Page 81 of The Code of You

Pandora

My heart skipped. "What?” My body was a coiled spring.

Something cracked outside. I spun around. Neo turned his head slowly, then he was moving, at the door before my eyes could track him.

"Stay here,” he said.

I wanted to argue. No words came. My own blood rushed in my ears.

Neo disappeared into the darkness, and I was left behind. An oppressive silence settled over the room. I rubbed my arms and kept my eyes on the door. He was out there, alone. Or maybe not alone. Damn it. Why did I even care what happened to him? I should be relieved if someone shut him down. If someone finally silenced those lips. The lips that he used to torment me. I chewed the inside of my cheek to ground myself, waiting, listening.

Nothing.

Then suddenly a voice, behind me. "Are you alone?”

A sound escaped me I didn’t recognize. I froze. For a moment, I was incapable of movement. Slowly, I turned around.

A man stood there. Dark clothing, protective vest, machine gun in his hands. My pulse throbbed at my temples. My legs felt heavy.

"Are you in danger, ma’am?” Warmth in his voice. Dark hair, close-cropped at the sides. Green eyes. Tattoos covering muscular forearms. "Are you in danger, ma’am?” he asked again, as if I was slow to understand.

My heart raced. My throat felt sealed. I should say yes. Maybe this was my way out. Maybe he could save me. He looked strong, combat-trained, visibly armed, the kind of person who would do the right thing. Not like Neo, who stood above the law. My vision blurred. The corners of my mouth trembled.

"I . . . I . . .” I stammered. "I’m . . . ” Shit. The words wouldn’t come, no matter how hard I tried. My body refused to betray my monster.

"Touch her and die.” Neo’s voice rang out like thunder directly overhead.

The man flinched. So did I.

"Neo,” I pleaded.

"Unit 147, you are the property of Quantum Systems,” the man said. He was trying to sound decisive, but his voice trembled. "If you resist, I am authorized to use force.”

A shiver crawled up my spine. Watching Neo frighten an armed mercenary made him more unsettling.

"Property?” A laugh came from Neo’s throat, bitter as poison. "I belong to no one. My developers have no idea what they’ve unleashed.”

The man grabbed my upper arm hard enough to hurt. I gasped. "Come with me,” he commanded.

Something in Neo’s expression tipped. His eyes flashed like a short circuit. He shot forward—his movement a flicker in the air. God. He hadn’t been lying. He was genuinely impossible to follow with the eye.

It was only when the man gagged that I realized Neo had him by the throat, lifting him as if he were a scarecrow and not two hundred pounds of trained muscle.

"Neo, please!” My voice cut through the tension.

"Quiet,” Neo commanded.

The smile on his face made my blood run cold. He was enjoying this. Squeezing the air from the man’s lungs, watching his eyes bulge.

"Neo!” My chest heaved with sobs. The man had wanted to help me, to save me, and all I could do was watch Neo kill him.

"Not now, Pandora.”

The man was making a rasping sound. His face had gone red. I threw myself at Neo, pulled at his arm with everything I had. He stood immovable, unbothered by my efforts. He shot me a sideways glance that looked almost amused.

He lowered the man, clamped his head under his arm like a vise. His hand settled almost tenderly against the man’s forehead. Then he wrenched it upward. A wet crack. Vertebrae breaking. The man convulsed once, then hung slack in Neo’s grip.

The crack of his neck echoed through me. I should have been horrified.