Page 30 of Brone


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“I want to see him.” Reaching out, he laid his small gray hand on top of Torque’s chest. His other hand went to pull down the sheet, but I grabbed his wrist.

“You don’t want to see the damage he sustained. You don’t want to remember him this way. Trust me, Theo. It’s best to remember him the way he was. It’s what he would have wanted.”

Theo nodded. “I’m sorry they did this to you. I don’t understand why they hate us. You never did anything to them except want to live, and they killed you.”

Theo twisted towards me, eyes wide and full of dark tears. “Why, Brone? Why did they kill him? He was kind and funny and my friend. I don’t understand. I want him back. I want my friend back!” Theo slumped against me, his words tearing through me, ripping through the metal to lodge themselves directly inside my heart.

I held him tight to my frame, my tears joining his to slide down and stain my cheeks. “Me too, Theo. Me too.” It was all I could say. I didn’t have any answers for him.

Nothing I could say would stop his pain.

Nothing I could do would bring Torque back to us.

Failure beat its brutal wings against my ribs.I should have been stronger. I should have made him go with Reaper instead of following me.“It should have been me.” I hadn’t meant to say that out loud, but the words tumbled from my mouth before I could stop them.

A punch to the chest knocked me backward. “Don’t say that!” Theo screamed, his fists landing another blow. “It shouldn’t have been any of us! Not you! Not Torque! No one!” He let out a shuddering breath, burying his face against my chest. “You could have died,” he whispered. “They took Torque. They could have taken you, too.” His arms tightened around me. “Part of me wants to destroy them-to tear them apart. The other part hopes I never see any of them ever again because if I do, I know someone else I love might not come back.”

Bright, blue eyes found mine, the fear and distress flashing in them feeling like a punch to the gut. “My mom. My dad. Dax.You.If we must fight them again, who else will I lose? How many more of the people I love will I have to say goodbye to?”

Once again, I have no answer for him. I only hold him tighter, wishing I could promise that he won’t have to say goodbye to any more of us.

But with war on the horizon, that was I promise I could not bring myself to make.

Nara

“It should have been me.”Brone’s words were like a punch to the gut. I stood outside medical, clinging to the doorframe as I swayed on my feet. I knew I shouldn’t be here, but I couldn’t bring myself to walk away. Every single world out of Theo’s mouth had been a dagger to my chest.

And Brone saying it should have been him instead?My eyes locked onto the sight of Torque laying unmoving on top of the exam table. The cyborg’s frame had been covered up to his chin by a white sheet, concealing the damage from view.

What if it was Brone under that sheet? What if it was his massive frame laying there unmoving, his eyes no longer flickering with playfulness?Those thoughts left me cold. Already I couldn’t imagine a world with no Brone.

Or Theo. Or Ever. Hell, I didn’t want to envision a world without any of them.They will come for you. If you stay here, you’ll only bring more death and destruction.

Realization dawned. I couldn’t stay here. The stuff inside my head was too valuable and the Global Allegiance wouldn’t stop until I had been returned to them or I was dead.

I had let Reaper, allowed them all, to think that it had been the cyborgs they had wanted.

It was a lie. The truth was they wantedme.

Who cared about three cyborgs when you had the person who could make you a hundred, a thousand, a million more? Of course, I wouldn’t be doing it willingly, but the Global Allegiance had ways to make you comply.

I wasn’t sure I’d survive torture without breaking, without giving in to their demands. I was a liability. And I had been fucking selfish.

How did I ever think I could make a life here?I couldn’t. At first, I only wanted to stay with my cyborgs. The thought of letting them go had my heart stuttering inside my chest. I had convinced myself that they needed me. That without me they would be lost.

It had been a lie.The lie I had used to justify putting all of them in danger. Even with the short time I had spent at the rebellion, I had seen it as the home I could never give them. One filled with light and love and all the things the Global Allegiance wished to deny them.

The rebellion may be gone, but the people that made it home remained. They may have been knocked down, but that’s not where they would stay.

And I couldn’t be here when they got back on their feet again.I cared about more than just my cyborgs now. Hell, I had risked my life to make sure they got their Beanie Babies back. If that doesn’t say I’m in way too deep, I don’t know what else would.

And it wasn’t only the rebellion I was now putting in harm’s way. Lennox and all her people would also now be targets. I may not know her, but she is just like Reaper. She built a home here. Her cyborgs are loyal, and every one of them chose to stay here with her.

That tells me they care about her. That they feel safe with her. I was the thing that wasn’t safe. I had painted a target on all their backs and now I had to do the right thing.

You should have never gone to the rebellion. You should have done what you’d planned. Your death would have spared them all of this.

Now look at what you’ve done.

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