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“Then explain it.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?” she snaps.
She already knows I’m alive, so that cat’s out of the bag. But how’s she going to feel when I tell her I’m planning to kill Morris and then off myself for the betterment of humanity? I’m a weapon that shouldn’t exist.
“You don’t need to get mixed up in all this shit, River.”
“So you think I can’t handle it, that I’m just some,” she throws her hands in the air, “weak woman who needs a big strong guy to protect her. That’s what you actually think of me.”
“No. I think you’re…amazing. And strong and intelligent and super-hot.”
What the hell am I saying?I shouldn’t be reminding myself of all the reasons I fell in love with her.
I continue, “But there’s nothing you can say to make me put you in harm’s way. You need to stay away from me.”
She stares silently, whisking away a stray tear. “So, basically, you love me, but it’s not enough.”
I’m planning to die soon so she can live in a safer world, so yeah. It’s not enough. “My love for you isn’t more important than your life. But what were you expecting me to say when you showed up here? Did you think I’d beg for forgiveness and ask you to take me back? Or that we’d find a way to be together now that you know I’m still alive?”
She looks away.
Oh.So that was what she expected.I’m a dick. The last thing I want is to make her think she’s not worth fighting for. She needs to understand that I value her life and happiness over my own.
I take her soft hand. I want to say something to make it all better, but all I’ve got is the truth she’s asking for. Maybe I shouldn’t come clean, but she’s right about one thing: I have to treat her like the strong woman she is.
“Morris perma-lit the Eiffel Tower on fire,” I blurt out, “and he held Paris hostage so that I’d give him my blood. He’s almost figured out how to make more of me, and now he has what he needs to complete the job. And worst of all, Kyle wants him to succeed. Our government wants an army of Huffs.”
Her eyes go wide. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Haven’t they ever seenThe Bourne IdentityorDeadpool? The whole super-soldier thing never hunts. Always goes sideways.”
“Right? That’s what I said.” See. This is why I love her.
“You have to stop Morris, Huff.”
“I know.”
“So what’s your plan?” She seems a little too excited about all this.
“I think Morris wants him and me to be allies.” I leave out the detail that I negotiated for some formula for River so she could be my sidekick because that was just a ploy. I’d never let her take that garbage drug.
“What does that mean?”
“I’m not sure because he also wants to sell the formula to the highest bidder. Oh, and he took some of his developmental concoction, so he’s rippedandcompletely nuts.”
“This is bad, Huff. Very bad.”
“I know. And it’s why the second he contacts me, I have to kill him.” I pause. “Then I need to get rid of all his work.” I look her in the eyes. “All of it, Riv. Every last drop.”
She stares up at me, and then I see my words click in her head. “Oh. For fuck’s sake. Not this again.”
River
I admit, when I was on my way here, I wasn’t sure what would happen. The only two things I knew were that I had to see him again and then scream my lungs out for his cruel, messed-up choice to make me believe he was dead.
Yeah, okay, I get why he faked his death to the world, but like I told Kyle, I’m not the world. I’m his best friend and have been since the second grade. That makes me like family, and if Kyle and his parents were in on the secret, then why not me? Aren’t I trustworthy enough? Don’t I love him as much as they do?
At least, I used to.
