“You have all my information. What do you mean you don’t know who I am? A fucking Cyborg! Vee, who the fuck is sponsoring you?”
“That’s akin to telling me you’re a human. And what will you do if I tell you? You already promised to make me pay!”
He was going to rip out his hair. “Can’t you see you’re being used? We both are?”
“Hasn’t the damage been done? He asked me to pretend to be you, to add you to my team, that’s all. He’d take care of the rest. You weren’t supposed to be real.”
“Vee, so help me Satan, if you don’t tell me, I’ll force it out of you one way or the other,” he warned. Somehow, imagining his hands on Vee’s flesh made his groin tense. He reached down and adjusted his cock. She was too small for him, too young. “You could be in danger.”
She sighed, and he literally heard the anger rush out of her. “Aren’t Ialreadywith you? And why do you care? I can take care of myself. I’m a woman, Cypher, and used or not, I’m being paid to achieve my dreams.” Her voice had ended with a whisper. “But even so,” she continued before he could say something, “I signed the contract, not you. You not being real was a part of it. I’ll go back tomorrow and—”
“No.”
“No?”
He didn’t want her near anyone who might be using her, not before he could get to her first.
“Where are you now?” he asked.
“Home…”
“Stay there until I arrive. You’re not to leave.” The threatening messages on her site unnerved him.
“You just told me to vanish…”
“I’m not going to hurt you,” Cypher barked.
“…that’s what she said before I left. Cyborgs don’t hurt humans, not unless they deserve it.”
“For fuck’s sake, who?”
“The EPED.”
Cypher let out a roar. He grabbed his armrests and shattered them.
Nightheart. Of course it was Nightheart. The piece of shit was ruthless in getting what he wanted. Cypher should’ve known. Nightheart had been trying to recruit him for years as a Retriever for his Exploration Division, but Cypher refused to leave Ghost.
He didn’t think the other Cyborg would stoop so low as this though.Perhaps I don’t know him as well as I thought.
He turned on Zeph. Couldn’t keep the bull shark. And Nightheart’s best Monster Hunter is Gunner, one of the worst Cyborgs among us.
Cypher should’ve suspected Nightheart.
Cypher was one of the strongest shifters amongst them. A prime candidate for Nightheart, a perfect addition to his team. What could a spider, a snake, even a dog do when up against a bear? No offense to Dommik, Stryker, or Netto, who he respected. But what could Nightheart do if Cypher went up against him?
Nightheart was terrifying to any Cyborg, but Cypher?
No.
Cypher was made of pure, rippling muscle and metal stacked upon each other. His ancestors were some of the largest carnivorous mammals that roamed Earth, and though he took traits from the grizzly and kodiak clan, he did not possess the DNA of those who were the primordials of his species.
It made no difference.
But his body was large to contain his animal, and the metal plates within him were perfectly infused with nanobots of the Ursidae gene line. When he shifted full mecha, he was larger than any bear in existence, a pure powerhouse of might. His grip was strong, his jaws made of rare pyrizian metal, and he not only had the brawn of his body but also had claws that cut clean through metal. No expense was spared when it came to his creation long ago. Apparently, some doctor favored him.
If his claws didn’t immediately tear his prey in two, his teeth would. If neither worked, Cypher could crush his prey beneath his weight.
Right now, he wanted so badly to use both on Nightheart.
