Page 5 of Enthraller

“The discharge recorders?” Ed asked for form’s sake. It would have been the first thing Hyt checked.

“No one fired their weapons at you. They’re all clear.”

“So you have someone on your team who’s dirty, and this whole thing was planned enough that they had a spare laz hidden to use, and they somehow ditched it afterwards.”

Hyt rubbed a hand over his face. “With you going crazy and Guttra and the rest of the team on a hair-trigger because of the shots—not to mention the subject swooshing away like morning mist—whoever took the shot could have taken off.”

“Or one of your team could have hidden the gun, walked out with their official weapon, and their little friends could have made sure there was nothing to find once you’d gotten your head back out your arse.”

Hyt dropped his hand, and the look he sent Ed was as dark as a Freo dock back alley, and just as nasty.

“The other thing I’d like to know is, how did they miss us? We were in the open, with nowhere to hide, thanks to your little set-up. They almost got us with those first few shots, but when they went multiple, it should have been easy.” Ed didn’t know why he’d only asked this now.

It was as if part of him didn’t want to know.

Hyt’s face was blank with confusion. “You didn’t see?”

Ed watched him, watched his face settle into avid curiosity.

“When the shooter went multiple, it was like a shiny gray matter came out of nowhere, hovered in the air in front of you like a shield and then vanished. That’s why it took me so long to get my head, as you so politely put it, out of my arse. I’d never seen anything like it. It looked metallic, and it was sure as hell impenetrable, but fluid at the same time. I thought it might have been you doing it.”

Ed shook his head. “I’m just someone with the right DNA to work the scanner. It was either the woman, or something else.”

“What did she feel like?”

The question was so offensive, a red mist seemed to hover instantly before his eyes. As if he would tell Hyt what it had felt like to hold her in his arms?—

“Whoa! I meant, where do you think she’s from, what planet?”

Ed realized he was out of his chair, his hands reaching out for Hyt’s throat. He threw them up, palms out and backed up, sat down with shaky legs. He closed his eyes for a moment. “Sorry.” He took a deep breath. “I don’t know where she was from. She felt normal. VSC.”

“Why’s this so personal, Ed?” Hyt rubbed his throat reflexively. “Yes, we’ve been played, big time, and it has to go high for them to have fed us that kind of false data on thewoman, but I’m as much a dupe as you, or Guttra. What the hell’s the matter with you? What did this woman do to you?”

Ed had to hold onto his chair to stop launching himself at the captain again, a dark sweep of rage so unfamiliar, so out of his normal experience, his body felt on fire. Hands he wanted to curl around Hyt’s throat, he forced to curl around the edge of the chair instead, keeping him in place. “Someone lied to me, manipulated me into being on that dock, and then shot at me. You don’t think that makes it personal?” His voice was guttural as he forced himself to speak in a level tone, rather than to shout.

Hyt watched him, his gaze lowering to Ed’s hands. He blew out a breath. “It’s more than that. You want to kill me. You wanted to kill us all at that dock. It was as if that woman disappearing triggered a beserk rage in you and you’ve barely got it under control, even now.”

“She said something.” He realized straight away even saying that much was a mistake.

Hyt leaned forward, eyes alight with interest. “What?”

With a feeling of helplessness, Ed brought his fist up into Hyt’s face, felt the impact of his knuckles against the side of Hyt’s head. Watched the captain slump forward onto the floor.

He forced himself not to kick Hyt in the ribs as he passed him to get to the door, forced himself to look relaxed.

But it was just a look.

She had said she was Special Forces. But someone had sent Special Forces to kill her. There was so much going on here, he didn’t know which way was up, except there was one thing he did know for sure.

He would protect her to his last breath.

He understood his feelings, his actions, were so extreme, he didn’t recognize himself.

Something was going on here, and he needed answers.

He strolled out of headquarters with an easy stride, as if he hadn’t just laid out the captain of Demeter City’s Special Forces on his office floor, and headed for the university.

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