Page 96 of Hunted to Be Mine

“Let me guess.” I sat on the bed’s edge. “I’m bait for Specter. Dresner thinks he’ll come.”

“The subject designated Specter has been located,” Blackout said. “Your purpose is different.”

That cut through me. “They found him? When?”

He did not respond.

“What purpose, then?” I kept my voice even. “What does Dresner want with me?”

“The Director will explain.”

New angle. “How long have you been watching me sleep? Seems like a waste of your skill set.”

“Time is irrelevant to the mission.”

“And the mission is? Babysitting?”

Something flickered across his features, annoyance maybe, then it was gone. “Protection and containment.”

“So I’m both protected and contained.” I let out a small laugh. “Neat trick.”

His jaw tightened a notch. “Your psychological tactics are ineffective.”

“Not tactics. Conversation.” I leaned back on my hands. “You must get bored standing there.”

“I do not experience boredom.”

“Right. That would require being human.” I studied him. “But you were, once. Before they stripped out Xavier.”

His fingers twitched at his side.

“I helped Specter pull pieces of his life back.” Calm, steady. “Even Quinta has gaps. There are always weak points.”

“Specter was defective,” Blackout said. “Prima and Secunda generation conditioning were flawed.”

“And yours isn’t?” I lifted a brow. “Then why the micro-reactions when I say certain names? The tight jaw. The pupil shift.”

He held my stare, and for the first time I saw something behind his eyes, not feeling but caution.

“They told you what I do.” I kept my voice low. “Warned you I’d try to play you. Gave you counters.”

He said nothing. It fit.

“I’m not trying to break your programming,” I said softly. “It’s breaking on its own. Force a mind to be something it’s not, and it pushes back.”

“You will cease this line of discussion.”

Hands up, palm-out. “Fine. Weather? Sports? Great thread count?”

His face didn’t change, but he went even stiller.

“Or we can sit in quiet. I’m good with that.”

He returned to his post, eyes forward. Perfect again. Still, something had shifted. The quiet wasn’t clean anymore.

I eased back against the headboard. My skull throbbed. Under the calm, a hard knot sat low in my gut. Specter had been located. Dresner wanted me for a reason. And my only company was a weapon in a human body.

But I’d seen the seams, small and quick, but there. That was my way through.