Page 58 of Resolve
Of course, he would.
The agent doesn’t react at all to my words or apparent hunger. He strides into the room and grips my arm.
I jerk away from him on instinct, and he slaps me hard across the face. My head whips to the side, and my ear rings. He pulls me with him while I’m distracted by the pulsing heat in my cheek. Pressing my cooler fingers to it, I scowl at him. “You can let go of me. I’ll walk.”
Thankfully, he does, though he keeps pace beside me with little space between us.
The door we stop in front of has a small square window offeringa glimpse inside. When I see multiple lab coats, relief rushes through me, making my limbs weak.
Thank fuck.
The agent knocks twice.
“Come in.”
Hatred bubbles in my chest at Charles’s voice. What new threat has he thought up this time?
We walk into the room, and I freeze.
“Kellan!” I shout, lurching toward him and being tugged back as he roars and yanks on the chains that are keeping his arms stretched out. He’s kneeling shirtless in the middle of the room, shackled and chained to the walls on either side of him so there’s no give for him to relax his arms. Scientists stand around him, poking him with knives to trigger his gift, while others try to peel the scales from his skin. Another scientist is trying to hammer a nail into his protected skin where there are no scales.
Kell bellows as a knife is pushed into his back, and I realize he has a slew of them sticking out of him like a pincushion. His arms bulge and shake as he tries to rip free of the chains.
I shout his name again, but he doesn’t hear me. He doesn’t see me. He’s lost in a haze of pain and anger.
There’s a sharp crack from the wall by one of his chains, and the scientists startle back. Kellan falls back on his calves, leaning forward as his chest heaves. His dark hair is no longer tied, running free to his shoulders and covering his face in a curtain. I twist out of the agent’s grip and run to him, wrapping his head in my arms and glaring over my shoulder at the man responsible.
“Stop! Just because he heals doesn’t mean that he feels no pain!”
Charles hums. “Does he? He’s handled more than anyone I’veever seen. I need to understand where his limit lies, and therefore, my own.”
While he’s talking, I let one hand slide down Kell’s back, carefully plucking the knives free so he can heal. “You’re a monster.”
The GE president smiles. “To you, perhaps.”
“Beautiful? That you?” His voice is rough. He sounds exhausted.
Anger sparks through my nerves like a live wire. If I had my gift...
I fish another blade free, and he grunts.
“It’s me. I’m here,” I whisper soothingly.
His head leans more heavily against me.
“She’s removing the knives!” someone yells.
I’m ripped away from Kellan before I can finish, but I swing around and slash at the agent with the knife still in my hand. He blocks it with his arm, taking the cut before grabbing me by the front of my shirt, spinning, and trapping my back to his chest. He knocks the knife from my hand and pins my arms to my sides with a painful one-armed bear hug.
I throw my head back to break his nose, but he dodges and pinches my jaw to hold me still.
Charles looks over my shoulder to the agent and nods. His gaze drops to mine. “You’re only here to watch. So, watch quietly, or I’ll have you bound and gagged for these visits in the future.” He turns to Kellan, who’s now staring down the agent touching me with a look of pure malice. “You promised cooperation if I kept her alive. And here she is. Alive. If you can’t keep your promise to do as we ask, then our deal is over. Fight your chains again, and I’ll personally deliver the bullet to her brain. Do you understand?”
Kellan’s pupils have consumed the blue-green color of his eyes when he slowly drags his gaze from the agent to Charles. His jawrolls from clenching his teeth so hard I’m waiting to hear a tooth snap. “Yes,” he growls.
“Sir, he’s—his gift,” a scientist speaks up. “It’s fully active again.”
Charles sighs. “Give him another microdose.” One of them hurries to do exactly that. Charles smiles pleasantly at me, even though I know that’s the furthest thing he’s feeling for me right now. “There’s a bottle of water and a sandwich on the table.” He indicates a metal table on the other side of him. “You can eat it yourself or give it to him. I’ll leave it up to you to decide which of you will have the advantage.”
