Their power locked together. Her gold aura engulfed his own. His power split against it, continuing to force her back.
But on the fourth strike, he let it hit, took it, absorbed it, and hurled it back into her. She fell into the wall. It knocked the wind from her lungs. Heat tore across her flesh as if she’d been flayed open.
No one moved as her breath returned in a ragged pull, disappointment and humiliation warring on her face. This wasn’t over. She straightened, slow and unsteady at first, but managed to eventually pull herself upright, determination flaring anew.
“Fascinating,” he rasped.
“Unbelievable, someone so capable can be so incompetent,” she said, hoarse.
“You want the hard way? Then get on your knees—or prove you shouldn’t be.”
His own gold aura—a mirror of hers—flew forward. Agony lanced through her skull, instant and absolute. She fell to the floor. Her knees hit the ground in a bruising drop.
And still, his consciousness kept crashing into hers. He didn’t knock or even test. Ryker just entered, total in his dominion over her mind.
“That’s better,” he purred.
His presence broke down her barriers with a violence that allowed no space to hide. Nothing she’d seen in Taryn’s memories, or any others, could have prepared her for the scale of it. This man didn’t dismantle someone’s mind; he consumed it.
“You’re an asshole,” she gasped.
“I am.”
He crouched, watching her earnestly as he sifted through her mind. She felt him linger on her moments of shame, on dark memories and places she tried not to look too hard at.
“You hide behind anger,” he said. “And still come back for more.”
Her body shook from the raw exposure and embarrassment.
“You want me to stop?” he asked softly. “Then make me.”
His words made her powers come raging through her limbs. This wasn’t the same break she’d felt when he threatened Cary. It was deeper and louder. Almost unavoidable—just pure force. An unrestrained, undirected detonation.
She screamed as a gold shockwave flared outward. Completely out of control.
Still on her knees, she threw it at him.
Ryker stumbled. Shock—real and unfiltered—flashed across his face.
“Do that to anyone else,” she growled, “but not me. Those memories are mine—and you’ll pay for each one you saw.”
A few seconds passed while Ryker stared like she was something new. Something worth fearing. Then, his mask returned.
“Get up,” he said, voice lethal.
When she refused to move, he grabbed her by the arm and lifted her upright.
A low sound rumbled in his throat as he dragged a fingertip along her neck. Her skin welled where his touch burned. The mark alone made her furious.
“You’re even more of a bastard than they say,” she whispered.
“I know.” He moved away from her again. “This was a test.”
Audrey wanted to cry, her frustration nearly boiling over. After all her planning, he’d still managed to test her like everyone else here. Home Field processed people—and she’d been no different.
She forced aside defeat. “Breaking into my head was a test?”
“No.” He shook his head. “Angering you was.”
