Page 132 of The Code of You

"Dr. Pandora Blake?” said a voice behind me.

I turned. A young man, lean, tall. Short hair, horn-rimmed glasses. His face was familiar. My legs almost gave out. Blood roared in my ears.

"I’m not alone.” My voice came out unsteady. "I’d be careful if I were you. My”—I hesitated—"friend can get very angry.”

I stared him down, but my knees were shaking. It wasn’t a lie. If Neo found us, these men were finished.

The taller one pulled something from his pocket. A Taser. "We’ll see about that,” he said.

I ran. They were faster. The Taser caught me between the shoulder blades. A paralyzing pain tore through my body. Then darkness.

***

I didn’t know how long I’d been out. At some point I came back, my whole body aching. I tried to move and couldn’t. I was chained to a chair. Through blurred eyes I looked around. High ceilings, crates stacked along the walls. An old warehouse. Moonlight fell through broken windows.

"Welcome back.” The young man with the glasses was sitting on an overturned crate. His two accomplices stood behind him. The bigger one with the scarred face, the other young and nervous.

"Let’s talk about your special friend.”

"Go to hell.”

He smiled. "I was hoping you’d say that.” He nodded at the bigger one.

The man stepped forward and hit me across the face. For a moment I saw nothing but stars. My cheek burned. Blood filled my mouth.

"Where is he right now?” he asked, calm.

I spat the blood out. I wasn’t going to tell this asshole anything. "No idea.”

Another blow, this time to the ribs. Pain stabbed through my lungs. I gasped for air.

"What are his weaknesses?”

I lifted my chin, pretended the pain wasn’t eating me alive. "I don’t know.” Why was I protecting Neo? After everything . . . He had destroyed my life, made me his possession. And here I was, smiling at my attackers and provoking the next hit.

The bigger one reached for a length of pipe. "Should I break her fingers?”

The one with the glasses considered it. "Start with the small one.”

The man grabbed my hand. Panic flooded through me. "Wait. WAIT.”

"Ready to talk, then?”

I gasped. Damn it. I should just tell them what I knew. Maybe they’d let me go. But I couldn’t give Neo up. What would they do with him? Lock him away, take him apart while he was still conscious? The thought sent a pain through me that hurt worse than the bruises forming across my ribs.

"There’s nothing I can tell you that you could use,” I said. "He never tells me anything.”

"Bullshit.” The man’s voice bounced off the walls. He stood and came closer. "I’ve been watching you. The way he looks at you. You’re his everything. He’d tell you anything.”

My eyes went wide. He’d been watching us? Of course. That’s why his face was familiar. He was the student whose laptop Neo had fried in the café. Along with every other piece of electronics in range. Shit. Neo had been right. He was no student—he was a goddamn spy.

A laugh pushed out of me. I winced as the movement caught my cracked rib.

"You having a laugh? Oh, baby girl. You have no idea what’s coming.”

I put everything I had into my stare. "I’m not your baby girl, you disgusting creep.”

The one with the glasses laughed. "Maybe we should start over. I’m Nathan.”