was going on. Clyde’s death hurt, but not as much as his betrayal. That was still processing, and the ache, the feeling of lost innocence made me want to cry. He’d been like a father to me and I’d trusted him completely. Now I felt the fool, the silly little girl who looked up to her daddy with complete trust because she was too naïve, too young and green to recognize that the man holding her hand was a monster.
Clyde had been my commanding officer for two years. He’d taken me under his wing, trained me to shoot, and trained me to protect myself, encouraged me to feel invincible, to fight. He’d made me believe we were doing something good and right in the world, that we were making a difference in the fight between good and evil. And all the while, he’d been lying to me. All the while, he was the devil in disguise and I’d been blind to the truth.
As that thought filtered through my mind the pain intensified, like a knife twisting in my gut. How could he have been so evil? Why hadn’t I seen it? I should have known. I should have at least suspected. Perhaps I had, and I’d simply been in denial.
Had I been so weak, so needy, that I overlooked the clues?
I’d always trusted my gut, but this time my instincts had betrayed me. That shook me more than anything else. I felt like I was on unstable ground, and I didn’t like it. Not one bit.
Clyde was dead, at the hands of the Hive. I’d been rescued by my matched mate and his second, Ander. My mate! His arrival, the presence of my one perfect match in the entire universe, was more of a concern now. He was driving me about and I was completely at his mercy.
And the look of him! He was bigger than any human man I’d ever met, more defined. Just… more. He noticed my inspection and his eyes narrowed before he returned his attention to the road. “Do not worry. The Hive technology will not contaminate you.”
“What?” Contaminate me? Was he crazy? Had I made the wrong call getting in the car? I could jump out when it came to a stop sign, but he’d catch me. There was no question he was bigger, stronger, more fit, and definitely sharply focused on me.
He grimaced, his hands twisting on the steering wheel until it actually looked like it might bend. “The Hive technology you see will not harm you.”
“What are you talking about? The silver?”
His gaze flashed to mine as if he were surprised by my response, but I honestly had no idea what the hell he was talking about. “Yes. When I was captured by the Hive, I was tortured by their implant teams for several hours. Most of what was done to me was removed. What you see now is permanent. I also carry their mark on my shoulder, across my back, and down my leg.”
I was actually beginning to feel sorry for him. The Hive had really worked him over. I’d heard too many stories about the torture and suffering of soldiers behind enemy lines. And I knew firsthand that some scars didn’t show on the surface. “Is it dangerous?”
“No.”
“Does it hurt?”
“No.”
“Okay.” I shrugged and turned my attention back to the road. “So what? Does it make you super fast or incredibly strong? Does it heal quickly or give you some kind of advantage in a fight?” I shivered, wondering what amazing things I could do with a bunch of cyborg implants. I’d be like the bionic woman times ten. I could buy a costume and do the whole superhero thing for real. That would be pretty damn cool. I’d go all black, and take down bad guys in the dark.