"I’d put that down if I were you," Isaac said, shoving his weapon deeper into her side. "Unless you want me to kill her right here."
Chapter Eighteen
Gideon stared down the barrel of his own rifle at the man holding the woman he loved. A fact he couldn’t deny. He loved Zadie, and there was no way in hell he was letting Isaac, or Hyperion, take her from him.
Gideon’s heart pounded in his chest. His lungs burned every time he tried to suck in oxygen. His right eye twitched.
This was not how things were going to end. Not if he had anything to say about it.
Isaac hadn't changed in the last two months. He had the same bulky frame. Same angular jaw. Same sharp eyes that always looked like they were running calculations three steps ahead of the conversation. But the way he'd disarmed Zadie and pinned her against his body—that was new.
"I said put it down." Isaac pressed the barrel deeper into Zadie's side.
Firmly pressing her lips together, she cocked her head and narrowed her eyes. Zadie wasn’t the kind of woman Gideon would ever want to piss off. Enhanced or not, when she broke free, Isaac was going to pay a price for this.
"I’m not going to ask again," Isaac said.
Gideon set the rifle on the ground.
"Kick it toward me."
He pressed his toe against the metal and gave it a good shove. The rifle skidded across pine needles and disappeared under a deadfall.
Isaac’s breathing was rapid but appeared controlled. His pupils had dilated. A vein in his temple pulsed with a rhythm that Gideon shouldn’t be able to see, much less time.
"VKR-1 or did you roll the dice with TITAN?" Gideon asked, keeping his gaze on Zadie. Her fingers curled tight around Isaac’s forearm.
"You always think you have all the answers," Isaac said.
"If you’re taking TITAN, then you know as well as I do that Darwin abandoned it because it was unstable. The side effects come on fast, and it’ll kill you faster than?—"
"I’m not stupid." Isaac tightened his grip on Zadie.
She groaned.
"Where’s Darwin?" Isaac asked.
"I wouldn’t know." The sound of gunfire continued to echo across the valley. A couple of pops. A pause. A few more a second or two later. They came from all directions. Isaac’s team had done a good job of locating and keeping everyone separate, but he hadn’t killed anyone, yet. Maybe that had been the plan. Who knew with Isaac. Gideon’s objective was to monopolize Isaac’s focus and concoct a scheme for their escape, with the hard drive’s preservation being paramount. "I haven’t seen him since the day I was fired."
"I don’t believe you," Isaac said. "Where’d you find this one and her friends?"
"Dark web." Gideon had never been the best at lying. Poker had always been out of the question. But things changed when a psychopath wedged a gun into the side of the woman he loved more than life itself. "I needed help making sure Finch lost a few bucks, and they answered."
"Right." For a second. Isaac shifted his gaze left then right. "I’m going to need you to take out the earpiece."
Gideon reached up and pulled the earpiece free. He held it between his fingers.
"You too, sweetheart."
Zadie did the same.
"Now both of you drop them and step on them."
Gideon did as instructed and crushed it under his boot.
Isaac heeled hers into the ground.
The gunfire from the compound was still audible. Some loud pops, others muffled by timber and terrain. But they’d heard the exchange, and knew Zadie and Gideon’s comms were down.
