“You believe the world would have protected you?” he asks sharply. “You think foster care would have preserved what you became?”
Preserved.
There it is again.
Like Hannah isn’t a woman.
She’s an experiment.
Wu steps closer.
Not enough for me to shoot him.
Yet.
“You were special long before Sentinel touched you,” he says more quietly now. “We simply gave your abilities purpose.”
Hannah shakes her head hard.
“No.”
“You called me every night after the nightmares.”
The tunnel goes silent.
Hannah’s face crumples.
And suddenly I realize the worst part.
Part of her remembers.
Not all of it.
But enough.
Wu’s voice softens.
“You used to hold my hand during storms because thunder frightened you.”
Nope.
Absolutely not.
I step directly between them.
Completely blocking his view of her.
“She’s not yours.”
Wu studies me carefully.
Cold.
Analytical.
“Clay Vincent,” he says slowly. “Former Tier One operative. Psychological isolation tendencies. Repeated attachment suppression after operational trauma.”
My pulse slows dangerously.
