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I scooped her up without warning and she let a small squeak.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking my female upstairs so she can get some much-needed rest.”My female.Those two words settled my circuits, easing the ache in my frame.
“Yourfemale?” Her breath hitched.
“If I am yours than you are mine,” I stated, holding her tighter against my frame, carrying her up the stairs. “A few days, a month, a year, however much time we have to belong to each other I will cherish.” I stopped at the top of the stairs and met her stunned gaze. “But make no mistake of my intentions, Poe. I am planning on keeping you for forever.”
Chapter Twelve
*Dr. Shaw*
Cyborg Headquarters
“Did you really thinkyou were going to hunt my son without me knowing?” I stormed into the common room, anger simmering in my veins.
I loved Reaper. I loved themall.But I knew my first born better than anyone. Dax didn’t have a mean bone in his whole frame. Deactivating Reaper hadn’t been because he wanted to hurt him. Despite their long history of not understanding each other, I knew in their hearts they cared about one another. Out of the two, Dax had always been the more understanding one of the relationship.
If Reaper wasn’t nice to him, he made excuses for his behavior. Dax accepted that Military Models weren’t often patient, weren’t willing to offer hugs and comforting words. Dax accepted Reaper for who he was. It had always been Reaper and the other cyborgs that had struggled to accept Dax for who he was.
“Dr-” Reaper began, but I cut him off.
“Don’t you Dr. Shaw me, Reaper. I understand your anger.” I scanned the room, meeting everyone’s eyes. “I understandallof your anger. What Dax did was wrong. You won’t hear me make excuses for that, but all of youknowDax. You know how much he cares for everyone in this room. How much he’s done for all of you and a lot of times without a thank you.” I narrowed my gaze, crossing my arms over my chest. I was tired of them treating Dax like he wasn’t one of them. He had been thefirstone. Without him, none of them would have existed. “He did it even when no wanted to be his friend, even when all he got in return was other cyborgs making fun of him.” My chest tightened. “Did you ever stop to think he did what he did because he was tired of being the one always left out?” I pointed my finger at Reaper. “Didyoueven give him a chance to explain?”
Reaper dropped his eyes, refusing to look at me. My chastising had gotten to him. Underneath that steel frame of his was a heart larger than he led the world to believe. When he finally raised his eyes, I saw confusion and hurt had replaced some of the anger.
“Did you know?” He asked, his voice simmering with pain.
I let my arms drop to my sides. “I did. That code-” I released a shaky breath. “Only Dax and I knew it. It was meant to be used as a last resort. Dax knew because if something happened to me, he would be the one who would have to protect the rest of my cyborgs, even from themselves if need be.”
Reaper snarled. “Youshould have told me. How can I protect us when there is something that can render me useless? That could render usalluseless. What if the Global Allegiance had known about the code? What fresh hell would have cyborgs woken up to after they had deactivated us?”
I sighed, the fight leaving me. “I understand that now, but I when I made Dax, I was eighteen. I might have been brilliant, but I was still young and naïve. I have made many mistakes. I am still trying to make amends for a lot of them. I will spend forever paying for the fact I trusted they wrong people. Trusted them with my life. With your lives.” I clutched chest, my heart feeling as if it might shatter.
Dax was gone, lost in a world I hadn’t prepared him for. Once again, my secrets had caused harm to the people in the world I loved the most. I had to be strong. I didn’t have a choice. There had been days I had wanted to give up feeling like the weight of my guilt would crush me. Days when all my bad choices, all my mistakes haunted my every step and nothing I ever did would fix them.
I never told anyone, not even Dax. The fault rested with me. I wouldn’t burden any of them with my feelings. I had done enough. Or not enough. Some days I wasn’t sure which one it was.
I straightened my shoulders, pushed away the hurt, trying to think of a way this didn’t end in disaster. An idea struck. I braved a step closer to Reaper. “I was wrong to keep the existence of the code from you, from all of you, but I never once used it. Some would say that Acer in his madness presented a perfect example of a last case scenario, but I wouldn’t do it. Neither did Dax, not even when Acer threatened me. For Dax to use it, he had to have a reason. There is something here we are missing.”
“The female,” Viper growled. “He betrayed us for the female.”
“What if she washis female?” I countered. “None of the cyborgs who have found their females have acted rationally. In fact, it seems like all logic goes right out the window when cyborgs fall in love. I am not saying this female is Dax’s but if he thought even for a moment that she was or could be , he would have done anything for that chance. You know how much he wanted a female of his own. From the moment he saw Iris, he has been determined to find one.”
