AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But now he looked at it, he realized it wasn’t dormant. Tiny lights flickered somewhere within the empty cockpit.
His gaze flicked down to Jesh and then back to the suit. “Is that… Jex?”
She nodded. “That’s Jex. Or rather, Jex’s onboard system is the pilot. He helped me escape.”
He smiled, sweeping his thumb over the nape of her neck where he held her. Rescuing the damsel in distress didn’t work when the damsel had decided to rescue herself. But he wouldn’t have it any other way.
Jex stepped forward, the metallic lines of the huge Scorperio suit gleaming under the harsh lights of the lab. He raised his hands slowly, his palms out in a universal gesture of peace, the servos in his arms humming with the movement.
“Greetings, Covak Vorr and members of the Reaper team,” Jex’s voice was calm and measured despite the array of weaponsthat had been trained on him the instant he’d moved. “I am J10-8M7E, though you may call me Jex. I’m Jesh’s batchmate, and I mean you no harm.”
“How do we know we can trust you?” Ryke growled, his finger hovering near the trigger of his weapon. “For all we know you could be under human control. That is their tech after all.”
Jex inclined his head. “I understand your caution. While this is, indeed, human tech, it was created from the tech that created both Jesh and me. I have merely… reclaimed it.”
Ryke tilted his head. “What if the humans hack it and take it back?”
An odd sound emanated from the Scorperio’s speakers. It took Covak a moment to realize Jex was laughing. “Hackme?A MedGen unit? I don’t think so.”
The air buzzed with tension as the Reapers exchanged glances.
“He’s a fleet-enabled general. Basically, the highest-level Zodiac there is. So knock it off, all of you,” Jesh ordered, her eyes flashing with anger. “He can be trusted the same way you trust me.”
“Well, if Jesh vouches for him, that’s good enough for me,” Covak rumbled, retracting his fangs and claws as he lowered his weapon in a clear sign of his support.
His eyes narrowed as he saw movement behind Jesh. A human male, disheveled and trembling, pressed himself against the back wall of the lab as if trying to disappear into it.
Covak’s nostrils flared, catching the sour tang of fear rolling from the male’s pores.
“Who is this?”
Jesh’s fingers tightened on his arm.
“This is Dr. Tanner,” she said, her voice hard. “He’s the one who experimented on me. Who tortured me… the one who told me you were dead.”
Something within him snapped, and rage, hot and all-consuming, flooded his system. His vision went red at the edges as he focused on the cowering human.
A low, menacing growl rumbled in his chest, his fangs dropping down to fill his mouth as he took a step toward the doctor. This male had hurt Jesh, had hurt his bonded mate.
“I’m going to tear you apart with my bare hands,” he promised, his voice straight from his Vorrtan side. “I want to taste your blood as I snap your bones between my fingers.”
Tanner’s eyes widened in terror, and a whimper escaped his lips as he pressed himself even harder against the wall.
“Covak.” Jesh’s voice cut through the red haze of his anger. “Don’t. He’s not worth it.”
But he was already moving. In three long strides, he reached the cowering human. His hand shot out, and he grabbed Tanner by the throat. With a snarl of fury, he lifted the human off his feet.
“Please,” Tanner gasped. “I was just following orders. I didn’t want to hurt anyone.”
“Liar,” he growled pulling the human closer and taking a deep breath. He rolled it over his tongue. “I cansmellyour lies. I can smell your fear. You’d say anything to save your sorry ass. And you know what?”
He grinned, mouth full of fangs and tusks.
“It’s not going to work.”
With a sharp twist, he snapped the human’s neck. The sickening crack echoed through the suddenly silent lab like a gunshot. The doctor’s body went limp like a puppet with its strings cut. Covak let go and the corpse dropped to the floor with a dull thud.
He stood there for a moment, towering over the dead human, his heartbeat thundering in his ears as he fought back the urgeto rip the body apart. Then, with a low growl rumbling in his throat, he turned back to face the others.
