Gunner slowly dropped his finger from the bar and pushed off the wall to stand in front of Ballsy. The man didn’t move at his approach. “It is very curious. Have you broken in?”
Ballsy smiled faintly, his gaze still averted. “Yes and no. Are you worried?” His eyes moved back to his. “Hiding something good? Besides the sexdolls, that is.”
“You wouldn’t be asking me that if you knew. You wouldn’t be standing here if you got in.”
Ballsy’s smile faltered before returning. “We all have our secrets.” He quirked his head. “Did you get a new set of eyes installed? Or are you blind, Gunner?”
“I see you clearly,” he said menacingly, his voice lower now. He didn’t like the idea of any of these lowlife fuckers touching his things. “Clear as day.”
“I’m sure you do see me. You won’t be the first to threaten though, and you won’t be the last. But tell me, from one man with an implant to another, was it worth it?”
Ballsy’s question threw him and Gunner could feel the eyes of everyone watching their exchange in the brig. He felt her eyes on his back. The raw, slow boil of his restraint was beginning to crack.
“No,” he lied.
“Interesting... I don’t expect you to give me the passcodes to your ship but I have to ask... is it worth your life?”
“Is it worth yours?”
Ballsy’s laugh was soft and wispy and as deranged as a butterfly with its wings pulled off. “No. No, it’s not.” He turned toward the guard. “The lock was tampered with. Not sure how but I’ll find out. Always do.”
The guard grunted acknowledgment, looking back at Royce’s cell.
Gunner cracked his neck as Ballsy readdressed him. “We’ll talk again soon... I hope.”
Hope is a bad choice of word.Gunner watched him move away, out of range for a direct attack, and leave the brig with his head bowed and his hologram holding his attention.
He listened to Ballsy’s steps recede down the long grated passageways, and he followed the trail of the man’s tech until it faded into the distance. It was enough for Gunner to track him when he was ready.
“Listen up!” the remaining guard yelled, palming his cattle prod. “We all know what this is so don’t give me any fucking trouble. Do that and I won’t beat the shit out of you!”
Gunner retreated back to his spot next to Ely and wrapped his fingers around the bar again. A momentary surge of disappointment hit him when she didn’t touch him back.
“What’s happening?” he asked her, whispering.
“Recruitment.”
Gunner could hear the tremor in her voice. He watched the guard pacing the pathway. He wanted to stalk after him, creep on him until he went in for the kill.
“Don’t say anything,” Ely whispered beside him again.
He nodded and settled down his beast. “Why?”
“It’s a game. It’s always a game...”
***
ELODIE GROUND HER PALMagainst the cold floor, poised halfway into kneeling and ready to shoot to her feet in a moment’s notice. It didn’t feel good. Nothing had been the same since her dad left and Gunner took his place.
And she had touched him. She had broken her own terms. Did it count? Would Gunner touch her now and use that small amount of contact against her? Why wasn’t she afraid?
She shook her head slightly, still feeling his skin on her temple, his finger, and how she’d rested her head lightly on it. For a blistering moment she wanted to feel his breath on her forehead again and the comfort she remembered them bringing. And now she noticed his hand was there again, beckoning her to come to it, to him, and be sated.
Human contact.
The guard walked down the row and briefly out of sight and she slowly slinked Gunner’s jacket off her shoulders and pushed it behind her. She didn’t want the guard to see her in it. She didn’t want to be noticed at all.
Unlike the previous times, her heart wasn’t racing. She knew she was safer with Gunner by her side. Despite not havingrealproof that he killed Royce, Gunner had somehow left his cell. A fleeting sense of safety took over. The extra rations he’d given her remained hidden in the inner pockets of his jacket.
