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“Take care of them how?” Sam asks, not so much as attempting to hide the lecherous undertone.
Jacob slides his grip to my waist, pulling me in closer to him, and at first I think it’s to defend me. After a moment, I realize it’s to keep himself in check. Pure, unadulterated hate simmers through our bond, threatening to boil. I can practically hear Jacob’s muscles tightening—but he’s managing to restrain himself.
“They’re in need of recalibration,” I say a little too loudly, as if I can somehow hide Jacob’s fury behind the volume. “Many of them sustained heavy damage. I’ll need to repair them, make sure they’re functioning at optimal capacity. It really can’t wait, not if you want them fully battle ready.”
“Isn’t that why we have Dr. Green?” General Smith drawls, as though he’s intent on dismissing us, but in no hurry. As if I bore him. “The AX units fall within his purview now.”
The words hit me like a slap in the face, and I find myself seething right alongside Jacob. The AX units aremyproject. They should be undermysupervision. Dr. Green barely understands what he’s doing with them, certainly not to any degree that would supersede me.
But Dr. Green also has something I don’t: a dick. And no fucking spine.
It’s all I can do not to bare my teeth. That sycophant. Thatweasel.Of course he’d swoop in and steal my project the moment he saw his chance.
I’m fighting tooth and claw to wrest some sort of courteous reply from my throat when Sam speaks up. “Be that as it may, he does seem to be in over his head.” In my periphery, he turns his head toward his father. “If nothing else, having an assistant might help him patch them up faster.”
I am both freezing and on fire. Despite my better judgment, I fix Sam with a glare, finally taking him in. He looks positively unbothered by this exchange, completely aware of, yet impervious to, our history.
I’m not surprised. The night that changed me forever probably wasn’t anything remotely out of the ordinary for him.
Jacob shifts his weight by my side, and I get the distinct impression he senses where my thoughts are heading—and it’s doing nothing to help him stay calm.
I don’t have to look up at Jacob to know his nostrils are flared, his pupils dilated. His spine is straight as a steel beam, everything within him coiled, prepared to pounce.
I pull on his sleeve and twine our fingers, squeezing.Remember the mission,I plead silently.Please, please remember.
Jacob swallows audibly—the only outward sign that he’s straining to keep calm. I’m grateful he doesn’t squeeze me back; he might accidentally break my hand instead of Sam’s face.
After a few beats, General Smith nods. “All right. We were headed in that direction anyway. Come, Sam, let’s get Dr. Green some help.”
Thank the stars Jacob is here. I can’t imagine having to navigate the fucking White House alone, with my rapist and his father as my tour guides.
We follow the two men into the heart of the White House, and as we pass broken statues and browning blood smears, I recall a school trip to these same halls when I was a girl. I could never have imagined then the carnage my father would facilitate here.
“Green’s back here,” General Smith says, jerking his head toward a door near the end of a corridor.
“I’m sure the soldiers will be happy to see you. I don’t think Dr. Green gives them the samepersonal touch.” Sam gives me a once over that has my skin crawling.
By my side, Jacob’s lip pulls up and I feel rather than hear a low, rumbling growl vibrate through his body. Squeezing his hand as hard as I can, I ignore the colonel’s less than subtle comment.
“Now, now,” General Smith says mildly. If I had hopes he’d put his son in his place, I’m sorely disappointed. Without further comment, he raps his knuckles on the door. “Dr. Green?”
A confirming murmur sounds from the other side.
The general pushes the door open, revealing my former colleague in a lone chair by a large conference table. His face is almost entirely obscured by the screen of his laptop, but when he looks up, I see lines on his face that aren’t usually there. Surprise crosses his features, then annoyance.
“General? What’s this?”
“Addie’s come to help you… was it recalibrate the AX units?” General Smith gives me a questioning look over his shoulder.
I nod. “They’ve seen a lot of combat. Ideally we’d take them back to the lab, but for now we’ll have to do it here.”
Dr. Green narrows his eyes. “They’re perfectly capable of running at capacity for now, andifany of them needs recalibration, I don’t need your help.”
I open my mouth to remind him that he’s notoriously terrible at patching up the artificial skin, but before I can get the words out, Sam interjects.
“Oh, come on, don’t tell me you’ve never seen Addie handle them before. It’s been a while, but if I recall, she gives good tail. I’m guessing that’s still the case, since one of them went and claimed her.” He lifts his chin at Jacob, a vile smirk on his face.
I don’t have time to feel the nausea tightening my gut at the gross suggestion. White-hot fury blasts through my chest, and I gasp out what’s meant to be a warning, but it comes too late.
