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 Aye, sir.
 Oh, and Aphelion.
 Yes.
 Let me know when we ve reached a safe distance for the deployment of a nuke.
Because no way was Aramus leaving this place of torture intact. As he stared a while later at the
smoking ruins of the mountain and the horrors he d found inside, he couldn t help his grim, One down,
but how many more to go?
Followed by, And where the fuck is Seth?
Chapter Eleven
A day went by. Locked in their large cell, the prisoners found themselves bored, talk having
petered out as they each sat on their pallets, mulling their situation. The comatose guy was taken away
on the pretext of caring for him. The mute women, who kept to themselves, huddled in a corner,
eyeing Percy with suspicion and rejecting any overtures Riley and Carmen made.
With nothing to entertain them, silence reigned, and Riley took that time to let her imagination run
rampant as she wondered what to expect next. She d not seen the big cyborg since his questioning the
day before, just their guard, who slid food packets into their cell and stubbornly refused to answer
any of their questions.
While Carmen played to the camera, Riley refused to look at it even as a part of her wondered if
he watched. If he did, then he got an eyeful of cleavage as Carmen had unzipped her jumpsuit far
enough to leave little to the imagination, claiming she was too warm. Funny, because Riley personally
found their space chilly and would have assumed Carmen did too given how she was showing
headlights in the upper chest area.
Uncharitable or not, she couldn t help but label the psychologist as a hussy. Here they were,
waiting to see if freedom, death, or some third unknown option awaited them, and all Carmen could
seem to think about was seducing their captors. The fact that Riley relived her one kiss over and over
didn t seem hypocritical, in her mind at least. Yes, she d enjoyed the embrace, but that didn t mean
she flaunted her assets and practically masturbated for an unseen audience.
When the summons came, one by one they were led from the room, but didn t return. First the mute
women, then Percy. Carmen left with a bright smile for their guard and a,  Hey, handsome , until only
Riley was left, a very nervous Riley who wondered if their time was up.
Is this where it ends? After all she d been through, had she gotten saved only to end up dead
because of the ongoing ill treatment by the same people who screwed up her life in the first place?
The irony of it wasn t lost on her.
When her time came, she struggled to remain brave, holding her spine straight as she found herself
marched to a different area of the ship by the same non-communicative cyborg as before.
 Where are we going? To her surprise he answered, yet didn t.
 This way.
 What s this way?
 Our destination.
 Why?
 Because Aramus said so.
How she wanted to scream and yank on his hair for his useless answers.  Who is Aramus?
Growled from behind was an  I am. Riley whirled to see the big bald guy who d questioned
and kissed her sneak up on them.  Any more questions?
 Actually, yes.
 Why am I not surprised? he muttered.  You can go now, Smith. I ve got her. Wrapping his
fingers around her upper arm, he practically dragged her down the hall.
 Your name is Aramus?
 I thought I d already confirmed that.
 Are you the leader of this ship?
 Who leads is not knowledge you require, unless you re a spy. He halted all of a sudden, and she
stumbled. Only his grip on her arm kept her upright. It also meant when she flailed, his body was what
her hands found to steady her. He wore a T-shirt that hugged his massive upper body so when her
hands splayed out across his chest, the heat of him seeped through the thin fabric, surprising her.
She d not noticed it before during their embrace.
She couldn t help but say,  You re so warm.
 As opposed to what. Cold?
She flushed.  Last time we spoke I hadn t noted it. She lied. She d thought the extreme heat of his
touch a result of her own feverish reply to his embrace.
 Cyborgs tend to run a few degrees hotter than humans, although we can drop that if required.
 Why would you need to make yourself colder?
 Most detection units search for heat signatures. When planning an ambush or invasion, masking
this allows for a smoother infiltration.
That made sense.  I m surprised you re telling me this. Didn t you just accuse me of being a spy?
He shrugged.  Our ability to regulate our core temperature is common knowledge.
 What else is common knowledge about your kind? Only once it left her lips did she realize how
it sounded. As if she saw him as something else, someone who wasn t like her. Then again, I d say
it s pretty obvious he isn t like me. Human perhaps a long time ago, he d made it clear he no longer
thought of himself as on the same level as her.
His lips curled in derision.  My kind, he said, stressing the word,  are stronger, faster, and
smarter. We are hotter than the average human. The males are bigger, both height and body mass
wise. We are also dexterous, logical when it comes to acting and unforgiving when it comes to
dealing with enemies, or spies. He fixed his glare on her, in an attempt to intimidate.
For some reason, it didn t make her cringe.  Oh, for god s sake. I am not a spy. Exactly who
would I report to? And how? Not to mention why? Those jerks treated me like crap. I wouldn t call
nine-one-one if they were on fire.
 But if the choice came down to saving a human or cyborg, we both know which you d chose.
 The one who deserved it most.
 Then I guess I would be screwed, drawled Aramus with mocking sarcasm.
 Don t be so sure of that. You might act Mr. Big and Tough, but I ll bet you re just a big old softy
inside. Why she said it she couldn t have said, but she couldn t help but laugh as his eyebrows shot
up in comical fashion at her claim.
 I am not soft.
 Sure you aren t.
 Hit me, you ll see.
 I didn t mean physically. I meant, I ll bet you care more than you think and not just about
cyborgs.
 Caring is not in my programming.
 And I say bull. You can t hide the fact you feel things.
 Emotions are for the weak.
 That s where you re wrong. Emotions are what make us stronger. It s what makes us fight when
the easier thing to do would be to give up. If you ask me, cyborgs care a lot. Why else would you hate
humans for what they ve done and seek vengeance?
 We seek vengeance so we can have peace.
 If you wanted peace, you d leave and never return. Yet you want something from humanity.
Revenge, answers, acceptance. Which is it?
 None, he snapped.  But if you don t stop pestering me, I will kill you.
 No you won t.
Again, he rumbled.  Why do you persist in thinking me incapable of meting violence? I could
snap your neck this instant and feel no remorse.
 Says the guy who s been real careful not to hurt me. She eyed her arm, which, while held by
him, was in no danger of bruising.
 You are really pissing me off.
 I know, and yet you still haven t slapped me around, killed me, or turned me into a mute, just
reinforcing my belief. You re a big marshmallow inside. As his brows drew together to form one
dark line, and the steam practically burst from his ears, she couldn t help but giggle, even as she
wondered at her own sanity. Do I have a death wish? Why the hell am I bugging him this way?
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