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“Asshole would eat those kittens alive.”
“No. He’s a softie when you get to know him. Please? I don’t want them to be scared.”
“Sure. I’ll go see to them now. Let them get to know each other. You get some rest.” Rexx barely breathed as he watched Daisy slip into sleep. He didn’t know how he’d do it, but he’d make sure she got through this. This nightmare would soon be a distant memory. They’d be out capturing creatures again, and she’d be complaining about him being overbearing and not letting her take any risks.
And as for those kisses, the touches that curled around his heart and made him feel like he could be whole again, he’d deal with that another time. That was his mess to sort out, not hers.
Rexx wasn’t good enough for Daisy. She’d realize that soon enough, and then this would be over.
The door behind him opened. Angel walked in.
“How’s she doing?” she whispered.
“She’s sleeping.”
“Have you got a minute?”
“Sure.” He disentangled his fingers from Daisy’s and followed Angel out of the room. “What is it?”
“Cleo told me not to say anything, but I thought you should know. It’s bad news from High Command.”
Rexx’s top lip curled. “What do they want now?”
“They’ve put in an order to have Daisy collected in twelve hours. She’s considered compromised and unreliable.”
A hot, vibrating anger throbbed through Rexx’s core. “Are they out of their minds? That’s not happening. She’s fine here. You can observe her. You’ll see if anything goes wrong.”
“We argued all those points, but they wouldn’t budge. They’re jumpy. They had a crew compromised a couple of months ago. They can’t have that happen again.”
“I know about that. This isn’t the same thing. The crew of the Rampage were bribed. Daisy’s sick.”
Angel’s mouth twisted to the side. “Daisy’s been implanted with alien technology I don’t understand. I’m not sure how she’ll respond to it.”
“But you will figure it out. If they give us enough time, we’ll fix this.”
“Cleo fought for you, but High Command is adamant. Daisy’s out of here.”
Horror clenched around Rexx’s heart. There was no way in hell that was happening. He wasn’t handing her over to a bunch of out of touch bureaucrats, who risk assessed every move before making it.
“Hey, take a breath. Relax,” Angel said.
“I don’t need to relax. I need to stop those jumped up asswipes from taking Daisy from me.”
“You do, Rexx. You’re growling.” Angel pinched his arm. “Get control. We won’t let anything bad happen to Daisy. She’s our girl. We look out for our own.”
“So tell High Command to go fuck themselves.”
She sighed. “Cleo almost did. But they only want what’s best for the crew. They’re considering all our safety.”
“They’re morons who’ve forgotten what it’s like to be out in the field. They know nothing about being in a team.”
“You won’t hear me arguing that point with you,” Angel said. “I wanted you to know as soon as possible. It’ll give you a chance to say goodbye to Daisy. Help her to see this isn’t a bad thing.”
He grunted and looked back to where Daisy slept.
“Rexx, I know this is hard for you, but we want the best for her. And High Command have amazing medical facilities. They’ll look after her. This is right, even though it sucks to let her go. Help me out with this. Make sure Daisy stays calm. Help her to see this is the fastest way to get that alien tech out of her.”
“Yeah, sure. I’ll do the right thing by Daisy.” There was no way he was letting her go. He’d play along if he had to, but he was getting her out of here. The Apocalypse was no longer a safe place to be.
