Page 53 of Reclaimed

Entitled pricks.

“Slade?” I drawl lowly into my comms unit, keeping my eyes on the circle jerk of suits near the door.

“Almost there,” he replies. “I told you, perfection takes…”

His voice dissolves into static in my brain as my attention locks onto movement at the rear of the building. Another door flies open, a small figure leaping out and stumbling a step before taking off at a dead sprint, something dangling from her neck.

Is that a fucking leash?

Given the dark and the distance, I can’t make out her features, but I’d recognize my little stray anywhere. She tears through a thicket of brush, her naked form bolting into a field, dark hair whipping in the wind behind her.

“Change of plans,” I murmur into the comms. “Cover me.”

A slow grin spreads across my face, fingers twitching as the thrill of the hunt takes hold.

“Damn it, Talon–,” Slade starts.

I cut the power to my comms before he can finish.

Guess Slade doesn’t need to take down Harris’ security after all. My little stray’s already in my sights, fear evident in every frantic stride as she runs. The sight of it cracks open something savage inside me, every instinct aching to hunt her down.

And she knows how much I love the chase.

21

JERSEY

A311

Dark is disorienting enough on its own.

When you’re drugged out of your fucking mind, it’s ten times worse.

My heart thrashes wildly as my mind drifts somewhere beyond my body. I force my eyes to focus on the narrow strip of light spilling in from beneath the door in front of me. It’s the only way to anchor myself in this pitch black room, the cold from the concrete stinging my back as it seeps through, embedding itself in my marrow.

I can hear them out there, drunken and cruel. Laughing, clinking glasses, whistling for the other Assets.

A tremor ripples through me. Then another.

I’m shivering, I realize.

Or maybe my heart’s just beating too hard. It’s kicking in the depths of my chest like something buried alive, my palms clammy against my bare thighs.

He said he was going to come back.

I don’t want him to come back.

My head drops back, the heels of my hands digging into my eye sockets as I try to will myself to feel normal again. Then the door suddenly opens, the glare of light from beyond it bleaching the room in harsh white and momentarily blinding me.

“Enjoy your time out?” Harris asks mockingly, bending at the waist to scoop my leash up off the floor. “Come on, little doggie. It’s time to teach you your first lesson.”

I yelp as he yanks on the leash, leather biting into my neck as my head snaps forward. My body can’t help but follow. My hands meet the concrete, grit coating my palms as I crawl from the shadows and into the light.

For a split second, a sense of relief washes over me– but as the glare fades and my vision adjusts, relief curdles into dread. As the room comes into focus, I realize the darkness was doing me a fucking favor.

Scathing looks send heat creeping along my spine and spilling across my cheeks as Harris parades me through the crowd, leading me over to the platform in the center of the room. Kenzie’s face remains carefully blank, but pity settles in her eyes, and my stomach drops. With a snap of his fingers, the other Assets scramble down from the platform, dispersing from his sight.

He looks at me, then flicks his chin toward the platform. “Up.”