Page 69 of Neon Flux

“Yes, I’ve been thinking about you.” The device cooled and stopped humming.

“And how many times have you fucked yourself while thinking about me, running your hands over that scar?”

There was no point in lying.

“A few.”

The device burned painfully.

“A lot.”

He chuckled and ran his tongue over the sensitive skin under my jaw where my pulse beat.

“And how many times did you fuck some poor bastard, wishing it was me inside you, knowing that no one else would ever compare to the way I made you feel?”

I didn’t answer, and the device shook on my chest. The pain was brutal, but not as brutal as the look in his eye as he gripped my hair and snapped my head back so I couldn’t look away.

“Answer the fucking question.” The pain was already unbearable, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. His eyes burned that electric blue, and he snarled at me, but I clenched my jaw and just grinned at him.

His eyes were pure rage, and I expected him to hit me, hurt me—when the pain suddenly ended, and the device shut down.

Maddox had gotten very close to us without either of us noticing. We both turned to him.

“Seems a shame to burn those pretty tits over a question that hasnothingto do with our job here, Cy.”

Maddox practically grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and pulled him away. They started arguing in hushed voices, and I let my head loll back. The echoes of pain still throbbed through my body, and all I could focus on was breathing.

A moment later, Cy was back in my face.

“Looks like it’s your lucky day. We’re getting the call back to HQ. Now you just sit tight, and we’ll finish this conversation later.”

“You’re just going to leave me like this? What if I have to pee?”

“Not my problem.”

Maddox opened the heavy steel door to the room we were in. Cy followed behind, turning back just as he was out of sight.

“Until next time, doll.” He blew me a kiss, and I would have given anything to shock that stupid grin right off his face.

CHAPTER 24

CY

Ipropped my feet up on the conference table, swiping through files on my Vysor while Maddox updated Tex on what the analysis team had finally managed to piece together. Every once in a while, Tex would give me that strained look I knew meant he was suspicious of what I was doing. As far as he could tell, I was reviewing the case files Maddox had up on the screen.

Instead, I was flipping through everything I had on Eon. I rewatched the interrogation vid, watching the way her eyes burned as I leaned in close, running my hands along her scar. I shifted in my seat, adjusting my pants, and flicked the vid away again. This meeting was going to go on too long for me to be getting this turned on.

Maddox continued his droning. “In conclusion, the massive explosion in the Green District released an EMP that disabled much of the area for the remainder of the night and completely wiped all the sensors in Renard’s apartment. We have almost no surveillance.”

“Almost?” Tex asked, raising an eyebrow.

Maddox gestured to me, and I sighed, getting out of my chair. I swiped my Vysor, pulling a data set up on the shared display.

“Everything within 2.7 miles of the server got completely wiped by the EMP at 2:34 a.m. Everything from 2.7 to 3.9 miles shut down but we retained partial data from before the blast.” I pulled up a map showing overlapping circles of the EMP impact. Renard’s apartment sat well within the circle of complete destruction.

Tex frowned. “Unlikely to have anything useful from over a mile away.”

“Ah, that’s where you’re wrong, boss.” Tex gave me an annoyed look but said nothing. I flicked my hand again, and another overlay popped up.