“It’s done,” he said, stirring me from my rumination. “You want to leave me to deal with her medical problems now?” It wasn’t a question, and I didn’t want to push my luck.
“Sure, message me when she comes to.” I hopped down from the med-van. Then stopped and turned back. “Better fit her with a tracker.”
He growled.
Asshole. I smirked.
“Fine, I’ll fit her with a tracker. Already bit the bullet. What’s one more transgression?”
He continued to mutter to himself as he began dragging equipment out of drawers. Chances were she’d wake up soon. I fully expected Carter to let me know when he was ready and not a moment before.
CHAPTER FIVE
Carter
AFTER BLAINE LEFT, I directed the driver to head back to Guilder City. The main assault was over, and I was no longer needed on the ground.
On the way to the medical center, I ran some basic tests—nothing of immediate concern. She was sleepy, a little disorientated, fatigued, and dehydrated, but doing well, all things considered.
Once we arrived at the medical center, further tests revealed several interesting enhancements to her glands, along with cell renewal and rejuvenation. She also bore the kind of lean musculature that suggested an optimized metabolism—all expensive stuff. There was little doubt that she was once someone important, possibly still was given her lack of branding.
I wasn’t one for questioning Blaine, not in a serious way. He was my older brother. I’d still been a kid when the collapse happened. The preceding years weren’t pretty either. Violence bubbled up everywhere, curfews were part of everyday life, but we had clung to the pretense of normality.
Blaine was an experienced veteran of several of the bloodiest pre-collapse wars. I’d been on the streets living rough when he found me. I still don’t know how.
My chances of survival without him had been small.
But today, and for the first time, I was questioning his decision regarding the grubby waif who lay unconscious on the medical cot.
The nurse had just called me over after informing me that Blaine’s property was showing marked signs of improvement.
Ownership. That word left an aftertaste in my mouth. Blaine had never indicated that he might consider it before, and now he was leaping headfirst with an ownerless woman who was going to get him killed.
I braced myself for a scream as she opened her eyes—she’d been a little out of it when we’d last spoke. Women ended up in medical for all kinds of reasons. Most were traumatic. Screaming, ranting, and attempted flight were all usual reactions. And she was strapped to the bed—a necessary precaution in light of those reactions, but one that could lead to a response all of its own.
No scream came. The slightest frown accompanied her trying to move and finding her wrists bound.
“How are you feeling?” I asked, a well-practiced distraction from her restrained pose while I assessed her mental state. A couple of guards hovered close at hand should I need help. Not that I needed any help with one tiny woman who was weakened from an ordeal.
She blinked a few times before her steady gaze found mine.
“Do you remember what happened?” I asked. The eyes staring back at me were a luminous winter blue that put her genetic level work into a whole other category and instantly piqued my scientific interest. Such modifications had been cutting edge pre-war, and post-war the focus had been military based for good reasons.
“Yes, I do.” Her brows drew together again as she subtly tested the restraints. Despite a couple of applications with the medical scanner, a shiny, raised bruise marred the center of her forehead. “I think.” She froze as she noticed the two hulking guards.
I waved them away, and despite feeling I hadn’t had enough time to fully assess her, ripped the velcro fasteners open. “Not everyone wakes up as composed as you,” I said.
She shuffled to a sitting position. Her fingers searched the small egg on her forehead—she winced. “Where am I?”
“Guilder medical center,” I said, noting how she stilled. “Can you tell me your name and the last thing you remember?”
Her expressive eyes shifted from me to the drip attached to her arm before settling on her dirt streaked fingers. She toyed with the soft white blanket a nurse had placed over her.
“Ava. I was on the roof of the old Coaster warehouse talking to a man. I fainted.”
I didn’t press her for a surname, tapping the information into the datapad. Most new citizens gave a false name or nothing at all. Besides, I was a doctor. My job was to note the basics if they offered them and let others further down the processing line worry about the rest. “That man asked me to give you his mark.”
Her fingers stilled. “Did you?” Impossibly colored eyes searched mine.
I nodded. “Yes, I did.” She didn’t blink for the longest time, and her fingers turned white around the blanket.
“I understand,” she said.
“Is there someone else you would prefer as a guardian?” It felt a lot like betrayal asking that question, but I had to know how deep this was about to go. No one in Taylor’s patch had guardianship rights. But he had agreements of sorts with other warlords. I guess anything was possible given the absence of a mark.
The tiny shake of her head didn’t relieve me as much as I’d hoped. “No, there is no one,” she said quietly.
Blaine was big enough and bad enough to manage his own bullshit. His claim was already on her. Several people had seen it and commented. I needed to stop asking probing questions when I wouldn’t know what to do with the answers. “Let me remove the drip, and you can have some liquid food.” I removed the cannula before pressing a clean cotton ball over the tiny hole.
“Sanctuary? Do you know?”
That answered where she was from. It also made me curious as to how an unmarked woman had stumbled into our midst.
“It’s gone,” I said. No point in allowing her to harbor any hopes of returning there. “The community will be treated fairly.” A lot depended on the people themselves and their acceptance of their new situation. I wanted to offer more; there was a compelling innocence to her demeanor that sparked an urge to provide false comforts. There’d been plenty of women who’d come and gone from Blaine’s life, but I could see why this one had stirred his protective cavemen side.
Okay, so they were women owned by someone else—men liked to offer them up as favors to Blaine. It was fair to say the women didn’t mind, either.
“Can I see them?”
“Ah, no. Any prior ownership would be respected, and family relationships considered. Do you meet those criteria?”
Her lashes lowered again, shoulders sloped. “It’s a small community. They were like a family to me. But no, none meet that criteria.”
“Then I must let Blaine know you’re ready to be collected. There’s time for you to take a shower first if you feel up to it.”
“Definitely, yes, please.” Her enthusiasm for the shower was understandable given the dirt caking the exposed parts of her body. I just hoped the meltdown I was anticipating could be staved off until Blaine arrived.
Ava