by Maya Carnage
Gregor shrugs. “Dawn’s never liked me. The other one’s just as bloodthirsty as her sister.”
“You never made it easy for her. You were an ass the whole time on the ship then you tell the Malviks our plan. Why the hell would they like you?”
He doesn’t need them to like him. In his lifetime he’s never strived to be liked. He’s worked his ass off trying to be the best soldier he could be, and sometimes he failed, but he has always given it his fucking best. Cyborgs were the weapons the Malviks used to take Earth. No true-hearted rebel will make peace with them. They’ll act nice because they need their help, but once this is all over where will the cyborgs be then?
The humans won’t want them on Earth. Yeah, most of the cyborgs will opt for Teraz when the war is over, but there will be a few who will want to stay on Earth. They made their homes here, why the hell would they want to abandon that?
Why the fuck would Gregor want to take that away from them?
What about the Malviks’ personal guards? The Malviks control them, and he’s damn sure they will be the ones the Malviks launch at them when it comes times to battle. If Gregor fought with the rebellion, he would have to kill those men and women.
“You’re wasting my time if you brought me here to discuss your girlfriend’s hurt feelings,” Gregor says.
Axe leans back in his chair, thumping his fist on the table. “I brought you here in the hopes that I can convince you to do the right thing.”
Gregor gives a sharp laugh. “The right thing is to keep my word. It’s not fighting against our own people!”
“The majority of cyborgs have joined the rebellion, and that includes everyone on Teraz, and fifty percent of the soldiers on Earth. Enzo and Rodrick are still working on gathering more, but we’ll have almost the full force of the cyborgs on our side. The Malviks will lose this fight, Gregor. Don’t you want to be on the winning side?”
“Winning means slaughtering some of our own. Do we not owe them loyalty?” Gregor shoves back the chair, and it tumbles to the ground as he stands. He strides purposely to the door. Anger races through his body, and his hands tremble next to his side.
“What if there was a way that we wouldn’t have to do that?” Axe asks.
He stops with his hand on the door handle. “We already have,” he says, thinking about the mansion.
“Those guards aren’t the same as those who guard the Malviks. You and I both know that there are casualties in war, but this time they don’t have to be innocent. We can save the cyborgs the Malviks have brainwashed.”
“How the fuck do you plan on doing that?” Gregor turns around to stare at him.
“Rosalind.”
He arches an eyebrow. “I don’t see how one woman can save a group of guards.”
“She can if she’s an empath. It’s the reason the Malviks wanted her. She can turn the cyborgs’ consciences back on. Once that happens, they can decide who they want to fight for,” Axe says.
“Rosalind would have to be close enough to them for her to feel their emotions. You would be putting her in a risky situation.” Gregor crosses his arms over his chest, glaring at Axe.
“She’s a rebel, Gregor. She’s known danger just as much as the rest of us. She’ll be fine.”
He doesn’t say anything more because it isn’t his place to hold her back to protect her. It would end up pissing her off if he tried to keep her safe. She’s too damn headstrong, but it’s what he loves best about her. She loves people and would risk her life to save them.
“Does she want to do this?” he asks.
Axe nods. “Kayla’s already talked to her. She wants to save them.”
Of course, she does. That’s who she is, always trying to save the fucking day. “I need to think about it.”
“I get it, but we need to leave by nightfall. We’ll need to know what you’re going to do by then,” Axe says.
Gregor walks out the door, thinking.
◆◆◆
After he left the conference room, he flagged down a rebel and asked them to tell Rosalind to meet him outside by the trees. He would have done it himself, but he needed that extra time alone to think.
What Axe offered him is tempting, but there is still the small matter of his honor. He gave his word to serve the Malviks. If he does this, then he is backing out of his vow. He will get to save the guards and be with Rosalind. It’s what he wants, but guilt bears down on him.
For years, his actions from the war have haunted him. He should have been a mindless warrior, but he wasn’t. He spared those humans’ lives because he felt sorry for them. The Malviks ravaged their planet and wanted to enslave them. Anyone would fight back against that! He let them go, and then the rebels were born.
It has been constant fighting since then, and he has always blamed himself for the lack of peace, but it isn’t his fault. No, it’s the Malviks’. They keep taking what isn’t theirs, and it needs to stop.
It is time he decided to steer is honor in a more decent direction, fighting with the rebellion.
“What did you want to talk about?” Rosalind says from behind him.
He turns around and smiles at her. “Axe told me what you plan on doing.”
“They deserve freedom, too,” she says as closes the distance between them. She slips her arms around his waist, resting her head above his head. “I also did it for you. I know how much the Malviks’ control over them upsets you.”
He strokes her back as he places a kiss on top of her head, breathing in the scent of lemon and rosemary. He closes his eyes, drowning in the sweet perfume that’s all her own. “I’m going to fight with the rebellion,” he murmurs.
She reels back in his arms, looking up at him in surprise. “Are you serious? What changed your mind?”
“You did. I didn’t want to fight for the side that would torture and enslave you. My loyalties are to you and the cyborgs from this moment on,” he says, tugging her back into his arms.
“What about the rebels?” she says into his shirt.
“Fuck them. I’ll fight beside them, but I’m not going to be their damn friend.”
“I’ll change your mind before too long,” she says.
He snorts. She can try, but he’s a stubborn bastard. “You shouldn’t waste your energy, baby.”
“I’m an amazing problem solver because I never know when to quit.” Rosalind nuzzles her face into his chest.
“I love you,” he says. “I didn’t want to, but it happened anyway.”
She laughs as she looks up at him. “That’s a lovely way to proclaim your love for me. Really, it is.” Sarcasm drips from her lips, but her eyes gleam with joy. “I love you, too.”
He stands there with her in his arms, thinking about what’s ahead.
The very reason why the Malviks were interested in Rosalind will be their downfall. Once the guards are saved, there is nothing stopping them from attacking. The Malviks will finally get what they deserve.
He thought he was worthless after what he did one-hundred-and-thirty years ago. He’s fought every day with himself since then trying to redeem himself to the Malviks, but he had it wrong that whole time. He did the right thing sparing those lives, and he’d do it again if he could do it all over again. He wants to be a better man for Rosalind. She deserves the best, and he’ll make sure she has it.
“We should let them know you’re staying,” she whispers.
“In a few more minutes,” he says. As soon as they walk back on that ship, their lives are going to change. There will be no more slow, stolen moments because they will be entering another war.
They saved the rebels, but now they have to save the cyborgs. Without their personal guards, the Malviks are defenseless. They will run away just like they have done several times before, but the rebellion isn’t going to let them. They won’t get a chance to ruin another civilization. Their end is coming.
Author’s Note
Thanks so much for reading The Cyborg’s Redemption! If y
ou would like to leave a review, please do! I love hearing from my readers, and I would appreciate anything you have to say!
I’m going to shock everyone by saying this, but I enjoyed writing this book. I didn’t struggle through any part of it. It flowed out of me like water. I’m surprised because I usually deal with writer’s block around the fifty percent mark, but that didn’t happen with this one. I think it has something to with the fact that I’ve been doing some self-work, and writing has helped me work through some things. I notice that I now write more freely when I’m working on a book, too.
I loved writing this book because it was for more than just myself. It’s for all of y’all! I appreciate every single one of you who take the time to read my books. My whole life, I’ve wanted to be a writer because I wanted to make people happy. I wanted someone to read my books and see themselves in the characters and give them hope that they will be okay.
There are three books left in this series. I’m a little sad to see this series come to an end because I’ve had so much fun writing them and hearing how much y’all have loved reading them, but I’m excited to write a new series that I’ve been planning for a while.
It’ won’t come out until later this year, and it’s going to be a full-length novel!
If you’re interested in hearing more about the series when it gets closer to its release date, check out my website and sign up for my newsletter. I post snippets and upcoming releases in them once a month.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/maya_carnage
Website: https://mayacarnage.wixsite.com/author
