RedeemingZorus (22 page)

“Just get her to talk.” Darius crossed his arms over his
chest, his body planted behind her to keep her from running away, and sounded
bored. “If you have to inflict pain, so be it. I want answers as quickly as
possible.”

Krell moved his head to indicate that Charlie should take a
seat in the chair nearest to her. She needed to sit anyway, she reasoned, since
her knees wanted to collapse under her. She tried not to gawk at the white scar
lines on the man’s face. His skin was a pale gray, probably the lightest shade
she’d seen on the cyborgs so far. She dropped into the seat.

He wore black breeches with a high-collared, black, soft,
long-sleeve shirt. When he drew near, he did it with panther grace. A sense of
danger nearly radiated off him. Charlie trembled when she stared up into the
coldest eyes she’d ever seen in her life. The ice-blue color wasn’t just the
cause of her reaction, but they possessed a deadness that lurked in their
depths, as if he held no compassion at all.

“I’m Krell,” he rasped. “I see you noticed my face.” He
crouched before her, almost touching her knee. His hand lifted to his throat to
peel back the material, to expose the skin there.

Charlie’s mouth dropped open and then slammed closed at the
sight of the jagged, ugly scar slashed along his throat. She was certain
someone, at some point, had tried to slit his throat. It suddenly made his
harsh, scary voice understandable. He probably had damage to his larynx from
where he’d been cut.

“Humans did this.” He released the material and his hand
lowered to his waist. He jerked up his shirt to reveal a washboard stomach with
muscled ridges. She also noticed more scars but those were thinner lines, at least
six of them marked his belly. He dropped the shirt. “And put those on me. I
could show you more but I believe I have made my point. I’m not a fan of your
kind. You do not want to anger me.”

“Okay. I have nothing to hide.” She knew her voice had to
clue him in on how terrified she felt if her expressions weren’t. “I won’t
lie.”

He blinked and then his hand rose. She noticed more scars on
the back of his hand, on some of his fingers, and then his warm fingertips
brushed her throat. She jerked a little but then forced her body to remain
still. His touch returned to gently rest against the side of her throat.

“Are you an Earth spy?”

“No.”

“Tell me what you are.”

She remembered how important Zorus seemed to deem her status
on Earth. “I’m a grunt. I was raised in the Parkway section of the states. I
drew the attention of some of the upper class and they donated a scholarship
for me to get some schooling. I became a programmer. I’m good at it.”

“How did you come into contact with Councilman Zorus?”

“My brother was hired to rescue him from the medical
facility where I install security upgrades. He talked me in to helping him. He
left me with no choice but to rescue Zorus. I’m a fugitive from Earth now. If
the government finds me, they’ll execute me.”

Krell rubbed her throat gently and his gaze seemed to warm
slightly. “Do you love Zorus?”

“Yes.”

“Are you plotting to harm or kill him?”

“No!” She glared at him. “I’d never do that.”

“I find that very hard to believe. We don’t even like him.
How is it that you have found something to love about him?”

She drew in a shaky breath. “I know he comes off as a total
asshole, but deep down, he’s really sweet. I hated him right off the bat when
we met. He was rude and full of himself but he grew on me.”

Full lips curved slightly upward and he glanced at Darius.
“She’s telling the truth.”

“No,” Darius ground out harshly, his temper flaring. “She’s
using him. She’s drugged him or they implanted him.”

Krell’s fingers continued to trace her skin. He locked gazes
with Charlie again. “Are you drugging Zorus?”

“No.”

“Is there some way you are able to control him to make him
do as you order? Tell me how you would do it if you could. Don’t lie to me.
Tell me what options you have to do this.”

“Why ask her that? Just make her tell what she did, not what
she could do.”

Krell shot Darius an annoyed look. “Silence. The more she
talks the more I can read her.” He paused. “Also I enjoy the sound of her
voice. Shut up or leave. Your choice. Continue, Charlie.”

“No, I’m not controlling him in any way. Is that even
possible? At first, I thought he had programming and, trust me, I wanted to
hack into his systems to change a few things. That growling he does when he’s
pissed—” She paused. “Forget that part. I’m not doing myself any favors by
admitting that, am I? Anyway, he’s more than convinced me that he’s got his own
mind and is nothing similar to an android. I thought that’s what he’d be when I
got him out of that holding cell. It nearly messed up the escape I had planned
since he was so much bigger than any of the droids I’d ever seen before. The
clothes I brought him didn’t fit and I had to have him hold me instead of the
other way around when we had to be lifted up the side of a building by a cable.
There wasn’t any way in hell I could have kept hold of him and I sure wasn’t
about to let him drop to his death. I can only hack into computers and Zorus
has a mind. I’m just a programmer, a grunt, and I’m not a spy.”

“Is that what humans from your younger generation believe us
to be? Androids?”

“Yes.”

“Are you and Zorus engaging in intercourse?”

A blush warmed her cheeks. “That’s really rude to ask, but
considering I’ve been kidnapped and I’m afraid, I’ll answer. Yes. I told you I
love him and he loves me.” She drew in a deep breath. “Zorus is going to be
really pissed if you hurt me. He’s really protective of me and possessive.”

The ghost of a smile returned. “Possessive? Why did you use
that word?”

She wanted to pull away from his fingertips, which had
lowered to her collarbone and under the edge of her shirt. “I mean he nearly
killed his own son for trying to rape me so please stop letting your hands
roam. It’s one thing to feel my pulse while you talk to me but now you’re
exploring. I know the difference.”

His fingers froze. The dead, hard look returned when his
eyes seemed to grow cold again. His mouth pressed together and his nostrils
flared. “Darius attempted to rape you?”

“Yes.”

Krell rose to his feet quickly, his touch gone, and glared
at the other cyborg. “You never mentioned that to me.”

“She’s human. She has no authority to say no, therefore I
can’t force intercourse with her.”

“Leave. She’s not a spy, she truly loves Zorus, and is no
threat to him. She isn’t controlling him by any means you feared. If she is a
weakness to him it is only from the emotions he feels for her.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“Then you are a fool. Leave, Darius.”

“Fine. Get up, human. We’re leaving.”

Krell took a long step forward, placed his body between
where Charlie sat and Darius stood. “She remains here with me.”

“I’m taking her with me.”

The man dressed in black shook his head, shoved his long,
black hair back over his shoulder with one hand, and took a defensive stance.
“She isn’t going anywhere with you. If you try to take her from me, I’ll fight
you.”

Oh shit!
What the hell is going on?
Krell
braced to fight his friend. She had no idea why he would do that or what his
intentions were.

Darius snarled before the two men lunged for each other.
Charlie leapt out of the chair and backed into a corner to keep out of the way
when the two large cyborgs tangled in the middle of the living room.

* * * * *

The meeting had gone on far longer than Zorus had estimated.
While he tended to just issue orders, the other council members wanted to vote
on everything meticulously. They’d been a little irritated when they realized
he’d already ordered Onyx to contact two of their ships to return home to
protect the planet. Three members of the council had backed Zorus to help sway
the votes in his favor. Those three had the displeasure of personally having
contact with the Markus Models.

Councilman Parlis had argued the hardest, alongside Zorus.
They were friends, had been grown in the same cloning laboratory on Earth, and
even trained together. After the meeting, they’d had a private talk.

“They are afraid.” Parlis hesitated. “So am I.”

“I am as well. We need to defend our planet rather than
spreading out our resources to hunt them down. It’s wiser to wait for them and
hit them full force when they come after us.”

“I’m just glad you’re in agreement with killing these
things. I approved of your original decision to study them until I met them
firsthand.” The other cyborg shivered. “Now I just want to end the threat once
and for all.”

“I agree.” Zorus had shaken his friend’s hand. “I need to
get home.”

“How is it working out with the human female?”

Zorus didn’t attempt to hide the smile. “She makes me
happy.”

“You deserve it.”

He’d left then. When he got home, silence greeted him
instead of Charlie. “I’m home,” he called out loudly. “Charlie?”

Broken glass lay scattered across the kitchen floor. Fear
that she’d been cut by it sent him rushing toward their bedroom. Within
minutes, he knew she wasn’t anywhere to be found in the apartment. Alarm grew
into panic. He had to calm enough to link to his security system.

She’d had to hack her way into it to be able to activate the
elevator. It took him a good minute to find where she’d managed to penetrate
his security. He frowned and then cursed. She hadn’t hacked it but he knew who
had.

“Darius,” he snarled. He linked to outgoing communications
to contact his son. When he wasn’t able to reach him, his eyes opened, and pure
rage burned through his veins.

He rushed for the elevator but then hesitated. Darius
wouldn’t take her to his home. It would be the first place he’d search. His son
would know he’d come after Charlie, would expect it. He closed his eyes to log
back in to his security system, hoping to find out how long they’d been gone.
It would help him deduce how far they could have traveled inside the city.

The logs to the elevator surprised him. Darius hadn’t left
the building but had instead gotten off six floors below. He hacked into the
building occupant information files to see which cyborgs held residences there.
One name made him stiffen. He knew where Darius had taken Charlie.

Rage and fear battled for dominance while he suffered the
short elevator ride. Krell had to be the best human interrogator on Garden but
he had grown unstable over the years. One thing had become clear. He hated
humans after what they’d done to him when they’d realized he’d been helping in
the rebellion on Earth. They’d tortured him and then left him to die. The idea
of him hurting Charlie made him run when the elevator doors parted.

Zorus didn’t knock. He lifted a booted foot instead, his
anger fiery hot, and planted it near the electronic lock with all his force.
The impact sent the door crashing inward. He stormed inside, only to be brought
up short by the sight of Krell and Darius in the midst of a brutal physical
altercation. He spotted Charlie pressed tightly into the far corner of the
room. He inched around the battling males to reach her.

He evaluated her as he pulled her into his arms, careful to
keep his body blocking her from the males. She looked pale and frightened but
no visible damage marred her. “Are you unharmed?”

“I’m good.”

Zorus held her tighter, grateful he’d located her in time,
and then turned his head. Krell had beaten Darius severely but nothing life
threatening. Darius had lost his strength and when a punch sent him to the
floor, he stayed down. Krell snarled out in victory, ran a bloody-knuckled hand
through his long hair, and then turned to glower at Zorus.

“I’m glad you arrived, though you will replace the broken
door immediately. I was about to contact you to come collect her. I do not mind
asking females questions but I will take no part in the torture of one.” Krell
shot Darius a disgusted look. “I wasn’t about to allow him to leave with her,
considering he didn’t believe it when I told him she’s being truthful.”

Zorus shifted Charlie to his side to face the scarred
cyborg. “What is going on?”

“Darius said he needed my skills to detect if the female had
deceived you. She accused Darius of attempting forced intercourse with her. I
do not allow that. He doubted my skills and planned to take her out of here. I
don’t trust him to guard a female when he has no honor. Any male who uses
brutality on a weaker female who has no chance of defense is a coward.” Krell
suddenly moved and kicked Darius in the stomach. “Those types believe it is fun
to harm the weaker opponent. Did you enjoy that, Darius?” He hauled back his
foot again but then refrained from landing it on the downed cyborg. “I should
kick you in the genitals but I’ll refrain. I know you are sterile since we
share a breeding pack but Jazel will hold issue with it if I put you out of
commission, making you unable to have intercourse with her.”

Krell backed away before he gave Zorus a cold look. “Protect
your female better. You would never allow another male to harm her without
facing your full wrath. I know he is your son but do the right thing this
time.”

Zorus hid his shock that the fight had been prompted by
Krell defending Charlie. He also refrained from wincing when Darius moaned. His
son had been beaten badly. “I am contacting security now. They’ll take him to
medical and then to a holding cell.”

“Good.” Krell growled the word. “You should have brought her
to me immediately to dispel any doubts cyborgs had about her loyalty to you.
Emotions are a bitch, aren’t they?”

“Yes,” Zorus sighed, “they are. You’re correct but I wanted
to protect Charlie. I trust her but didn’t want her to doubt that by having to
bring her to you for verification. I didn’t need any.”