“He came up here to find you on the word of your mutant ex-boyfriend. You think that’s on the level? That Wyatt didn’t get played, just because he was so desperate to find you?”
“No. That’s not what happened.” But doubt forms a seed in my head.
“Cole and Chloe probably knew that he’d do anything to get information about where you and Jane were hiding. Like you said, the worst thing you can do is underestimate Chloe.”
“Wyatt is ruthless. And smarter than any Hybrid or other soldier. There’s no way he made a mistake like that.”
“All men have a weakness, Alex.” He gives me a hard but sympathetic look. “Including Wyatt.”
Jane is watching our exchange with deep interest and my head is reeling. This is the paranoia I didn’t miss over the last few months. The feeling of drowning in quicksand. I swallow the lump in my throat and point down at my foot. “I should get off of this.”
Benjamin catches my hand before I can step away from the bed. “I’m not trying to hurt you. I just need you to be clear-headed—to understand what’s coming our way.”
I jerk away. “Don’t worry about me and my capabilities. And I’m more aware of the dangers of Chloe and her Hybrids than anyone else.”
“Alex—” he calls but I’ve already left the room, slamming the door behind me.
Chapter 21
“Hey,” Walker says. “What the hell are you doing?”
I’m staring out the bedroom window. Wyatt and Jude are on guard duty. They’re circling the house and every five minutes or so I see their hat-covered heads pass by.
“Do you think Wyatt has a weakness?” I ask.
“Uh, I’m going to need a little more context.”
The guys disappear around the side of the house and I turn to face Walker, her red hair looking brighter than normal in the dim candlelight. “Do you think Wyatt ever makes the wrong decision about things? Like, does he allow his feelings or personal opinions to get in the way?”
She steps in the room and shuts the door behind her. “You’re not supposed to be on that foot. Sit down and we can talk about it.” I get on the bed and she takes the chair.
“You told me not to trust him and to let that part of my life go. I did, but now he’s back and when I say he’s back…well, things have changed between us.”
Walker shakes her head. “You two have had this undercurrent since the day I saved your ass from Erwin’s underground torture chamber. Pure UST.”
“UST?”
“Unresolved sexual tension. You both have it in spades and you probably would’ve handled it months ago if Cole wasn’t in the picture.”
“No,” I shake my head. “It has nothing to do with Cole. Wyatt hasn’t always been truthful with me. It’s taken a long tim
e for me to trust him.”
She leans back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest. “Is that why you’re asking me about weaknesses? Because you trust him so much?”
I bury my face in my hands and groan. “Stupid Green. He got in my head.”
“What did he say?”
“He thinks Wyatt has led the Hybrid army right to us. That Cole is using him to find us and picked Wyatt in particular because of his feelings for me.” I fidget with a loose thread on the quilt—feeling dumb. Wyatt is nearly unshakeable. Who am I to consider being the one that knocks him loose?
“So you’re his weakness?”
“According to Green.”
“Wyatt’s many things,” she says carefully. “More often a mystery than anything else, but in all the time I’ve known him he’s never thought with any body part other than his brain.”
“Nice image,” I say, cheeks hot.