Burn Code

Nine

Paul arrived at my door after his shift. Agitation made him fidget and wrench at his tie as he stepped past me into my apartment. It didn’t take much to figure out what aggravated him.

“I really think you should come in for a scan.” He said, running a hand through his dark hair as he paced. “Make sure he didn’t do anything to you.”

I wanted him to leave. To be gone and never show his face again. Forcing myself to breathe through the rage, I kept on task. For all I knew, Grendel was witnessing this conversation.

“What did your scans say?” I leaned back against the door and watched him wear the soles off his shoes.

He shrugged. “Non-conclusive. So either he didn’t mess with it or his skill is so vast that the specialists can’t figure it out.”

“I’d know by now if he messed with my tech.” I lied.

His pacing finally slowed. A small smile turned his lips as he came closer.

“It would make me feel better.”

An arm slipped around my waist and I fought the urge to resist. His gaze narrowed when our eyes briefly met and a shot of panic tore through me. Was he still recording everything?

“What’s wrong?” He asked, his brow creasing.

“Nothing.” I shook my head and plastered a fake smile on my face. “I’m fine.”

He blinked at me, no doubt accessing the higher functions of his sensor node. All of my little involuntary reactions to be recorded and evaluated. Shaking his head, he sighed.

“I wish you wouldn’t lie to me.”

“And I wish you didn’t have that damn lie detector your head.” I snapped back, stepping out of his arms and away from the door. “Some things are meant to remain private.”

“Cara—” He tried again to take hold of me but I moved beyond his grasp. Paul narrowed a glare at me.

“What did he do to you?” He demanded, his voice hard.

I flinched first and cursed under my breath. “I told you. Nothing.”

“Liar.” He took step forward.

“Turn that off!”

Paul shook his head. “Not until you tell me.”

“Or what?” I snapped. “What could you possibly do to me?”

His jaw flexed. “Rescind your deal. Low-jack you again. Is that what you want, Cara?”

“You wouldn’t.” For a few brief moments, I seriously entertained carrying out Grendel’s task against him just for being an ass.

“No? Try me.” He smirked and it wasn’t kind. “I still have your frequency from when I removed it.”

A sudden rolling burn started at the Ouroboros. I twitched at the sensation. Paul interpreted it as a reaction to his threat and his smirk widened.

“Yeah, I bet you don’t want that, do you?”

A text from Grendel screamed out in flashing red caps across my optics.

GET RID OF HIM!!

I realized as soon as I saw the message that a police jack could completely cut off Grendel — my TPU would cease to fully function, removing his control of me. I latched onto that shred of hope.

I finally had a card to play, but it was a huge gamble. If Paul snapped the jack on my TPU before Grendel’s overload killed me, I’d have a chance as long as his threat against Paul was an idle one.