Page 15 of He is… Creed: Part Two

Lucian saunters a few steps toward Brock, leaving the two Zodius who flanked him behind. Brock stands his ground, arms crossed in front of his broad chest, legs spread in a solid stance. Lucian pauses just in front of Brock and lowers his voice for what I believe is for Brock’s ears only, but I hear him clearly. “If you fail me, Julian will kill us both.”

Brock replies, “I will not, nor have I ever, failed you,” his voice equally as low. “Powell’s already experimented with and demonstrated Red Dart on humans. His company, PMI, is testing it on GTECHs in his private facility.”

“So, he doesn’t trust you,” Lucian accuses. “Or you’d be a part of his PMI staff.”

“I’m close to becoming an insider,” Brock insists. “Getting close to his daughter would—”

“Creed defected to the Renegades,” Lucian informs him, confirming what Creed has told me himself, and I can’t help but feel relief. Creed isn’t one of them. I shove aside the many feelings this idea stirs inside me as Lucian adds, “And as we all know, they’re ex-fuck buddies. We also know they’ve been in contact. In other words, she needs to be eliminated.”

I barely contain a gasp.

Eliminated?

Julian wants me dead?

“Are you fucking insane?” Brock demands. “She’s the only thing, besides himself, that Powell gives a shit about. If she dies, he’ll go nuts. He’ll put his guard up—and I’ll never get to Red Dart before it’s too late.”

“Not if it looks like an accident,” Lucian states, unfazed by Brock’s concerns. “And while he grieves, for a brief time, his guard will come down. Use the opportunity to get me Red Dart.”

“I want to talk to Julian,” Brock demands.

Lucian and the other two Zodius soldiers laugh. “Julian does not talk to humans,” Lucian replies, his voice pure amusement.

“I wouldn’t be human if you gave me the damn serum.”

“Earn it,” Lucian orders. “Get us Red Dart.”

“Powell wants me to romance his daughter,” he counters. “He’s grooming me to be his son-in-law. His right-hand man. This is bigger than Red Dart. We’ll know every move the government is making.”

“We don’t need to know what they are doing,” Brock assures him. “We’ll have Red Dart to control humans. We simply need the Renegades out of the way. Besides, it’s been six months, and you have yet to get into that bitch’s pants. I’m not placing any bets on you now. We already know she’s susceptible to Creed’s influences. She’s a liability. You want the serum. To be one of us, you will kill her.”

That’s it. I’ve heard enough. My heart is racing, and I can barely breathe. I start to back away, aware that being caught was a death sentence. A twig breaks, and I freeze, but I can feel their attention and the shift in energy. My mind races. They haven’t seen me yet, but I only have two options: back up slowly or take off running. Instinct tells me time matters. I jerk myself out of the bushes and take off running, straining with every stretch of my muscles to get around the corner of the building to the more public forum.

A motorcycle screams towards me, the headlights blasting my face and blinding me. A second later, I yelp as I’m swept off my feet as a powerful arm wraps around my waist. Warmth washes over me, and a sense of security defies the precarious way my feet dangle above the street. Creed. Suddenly, the questions and accusations about his motives don’t matter. He’s here. And on every possible level, I know that means I’m safe.

Chapter Fourteen

Brock

The two Zodius soldiers traveling with Lucian fade into the wind, leaving me only one asshole to face, and that asshole is Lucian.

As if Lucian has plucked the “asshole” nickname from my mind, anger flashes in his eyes a moment before I’m slammed against my rental car, pain splintering through my body with the impact, the air walloping from my chest. One day, I think, heaving in air, I’ll become a GTECH and kill this bastard, ripping him limb by limb when I do. And enjoy every damn minute of the bloodbath. And I will become a GTECH. I’ve played my cards in all the right ways. Either Julian or Powell will make it happen.

“You stupid sonofabitch!” Lucian snarls at me. “You were followed.” His eyes narrow sharply. “Or did you tell Powell you were meeting me? I swear to you, Brock, if I find out you’re working both sides, I’ll cut your heart out and eat the damn thing.”

“I wouldn’t even be here if you’d left me the fuck alone. I gave you Green Hornet bullets, the only bullets that can penetrate the Renegades’ body armor. If that doesn’t show loyalty, I don’t know what the fuck does.”

“We don’t even know if they work.”

“Test them,” I order, wishing like fuck the freaky bastard would get off me.

"I’ll use them all right,” he replies, a snide quality to his tone.

“Test them,” I say, shoving against his unmoving body. “Don’t use them until we have Red Dart, or Powell will know I betrayed him. Do you hear me?”

“Maybe that’s what I want,” he drawls.

“You want to fuck everything up? How appropriately you. Let me do my job, Lucian. And that job includes fucking Addie, not killing her.”

---