You Don't Belong Here

Chapter Fifty Seven

"Not too bad if I say so myself..!" Brielle took in the sight of the paper target that displayed five bullseye torso shots and twelve more on the headshots. Goldstein agreed as he removed the target from its spot on the board.

"Yeah, not bad at all for your first real target practice in almost two years." He counted the bullet holes again. "You only missed three shots. Impressive, Rinaldi."

"Yeah well, the sights were off."

Goldstein hummed disbelievingly as he replaced the spent target with a new one and led Brielle back to their makeshift firing line. The bright orange spray paint decorated the dead grass nearly fifty yards away, but so far they were pleased with the outcome. "Brielle, I'm gonna be completely honest with you." She sighed. She knew it was a conversation that she didn't want to have if he was calling her by her first name. "It's been two years. We've been living together the entire time."

"Goldstein, we've talked about this."

"I know, but hear me out. You won't have to take missions anymore because of your injury. You could retire. We could-..."

"No we couldn't." He watched her carefully now, just as he always did. "I appreciate everything that you've done for me. You know I do. But this...we couldn't be in a relationship together."

"Tell me why."

"Your drinking, my temper, both of our intolerance for long lasting emotional connections. And frankly, I really don't want to be tied down."

He sighed and pulled a cigarette from behind his ear and lit it with a lighter that he kept in his pocket. He took a long drag and sent the smoke billowing into the autumn breeze. "Don't play mind games with me, Brielle. What's the real reason?"

"I still plan on taking missions."

"You plan on being a merc." She ignored the correction and Goldstein sighed again. "I'll put in for retirement at the end of the month." She looked at him in confusion now. "I'll be damned if you're gonna go off on some bullshit by yourself. If you go, I'm going with you. Someone's gotta keep an eye on you."
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Her eyes opened as a warning growl rumbled through O'kaor's chest. She noticed that T'ahrou was growling as well, but Dhadtoudi remained asleep. She looked up at O'kaor and noticed he was staring at the doorway; Jennings was standing there with a stern expression gracing his dark features. "What the hell's wrong with her?" He gestured to Dhadtoudi. "She's too pale, and her heart rate is extremely low."

"It's probably a reaction to the painkillers and antibiotics..." Brielle stretched slightly as she adjusted her position in Okaor's lap. "It's probably caused by the genetic modification. This one almost died when I gave him a dose at the Brooks Foundation." She glanced up at O'kaor before returning her focus to Jennings. "They have something similar to an Epi-Pen in their gear. It's filled with bright green fluid. If you can get that, they'll live."

"What do you mean 'they'?"

"The way their hierarchy works is that if the matriarch dies, the males in her roost have to kill themselves. They live to protect the females. So if she dies, they all die. The males will fight to the death, and it won't be pretty." Jennings visibly tensed as he took in the information. "It's all a matter of how much you value your test subjects."

Without another word Jennings left the room and O'kaor looked down at Brielle. "You would do well not to slander my reputation, soft one."

"Just wait. You'll thank me later."