“What the fuck is wrong with you right now?” I grit through my teeth. “Talk to me.”
His face twists and for the first time, I realize that Locke really could hurt me. I’ve known, but I’ve never thought he would. Not after everything we’ve been through. The way his face twists now though makes me think that with his last level up, something else changed. Something not even he has realized.
“You know exactly how dangerous I am,” Locke growls, his voice like gravel. “I have no doubt that Cipher is in your little head telling you how bad of an idea it is to stick around?—”
“I don’t care about that!” I growl.
“You should!” he snarls back at me, his voice so thick, it has my instincts screaming at me to step back. I don’t. I hold on tighter. “You don’t know me, Vesper!”
I lean closer, looking deeply into his eyes. “Whoever you think you are doesn’t have to be who you are if you don’t want to be,” I point out. “You don’t have to follow some fucking rules just because other people think you should.”
“That’s the thing,” he says, pulling away from my hands. This time, he uses his strength to pry me off and I can’t fight him. “I’m exactly who I think I am. And clearly, those two motherfuckers know it, the legend and the system.” He takes a step back from me and I reach for him.
“Locke,” I try. “Don’t.”
He takes another step away, and I can see his intention in every movement. He’s walking away. He’s leaving me here. After everything. After all we fought through and survived. After the bond we’ve formed. After I’d started fucking caring for him.
“Please,” I add, my voice thick with emotion.
When I’d come into this shithole without Dox, I’d been lost, but having Locke at my side had grounded me. We survived together. I didn’t have to be in this place alone. And I care for the Bone Breaker now. I care so fucking much. I don’t want him to go.
I reach out my hand toward him. “Please,” I repeat.
His gaze drops to my hand and he hesitates. His own hand twitches like he wants to take mine, but then his eyes flick back over to Havoc and his eyes harden.
“I’m sorry, Vesper,” he whispers. “But you have the legend now. You don’t need me.”
And then he disappears into the crowds of the Gilded District.
CHAPTER51
VESPER
Iimmediately go after him. I shoot into the crowd and try to follow, but the sidewalks are thick with people who hide Locke in their depths so fast, I can’t even track his dark hair. The streets are packed with mechanical boxes honking and screaming, preventing me from crossing it. I don’t know which direction he’s gone, and he clearly intends not to be followed.
“Locke!” I scream, jumping up to try and see over the crowd. “Stevie, can you see him?”
“I don’t see him, Girl,” he says, lifting higher. “Not a whiff of bone on the wind either. Come back, Lockey Poo! We need you!”
“Fuck!” I snarl, shoving people out of the way. The NPCs don’t react, but the players mixed in do, shouting profanities at me and threatening to stab me for my rudeness. I don’t give a fuck. When one man actually pulls a blade, I drop my own into my hand and stare at him.
“You really wanna try that, motherfucker?” I ask, staring at him. “I need the XP and I’m really fucking pissed off.”
The man studies me and then tucks his blade back away before disappearing back into the crowd.
“That’s what I thought,” I growl. “Locke! Locke, where are you!”
Someone grabs my arm and jerks me to a stop when I would have kept chasing after Locke. I turn with a growl to find Havoc holding tight to my forearm.
“Let me go,” I threaten.
“Don’t bother looking for him,” Havoc says. “He’s a Tier Two. He’s faster than you.”
I jerk out his hold and whirl on him, my blade in my hand. His eyes fall to the blade and then trail slowly back up, as if enjoying the show.
“I don’t appreciate you thinking you can make decisions for me,” I snarl. “So, you can back the fuck off!”
“You wanted me here,” he points out.
