“Wait outside,” he said to Vee. “I have something to discuss with Nightheart privately.”
“If it has to do with me, I want to stay. I will stay.”
There she is, the spitfire.
“It doesn’t,” he said. Cypher released her hand.
“Promise?”
“Yes.”
Vee nodded, straightened out her dress, and moved into the hallway. “Fine. Okay.”
He closed the door softly behind her and faced his brethren. Nightheart rubbed his lower lip with his finger, watching him.
The next moment, Cypher was slamming his fist into Nightheart’s cocky face and pinning him to the floor. Cold laughter filled Cypher’s audio as his body shifted. His head exploded outward with metal, his hair turned to fur down his back, and his nanofiber clothing loosened around him while he grew to twice his normal size.
The rich scent of synthetic blood hit his sensors.
Nightheart continued to laugh. “Doesn’t this feel good?”
Cypher sank his claws into Nightheart’s chest and threw him against the wall. Before he hit, Nightheart vanished and reappeared on the other side of the room.
A low, threatening rumble tore from Cypher’s throat as he straightened to face the other Cyborg, his jaw low, his sharp teeth wet. “Is this what you wanted?” he roared. “For me to unload?” He stalked toward Nightheart.
“It feels good, doesn’t it, bear? When’s the last time you let him out? The war? You’re not meant to be locked in a room, half-asleep for decades at a time.”
“That’s not for you to decide, you piece of shit.”
“No.” Nightheart cocked his head to the side. “But you’ve already made your choice, haven’t you? Your humanity may balk, but your animal and your machine are in agreement.”
Cypher snarled.
“You’re out now, my friend. Do you want to go back to that cage?” Nightheart asked.
The aggression in Cypher wavered, but energy rushed through his systems in sizzling waves. That energy hit every nerve ending and blood vessel before filling his systems, recharging, only to burst back through his body again. Electrical power pulsed, and the excess energy he’d stored away for countless years was finally released… It intoxicated him.
Though twice his normal size, a feeling of weightlessness shuddered through him. He rumbled in delight despite the company and didn’t want to pull himself back into the man-shell. Not now, not ever again.
But he dropped his paws to the floor and did so anyway. His body retracted, restored, and shifted to become human once more. When it was done, Cypher stared at his hands as he scraped his nails over the ground, wishing they were claws. His hair fell around him like a veil while he forced the last of the metal connections in his body to lock in place.
When he lifted his head, Nightheart was crouched before him with a contract in his hand. Cypher bared his teeth.
A digital copy was sent to his internal servers, and Cypher accepted it as he sat back on his heels.
“Vee’s safety will be continual, whether you’re on Earth or not,” Nightheart said. “Whether she chooses you or not. She gets what she wants, I get what I want, and you, dear friend, will finally be the Cyborg you’re meant to be.”
“You’re a fucking piece of scum.”
Nightheart’s lips twisted into a cold smile. “I chose well for you, though, didn’t I?”
Cypher signed the contract, sealing his fate. He wasn’t going to give Nightheart the satisfaction of answering.
13
Cypher stormed out of the conference room. His eyes were fierce and horrifying, his mouth a sharp line of fury.
He grabbed her arm and pulled her from the building, through the angry protestors who he roared at, making them flee. And when she asked what happened with Nightheart, all he did was snarl as he put her into the hovercraft. She tried to contact Mia, but Cypher snapped his hand over her wristcon and it wouldn’t turn back on no matter how many times she tried.
