A man was pinned to the dumpster by a jagged sheet of metal, shoved straight through his chest. He wheezed as Kit met his eyes.
"You—" Blood dripped over his lips. "You fucking monster. Why go rogue?"
"Because I want her," Kit said softly. "Vesperin. She makes the numbness disappear. I will not rest until I have her."
"All this for that Blackfall bitch? You psycho?—"
Kit’s hand snapped forward, reaching for the piece of metal in his chest. He felt it catch against bone. "If you are scared of me, blame who sent you."
Kit’s eyes lowered to the red blinking light attached to the man’s vest.
"Mother, Father, this is what you made me to be. Do not send any more of your people for me." He got closer. "I will kill them all."
Kit twisted his arm up, and the man screamed as the metal cut through his chest. He slumped over, dead.
Blood splattered the small lens. Kit did not wipe it away.
"You made me hurt Vesperin."
Something in his chest twisted painfully. He gripped his hair with bloodied gloves, turning to stare at the mess of the alley.
He swallowed, then swallowed again when something in his throat caught.
His fingers twitched, tapping out a code only he knew onto his thigh.
Eight letters. Three vowels. Five consonants.
"Vesperin, Vesperin, Vesperin."
With that name haunting him, Kit left another message for his makers—one they could never ignore.
Let all know who he hunted.
Rin narrowedher eyes as Nessen hunched over a large computer.
The soft cuffs on her wrist itched. Her fingers twitched.
"Stop that!" Rhyden barked, making Rin jump, the leather of the chair beneath her creaking.
An electrode at her left temple popped off from her quick movements, and the machines began beeping.
Rhyden cursed, storming forward. "What the fuck did Nessen tell you, idiot?" He reached for her wrist and grabbed itso tightly she felt her bones press together. "No fucking moving. Unless you want to sabotage this. Is that your plan?"
Rin winced as Rhyden shoved her hair away from her temples and placed the electrode back in its spot. Then, he reached for her wrists and tightened each cuff. He grabbed an end and pulled it taut, and she grimaced.
He dropped her hand, pointing a finger at her. "No moving."
Rin slumped back against the chair, and Rhyden’s red eyes dropped to her throat.
"What’s wrong with you this morning?" she grumbled.
Rhyden’s jaw ticked as he stared down at her. He crossed his arms, then uncrossed them, reaching up to scrub over his sharp jawline. "None of your goddamned business, wife." He promptly turned his eyes away from her, staring at Nessen and the monitors.
Rin bristled. The tension between them was suffocating. She didn’t know who would drown beneath it first. She was ready to tell Rhyden exactly what she thought of his bullshit, but before the words left her mouth, footsteps clanged over the metal stairs near the armored vehicles as Lucien and Cyrus walked into the lab area.
Cyrus loped toward her, red hair flopping over his forehead.
"Back the fuck off." Rhyden slapped his chest.
