Nexus 4 ignored the blade protruding from his abdomen like I’d stuck him with a toothpick. His hand wrapped around my neck and he lifted me by my jaw, walking toward the side of the cave until he held me pinned there. His control of my body was complete. I couldn’t fight. Couldn’t kick. Hit.
But I could close my eyes. And I did. Hard. He could kill me, but he wouldn’t own me. Not again.
“I feel your fear, female. There is no need for such a useless emotion. It cripples you.” His voice was soothing. Calm. So very, very safe.
I fought against the feeling. “Fuck you.”
“Do you think the Atlan warriors charging through the cave will save you?”
I said nothing. His hissing laughter made me want to scream, so I did. The sound echoed through the cave, bouncing off the rock walls, the wail of a wounded animal, of terror and rage and a fight to the death.
“Very well. Now you have made the Hyperion angry. Hmm, not just Hyperion. Something more. Interesting and rare. I had hoped not to kill him. I have an accord with Cerberus, but some things can’t be helped.”
“You’re a sociopath.”
“I am efficient, human. And soon, you will be as well.”
I heard the other Hive Soldiers step in close, one on each side of me. I was not surprised when they pried open my eyelids. I tried to fight, but Nexus 4 held me as easily as holding a block of wood in place. I couldn’t move.
This plan was fucked, and if I lived through this, Mak and I would have to seriously rethink our strategy for taking down the rest of them.
“You think you can hunt us all? My, my, what an ambitious little female.” The Hive on either side of me held open my eyelids and Nexus 4 stepped closer. “What merciless children you will breed.”
He sounded pleased. And drowning in his gaze, in the loneliness and stark need I saw there, I started to feel pleased as well. Nexus 4 needed me. Would always protect me. He was alone, and only I could please him, make him whole.
I was confused and could barely breathe. No. Mak. He needed me, too. Makarios. I needed him. He needed me. This was wrong. Nexus 4 was in my mind.
Mak’s roar of rage echoed through the cavern as the Nexus hissed at me. “Nexus 2 made you too strong. A critical miscalculation. You will be eliminated.”
“Fuck you.”
He squeezed until I saw stars, but his focus had shifted. I had my legs back under my own control once again so I used them. I kicked him in the knees, the thighs, anywhere I could reach. Grabbing blindly for the knife in his abdomen, I found it. Twisted. Pushed deeper. Tried to move it up where I wanted it to go. To end him.
* * *
Mak
The Nexus unit had my mate up against the wall, his hand around her neck as two Hive Soldiers pried open her eyes.
I knew the moment she was lost. Her body, rigid before, went limp, as if she relaxed in his arms. Under his control.
Fuck no.
The roar escaped me in challenge. I was going to kill that creature. Rip his head from his shoulders. Tear him limb from limb. Pound his body into a pool of entrails and jelly.
All around me, the Atlans were in beast mode as they tore the Hive Soldiers into pieces. Ripped off their arms and legs. Broke necks and threw bodies against the walls. I’d fought my share, was covered in blood from head to toe. But I ignored the fighting around me, focused on one thing. My mate.
Gwen.
Mine.
And he was hurting her. Told her she was too strong, that he would eliminate her.
“Fuck you.” Her defiance was music to my ears. She was still in there, fighting.
I ran as she kicked. I heard her cry of rage as she reached for the knife I could now see protruding from his chest.
It hurt him, but it wasn’t enough to take him out. He would kill her.