I nodded. “He’s out of a cell, but in a containment room. They’ve used one of those ReGen wand things on him—God, those are so cool!—but want to ensure he’s fully recovered before coming home to me.” I looked over my shoulder. “You can see I’m back in Deek’s house, alone but safe. As for Deek, he’s well guarded, so no one can harm him. That eases my mind. I should be able to get some sleep, finally.”
I wondered if I sounded like a flaky Earth girl blathering away, because I had to hope Engel saw the necklace, knew it was the evidence that could put him away.
“I’ve seen vids of people on Rush. Scary,” Tia said.
“I know. I guess those from Earth aren’t bothered by it.” I shrugged my shoulders. “Who knows? All I know is I’m exhausted from worry, not hyped up on drugs. I’m going to crash as soon as I get off this vid thing. I just wanted to tell you both since you’re family now.”
I patted the necklace again, for effect.
Tia smiled. “I’m so glad to hear this. Get a good night’s rest and we will come by tomorrow to visit with both of you and share in the celebration.”
“Another celebration!” I exclaimed. “But maybe you can wait until the following day? I want to do a little celebrating with Deek… alone.”
I winked at her. She blushed, but winked back.
“The following day then.”
I waved at the screen as Tia reached toward the display and pressed a button that ended the call. The screen went black and I dropped my hand, and my smile.
I exhaled, then spun my chair about. “Think that worked?” I asked.
Dax and Sarah stepped into the room. One of the head guards joined them.
“He’ll come for the necklace. Soon, before Deek returns,” the guard said. He had no emotional connection to this, but he was no less angry with it. “Once Deek is here, he won’t let you out of his sight and any attempt to retrieve the necklace will fail. Engel knows that.”
“Now you go to bed and wait,” Dax said, his mouth grim. He’d fought the Hive for years but was bothered by evil happening on Atlan. By Atlans.
“As bait,” I added.
***
Deek
I awoke to one of the military physicians waving a ReGen wand over me. Gods, I kept falling asleep. Why did I keep waking up to crazy shit? First it was Tiffani seducing me—which looking back, I didn’t mind at all—then Seranda, and now this.
“Leave me the fuck alone,” I growled.
“I’m sorry, Commander,” he replied. “We need to assess you.”
“Before execution?” I asked, swiping the wand away.
“For Rush.”
My hand stilled. “Rush?”
Why the fuck did he have to test me for Rush? I lay there and let the Atlan do his work.
“As expected. You have enough Rush in your bloodstream to take out a Zoran.”
“The three-legged predator from Sector 3?”
He nodded as he continued to pass the wand over me. “The readings show seven times the amount an addict pumps into his veins. Give me thirty seconds to neutralize it.”
The wand’s color changed from orange to blue. I’d been injured enough times to know to lie still and let the wand do its job.
The doctor put the wand away and moved away from the bed. I stood, shook my head and assessed how I felt. “Holy fuck, Doc. What is going on?” I asked.
“You were drugged.”