Page 105 of Hunted to Be Mine
“And yet your notepad remains empty.” He glanced at it. “Nearly a week, Doctor, and you’ve provided nothing of value.”
“Thorough work takes time.”
His smile stayed while his gaze didn’t. “Time is a luxury you’re burning through.” He picked up a folder and set it down with care. “These subjects represent millions invested. Their failures cost me. Your resistance will cost you more.”
“Threatening me won’t make me work faster.”
“Perhaps not.” He smoothed a cuff. “What about threatening others? Your friend Dr. Prieto, for example.”
My gut clenched. “Leave Mattie out of this.”
“I prefer to keep all options open.” He stepped closer. Expensive cologne crowded the air.
His smile held. His eyes went hard. “I anticipated this, Dr. Crawford. Disappointing.” He checked his watch. “Perhaps you need a reminder of our partnership.”
I kept my expression steady. “It hasn’t worked so far. Why now?”
“Because behavior becomes predictable when the right variables are applied.” He turned to Blackout. “Bring Dr. Crawford. She needs a demonstration.”
Blackout’s hand closed on my upper arm—firm, not cruel. Cargo handling.
“Where are we going?” I kept my tone even, even as dread tightened, low and coiled.
“To address your motivation problem,” Dresner said, already walking.
I let the idea of a struggle come and go. With Blackout latched to me and Oblivion operatives everywhere, it would be wasted noise. Watch. Wait. Choose a moment that mattered.
We moved through spotless corridors. The elevator dropped. White walls gave way to concrete. A parking level under the building. My pulse kicked. Opportunity, or escalation.
The garage was dim. Our footsteps carried. Two operatives waited ahead, holding a slack figure between them. I knew the shape before the face.
Specter. His head hung, blood matting his hair. Shallow rise, shallow fall.
“Specter!” The name tore out of me. I surged forward. Blackout’s grip hardened—far stronger than I’d gauged.
At my voice, his head came up. He found me. Despair followed, cold and exact. He fought the hands on him.
He shouted my name, blood trailing from a split lip. “Selina!”
Dresner watched like he’d bought front-row seats. “Fascinating, isn’t it? How attachment undercuts training?” He drifted around Specter, pleased. “Your noncompliant solution delivered himself to my door. Convenient.”
The look on his face told me everything. This was the trap. Specter had stepped right into it—because of me.
“I’m sorry,” his lips formed.
Professional distance cracked. “Let him go! I’ll do it—I’ll write your protocols, analyze your failures, whatever you want.”
Dresner made a small motion. The operatives let go. Specter drove straight at him, momentum carrying—
“Mangrove. Amaranth. Empty,” Dresner said.
Specter collapsed mid-stride, hands to his head, a raw sound tearing out of him. His body curled, as if trying to crawl away from a fire inside his skull.
I yanked against Blackout’s hold. “Stop it! What are you doing to him?”
Dresner paced around him and spoke the sequence again. Each word hit like a hammer. Specter convulsed, a scream ripped from somewhere deep, his back arching hard.
“Stop! You’re killing him!”
