Page 17 of Charged By the Razorbacks

His gaze locked on Tamsin, steady, assessing, not accusing—but not letting it slide either. “What in the hell was this supposed to be?”

That was a bloody good question. Because that mattered. Not what Chimera had turned it into, but what it had been designed for.

Tamsin didn’t flinch. Her arms crossed loosely over her chest, posture relaxed in a way that didn’t match the intensity in her eyes.

“It wasn’t designed to take innocent lives,” she said. “It was supposed to save them.”

Caleb’s brow furrowed slightly. “Explain.”

Tamsin stepped closer to the screen, tapping once to bring up a layered schematic—her part of it, not Elara’s.

“This,” she said, “was designed as a targeted delivery system.” Her finger moved across the display. “Controlled radius. Controlled trigger. No collateral.”

Her gaze lifted, meeting everyone’s in the room.

“You separate DNA markers,” she continued. “Or identify a shared biological signature—something consistent across a group, then you can immobilize that group with impunity.”

“Like who?” Jackson asked.

Tamsin’s expression sharpened. “Like a terrorist cell that’s been operating together long enough to share environmental or engineered markers, or a group that’s been dosed, altered, enhanced—anything that creates a consistent identifier.”

Riley’s eyes narrowed slightly. “You could isolate them.”

“Yes.”

No hesitation.

Tamsin’s voice didn’t rise. “You hit the target, and only the target. You don’t level the building.”

Aleksy watched Caleb process it, saw the moment it clicked.

“How many innocents—” Caleb started, then stopped.

Tamsin finished it for him. “Wouldn’t get caught in the blast?” Her gaze didn’t waver. “Hundreds, maybe more.”

That wasn’t destruction. That was control.

Precision.

Restraint.

Caleb exhaled slowly. “Damn.”

Sienna’s voice came in, quieter now. “That kind of precision changes everything.”

“Yes,” Tamsin said. Then her expression hardened. “And Chimera turned it into something that ends everything.”

Jarek’s voice cut through, sharper now.

“If they already have this, build the damn thing, then what do they need you for?”

Tamsin exhaled, looking almost bored, as if this wasn’t really what they should be focusing on. “It’s unstable.” She leaned slightly against the console, crossing her arms now, her posture deceptively relaxed. “The compound degrades, breaks down before it can fully execute its function if not delivered in a timely fashion. That’s why it’s inconsistent. Why it doesn’t always kill. They need the compound stabilized and a delivery system they can use whenever they want to.” A beat. “Also, I didn’t leave them with the exact schematics. They probably only have one or two more executions before that mechanism degrades beyond repair. They need me to fix that.”

Claire laughed. “That sounds like a nice parting gift for those assholes.”

Tamsin tipped her head. “Consider it my big old fuck you if you decide to rip me off, or destroy my things.”

Elara went still again. “If they stabilize it,” she said slowly, voice tightening, “if they manage to hold the structure long enough—”