Chained by the Cyborg (Cyborg Protectors Book 5)

by Alyse Anders

  Aidric cocked his head to the side. “What about your mate?”

  Zee turned his back on the commander, no longer able to face the full force of his far too intelligent gaze. “Leave her where she is.”

  “In stasis?”

  “She’ll be better off sleeping forever than being woken to meet me.”

  The best thing Zee could do for this mystery woman was stay as far away from her as possible.

  Chapter Two

  Aidric went out to greet Hallam when he arrived at the prison. It gave Zee time to collect his thoughts and get his anger under control. The rage that simmered below the surface of his consciousness had been a constant in his life since he’d opened his eyes on Aidric’s operation table. Most of that had been directed at Rennick and what had resulted from his actions on the battlefield that day. But there’d still been a healthy portion of that rage Zee had continuously directed at himself.

  He should have known Rennick wasn’t suited for fighting and told someone. Even as children, Rennick had been different, off in a way that Zee had never been able to accurately identify; meaner, yet completely charming when he wanted to be. When presented with the opportunity to fight in a war, Rennick had almost been giddy with excitement. Zee should have taken his commanding officer aside and told him of his concerns there and then.

  Not that they would have necessarily done anything, but he could have perhaps enlisted others to help keep an eye on his friend. But he’d been far too confident in his abilities to watch Rennick, fight off the Sholle and make everything right again for their planet. He’d been little more than a fool and deserved to continue to pay for his hubris with his service below the planet’s surface.

  The last thing Zee wanted was a mate.

  He couldn’t imagine bringing a woman here to live. What kind of life could he offer someone in a place like this? Being surrounded by killers and thieves who would happily stab her to death or use her as a bargaining chip in order to reclaim their freedom. Neither option sat well with Zee. He would never knowingly bring someone here and put their lives in danger.

  Never again.

  No, once Hallam arrived, he’d tell him to keep whoever this mate of his supposedly was secure in her stasis chamber. Or let her out and tell her that he’d died. He was doing her a favor staying away.

  Rennick’s mate as well.

  When Hallam and Aidric strode into his office, Zee was surprised to see a small smile on Hallam’s face. In all the years since the war, Zee hadn’t seen anything resembling a smile from him, not even when he’d managed to pull off a medical miracle to save a patient who should have died. It was a shame that Zee was about to remove it once gain.

  Hallam nodded at him in greeting. “I can tell from the look on your face that we have a problem.”

  “We do.” Zee couldn’t keep his contempt hidden.

  “After we’d come to an arrangement regarding your patient,” Aidric said as he sat at the chair by the door, “we were notified of a disturbance in solitary confinement.”

  Hallam narrowed his gaze. “Who?”

  “Rennick.” Gods, even saying his name felt as though he had ash in his mouth.

  Hallam’s frown returned. “What’s wrong with him?”

  Aidric thumped his head against the wall behind him. “He has an itching in the back of his brain.”

  Hallam nodded, apparently not surprised by the revelation. “The human we just woke from stasis.”

  Aidric nodded. “She’s the mate of a murderer.”

  Zee wanted nothing more than to spare her from such a fate, but if Aidric was to be believed, that wasn’t possible. “We can’t let her near him. Rennick would betray her or worse, and I won’t have that on my conscience.”

  “I’m still new to this mate idea.” Hallam’s gaze slipped down and his smile returned. “I’m not certain what will happen to Rennick or the woman if they’re kept apart.”

  “I haven’t had time to study the changes to your matrices to the extent that I’d like.” Aidric sat forward and straight, as though he was shaking off an invisible weight. “Your code is being modified somehow and those changes are what causes the itching. If the process isn’t allowed to be completed it might cause damage to the matrix of the affected cyborg.”

  “Couldn’t have happened to a better candidate.” Zee turned his back on the others and returned his attention to Rennick’s pacing in his cell. “As I said, I won’t allow a civilian – alien or otherwise – to get anywhere near him.”

  “You might not have a choice.” Aidric’s voice held a note of resignation. “We’ve seen the others go to extreme lengths to find their mates, to take them away from others and claim them as their own.”

  “He’s in maximum security.” Zee scanned the sensors, double checking that there weren’t any gaps in the measures. “Rennick isn’t going anywhere.”

  There was a beat of silence before Hallam moved beside him. Zee kept his gaze forward but couldn’t block out Hallam’s words over their cybernetic link.

  You know me well enough to realize I’m not prone to exaggeration. This sensation, it’s not something we can control. Rykal told me what would happen, prepared me, and I nearly killed someone for getting close to my mate.

  Zee did turn to look at him then. Of all the Fallen Zee knew, Hallam was the steadiest and least prone to overreactions. That’s not like you.

  No, it’s not. It defies all logic and reason to change who we are. Hallam crossed his arms and widened his stance. Now imagine someone like Rennick being subjected to those sensations. If we can’t control what happens then we’ll be forced to respond to the results. Hallam looked over at Aidric. “You may not like it, but if will be safer for everyone if we control step by step what happens with Rennick and his mate.”

  Fraking Rennick. “I’m not doing anything until I’ve had a chance to meet this woman. She needs to know exactly what’s happening and who she’s involved with.”

  “Given the circumstances, that’s reasonable.” Hallam reached for his data pad. “I’ll arrange to have her come to the prison so you can talk with – ”

  “I’ll go there.” If what they were saying was true, he wasn’t going to bring this woman any closer to Rennick than absolutely necessary. “If he’s affected by her proximity, then we don’t want her here.”

  Aidric got to his feet and laced his hands behind his back. “The moment you walk into that facility Rennick will be the last thing on your mind.”

  Zee clenched his jaw and ignored the slight tingle that trickled below his scalp. “I’ll be fine.”

  “You won’t.” Hallam nodded. “But that’s also something we can mitigate. Aerin is in the process of setting up the remainder of the stasis tubes and ensuring that the women are stable. Once that’s happened, we can bring you in to look for your mate.”

  “No.” Zee didn’t want a mate, didn’t need one. His life was lived in the dark with the worst people in the galaxy as tenants. It was a life that he’d chosen, and he wouldn’t inflict it on another soul. “My mate will stay where she is.”

  “I thought the same.” Hallam let out a sigh so soft, Zee could have imagined it. “We’ll take precautions.”

  “Every Fallen has reacted differently. Perhaps you will prove us wrong and be able to withstand her pull.” Aidric cocked an eyebrow. “I must return to Grus Prime before I’m missed.”

  “I’ll send a report when we’ve made a determination as to our next steps.” Hallam nodded toward Aidric. “Thank you for your assistance with our other problem.”

  Aidric waved the statement away before leaving the room.

  Zee snorted, unable to understand the man who so many feared and respected. “He seems different.”

  “I believe he’s feeling the weight of recent events. I never realized the guilt he has over his actions.”

  “I find it difficult to believe the Commander feels anything beyond his commitment to duty.”

  Hallam stared at the monit
or that showed Aidric’s retreat to the transportation tube to the surface. “I thought the same until recently. With each one of us being changed by these women, I believe the full weight of what he’d done to us has pressed harder on him.”

  “We were dead. He brought us back to life. A second chance that many others would have killed for.” Zee hadn’t held the anger over his rebirth that many of the others had. Though he would have preferred if Rennick had stayed dead.

  “If given the choice, I wouldn’t have come back.” The bitterness Zee had long associated with Hallam crept back into his voice. “Aidric made that decision for us all.”

  “Now you have a mate. Perhaps the universe is righting that wrong for you.”

  If Zee were to believe them, he too had a mate waiting for him in the medical facility. The concept of having someone to love, to share a life with wasn’t one that he’d particularly cared about. But the longer the idea sat in his head, the more his thoughts began to drift to who this woman might be. What would make someone decide to board a ship, go into stasis and wait to arrive in a sector where nothing but uncertainty lay? She must be half mad to choose a journey of that nature. Or desperate.

  Neither option sat well with Zee.

  “Regardless, we’ll need to prepare her for what’s to come. Her name is Tara, by the way.” Hallam nodded before moving away from the console. “Contact me before you arrive, and I’ll move her into a room where we can talk. Lena or one of the other humans should be there as well. This won’t be an easy conversation to have.”

  It certainly wasn’t one Zee was looking forward to having. No one deserved to learn that the man she’s supposedly come across the galaxy to meet was a killer. “Tomorrow.”

  “Until then.” Hallam strode from the room without a backward glance, leaving Zee alone.

  The silence of the small office pressed down on him within moments of Hallam’s departure. He needed to get out and move, to burn off the excess energy that his matrix appeared unable to temper. Perhaps it was time for him to see Rennick face to face. Zee turned and was leaving the office before the command to do so registered in his matrix. He hadn’t spent any time with Rennick since the beginning of his incarceration, but that had been a choice that had nothing to do with their past. Zee wasn’t likely to spend time with any of the other prisoners here, so there was no reason why he’d afford Rennick special treatment.

  Even if he’d been the reason Zee had been killed and reborn.

  He knew the path to the maximum-security area without needing to bring the map up in his head. Every corridor, walkway, doorway and hidden entrance had long been burned into his mind. That knowledge allowed him to continue to monitor the sensors, check statuses of other prisoners and those of the guards.

  What if you can’t withstand the pull of your mate?

  Zee clamped down on that thought immediately. There was no way he could open himself up to that level of weakness. It simply wasn’t possible. Whoever they thought this woman he’d be so drawn to was, she would need to remain sleeping.

  Turning the corner, he stepped into the waiting transportation tube that led to the bottom level of the prison. This was the most secure area in the entire facility; only the worst of the worst were held here, knowing they would never again see the planet’s surface.

  Only Rennick was on this floor.

  Tension in Zee’s chest and head made it difficult to breathe and think. Unlike the annoying tickle in the back of his brain that he’d experienced earlier, this sensation was one Zee had experienced before. The closer he got to Rennick, the stronger his awareness of his cyborg brethren he’d become. Unlike the cybernetic connections he’d shared with the other Fallen, the moment Zee got into range with Rennick, there was a buzzing that would begin in his ears and phantom words would bleed into his brain.

  The moment the tube doors opened, Zee was hit with a wave of overwhelming panic, frustration and need. The emotions slammed into him far stronger than anything he’d ever experienced coming from Rennick before. Gone was the darkness that would send a chill through Zee’s body whenever he got close, only for this hyper desperation to replace it.

  He knew the moment Rennick was aware of his presence, because everything instantly stopped. Zee took a breath and waited, not sure he could step out into the corridor. He closed his eyes and cleared his mind, not wanting to give Rennick anything he could use for ammunition against him.

  I’m surprised you’re here. There was confusion in Rennick’s voice. I should have realized there was something larger at play.

  It had been far too long since Rennick spoke to him. Their cybernetic link made conversation far too intimate for Zee’s liking. He should respond with a taunt, a bite of information that would serve to tease Rennick’s ignorance, but Zee couldn’t do it.

  As stoic and angry as ever. Zee could practically see Rennick’s sneer. Why have you come?

  I don’t know. The words left his mind before Zee could pull them back.

  Ah, he does speak. It has been so long I’d assumed you’d forgotten how.

  Zee should leave. He owed Rennick nothing; no information about what was happening on the surface, or what was going on inside his head. Offering even that little bit of comfort was a betrayal to himself, something he couldn’t do.

  And yet, there was another part of him, the small section of his memory that remembered the good times he’d shared with Rennick, that wanted to try and make things right.

  You always were a coward, Zee. If I hadn’t killed you in the war, someone else would have.

  With those simple words, Zee’s resolve strengthened. Enjoy the itching in the back of your brain.

  How did you know about that? Rennick’s desperation and shock slammed into Zee. What have you done to me?

  Nothing.

  Then how did you know?

  When Zee didn’t respond, Rennick screamed. The sound echoed out from his cell, through the corridor and all the way to where Zee stood in the tube. I owe you nothing.

  You owe me everything! What is happening?

  Zee’s anger swelled inside his chest. How do I owe you? You murdered me.

  Another scream echoed down the corridor. Why won’t you understand? You never understand.

  The same words Rennick had said to him the day he’d been led into his cell. Zee hadn’t understood – not Rennick’s reason for turning on him and their squad that day on the battlefield, nor the reason for his words – and it didn’t matter. His actions were all Zee could be concerned with; everything else was irrelevant.

  But for the sake of their long dead friendship, Zee would give him this one thing.

  Her name is Tara.

  Everything stopped. The screams, their cybernetic connection, the anger and fear all came to a halt. Zee waited, concerned that he’d done the wrong thing and made matters worse for them all. He was about to connect to the prison’s internal sensors to check the cell, when Rennick finally reached out.

  Yes, that’s right. Tara.

  Zee’s unease grew to be too much for his matrix to regulate and he pressed the controls to close the doors, sending the tube back to the upper level of the prison. The moment before they slid shut, Rennick was able to send him one final thought.

  Your mate’s name is Mags.

  And then Zee was gone.

  Chapter Three

  Zee was at the medical facility at dawn the next day. He hadn’t been able to rest, nor get his mind off Rennick’s final words. He didn’t know if there was a woman in stasis named Mags, and it wasn’t the sort of thing he wanted to reach out to Hallam regarding over the coms. He would have dismissed Rennick’s comments all together if it hadn’t been for the fact that the moment Zee stepped out onto the planet’s surface on his way to the shuttle, the itching in the back of his head came back with a vengeance.

  What they’d told him was true, which meant he was going to have to resist the pull of whomever this woman was.

  Mags. Her name is Mags. />
  Taking that bit of information, he wrapped it up and tucked it far away in the recesses of his matrix. He then did his best to build a mental barrier around the itch in his head, hoping it would be enough to contain whatever influence this woman was supposedly able to have over him. The only thing that was important was having the opportunity to speak with Tara and inform her about the realities of who Rennick was and to warn her from ever going near him.

  As the doors to the medical facility opened, Zee saw that Hallam was there to greet him, but he wasn’t alone. A tallish woman with curly black hair, round face, full lips, and the deepest brown eyes Zee had ever seen, stood beside the doctor. She’d been speaking, though he hadn’t caught the words over the sound of the doors opening, and Hallam was smiling in response.

  It was still strange to see how his friend had softened and there was no mistaking that it was the direct result of him being with this woman.

  “I’m not surprised to see you here this early.” Hallam nodded to him in greeting. “This is Ina. My mate.”

  Ina held out her hand for Zee to take, a broad smile on her lips. He wasn’t familiar with this custom but moved to reciprocate for fear of offending her. “When Hallam told me that you’d be here at the crack of dawn, I have to admit I wasn’t happy. We haven’t discovered the Grus equivalent to coffee yet.”

  Zee cocked an eyebrow as he released Ina’s hand and looked up at Hallam, who shrugged. “It’s a drink that contains a stimulant. Humans apparently crave it.”

  “Not all humans, but certainly this human.” She stepped back from Zee and stood strangely close to Hallam. “We thought it might be a good idea for you to meet a human before you come inside.”

  It made sense, better to have all the details regarding their race – how small they were compared to Grus females, how they didn’t appear to have any cybernetic enhancements at all, how soft she appeared – so Zee wouldn’t be caught off guard.

  But Ina and her physical attributes didn’t seem to matter to him at all. No, Zee could still feel the pull of someone deep inside the building, and it was becoming difficult to focus on anything beyond the itching. “I appreciate the gesture.”