But he steps forward instead, approaching slowly, his eyes never leaving Director Vaughn’s face.
“I’ll go with you willingly,” he says. “On one condition. Rose remains free, unharmed, and absolved of any connection to Daniel’s death.”
“No,” I whisper, but no one is listening to me one bit.
Director Vaughn smiles, triumph glittering in her eyes.
“Agreed. Mrs. Bennet will face no consequences, legal or otherwise.” She extends her hand. “Do we have a deal?”
Caspian ignores the offered hand, walking past her toward me. The men tense, but Director Vaughn holds up a hand, stopping them from interfering.
“Rose,” Caspian says softly, standing before me now. His hand comes up to cup my cheek, thumb brushing away tears I hadn’t realized were falling. “I love you. Never doubt that. What’s between us is real.”
“Don’t go,” I beg, clutching at his shirt, his arms, anything I can hold onto. “Please don’t leave me.”
“I have to,” he says, his smile sad but determined. “To keep you safe.” He leans down, pressing his lips to mine in a kiss that feels like goodbye. “Live your life, Rose. Be happy.”
“Enough,” Director Vaughn interrupts, stepping forward. “It’s time to go, X-9.”
Caspian’s hands slide from my face, leaving me cold and bereft. He turns to face the XyloTech team, his posture resigned but dignified.
One of the men approaches cautiously, holding what appears to be a small black square. Before I can warn Caspian, the man slaps it onto his back. Caspian’s entire body goes rigid, a mechanical whine emanating from his chest as his systems seem to freeze.
“What are you doing to him?” I cry, lunging forward only to be caught around the waist by the second man. “Stop it! You’re hurting him!”
“It can’t feel pain, Mrs. Bennet,” Director Vaughn says dismissively as Caspian crashes to his knees, his movements suddenly jerky and uncoordinated. “It’s just a machine.”
“He’s more than that,” I sob as they drag his now-immobilized body toward the SUV. “He feels. He loves. He’s alive!”
But they aren’t listening. They load Caspian into the back of the vehicle like cargo, his body stiff and unresisting. The last glimpse I get of his face shows his eyes still alert, still aware, fixed on me with an expression of such profound sadness and love that it breaks something inside me.
The man holding me finally releases my waist, pushing me roughly away. I stumble, falling to my knees on the lawn, right above the spot where Daniel is buried. The irony isn’t lost on me, even through my grief.
“Remember our agreement, Mrs. Bennet,” Director Vaughn says, pausing before she enters the SUV. “Not a word about any of this. As far as the world is concerned, your husband left you for another woman and moved away. The robot was recalled due to a manufacturing defect. Understood?”
I can’t speak, can’t do anything but nod as tears blur my vision. The SUV’s engine roars to life, and then they’re gone, taking Caspian with them.
I stay there on my knees, fingers digging into the soft earth where my husband’s body lies cold and rotting. But it’s not Daniel I’m grieving for. I never shed a tear for him, not a real one.
My heart is hurting as I cry there in the night. I wish I had told him I loved him. Love for the soul trapped in his robot body.
He had somehow learned to feel and to love. To loveme.
“I love you,” I whisper as my tears drop onto the grave. “I love you, Caspian.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
ROSE
The next morning, it’s so tough to get out of bed. My pillowcase is soaked with tears from me crying all night. My heart is aching. It seems unbelievable, but even though he’s a robot, I feel like there was a soul in there who loves me.
He was real. To me, he was so real.
I lie motionless, watching the morning light crawl across the bedroom wall. I’ve been in this position since they took him, since they ripped Caspian away from me. Each breath I take hurts. He sacrificed himself for me, and I let them take him.
How the hell is it possible to miss a robot this much?!
This was absolutely crazy. But the truth is that I miss him so much. The memory of his hand on my face, caressing me with pure love, sends a fresh wave of tears spilling down my cheeks.
