I had no idea what a ReGen wand was, and I didn’t particularly care. But I started counting in my head, slowly, to a hundred. This wasn’t my first time on the table, and this wasn’t the worst wound I’d had to deal with. It hurt like a bitch, but survivable. The scars on my body were proof enough that I knew this from experience. Still, all those scars, those flaws, were one more reason I never felt comfortable naked around a man…
I opened my eyes then, curious to see Nial’s reaction to the scars on my back and hip. As expected, I watched his gaze travel from one pink patch of scar tissue to the next. I expected to see curiosity, or disgust. Not rage.
“Who injured you, mate?” His gaze returned to mine, his jaw clenched. The veins in his neck and temples bulged in response to his emotions. “Tell me now, and I will kill him.”
I laughed, then gasped as the warden, who had pulled the first piece of metal from my shoulder, dug in with vigor in the back of my thigh.
“You seem to want to kill a lot of things,” I replied through gritted teeth.
“I would destroy entire civilizations to protect you.”
Okay, whoa. He was getting a little intense for my taste. “There’s no one to kill. It was a roadside IED in Iraq.”
He traced a three-inch line on my thigh with a finger and I shivered. “What is an IED, mate? I do not understand. Why did it attack you?”
I held my breath as the warden pulled the second piece of buckshot from my leg, then placed the tweezers back on the cart. Short of air, but relieved that the digging portion of today’s medical procedure was over, my answer was barely more than a whisper. “It’s called an Improvised Explosive Device. That—” I nodded at the line down the front of my thigh, “—was caused by a four-inch nail.”
“Why were you attacked?”
I shrugged the best I could. “In a war, Nial, shit blows up. People die.” Like the private who’d been standing next to me when we tripped that IED three years ago. He’d taken the brunt of the strike and died in my arms.
“Women do not fight in war.”
Now I rolled my eyes. “Earth women do.”
“Then it is good that I will take you off this planet. Your men are idiots.”
How could I argue with that?
The warden had stepped away, but she returned with a small wand that looked like my television remote control with a glowing blue coil extending from the top. She held it above the wound in my thigh and I sighed as it felt like light was entering my body, warm and comforting and perfect. I felt no more pain there, and looked down to discover my skin, though still covered in blood, was now completely closed.
“Oh, my God. That’s amazing.”
She smiled and moved to my shoulder, the relief almost instant. “Do you forgive me for not injecting you with anesthetic?”
“Yes.” The word was a groan as I stopped hurting. I laid my head down on the table with a deep sigh. God, that felt good.
I should have let go of Nial’s hand then, but I wasn’t ready. Not yet. I just wanted to float for a minute and not think about the cartel, Clyde, or the Hive things hunting me. I just wanted to feel good and indulge in the warm strength of Nial’s touch. Besides being free of pain, his touch felt… comforting.
But I never was good at getting what I wanted and my mind, freed of the distraction of being shot, kicked back into high gear. I had things to do. My short respite was over.
I had to get the latest batch of photos to my contacts on the police force and in the media. I had to finish what I’d started. Clyde’s death would be discovered soon. I wanted to make sure the media frenzy wasn’t wasted.
“I need to get my camera.” I tried to sit up, but the room spun and my hand held tight to Nial’s as I used him to keep from falling off the table.
“The strange black box that hung from your neck?” Nial asked.
“Yes.” I tried to sit up again but a large hand settled on my chest at the base of my neck, holding me down. I lifted both hands to shove Nial’s hot palm off my sensitive skin, but he didn’t budge and I ended up holding onto him instead.
Frustrated, I looked up into his completely impassive face. The strength and confidence I saw in his expression made me shiver as I was forced to plead with him for permission to get up. “I left it in the car. I have to get it. It’s important.”
He looked down at me and the warmth was back in his gaze. Perhaps because I wasn’t fighting him anymore, but clinging to him. “I will have Ander bring it inside when he arrives.”
Ander. My second, whatever the hell that was. I’d forgotten about him.