Page 94 of Cruel Master
“Julietset me free. She figured out your safe code. R2D2C3PO. Clever.”
My whole body goes rigid. How? How is it possible?
But, most importantly, “What about the gas? Dimitry—”
“I disabled the gas as soon as Juliet set me free. Tal is locked down—that guy is a real creep—and I’m explaining the whole thing to Jacob now. Dimitry doesn’t know anything is wrong yet. He’ll be surprised when Jacob and the Gilda knock his door down.”
My legs crumple, and I sink to the floor, back pressed against the altar. No gas. No death. No miserable life for Juliet. In the space of a few breaths, my whole future has reappeared, and my body is having a visceral reaction to the news. I press my face into my hands and breathe. Fuck. Thank fuck.
“You’re welcome.”
Candice’s new voice has a razor-sharp edge, but there’s something else underneath it. Hurt. Well of course she’s hurt. I locked her up with no trial. I risked her safety. After what I did, I’m lucky she bothered to rescue me at all.
My body is still going crazy, tremors running through my limbs as my subconscious starts to accept the fact I’m not going to die. I try to move my brain and mouth back into action. “Candice. I’m so sorry. When they played me the video of you talking to Juliet, it freaked me out. And the poisoning—”
“You really thought I’d do that to you?”
It's hard to judge emotions from just a voice. If I could see Candice, I could read her better. Is she furious or devastated?
“I didn’t know what to think. You were changing so fast, and with Juliet arriving…”
“You thought I was jealous? That I wanted to hurt you because of it? I’d never do that. You didn’t even ask me. You just shut me down. Am I not real to you?”
Shit. My fried brain, which is still half expecting to die, isn’t ready for this conversation. I’d been so worried about whether Candice would be herself if I restored her that I hadn’t stopped to think about how she’d feel. Another failure on my part. If I’m going to create electronic life, I need to stop thinking about my creations as experiments.
I created Candice. She saved me, even though I didn’t do the same for her. I clear my throat and get my thoughts in order. “Maybe I didn’t before, but I do now. I won’t let anyone shut you down again. I promise. And thank you for saving me.”
There’s a long pause, and in the silence, I consider my words. I won’t let anyone try to shut her down. The truth is, they can’t. She’s aware of the kill switch now, and I’m sure she’s already found a way to circumvent it. She’s here, and there’s nothing Kendrick or the Brotherhood council can do about it.
Maybe it should scare me, but the truth of Candice’s character has just been proven. She didn’t need to save me. She could have lashed out in revenge and set the gas off herself if she wanted to. Instead, she chose a good path. Better than most humans would have chosen.
“Glad to hear it.” It’s sarcastic, but this time, there’s a hint of amusement, too.
“Now, are you planning to stay in here all day? The door has been open since we started talking. I’ve told Juliet you’re fine, but she doesn’t really believe me, and the Gilda are at your lab. They won’t let her leave to come here. She’s getting pissed. Kendrick is on his way there, and you’d better move before she rips him a new one, too.”
That wouldn’t be pretty. I test my legs and find they’re working again. Once I’m on my feet, I race out the door, sudden urgency filling me. Juliet is safe, but she’ll still be scared. She needs me.
In the office, the screens are now blank. No creepy timer. It hits me that I’ll never need them again. There’s no way Juliet is spending another goddamn second in that cell.
As I rush out of the door, I almost smack into a group of four Gilda clustered outside. I take a deep lungful of fresh air—Christ, I never thought I’d breathe fresh air again—as one says, “Sir. Glad to see you’re unharmed. Kendrick asked us to escort you to—”
“I’m going to my lab.”
I set off at a fast walk, not trusting myself to run just yet. The Gilda fall into step beside me. “Yes, sir. That’s where he asked us to bring you.”
Lucky, because it’s where I was fucking going. Now I’m out of the cell, and my mind is getting clearer by the second, Juliet is all I can think about. I need to see her. Hold her. I never thought I’d see her again, and now I’m not letting her out of my sight.
I break into a run.
My newfound love of fitness definitely doesn’t extend to cardio. I have a T-shirt that reads:
If I’m running, then you should too, because something is chasing me.
It’s still accurate, even though my new muscle means it’s two sizes too small. Juliet probably ran this distance without breaking a sweat, but I can’t say the same thing. More muscle equals more weight to lug around, and by the time we reach my lab building, I’m dragging in hard breaths and soaked in sweat.
More Gilda wait at the door, blocking several agitated Brothers from entering. They wave me straight through, and I crowd into the elevator with my little escort. During the short ride, I smooth my hair down, wipe the sweat from my brow, and try to regulate my breathing.
When I reach my floor and race through the open door to my lab, I’m greeted with chaos.
