“So cocky."
“How about we say I had a good teacher."
I smiled at that. “Did you beat Saint?"
He grinned. "By two minutes."
“Now you'll be impossible to live with."
“I'm starting to think you don’t believe that.”
“If I were you, I wouldn't think that. No need for you to get cocky now."
“I have a question though."
I nodded. "What’s up?"
"How do you know what my flat looks like?" His gaze didn’t waver. His voice was soft but direct.
I didn’t want to lie. But telling him now was too much. I couldn’t have him anyway. “What are you talking about?”
"My trial was in a mockup of my flat."
“I don't know your flat, Lock." The lie persisted, but it had to be done.
“Do you remember anything about my trial?"
I could feel my brow furrow as I thought it through. I didn't remember anything about his trial. I remember going into his trial space, but before I could open the interior door, Gabe was there and— Blank. Seeing as I was in med bay now, obviously, they’d drugged me. Why had they drugged me? What had they done?
“I don't remember anything. The last thing I remember is talking to Gabe."
Lock nodded and swallowed. "Right. You were saying some stuff that didn't make sense, I guess, and you also mentioned stuff about my flat and… I don't know. It doesn't make any sense."
I searched his gaze. I could tell him. I could just blurt it out, like 'Hey, we shagged three months ago.’ But what good would that do? That would only confuse him, and our entire working relationship would be destroyed. Besides, it was humiliating for me, so it was better to just keep that to myself.
“I don't know why they had you in your flat. But I don't remember anything about what I might have said in there."
He nodded. “You're okay, right?" He was watching me warily.
“I think so.” I could wiggle my toes and feel the coolness of the sheet on me, but when I tried too hard to remember the trial, my head started to throb. “Yeah, if I try to think too hard about what happened, I get a headache. But other than that, I think I’m fine."
“You were shot."
I frowned hard at that. "What do you mean, I got shot?"
He winced. "Well, let's just say I was more concerned about getting you out and didn't anticipate they'd give me an extra target. Actually, a few extra targets."
"How many targets did you have?"
"Eight. You know what's weird? As I was going through my flat, it's like I knew exactly where they were going to be. At least the first set. I can't explain it, but it's like I had a cheat code. You haven't been giving me the instructions, have you?"
I lifted a brow and winced when my head throbbed. “As if I would.”
He shook his head. "No, I didn’t think so. Are you okay?"
I nodded. “But no, I haven't been subliminally sending you signals, sorry. You felt strong enough?"
He nodded. “I felt surprisingly good. All that good training."