Lie to Me (10 page)

“The doctor will arrive shortly.” Dreadlocks shifted Mack a little higher on his chest, securing her in his hold. “I’m afraid my grip isn’t helping her injuries either.”

Stone ripped his observation off the room in time to catch the soft expression Dreadlocks directed upon Mack. The man genuinely cared for her. That much was evident. “I have a cybernetic doctor in my hotel room.”

He never left home without the medical device. They lived in dangerous times, and he never knew when someone would attempt an assassination. The tube would heal all of her injuries, including any permanent nerve damage, if they got her to the cybernetic physician soon enough.

Dreadlocks considered him without blinking, his stare one of a man who trusted few. Stone applauded him on that outlook on life.

Mole gaped. “That’s illegal tech. Who
are
you?”

“The guy who went toe-to-toe with your Regent to save her.” Stone nodded at Mack, unnerved by his jealousy of the man hugging her to his chest. He had no right, damn sure no business, embracing the green-eyed monster over a woman he’d just met. And especially over a woman who another claimed possessed information on his wife. If that weren’t deranged enough, in a few months he’d be a married man who continued to pine over his deceased spouse. Worse still, he coveted Mack more than he’d ever wanted his fiancée, Katarina. Even if he understood his attraction to Mack, he couldn’t offer her anything of importance because his future was set in stone.

“He’s Regent Stone Emmerson.” The redhead who’d blocked their entrance identified him, but Stone’s gaze remained lodged on Dreadlocks. Stone’s identity had a direct impact on the man holding Mack. Dreadlocks’s eyes widened just a fraction, and his nostrils flared, followed by the clenching of his jaw. Oh yeah, his identity meant something to the other man.

“Fuck,” Mole muttered, swiping his hand across his mouth. “He complicates everything.”

“Judging by the looks of the goon at his side,” Red went on, “I’d say that’s his bodyguard, James.”

“Good to know my reputation precedes me, doll.” James winked her way.

“It wasn’t a compliment, buttercup.”

“Of course it is.” His buddy fingered the hilt of his gun, a covert threat to all present. “If I was forgettable, you wouldn’t have remembered my name.”

Red rolled her eyes. “None of us are armed, you’ve no need of that.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

Shaking her head, Red strolled to Dreadlocks and placed her hand on his shoulder. “I know it’s a gamble, Reaper.”
Ah-ha
! Stone possessed a name. Even a nickname lent him the power to delve for information on his opponent. “We have to take the chance for Mack. She’s more important than our distrust of spooners.”

He hated that fucking word. Just because he’d been born with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth, didn’t make him soft or useless, and it damn sure didn’t indicate his trustworthiness or lack of deadliness. Since Kella’s death, he’d made it his goal to learn how to protect himself and his people. He implemented fairness in his Quad. A nondiscriminatory system that threatened his fellow Regents’ tyrannical government.

“Hold up, Dutch.” Weird name for a chick, but Reaper wasn’t exactly an ordinary name. The only name he lacked now was the individual speaking. “There’s more going on here.” It seemed Mole would play the devil’s advocate. There was always one in a group, and it was usually James’s part to play. “What do you get out of helping her, Regent Emmerson?”

Stone didn’t bother pointing out he wasn’t obligated to answer to anyone. Besides, evading a question he didn’t have an answer to felt like the best choice. Concluding Reaper made the decisions concerning Mack, Stone met Reaper’s stare and set out to appeal to the other man’s emotions. “She your girl?”

A brief hesitation before Reaper said, “You could say that.”

Fuck, fuck,
fuck
! Stone nodded, while cursing his misfortune. He’d hoped she was single. That she had a boyfriend didn’t deter him much. It just meant he’d have to be a little more creative in getting her into his bed. Wait...no.
Hell no
. He wasn’t going there.

“She told me she was a lesbian.”

Dutch laughed.

Mole grinned.

Reaper demonstrated no emotion, just glared at him.

“I’m offering aid free of charge with a contraption illegal to anyone but me. The whip could’ve caused permanent nerve damage, but the wand...” He slid his fingertips along his brow. “The wand’s more powerful, and I can’t predict the damage it could’ve caused. The real question boils down to how big of a risk are you willing to take to save Mack? Trust me or not?”

“I’m still trying to figure out his angle.” Mole compressed his lips as he scrutinized Mack. “But he’s got a point. That punishment had nothing to do with a perceived slight. Regent Jones wanted to make her suffer.”

Stone would ask about that inference later, but after witnessing Jones’s infatuation with Mack, his best guess was that she’d shunned Jones’s sexual propositions or her archeological success wounded his fragile ego.

“Forgive me, Mack, but I don’t know what else to do.” Reaper kissed her forehead. “I remain with her at all times.”

“Agreed.” He’d prefer to have her all to himself, but he wouldn’t quibble over the little things when she required immediate medical attention.

***

A
few hours later, Stone was holed up in his bedroom. Mack rested on his bed, her hands at her sides, with the triangular cyber doc device resting in the valley between her breasts. The freaky kippy curled up at her side, licking Mack’s fingertips every once in a while as if offering moral support. He wasn’t even sure which of them brought the fucking mongrel, but he couldn’t exactly kick the pet out the door.

Mack reminded him of a sleeping beauty. If only his kiss could not only wake her, but heal her too.

Stone shook off the fanciful thoughts and caught Reaper’s distrustful scowl in his direction. Like a guard dog, Reaper sat on the bed beside her refusing to leave her for a moment. The man hadn’t even visited the lavatory. While Reaper didn’t seem jumpy, every little noise drew the man’s attention, and his tension would become evident in the tautness of his body. If Stone didn’t know better, he’d say Reaper was combat trained. In this Quadrant that level of esteem was reserved for spooners only...or assassins.

With his feet propped on the desk in the bedroom, Stone crossed one ankle over the other while reading the health report of Mack Ellason as the cyber doc feed it into his computer. Ailments not caused by the electrical punishment popped up.

Damage to her reproductive organs. Status...healed. Stone wondered what’d happened to cause the mutilation, but wouldn’t ask because the incident wasn’t his business. And he disliked the thought of causing her to suffer further. She’d been through enough for now. Her ability to conceive would be a surprise.

A scar here and there was mended.

Burns from the whip and wand were removed with ease, but as he’d suspected she’d suffered nerve damage, as well as dead tissue in her extremities. That last he hadn’t anticipated, but her fingers and toes had been black by the time they arrived at his hotel. The nerve damage took the longest to restore to health. Once she was completely healed, the cybernetic doctor would shut off.

His screen flashed a warning.
Vanity chip installed.

Tumbling his feet to the floor, Stone sat up straight. The usage of a V-chip was illegal for one of her status, but indicated she hid her real appearance. What was she running from?
Who
was she hiding from?

Positive for Xeno gene
.

Double fuck
. The accuracy of a cyber doctor catching the X-gene marker panned out accurately about twenty percent of the time. It was why Regents elected to maintain the X-gene clinics, because those tests were foolproof. This diagnosis left Stone pondering her real appearance, and her real identity, which resulted in his focus sliding along her body. Reaper returned his notice with a warning glower.

All Xenos were recorded in a Regency database. An X-gene in Quadrant2 would be married, not running around free as a relic pirate or being punished in the city square. Obviously Jones had no idea she was an X-gene. That Jones was being cuckolded by a slip of a girl gave Stone a profound sense of satisfaction.

But to whom does she belong
?

A few keystrokes pulled up the X-gene registry. As he suspected,
Mack Ellason
was not on the list.

X-gene. V-chip. Two findings he’d never thought to scroll across his screen.

He had been sent here to find information on Kella. Two plus two
had
to equal Mack
was
Kella.

Shoving down his sudden spike of hope, he clicked back over to the medical report. With his mind whirling in a million different directions, he sent off a message to James:
Need an R-scanner ASAP.

No more pussyfooting around. The retro scanner would eliminate any doubt as to her identity.

––––––––

K
ella blinked the grogginess from her eyes. Yawning, she stretched—and froze. The bed beneath her was too soft, not the hard floor she was accustomed to as a mattress. Bolting into a seated position, she scanned the room. Retro yowled and stretched, then settled back into a curl and soft purr.

“It’s okay, Mack.” Reaper gave her a shaky grin.

His wobbly smile notified her not a damn thing was okay. “Where are we?”

“Stone’s bedroom. Allow me to explain before you panic.”

Too late. She shoved the covers off, while lamenting over how comfy the bed felt until dread curled in her gut.

“Calm down.” Her friend placed his hand on her arm. Lowering his voice, he whispered, “He doesn’t know who you are.”

Yet. His very presence unnerved her. All it’d take was one small slip on her part and he’d become suspicious of her identity. “Where are my clothes?”

“Jeb cut them off, remember?”

Everything flooded back in a rush, the torture and especially Regent Jones’s wickedness. The words he’d whispered to her there at the end. “I’m going to be sick.”

“Bathroom’s there.” Reaper pointed to a door on her right.

Kella scrambled, just making the porcelain throne in time. She retched, manufacturing too much noise like always, with tears streaking her face. Could anyone throw up prettily? She was sure someone delicate managed it. She hated those bitches.

The gagging was made worse by her empty belly. Stomach acid was the worst to upchuck, burning a path up her esophagus to splash against the back of her throat.

Gentle hands gathered her hair together and held the strands out of her face. Several long minutes later she sat back and leaned against the wall, and Reaper released her hair. The cool tile felt heavenly against her overheated legs.

“I can’t remain here.”

“I agree we should leave sooner rather than later, but you’re still recovering.” Reaper squatted and offered her a wet washcloth. “And Stone doesn’t know who you are.”

“Yet.” She ran her fingertips along her forehead where a dull ache throbbed. Thinking of Jones’s words was the last thing she wanted, but she couldn’t evade the very real danger her leader presented. “Right now I’m more worried about Regent Jones. The things he knows...and wants. The things he tried to make me agree to before he’d end the torture. I can’t stay here, Reaper.”

“Give me a day or two and I’ll handle our departure.”

She nodded, allowing him to take charge, and thankful he didn’t ask any questions because she didn’t feel like reliving it at the moment. Later would be soon enough to tell him Jones knew her real identity. “I’m not sore.” Shouldn’t the basic act of movement be agony? During the punishment her skin had felt like fire ants crawled across her skin or as if fire licked at her flesh. “What happened?”

“Stone offered to heal you with a cyber doctor.”

“Reaper!”

“I couldn’t refuse the offer. You suffered extensive damage. You would’ve died without his aid. I’d make the same choice if I had to do it over again.”

“He’s looking for information on his wife. They asked me about Kella Starke.”

“We’ll be gone by the end of the week so it won’t matter.” Reaper smoothed her hair out of her face. “Trust me, Mack. I got this covered. We can relocate you to the badlands”—spooners feared the inhabitants of the badlands—“and you can still work your dig.”

Thankful she had such a good friend, she hugged him. He squeezed her back.

“Let’s get you back to the bedroom, and I’ll go get you some clothes.”

“I’m okay.” She pulled out of his arms and pushed to her feet. A little woozy, she was glad she had the wall to her back.

Reaper slid his arm around her shoulders, another beneath her knees, and swung her into his arms. “Okay, my ass. The cyber doc might’ve patched you up, but it recommended a week of rest.”

“We don’t have that long.” He settled her on the bed and pulled the covers over her legs. “We should get Dutch on reformatting my V-chip. Wouldn’t hurt to ditch this look with Jones after me and Stone here too.”

“You sure you want to trust Dutch with your secret?”

She’d known Dutch for three years. She trusted the hacker enough to start a terrorist group with her. “She wouldn’t be X-Ds if she wasn’t trustworthy.”

“All right.” He pulled a gun from his ankle holster and hid it beneath the blanket at her hip. “Use this if you need it. I won’t be gone long.”

“I can’t shoot Stone.”

“You will do what you have to in order to stay safe.”

Kella caught Reaper’s hand. “I
can’t
shoot Stone.”

He gave her hand a squeeze. “I love that you’re gentle hearted enough you can still care for a man who turned you into a slave.”

Realizing the emotion as a weakness, she offered no explanation, just shrugged.

“Then shoot James. That should be easy enough.”

Giggling at the idea, she curled up onto her side. It felt like she’d fallen asleep just seconds before her door reopened. “Back so soon, Reaper?”