Текст книги "Burning Blood"

Автор книги: Pepper winters

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Chapter Thirteen

COLD.

Overwhelming cold continued to flow through me, fading from the mind-breaking intensity of Rook hugging me. Her presence had always been calming and cool, but this time...it’d felt like I’d sunk into a snowdrift. Silent and heavy—a blanket of ice snuffing the flames inside me.

And when she’d collapsed on top of me...I’d felt her.

Her pain.

Her chill—

Whisper launched himself at me.

“Oof,” I grunted as he landed on me with the grace of a collapsing building. His weight pinned me as he huffed and chuffed and proceeded to headbutt me as if I’d just returned from the dead.

“Hey.” I tried to fight him off which only made him purr as loud as a malfunctioning engine. “You’re going to kill me.” His affection turned lethal as he rubbed his entire snout into my face. “I’m not a fucking scratching post!”

“Can someone please get that germ-filled animal off my patient!” A man’s voice cut through Whisper’s emotional attack. “He has stitches for crying out loud. Animal dander—especially feline saliva—can cause a fatal infection!”

“Eh, Whisper?” Rook’s voice came from somewhere by the side of the bed. “Come here, tiny kitty. Lucien’s alive but he might not stay that way if you keep mauling him.”

“Listen to her.” I coughed as the panther whimpered and dragged his sandpaper tongue over my hairline. “Ugh, you dumb beast, stop that.”

He ignored me completely, his claws kneaded the bedding, his out-of-control purr rattling straight through my bandaging and bones.

My eyes met Rook’s over the panther’s bulk.

She stiffened, looking just as confused as I was about what was happening between us. The level of connection that was building.

I knew next to nothing about her but...

It was her.

The girl who’d gotten me out.

The girl who’d stood by my side when no one else ever had.

Whisper grumbled, pissed off I wasn’t appreciating his affection even though he did his best to kill me with it.

Rolling my eyes, I grabbed his whiskered cheeks, and smacked a kiss right on his cold, wet nose. “You crazy creature. I’m alive. I’m fine. Now will you get off me?”

I swore he grinned, his whiskers flaring as he gave me another lick before vaulting off. The heavy thud of his paws landed just before he threw a warning growl at the two doctors.

I had no idea how I was here, where here was, or why they’d agreed to help me but...that was irrelevant.

This room wasn’t in Cinderkeep, which was good, but it looked like just another cage, which was bad.

Glancing around the space, I tried to get my bearings as the older doctor crossed his arms, his white smock meticulously clean, apart from a few streaks of blood on the cuffs.

“Harry’s right,” he muttered. “If you get an infection from that cat—”

“I won’t.” Sitting upright, my fingers strayed to the bandage and prickly stitches beneath. The room didn’t stay in one place, but I didn’t feel like I was dying anymore.

I glowered at the men, usual suspicion filling me.

I had a lifelong distrust of everyone, but...if they were going to harm me, they would’ve done it while I was unconscious. Therefore...I would be nice. Or at least try. “Thank you.” The words stuck in my throat. “For sewing me up.”

The younger doctor rolled his eyes; his face caught between professional outrage and sheer disbelief. “You think saying thank you makes all of this okay? Who the fuck are you? How are you even awake, let alone sitting upright? We gave you a local and a sedative. You’re hypovolaemic. You should be unconscious.”

Whisper punctuated the doctor’s anger with a hiss.

But apparently, the doctor wasn’t done. “We’ve done our duty and saved your life. We’ve ignored the fact that your cells had already started to knit together—which is impossible. Pretended that your unnaturally hot body temperature—that’s three degrees higher than a normal person, by the way—somehow doesn’t give you a life-threatening fever. Your heart rate doesn’t follow the usual cardiac pattern, your coagulation markers are different, and your oxygen saturation is a mess.”

“Harry,” the older doctor warned. “Enough.”

Harry completely ignored him. “I keep telling myself I don’t want to know. I agree with Roger that the more we know, the more danger we’ll be in, but your body isn’t normal. You aren’t normal. That cat isn’t normal. That device inserted in your chest isn’t normal. And I want to leave. Right the fuck now.”

The older doctor, Roger, pinched the bridge of his nose. “This is all getting a bit much. I was able to ignore the zoo animal but...” He used his hand to wave at me as if I was the problem. “Harry does have a point. There’s no logical explanation to how you’re awake and talking...or why your temperature is so high.”

My gaze shot to Rook’s, craving the cold energy of her company.

Rook gulped and looked at my chest, locking onto the piece of metal that made my life a living hell. Even away from Cinderkeep, I was still a prisoner. Still at the mercy of Marcus’s little remote. I could run to the other side of the planet, and he would still be able to kill me with a flick of a switch.

Rook moved closer. “Lucien...if you’re strong enough. We need to stop wasting time and go.”

“Go?” Harry barked. “Go where?”

Whisper hissed again, throwing his vote into the ring that he was ready to leave, too.

“And just how are you proposing to go?” Harry continued. “We’ve already told you the B&B is surrounded by guards. When I went to the kitchen to get some alcohol for sterilisation, there were men everywhere.” He pointed at the door. “There are two outside right now.”

Roger stepped forward, his glasses catching the light. “I’ve already promised to call the police the moment we leave here. Just...don’t do anything stupid and I’ll send someone to help you, alright?”

I wasn’t used to other men.

For the past twenty years, the only strangers I met were women. And after a lifetime of conditioning, my system commanded me to kill before I could be betrayed.

But...they’d saved my life.

They’d been dragged into my mess and if they called the police, Marcus would kill them.

Swinging my legs over the edge of the bed, I swallowed against the rush of lightheadedness. Whisper came to my side, offering his aid like he’d done so many times in the past. Resting a hand on his shoulder blades, I used him as a crutch as I hid my discomfort and stood.

Rook darted forward, going to my other side. Her slim, small fingers latched onto my bare forearm, holding onto me rather than giving me someone to hold onto.

She didn’t push me back down again. Didn’t try to convince me I was too weak. Instead, she gave me an encouraging smile and tugged me toward the door. “You can stand which is great. Can you walk?”

“He shouldn’t be walking anywhere,” one of the doctors huffed. “He should be in bed. Asleep.”

Rook ignored him, pulling me faster. “If you can manage to walk, then perhaps you can climb down the drainpipe and we can sneak out.” She glanced at the night sky outside the window. “It’s dark out and everyone saw you unconscious. I doubt they’ll be expecting you to escape tonight, so...let’s go.”

Whisper padded toward the door without any further encouragement, and I let her drag me. I let her think I would obey before slamming on the brakes next to the desk where I assumed they’d stitched me up, thanks to the bloody towels.

Prying her fingers off me, I turned to face the doctors again. “To put your minds at rest...as long as Marcus believes he can trust you, he won’t kill you. Not because he’s kind but because you’ve proven yourselves valuable in keeping me alive. You can go about your life as normal. Your families won’t be hurt because he’ll keep you in mind next time he needs you. However...the moment you even think about dialling an emergency number, you won’t live to see morning. Your bodies will vanish into a very well-used incinerator. Your families will never know where you’ve gone, and they might even become collateral damage to his temper.”

The doctors shared a horrified look. “Then...what do you suggest we do?”

Leaning against the desk—trying to look nonchalant but really needing the support—I crossed my arms and shrugged. “I suggest you play by his rules and forget you ever saw us. Pretend we never existed.”

Rook sucked in a sharp breath. “Lucien...what are you doing?”

“But...won’t you be taken back to wherever you’re being held?” the older doctor asked, his silvering hair catching the chandelier. “Aren’t we just condemning you to whatever you’re trying to escape from?”

“Not if you do me one last favour.”

“What’s the favour?” Harry asked suspiciously.

I couldn’t stop my hand going to the vitalsync core, exposing my plan—

“You can’t,” Rook gasped. “There’s no way they can do that here. You’ll die.”

Our eyes locked and the room dropped away.

It was just her.

And me.

And that damned electrifying awareness.

“Don’t.” Rook shook her head, tears welling. “You can’t ask them to do this.”

My fingers found Whisper’s ear out of habit, seeking comfort as a question I wasn’t going to ask spilled free. “You didn’t leave when you had the chance.” I shook my head, still unable to believe that a girl who’d meant nothing to me seven weeks ago had somehow become the most important person in my life. “I was unconscious and you didn’t run away.”

“Do you truly think I’m the sort of person who would do that?” Hurt flashed in her stare.

“You told Marcus that you weren’t pregnant—”

“To keep you alive! If I hadn’t, he might’ve taken your life right there.”

“He might.” I nodded. “But that was the gamble I was prepared to take. By revealing you’re not carrying an Ashfall, you’ve just given up the only protection I could give you.”

The doctors shuffled on the spot, awkward at being our unwanted audience but...fuck it.

I needed to say this because Rook was right. I might die tonight, and I didn’t want to have regrets.

“Leave.” I clutched Whisper’s ear, making the poor panther flinch.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me.” I hated the sudden tightness in my chest at the thought of never seeing her again. “Go.”

I’d used her to get this far.

She was the first and only to help me.

The least I could do was set her free.

“Go with the doctors once they’ve finished.” I narrowed my eyes. “The guards won’t question it and by the time Marcus figures it out, it will be too late. You’ll be gone.”

“Do you really think I’d leave you?” Her face turned white.

“Do you really want to stay?”

“Of course I don’t.”

I froze as her words punched me in the heart. Words I’d expected yet—

“I want to leave with every fibre of my being,” she continued. “But...I want to leave with you.”

I froze.

Why?

Why was she willing to put her life on the line for me?

There had to be a logical explanation why we affected each other so much. Why she made my entire system turn haywire with a single look.

The air grew so thick with unspoken things, I struggled to breathe.

A throat cleared loudly as one of the doctors interrupted our staring competition. “In that case, we’ll get going then.”

My gaze snapped to the eldest doctor. “Not yet, you’re not. You’re not dismissed.”

“Listen here, you can’t just—”

“I can and I am.” Letting go of Whisper’s ear, I crossed my arms. “I have one more task before you can leave.”

“Look, I think we’ve been extremely accommodating,” Harry muttered. “We’re leaving—”

“Remove these cuffs from my wrists.” I held up my arms and the silver bondage trapping me. “And yank this torture device out of my heart.” I tapped the vitalsync core. “Do that and I won’t just let you leave, I’ll ensure you’ll never have to work again if you don’t want to.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Harry asked.

“It means get these fucking things out of me and I’ll give you whatever you want.”

Chapter Fourteen

I LAY BACK DOWN ON THE DESK—trying to be obedient so they would do what I asked. It wasn’t comfortable. I would’ve preferred being unconscious again but...I wouldn’t let them out of this room unless they did what I commanded.

Whisper would be only too happy to provide the threats if they tried to be difficult.

Arching up on my elbows, I looked at the two doctors standing stiff and awkward by the door.

“Do it,” I hissed, interrupting the stagnant silence. “Remove them and you can go.”

With a heavy sigh, Harry and Roger shared a glance then moved to flank me on the desk.

“Lie down,” Roger ordered.

Having men this close to me. Men towering over me like they had when they’d inserted the very thing I wanted them to take out.

Fuck, it was hard.

Every part of me wanted to slaughter them, but...I gritted my teeth and lay back.

Grabbing my wrists, each doctor inspected a cuff, manipulating my arms almost in synchronisation. Wordlessly, they turned my palms up and down, studying the metal.

“Why do you have vascular access ports?” Harry finally asked. “Why one on each wrist? Why not in the usual place on the chest?”

Before I could reply—not that I had any intention of doing so—Harry pressed along the edge of the cuff. The skin had long since turned into scar tissue. His touch sent nasty vibrations right to my bones.

I fought the urge to kill him.

“You were bled regularly?”

I held his stare. “Are you sure you want to know?”

“Permanent shunts like this can sometimes become fused with the vein itself.” Roger returned my hand to the desk. “Without imaging, haemostatic gel, or a surgical team...” He straightened as if fortifying himself to give bad news. “If we tried to remove them like this—in a room not equipped and with no emergency gear on hand—we could run the risk of rupturing.”

“So?”

“So?” Harry scoffed. “You’d bleed out in under a minute.”

“Wait.” Rook sucked in a breath. “It’s that dangerous?”

“I don’t care,” I hissed. “Just get it over with.”

“Your haemoglobin levels don’t match your blood volume,” Roger said, frowning at my arm. “You can’t afford to lose any more—”

“I’m not arguing with you.” My teeth ground together. “I’ll ask nicely one last time, then the panther will ask instead.”

Whisper helpfully exposed his fangs with a rabid snarl.

The two doctors tensed but Harry shrugged. “Hey, it’s your funeral. I’ll agree to remove the ports. But that thing in your chest? I’m not touching it.”

I went deathly still. “You don’t have a choice. That’s the most important part.”

“Anything dealing with the heart must be done in a controlled, sterile environment where we can monitor every vital you have,” Roger said, keeping a careful eye on Whisper. “We’re not refusing to be awkward. It would genuinely be a life-threatening procedure, and your chances of survival would be negligible.”

“Whisper—”

Whisper snarled and strode forward.

Roger rushed, “We don’t have ventilators to work your lungs while you’re under general anaesthesia. We don’t have imaging. We don’t have the necessary tools. It’s just not possible. Regardless of whether you order the cat to eat us alive or not.”

“I don’t think you understand. This is non-negotiable. I need it out of me. I need my heart back.”

Roger shifted closer, looming over me. “Then I might as well just kill you now and save us the stress of trying.”

Whisper hissed and stalked toward him.

I didn’t call him off.

“Fine.” Roger sagged. “Fine, alright? Tell that bloody beast not to bite me.” He pointed at the vitalsync core and the raw, angry skin around it. “May I?”

Nodding, I stared straight at the ceiling as Roger leaned closer.

My skin crawled as he inspected it from all angles, touching the green and red lights that were currently off, making me flinch as he prodded at the inflamed flesh that had never accepted the implant.

Perhaps that was the reason I burned all the time—my immune system was trying to melt it out of my body.

His touch spread wider, feathering out from the vitalsync as if he could trace the wires beneath my skin.

I held my breath, fighting the urge to rip his throat out—

Straps biting into my wrists and ankles.

The stink of antiseptic clogging my throat.

Hands.

Far, far too many hands pinning my shoulders as I thrashed and screamed.

I didn’t want to be here.

I missed my parents.

I wanted to go home.

Father said we’d go back soon.

He promised.

A man leaned over me in a mask and ordered them to hold me still.

He cut—

I choked as the past dissolved.

My muscles went rigid beneath Roger’s exploratory touch—my skin stinging as if I’d been flayed.

Whisper roared, picking up on my stress. Leaping forward, his muscles coiled to pounce.

“Don’t!” Jack-knifing upward, I shoved the doctor away and made eye contact with the livid panther. “I’m fine. It wasn’t him.”

His tail whipped, and for a second, it looked like he’d ignore me but—

“Come here, kitty cat,” Rook cooed softly. “Come on.”

Incredibly, his hackles smoothed and his body uncoiled. With a pitiful chuff, he slinked to her side.

Whispering something to the creature, Rook guided him to the small bench by the door where her rucksack waited. Sitting down, she stayed there for a second before dropping to her knees and pulling Whisper close. “I’ll hold onto the furry protection detail. Just concentrate on what you’re doing. If there’s a way to get Lucien free from the cuffs and the pacemaker, then do it. But...please make it quick.”

Roger exhaled slowly and moved hesitantly back toward me. I had to admit, he had a good bedside manner. He never moved too fast, always methodical and calm. It granted me a false sense of peace that he could help me, even though I had no idea how.

“Grab that lamp, will you, Harry?” He pointed at the floor lamp with cream tassels.

Harry went to claim the fixture, dragging it into place directly over my face. Plugging it into a closer socket, he blinded me—drenching my chest with warm light as the vitalsync core glittered like treasure buried in my flesh.

Roger leaned in, close enough that I could feel the heat of his breath, his neck pulsating with every beat of his heart.

I suddenly felt very homicidal.

“What the hell is this thing?”

I let him study it, my entire body crawling.

“What does it do to you?” Harry asked, joining the investigation.

Balling my hands, I spoke through clenched teeth. “It drugs me.”

“No.” The older doctor shook his head. “No, that’s not possible. It would have to have a storage component and be regularly topped up to drug you. Did they top it up?”

I frowned. “No.”

“Well then. It’s not drugs.”

My mind raced.

What the hell did that mean?

How was Marcus hurting me all these years?

“But it feels as if my system is drenched with poison. Like venom is being injected directly into my nervous system. It knocks me out cold when it gets to a certain level.”

The two men shared a look. “That definitely correlates to how electromagnetic pulses can override the heart. It causes cardiac distress and is often described as burning agony.”

Rook made a soft noise that tugged at the very heart they discussed.

Doing my best not to look in her direction, I snapped, “How do you propose to stop it then?”

“I might have an idea.” Roger straightened his spine, working out a crick in his neck. “Or at least, I hope I do.”

“Can you remove it, after all?”

“Oh no.” He crossed his arms with a scowl, my blood morbidly bright on his white sleeves. “It can’t be removed. Harry and I are emergency surgeons. We’re capable of dealing with all kinds of trauma, but you need a cardiologist and probably a biotech specialist to survive that kind of procedure.”

My temper steadily rose. “Then what do you propose to do about it?”

“It can’t be removed but...perhaps I can disable it.”

“What does that mean?”

“I can see what you’re thinking, Roger, but are you sure it’s frequency based?” Harry asked. “Not chemical? Because if we get that wrong, we’ll kill him.”

Roger dragged a hand down his face, rubbing away his exhaustion. “There’s no reservoir. No ports. No refill mechanism.”

“That doesn’t mean it’s not drug-mediated,” Harry shot back. “Microdosing could—”

“I don’t think it is. Look at the tissue response.” He angled the floor lamp a little further down my body, spotlighting my chest. “There’s chronic inflammation but no necrosis. Whatever this thing is doing, it’s signalling, not secreting.”

Harry frowned and crouched to see from another angle. “You’re saying it’s a weaponised pacemaker?”

“Sounds rather brutal.” Roger shuddered. “However, if it’s frequency-based then—”

“It can be disrupted,” Harry cut in.

“I was thinking frying it would be better.”

Harry’s gaze lifted slowly to Roger’s. “Defibrillation?”

Roger didn’t answer immediately. He just stared at the vitalsync core, jaw set, and eyes calculating. “A high-energy pulse could overload the transmitter.”

“And if you’re wrong?” Harry asked quietly.

Roger finally looked at me. “Then the current would arc through the myocardium. It would cause tissue damage and possibly induce fatal arrhythmia.”

“If you didn’t catch that,” Harry patted my bare shoulder. “It could stop your heart. Still keen to go ahead?”

“Ehhh...” Rook piped up from her spot on the floor with Whisper. “Maybe we should wait until—”

“Do it.” I refused to look at her. “I want it destroyed.”

Roger’s shoulders slumped, the weight of my choice settling in. “We’ll only get one attempt.”

“Then get it over with.”

For a second, he looked like he’d renege on his agreement but then he sighed. “Fine. But you can’t move while we work. And fair warning...all of it will hurt.”

“I’m used to pain and you have my word I’ll be as still as a corpse.”

With another heavy sigh, the doctor went to a black bag that was already packed and waiting by the exit. Rummaging for a while, he brought a bunch of tools and dumped them on the desk beside my waist.

Harry broke away, setting up whatever was required. The sounds of metal clinking and water running were the only noise as the doctors sterilised, washed up, and slipped on gloves to begin.

Every minute, claustrophobia clawed harder.

I was so close to escape, yet so far.

So near to freedom, yet still at the mercy of death.

Whisper grumbled in Rook’s arms—his lips peeling over his fangs as my heartrate steadily increased.

Fuck, if this went wrong...

If I died in the next few minutes...

Rook buried her face into Whisper’s scruff as if using him as a box of tissues.

A punch of jealousy caught me completely unaware.

I wanted her to hold me instead.

I wanted to kiss her...just in case it was the last.

“Stay still,” Harry murmured, wrenching my attention back to him as he reached for my wrist. “We’ll do the cuffs first, then the pacemaker.”

“Fine.” Shutting everything down, I glowered at the ceiling. I ignored how my skin crawled as his fingers brushed me, tugging on the locking mechanism that I’d never been able to undo, no matter what I’d used to pry them open.

He hissed under his breath then picked up something thin and hooked from the array of torture devices beside me. With his other hand, he grabbed a small pair of forceps.

Cold metal clamped around my cuff, amplifying the sensation directly into my body.

He pressed, probed, then twisted the hook sharply into the lock.

A sharp metallic snap echoed through the room.

My entire hand flooded with heat.

“That’s one tab released.” His voice was tight and curt. “But scar tissue’s grown over the second.” Picking up a tiny scalpel, he added, “We’re out of local anaesthetic so you’re just going to have to bear with it.”

Rook sucked in a breath.

Whisper took a step forward, fighting her hold.

“It’s fine.” I shook my head at both of them. “Don’t come over here.”

Harry made a quick incision—just enough to separate whatever had fused. I hissed at the sharp sting as he dug the hook deeper, searching for the final latch.

A second, louder click.

The cuff loosened—cradling my wrist instead of biting into it.

For the first time since I was a child, air touched skin that hadn’t seen the world in decades.

Warm Ashfall blood seeped from the tiny scalpel cut, bright red and mocking.

“This is the hard part.” Sweat gleamed on Harry’s upper lip. “I need to remove the internal shunt. It will bleed. A lot. And you need to stay absolutely still so I don’t tear the vein.”

Not waiting for me to agree, he slid his fingers over my wrist, feeling for the tube’s anchor point. “I’m going to withdraw it slowly to minimise any damage.” He gave a single nod...and then pulled.

White-hot fire exploded down my forearm as the tube slid gently, excruciatingly slowly from my vein. It came free and blood surged, dark and steady.

Rook panicked. “I-Is that normal?!”

Whisper snarled as if they’d slit my throat.

“It’s okay, kitty cat,” she soothed. “Stay here. Come on. Be good. Please be good.”

Roger raced to my side, clamping a wad of gauze against the tiny hole in my wrist. “I’ll deal with the compression and stitches. You get the other one.”

Blood soaked through the gauze instantly.

He swapped the drenched handful for another, bright red splashing onto the white towel beneath.

Both Rook and Whisper shuffled closer. “Lucien—”

“I’m fine,” I lied. “Stay away.”

Closing my eyes, I let spinning sickness carry me away while both doctors worked on me. I tensed as the other cuff was slowly sliced and unlocked. I held my breath as they leaned over me, putting all their weight on the matching wounds to stop them from bleeding.

I didn’t open my eyes as I felt the sharp poke of a needle—sewing up the tiny holes left behind. I didn’t make a sound as they wrapped tight bandages around both wrists, hiding the mess my arms had become and replacing silver cuffs with cotton instead of metal.

I wanted a break.

I needed to breathe.

But all I said was, “And now the vitalsync.”

“You know what?” Roger barked. “My nerves are shot. I’ve had about enough of backyard medicine for one day. I don’t think I—”

“I’ll do it.” Harry sniffed. “The sooner this is over—even if I do end up killing him—the better.” Marching to his bag, he pulled out a big red box.

“Harry, wait. What about another option? We leave and take him with us. We’ll say he needs urgent care at the hospital.” Roger shot a wary glance at the exit. “We’ll say he’ll die if we don’t and—”

“You take me out of this room and Marcus will kill you.” My veins turned to ash. The bandages around my arms were so tight, my fingers throbbed.

Rook squeaked as Harry pulled out a defibrillator, placing it on the side table that he’d dragged next to the desk. Playing with wires and paddles and buttons, he waited until things flashed before nodding with satisfaction. “I agree with this crazy bastard. I’m not willing to put my family’s life at risk. I’ll uphold my Hippocratic oath and do my best to help him, but the moment I step out of this room, I’m done.” His eyes narrowed on me. “Do you hear me? I’m not responsible for what happens next.”

“I hear you.” I nodded, my heart galloping.

Holding matching travel-sized paddles in each hand, Harry loomed over me. “Ready?”

“Wait.” Rook leapt to her feet.

“Do it,” I snarled.

I turned my head and locked eyes with the girl responsible for getting me this far.

I clung to my dreams of revenge and—

“Clear!”

The shock hit like lightning.

Like fire and freedom and fury.

The world detonated white.

And blackness fell—