Page 70 of A Cyborg for the Alien Mercenary

“Please don’t hurt me! I’m unarmed!”

Dr. Tanner emerged, his hands thrust outward in surrender. Her hard gaze locked on to his face, noting the sheen of sweat on his brow and the way the blood had drained from his cheeks, leaving him ashen. And it didn’t move her. Not one bit. Did that mean she really was the heartless killer everyone believed cyborgs to be?

The scent of fear rolled off him in waves so thick she could almost taste his terror on her tongue, metallic and sharp. His gaze darted between her and Jex, wide with a mixture of awe and dread.

“Please,” he began, his voice trembling. “I can explain everything. I’ve made groundbreaking discoveries. I can tell you about other cyborgs in this universe. Just… just don’t hurt me.”

Her expression was hard as her hand closed around his throat.

“Hurt you?” Her voice was ice-cold. “Oh no, Doctor. I’m going to do much worse than just that.”

She lifted him off the ground effortlessly. His eyes bulged in his head as she cut his air off, his hands scrabbling at hers.

“Listen carefully, Doctor,” she growled. “I’m going to explain exactly what’s about to happen and why. For years, you experimented on me. You treated me like a lab rat. I could almost forgive that… I’m a Zodiac, after all. We’re used to humans being assholes.”

Her free hand clenched into a fist, the memory of Covak’s touch ghosting across her skin.

“But murdering the man I love?” Her voice cracked, a hint of the anguish beneath her fury. “That, I can’t forgive. That is what you and everyone in this place are going to die for.”

As she spoke, her enhanced senses picked up the minute changes in Tanner’s vitals—the spike in his heart rate, the dilation of his pupils. Good. Let him understand the full weight of what was coming. Let him feel a fraction of the terror Covak must have felt in his final moments.

“When my core detonates…” Her voice was as cold and hard as hull plating. “It’ll trigger a chain reaction. Everything within a five-mile radius will be vaporized. Your life’s work, your precious data, all of it. Gone. Just gone. Just like you took everything from me.”

She loosened her grip slightly, allowing Tanner to gasp for air.

“Any last words, Doctor?” she asked, shaking him like a rag doll. “Any final plea for mercy? Because I promise you, it’ll fall on deaf ears.”

Her focus lay entirely on Tanner as she deactivated the safety protocols on her power core. Heat rose as the energy within built toward the critical point. In her mind, she saw Covak’s face, the memory of their time together making her heart ache.

“This is for the man I love,” she snarled, her grip tightening. “And for every other life you’ve destroyed.”

“Well, hot damn,” a familiar voice rang out behind her. “You love some other dude? That’s a real blow to my ego there, sweetheart.”

20

“Covak,” Jesh whispered, her voice cracking with emotion as she turned toward him. “You’re alive. I thought… they told me…”

In three long strides, he closed the distance between them and swept her into his arms, nearly crushing her against his chest. The feel of her, warm and alive, sent a wave of relief through him so intense it nearly brought him to his knees.

“I’m here,sweetheart,” he murmured into her hair. “I’m here, and I’m never letting you go again.”

Her arms tightened around him, her fingers digging into his back as if to reassure herself he was real. “I thought I’d lost you,” she said, her voice muffled against his chest. “When Tanner said you were dead, I wanted to tear this place apart.”

He pulled back slightly and cupped her face in his hands. Tears sparkled in her eyes and he used a clawed thumb to gently wipe them away.

“It’ll take more than a few assholes to keep me away from you,” he growled and bent his head to claim her lips in a kiss filled with desperation and relief. He poured all of his fear, hisrage, and his love into that kiss, and when he finally pulled back, both their breathing was ragged.

He pressed his forehead against hers and murmured, “I love you, Jesh. More than I ever thought possible. And I swear to you, I will spend every day of my life proving that love to you.”

His gaze dropped to the metal that encased her like a form-fitting bodysuit, and a low growl rumbled in his chest.

“Frexxinghell, what did they do to you?” he asked, his voice rasping with barely contained fury.

She put her hand on his chest. “It’s okay,” she said, her voice low and reassuring. “It’s just a support unit until I regenerate. Jex… he made it for me.”

“Jex? You found him?”

Covak’s head snapped up, and he looked around the room. In the corner stood a Scorperio suit, its metallic surface gleaming dully in the low light. It hadn’t moved so he’d assumed it was inactive, the faceplate clear and no human pilot inside.

---