Cyburn and Nix exchanged a devastated glance with each other that made my stomach roll over.
"What?" I asked, trying not to panic but the terror in my voice gave me away. "What is it? What's wrong?" My questions fired out of my mouth at a hundred miles an hour because that's how fast my thoughts and worries were speeding through my brain.
Cyburn licked his lips and looked hesitant to answer me.
"Please…" I begged, trailing off for a moment. "I promise I can handle it. Just tell me the truth. I want to know who is talking to us through that intercom."
"We know who Jun is, and he is a monster," Cyburn whispered, keeping his voice down, probably to try and prevent Jun from hearing what he was saying.
"Pure evil," Nix agreed in a hushed voice as well.
"What does he do?" I asked, careful to follow their lead and whisper too. "What is an Imperial Harvester?"
"Jun is the head slaver of the humans," Cyburn mentioned, keeping a watchful eye on me. "It's his responsibility to—"
"Harvestthe humans?" I made the connection myself and put the rest together.
Cyburn nodded bleakly. His face was the epitome of empathy and sorrow. "Yes."
I was so horrified that I couldn't breathe for a moment or two, and my heart skipped so fast that it gave me an instant headrush.
Cyburn must have sensed my unease. "You're going to be okay… I promise. Just don't worry. We are still going to protect you at all costs."
I nodded, giving him an endearing smile. "I know. You have already proved that to me." I had no reason not to trust him at this point.
I still owed him my life. If it weren't for Cyburn and Nix and their selfless bravery at rescuing me, I might havealreadybeen harvested by these vicious robot monsters.
It just made me value my life even more. I had come so close to the brink of death. I didn't want to sound dramatic, but my abduction made me appreciate life in a way I never had before. I had a whole new perspective, and my outlook on life had changed enormously and made my will to live so much more intense.
Maybe that was part of the reason why I was crushing so hard on Cyburn. He was like a soldier for me, a warrior hero of sorts. Either way, I was grateful that he took the time to take me under his wing. He didn'thaveto do that. In some ways, I probably slowed him down, but he behaved as ifmysafety went above his own.
"What do you want from us?" Cyburn asked again.
"I think you already know the answer to that," Jun said in a condescending tone.
I watched as Cyburn's jaw tightened. His eyes narrowed and his posture straightened into a line of equal defiance and nobility.
"You can't have her," Cyburn said through gritted teeth.
He clenched his fists into tight balls as if he were ready to fight anyone to the death who argued otherwise.
"Oh, come on, Cyburn," Jun taunted as if he relished in this kind of uncomfortable banter. "Play along."
"I'llneverplay your game," Cyburn hissed, his eyes still guardedly scanning the corridors around us as if he expected more guards to jump out of nowhere.
I was surprised that Jun knew who Cyburn was, but if Cyburn was the crown prince, I supposed it made sense— especially since Cyburn had admitted he was familiar with Jun as well.
"I think you are smarter than that," Jun argued.
"I'm smarter than you give me credit for," Cyburn said in return.
"Then maybe you should heed my advice," Jun said.
"And what isthatwisdom you wish to instill upon me?" Cyburn said patronizing the alien robot that had yet to reveal himself, continuing to address us over the loud-speaker.
"Just do as I say, and everything will be fine," Jun advised.
"If you are talking about handing over the human— it willneverhappen," Cyburn said rebelliously.