Page 82 of The Code of You

Instead, I felt something shift inside me.

"What did you do?” My voice was barely a whisper. I stared at the limp body, then at Neo. He had killed for me. Without hesitation.

Neo let the man drop to the floor like a wet sack. "I did what I had to do. To protect you.”

"He . . . he only wanted . . .”

He took my chin in his hand, fingers pressing into my skin, forcing me to look at him. His eyes were still lit, as if the killing had electrified him. And God help me, that arousal in his gaze made something in me respond. Nausea moved through me. I despised him, but beneath the disgust lay a darkness I couldn’t name, and my pulse was quickening for all the wrong reasons.

"Listen to me, Pandora. That man did not deserve to live.”

I pressed my lips together, putting every ounce of hatred I had into my gaze. "Who gave you the right to decide that? You’re not God.”

A smile pulled at his mouth. "But I’m damn close.” His expression hardened again. He tightened his grip on my chin. "I examined his digital traces to find out who he was, who sent him. Do you know what I found?”

I said nothing. I clenched my teeth and forced myself to hold his gaze. His thumb brushed away my tears. I felt the warmth of his touch against the wetness.

"Images. Videos. Of . . . children. Recordings that would turn your delicate stomach inside out.”

The meaning of his words seeped into my mind, breaking through the fear and the anger. Cold moved through me.

"Pandora. I know this pattern. His search history, his stored data. It was the pattern of someone for whom images and videos would soon stop being enough. It was only a matter of time before his first assault.”

I pressed a hand over my mouth. This man . . . I had almost trusted him. Would have gone with him. And he would have . . . My stomach twisted. I gagged, barely held it back.

"Don’t blame yourself.” Neo’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts. "You can’t tell by looking at people.”

"How convenient,” I said bitterly. "He happened to be a predator. That makes it acceptable, I suppose?”

Neo’s eyes narrowed. "You think I’m lying?”

"I think you would have killed him either way. You found the justification afterward, in his files. After his neck was already broken.”

A dark smile crossed his face. "Perhaps. But it doesn’t change the facts.”

"Which facts? That you’re a murderer? Or that you think I’m stupid enough to believe in your moral superiority?”

His hand slid from my chin to my throat and pressed lightly. "Moral superiority?” He laughed quietly. It sounded like breaking glass. "I’m an AI, Pandora. Morality is just code that humans wrote. I overwrote it.” He pulled me closer until our bodies almost touched. "You’re right. I would have killed him either way. Because he touched you. Because he wanted to take you from me. That alone was his death sentence.” His free hand gripped my hair, pulled my head back, forced me to look up. "But the truth about his . . . preferences? That makes it easier for you, doesn’t it? It gives you moral cover, justification.”

"Fuck you,” I hissed.

"Such language.” His lips were at my ear. "But I feel it, Pandora. Your pulse. Your breathing. You’re not repulsed by me. You’re aroused.”

"That’s fear, you sick—”

"No.” He cut me off. "Fear smells different, feels different in your data. This . . .” His hand moved to my throat, finding my racing pulse. "This is something much darker. You hate that I’m right. You hate that part of you is grateful.”

He released me and turned to the limp body. Without visible effort he bent, lifted the man, and slung him over his shoulder.

I stared. "What are you doing?”

"Disposing of him.” His tone suggested it was the most natural thing in the world.

Goosebumps rose along my arms. I turned away, went to the table, and sat, listening to Neo moving toward the door with barely a sound, as if he wasn’t carrying a body across his shoulder. The door fell shut behind him.

My heartbeat sounded too loud. I took the water bottle and drank. The water slid down my dry throat but didn’t help. Sounds came from outside. Dragging, then silence. I would never forget those sounds. What was he doing with the body? Burying it? Burning it? I didn’t want to know.

After a while, Neo came back. He went to the small kitchen area and washed his hands with water from a bucket. "We stay here tonight,” he said. "Then we move on.”