She stared daggers at him.
He crushed the burning tip against the metal table beside him. The steel hissed. “You’re a liability,” Ryker said.
The room braced, and the air around him warmed in an instant. Audrey didn’t realize why until his hand wrapped around her throat.
Kat appeared at his side, fingers on his forearm like a cool balm on a burn. “She doesn’t know. You can feel that. We need her.”
He ripped his arm away. “God damn it!” Lighting yet another cigarette, the flame trembled. They all watched the Separatist leader warily. “Mihail let Sophia die and saved you for a reason,” Ryker said at last.
Nikos stopped moving. Even Kat watched him carefully now.
Audrey’s chest heaved. She supposed Mihail was probably powerful enough to have stopped her final slice through Sophia. Yet he hadn’t.
Ryker’s voice was dark, heavy. “What can you do that made him choose you?”
Time collapsed in on itself.
Not because he was guessing. Because he wasn’t.
He was getting close. And if he understood what she could really do, the look in his eyes told her that he wouldn’t kill her, despite all his threats.
He would keep her.
Taryn’s warning about not letting them see everything rang in her head.
Audrey felt everyone’s attention snap to her, waiting, wanting to see what she would say. She understood, with sudden brute clarity, that her answer to this question might decide if she walked out of here at all. The fact that no one knew the full extent of her powers was the only card she had left to play, and right now, that was disintegrating. If they realized what she could actually do, it wouldn't just shift how Ryker saw her—it could make her valuable or expendable in the blink of an eye.
Was survival better than death if it meant becoming Ryker’s weapon?
28
Her heart thundered, but her face stayed blank. “Just like you said, I’m useless.” She shrugged. “I can read minds. That’s it.”
“Wrong.” Ryker pointed his cigarette at her. “You’re an empath, too. Stop lying, Audrey, or I’ll rip it out of you. Mihail thought you had more. Prove it.”
He’d tracked her for months and still hadn’t learned the truth. That was the only leverage she held. If he revealed her real abilities, he could rip away her only protection, use her, or destroy her, threatening Cary even more. Guarding her secret was the last shield between them and annihilation.
“What else can you do?” he asked.
“Nothing.”
“Stop lying.” He dropped his gaze, hesitated, then hurled a broken tablet past her shoulder.
She covered her face but still saw the device splinter against the wall, fragments floating in the air a few seconds before falling.
Ryker cocked his head.
Red clouded her vision as she stalked forward and pushed her hands against his chest. He didn’t budge. “Don’t ever try that again,” she growled.
“I’ll do whatever I want.” He leaned in. “And I can’t wait to see you on your knees when I crack your pretty head open.”
“You’ll be waiting a long time.” She shoved her aura into his, forcing him back. He didn’t move far, but it was enough to prove she could.
Something flashed in his eyes—interest. “Then get on your knees.”
“Go to hell.”
“You’re just a liability with a talent for self-destruction.” He took a drag, exhaling smoke into the room. “Mihail thought you might replace Sophia.” He tsked. “I’m beginning to wonder why.”
