“You can see her tomorrow,” Blaine said. “I think your capacity for making demands isn’t great, given I’ve just started a war with Grimm’s Law to get you back.”
My mother’s sharp hiss saw Blaine catch a glare from Taylor. The king seemed protective toward my mother… and there was a doctor here.
My mother squeezed my hand. “I’ve gotten to be a good judge of a person’s character over the years. I promise this will be fine.”
I went home with Blaine. “So,” he said as I hopped up beside him in the Humvee. “Your real name is Alexis?”
I smiled. “Just Ava now.”
He smiled back. “Fine, just Ava, let’s head the fuck back home.”
For once, we didn’t fall on one another, and with the comforting weight of his arms around me, I fell into a deep sleep.
True to my mother’s word, she was fine, and the next day, we began the long journey toward healing the horrors of our past.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Nora
LIFE HAD BARELY settled again after the drama surrounding Ava’s flight and the subsequent reunion with her mother when my life was once more thrown into the spin by a proposition for ownership.
He didn’t look like a thug this time, but the man was obviously a soldier, and I greeted the request for my owner’s name with all the composure of a deer caught in headlights. I mumbled Carter’s name and went and hid in the bathroom for ten minutes. Deep breaths, and I hit call… it went straight to voicemail. My throat was so tight, not a single word came out.
I ended the call and tried to send him a message. My hands were shaking so badly, the letters turned to gibberish.
I was splashing water over my face to try and find calm when a nurse entered. Carol was a sweet older lady and nothing like Gilly. The latter had found herself reallocated to the field hospital operations permanently—or so I’d heard. Word was, Carter was behind this. I thought I ought to feel sorry for field hospital operations, but I really didn’t.
“What’s happened?” Carol asked, placing her hand on my shoulder. “You’re as white as a sheet.”
“I need to message Carter,” I said. “A man—”
I couldn’t even bring myself to speak it.
Her face softened. “Want me to call him for you?”
“Voicemail,” I said. Strangely, I felt calmer now that Carol was here. “I’m going to send him a message. It just shocked me.”
“Of course,” she said kindly. “I know Gilly set you up last time. I’ve heard she’s gone to a new owner—he’s not as soft as the last one.” Her lips set in a disapproving line. “About time if you ask me... Best to get the message done sooner rather than later. And don’t leave the building before he acknowledges it.”
I nodded. My fingers only shook a little this time, and I tapped the message out.
The reply came back instantly.
Carter: I’ll deal with it.
Carter
I had an office at the medical center adjoining the research labs. Although I’d spent more than average time dealing with the influx of emergencies over the last few weeks, I’d been given leave to return to my genetics research today. I was still very much a junior doctor, despite being fast-tracked through the basics.
It made a nice change to get back to work that didn’t involve partially severed limbs and shrapnel damage. I’d become hardened to such horrors long before arriving at Guilder City—you did what you could.
I spent the morning in the lab before heading to a small adjoining ward where we administered the genetic enhancements. My cell rang as I dealt with a soldier who’d had a severe reaction to the viral enhancement. It didn’t happen very often, but it was a known risk, and it took us a short while to stabilize him.
Once this was done, I glanced down at my cell to find a message from Nora.
A volatile mix of emotions assaulted me as I read it. Relief that Nora had trusted in me and messaged me as I’d asked. White-hot fury that some asshole dared to set his sights on what was mine. But also that human fear of fallibility.
I shot off a quick reply.
Nora was relying on me. There wasn’t room for doubts in this scenario—I needed to send a message to the asshole who dared to challenge for Nora.
I found ward staff not very subtly loitering when I arrived on the floor.
Nosey bastards. Not that I could blame them. I remembered a time before I claimed ownership when such escapades were viewed with curiosity.
I gave them a stern glare as I passed the nurse’s station, which sent a few of them scurrying to whatever they were supposed to be doing. A few toughed it out and blatantly watched me pass.
When I reached the cubical in question, I stepped inside and yanked the curtain across.
“She’s not available,” I said, folding my arms and eyeballing my competition, who was disadvantaged by being on a bed and recently injured. As Blaine would say, go hard and go early.
Mid-thirties, a soldier, and solid muscle from what I could tell. He gave me the kind of look I got all the time, the one that said I was a barely credible doctor, and certainly nothing to deter him from a challenge.
“You’re a doctor, right?” he said, fronting relaxed by placing a hand behind his head. “If she’s not pregnant by your pencil dick, then she’s available. I heard you won a challenge a while ago. Someone must have helped you.”
I’d flipped the handy velcro strap over one wrist and pinned the other to the bed before he could let out more than a squeak.
“The fuck are you doing, asshole?” he said, but there was a nervous tremble in his voice that I enjoyed.
“There’s a scalpel against your throat. You probably won’t even feel it slide in.”
“Get the fuck off of me!”
“Yes, that wet trickle is blood. It’ll start to sting soon.” He went deathly still. “No one helped me in the challenge. Unless you’re referring to my brother turning up and making sure it stayed one-on-one—my challenger brought ten of his buddies and a corrupt adjudicator. Are you the kind of man who challenges off the grid? Because if you are, I’m just going to slit your throat and save Blaine the trouble of tossing your ass outside, like he did with the last low-life.”
“I’m not into underhand challenges, man.”
“Glad to hear it.” I stepped back, dropping the bloody scalpel on the nearby cart. “They had to scrape my last challenger off the underground garage floor. I’m sure the footage is still doing the rounds if you want to check.” I flipped the velcro on his other wrist, and his only move was to press his fingers to his throat and check for blood.
My smile was cold. “Stay the fuck away from Nora or issue the challenge.”
He raised both hands. “I’m good.”
When I turned and wrenched open the curtain, half a dozen ward staff nearly fell in. “Tell Nora I’ll see her in my office,” I said before stalking away.
Nora
I went and hid in the stock room when I heard via the medical center grapevine that Carter was on his way to the ward. I didn’t want him to get hurt again. I felt stupid and foolish that anyone was even making these sorts of requests.