Annika, a short, gymnast-muscled woman with long dark hair and empty flat blue eyes, had brought everyone back safely, but she’d lost half her spleen and now boasted a long scar down the side of her face.It was yet another thing to hate Sigma for, and Rowan found that hating the faceless monolith didn’t make her uncomfortable at all.
And yet sometimes, she wondered.
The transport door opened.Dr.Jilssen’s blue eyes peered out from behind their thick lenses.
Rowan’s stomach did its best to rise in revolt.She tasted bile, and her skin prickled.
“Miss Price!”As usual, the old man sounded delighted.He jammed the button that kept the transport door open, his rumpled lab coat rustling.“Just the person I wanted to see!Where are you going?”
She clutched the files to her chest like a schoolgirl, hitching in a breath.“Central,” she said, unable to lie.Why do I feel so sick every time I’m around him?The prickling intensified right on her nape.
He’s not dangerous,she told herself, and moved forward as if to step into the transport.She stopped.
Her body literally wouldn’t obey.She struggled with herself, not wanting to be impolite.
“Good!I’ll go with you.”He was beaming, his hands trembling slightly, like usual.But today there seemed something predatory about his face, lean and leathery instead of just old and fragile.His tie was blue, stained with something darker, and his right loafer was untied.
“I… I left something,” she stammered, backing away.This wasn’t like her; Rowan Price didn’t lie, and she didn’t give into irrational fear.
What if it’s not irrational?But I’m safe here, we’re all safe here.
“Rowan?”Now Jilssen stepped out of the transport, his face the picture of concern.But was there something else beneath that concern?Something… almost hungry?
“I have to go,” she began breathlessly, backing up two steps, then whirling—and almost running into Justin, the breath slamming out of her chest.He seemed to just appear sometimes without moving through space like a normal human, and since starting his regular workouts again, his shoulders were once more impossibly broad.
He caught her, one hand curling around her shoulder, and the other catching her upper arm, setting her back on her feet.“There you are.”His dark eyes, flat and ironic, flicked over her, probably taking in her scarlet cheeks and set jaw.Then he turned to Jilssen, who had retreated back into the transport.“Henderson says he needs one of those back.Afternoon, Doctor.”
“Well, maybe next time, Rowan.”Jilssen put on a jaunty smile.Was it Rowan’s imagination, or was the older mansweating?“Remember, I’ve got my eye on you!”
The transport doors closed.There was a slight whoosh.
He was gone.
Rowan let out a shaky breath.Justin used two fingers to tip her chin up, examining her face.His mouth was a straight line, his cheeks dark with afternoon stubble.The tingling from his touch washed through her, almost but not quite dispelling the sick sense of fear and dread.
“Christ,” he said.“He really upsets you, doesn’t he?”
“I don’t know why.”She leaned into his touch.“It’s probably nothing.I just…”
“Just what?”He looked interested, of course, but his gaze had fastened on her mouth.
“I get that sort of storm feeling, and my head aches.And my stomach.It’s…” She hesitated, plunged on.“It’s almost how I felt when that man tried to kidnap me.”
Justin’s gaze met hers.Rowan’s breath left her in a swift gasp.
His eyes had gone even more flat, cold and dark, and his jaw set.But it was as if a switch had flipped, turning him from Justin into Delgado, the cold machine the rest of them saw.There was something else, too.
Something she’d only seen once or twice, a kind of thoughtlessness in his face, the scary, static-laden last breath before an explosion of violence.
His fingertips were still under her chin.He trailed a soft touch along her jaw, then up her cheek.Rowan’s entire body flushed.
“Listen to me.”Quietly, as if taking it for granted she would.And she did—froze, her complete attention focused on him.“Don’teverdoubt that feeling, angel.Ever.It will keep you alive.From now on, don’t go anywhere without me, all right?I’ll make some inquiries.”
“What do you think is going on?”Is he saying it’s not safe here?The bottom dropped out of her stomach as if she was on a roller coaster; not a fun amusement ride but a scary, rickety, dangerous plunging toward the ground.
“I don’t know yet.”He caressed her cheek.It was vaguely jarring, the contrast between that empty emotionless face and the gentle touch.And the fierce emotion pouring out of him, wrapping around her, not drowning her like other people’s feelings, but… cradling, almost.“But I’ll find out.Until I do, don’t go anywhere without me.All right?”
She wanted to nod, but that might dislodge his fingers.“All right,” she whispered, and his gaze dropped down and fastened on her mouth again.
