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Oz
After a night spent on the couch, my arms wrapped around a wastebasket, repeating the mantra I’ll never drink again over and over, I felt much better. There was still a lingering headache, and my stomach wasn’t quite ready for anything more than water and crackers, but I felt more like myself.
Axios had gone to the lab this morning after making sure I would be okay on my own. After I assured him a thousand times I would be fine, he finally left. I had planned to simply veg out on the couch and await his return so we could watch our evening movie together, but a loud knock on the door dragged me from my spot on the couch.
The only visitors that came to see me were Dax and Poe. As I walked to the door, I assumed it was them but when it opened, the sight of a certain purple Technology Model stood before me.
A shiver of fear raced down my spine, but I forced a smile. “If you are looking for Axios, he is in the lab.”
“I am not here for him.” He stepped further into the doorway, using his massive frame to block any chance I had of making an escape.
I froze, my knuckles turning white due to how tightly I gripped the doorframe. If he wasn’t here for Axios then there was only one other reason he was here…me.Viper was here for me.
“Reaper has determined that it is my right to decide what to do with the you.” A small smirk lifted the corners of his lips.
The air fled my lungs. Viper detested me. Nothing he thought up to do to me was going to be pleasant. A fresh wave of bile raced up my throat. I forced myself to swallow it back down. My heart thudded inside my chest, the bright artificial lights suddenly blinding.
The smirk on his face turned into a full-blown grin. “Where is your sass now, female?”
No one who wants to do unknown awful things to me for vengeance should look so devastatingly handsome.“You hate me,” I blurted out. “And I threw up on your boots.” I took a step back into Axios’s quarters, crossing my arms over my chest as I stared at him with pure defiance in my eyes. “No.” I don’t care what Reaper had decided. I was done offering myself up like some sort of sacrifice. I had apologized. Given Viper the chance to take what he needed to settle the score. He had fled instead.
His eyes narrowed, raising an eyebrow. “No?”
“That’s what I said, Technology Model. Want me to spell it out for you? N.O.” I grabbed the door intending to slam it in his face, but a big black boot stopped me. I lifted my foot using all my strength to kick his boot, trying to force it back through the door. “Get out!” Kick. “Leave me alone!” Kick. “I said no!” Kick. Kick. Kick. His boot remained firmly planted, not moving an inch, my kicks ineffective against his cyborg strength.
A violet eye appeared in the crack of the door, flashing brightly in annoyance. The other eyebrow lifted as if to say, really? “Are you done?”
I flung the door open. “Why?” My hands curled into fists by my sides. “Why are you doing this?” I wanted to strike out. I hated being backed into a corner, but fighting Viper was a waste of time. He was bigger, stronger and for some strange reason, had decided to keep coming back even though he despised me.
He crossed his arms over his chest and glared down at me. “Doing what?”
“This!” I ran a hand through my hair. “This game we are playing! We yell, push each other, and for what? Doing this solves nothing! It won’t take back what I’ve done, and it doesn’t help us move forward.” I sighed, suddenly exhausted. Meeting his eyes, I smiled at him. “You know, in another life, we might have been friends.”
He let out a bark of laughter. “Don’t think so, female. You are nothing but a menace. I like my life clean. Orderly. You are neither.”
My mind blanked out for a moment. Did he not see what we were doing for the first time? “Oh my god, are we actually having a civil conversation?”
“It would appear so,” he sighed like he realized it to be true and couldn’t believe it.
“Be careful, Viper, I might start believing that you aren’t the purple devil I imagine in my nightmares.”Or in my dreams, my brain whispered as I flashed him a grin.
“Trust me, female,” he leaned in, putting his face close to mine. “I am much worse than anything you could ever imagine.”
I licked my suddenly dry lips. “Tease.”
He gave another sigh. “You couldn’t help yourself, could you?’
I met his brilliant violet eyes. “When it comes to you it seems I can’t.”
The corner of his mouth twitched. “So, you only deliberately annoy me with your antics?”
“Oh no, I annoy everyone, but you are a special case. I find myself working extra hard to annoy you.”
His eyes flashed. “Like I said before. Menace.”
My body gave a shudder, but it wasn’t from fear. I sucked in a breath and the scent of him invaded my lungs. Spicy and sweet, it swirled in my veins like delicious smoke. Not able to stop myself, I leaned forward, intending to catch another whiff of his incredible scent.
“Did you…are yousmellingme?”
