Free Captured by the Cyborg by Cara Bristol Page A

disaster.
    She dropped her gaze. “I would never sabotage your shop.” She moved to go around him.
    “I know your ex-husband is an AOP ambassador.”
    His words knocked the wind from her lungs.
    “That he expunged the records after he attacked you.”
    Her feet froze to the ground. Dale touched her arm. “He’s searching for you, isn’t he?”
    Lies would not serve her now. “Yes,” she admitted in a whisper, and then said more strongly, “That’s why I must leave.”
    “That’s why you need to stay. I can protect you.”
    He had no idea of the danger. Alonio was no ordinary Faria. Her chest ached. “My presence will draw him here. He always finds me.”
    “Because he’s a computer sensate?”
    “You know that, too?” She clutched at her throat. If Dale had learned so much, she hadn’t covered her tracks very well, and it would be a cinch for Alonio to find her. He could be orbiting Deceptio right now, watching for an opportunity to enter. Tears welled in her eyes. It would never end, never! She stumbled to a bench and slumped onto it.
    Dale sat beside her. “Let me help you.”
    “You can’t. He has more power than you know.”
    “Because he’s politically connected?” He snorted. “I have friends, too. Inside and outside of the Association of Planets. If you’re thinking the alliance will take his side, I promise you that’s not the case.”
    Illumina took a deep breath, and, in Faria, spoke Alonio’s sacred autonym. To a non-Farian ear, it probably sounded like a staticky metal-on-metal warble.
    He grimaced and rubbed his temple as if suffering a headache. “Why don’t we avoid mentioning him by proper name.”
    No one but Faria knew sacred names. Maybe Dale did have powerful connections. “Do you understand what it means?”
    “Asshole?” he guessed.
    She couldn’t help it, she giggled. Such mockery would infuriate Alonio. Amusement evaporated. Once, she’d laughed at a small faux pas he’d made and paid the price many times over. “It means”—she scrambled for a Terran translation that came closest—“thunder saber.”
    “Thunder saber?”
    “He can absorb and harness energy.” She held up her wrists then rubbed the right with the left.
    “He shoots lasers out of his wrist?”
    “He can transform his forearm into a sword.”
    Dale’s expression turned grim. “That’s how he cut off your wings, isn’t it?”
    “Yes.”
    “You don’t have the ability to transform yourself?”
    “No. Very, very few Faria do. It’s a rare gene, and one that doesn’t express itself until adulthood. I didn’t learn Alonio had that ability until after we were bonded. If I stay here, he’ll attack. My presence endangers you and your employees.”
    He regarded her with an assessing gaze. “You and he share one thing in common. You’re a computer sensate, too, aren’t you?”
    Her jaw dropped.
    “That’s how you fixed Baby,” he said.
    She swallowed. “Yes. My gift is…um…quite advanced. It was the only reason I could stay a step ahead of him, but with his moderate ability and political connections, he’s been able to find me.”
    Dale slapped his knees. “Here’s what’s going to happen. First, to put your mind at rest, let me assure you that Alonio is no threat to me. I’m a cyborg. Keeping people safe is what I do. He might succeed in drawing a little blood, but I’ll wipe up the mess with his ass. Second, while I doubt he can gain access to Deceptio, as a precaution, I’ll amp up security.”
    “About that…” She had to tell him how she’d changed the entry protocol. He wouldn’t like that she’d gone behind his back. “I need to tell you…”
    He held up his hand. “Let me finish. Third, you are not going anywhere. You’re staying right here where I can protect you.”
    The autocratic edict set her teeth on edge. “You can’t keep me here!” She hadn’t fought so hard for her freedom and safety only to be dictated to by another man, however well