“Dr. Riggs will discharge you from her care, eh, probably later this afternoon.”
And then what?
“I’ll drop back by to answer your questions, give you a tour, and help you select that apartment. Until then, get some rest.”
Adam stared down at her for a moment, waiting. “See you later then,” he said, turning back to the door.
He’d crossed the room before a good question finally burned through Talia’s consciousness.
“Wait,” she called.
He turned back, expectant.
“What if I don’t want to stay? What if I’d rather take my chances with the wraiths?” If that snooping bastard was going to “put all his cards on the table,” he had damn well better flip that last one over.
He held her gaze. “I don’t think that would be in either of our best interests.”
FIVE
THAT went well.
Take a traumatized and ill woman, tell her you know she’s a freak, invite her to come on staff, and then insinuate that she has no choice. Excellent work.
Bracing himself on the corridor wall outside Patty’s lab, Adam brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. Idiotic, more like.
He pictured Talia, IV stringing from her arm, wrapped in a clumsy robe, her pale, shocked face draining of color with every word he uttered. There was so little color to her in the first place, what with her white-blonde hair and black eyes. Only her lips retained a hint of pink.
To stay and work at Segue made much better sense on all fronts. For such an intelligent woman, that conclusion shouldn’t be difficult to reach. Unless, of course, you’re sick and scared to begin with.
“Have you slept?”
Patty. Adam dropped his arms and turned in the direction of her voice.
Patty stood just outside the door to her lab, hands on her hips, penny loafer tapping, mouth pinched in motherly concern. Her gray roots contrasted sharply with her fading brown hair, which he knew she hated, but couldn’t be helped. Her every-eight-weeks trip to Middleton’s only beauty salon had to wait until Talia was stable and settled. Not that Patty had asked.
“Yes, thanks.” At some point in his life he had slept. He didn’t need her on his back about it right now. The day was already halfway to hell.
“She looked beat,” he said, angling his head toward Patty’s lab and changing the subject.
“She should be dead. She isn’t going to bounce back as quickly as we—or she—would like. The extent of the effects of heatstroke can take some time to manifest, and with her unusual physiology, I simply don’t know what to expect.”
“She’s concerned that she’s not free to leave,” he said, warning Patty to be prepared for a difficult patient.
“Frankly, I’m concerned about that as well. I don’t like deceiving her, Adam. I don’t like it at all.” Patty shook her head, eyebrows lifting as if to ask, What are you going to do about her?
“I can’t very well let her go off to be killed when the answers we need—that the world needs—could be right there inside her. Look, I originally set out to bring her on staff, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. I still believe her work with near-death could challenge us all. She doesn’t need to know that we’re studying her, specifi cally.”
Patty was already shaking her head again, getting her steam up.
Adam raised a hand for her to let him finish. “I know it’s only a half-truth, but that’s all she’s going to get. That woman eluded the wraiths for two months. A wraith war is coming, and if we don’t take advantage of every scrap of knowledge, we’ll have nothing to fight with. We’re already running out of time.”
“It’s not right.” Patty’s gaze met his, as if an accusation of wrongdoing would deter him from his path.
“What part of this whole situation is, Patty? Just run your tests. You needed to take them because of her hyperthermia anyway.”
“Not all of them,” she corrected, “and the others I took in order for her get well, not to study her. It’s her consent, Adam, that bothers me. It should bother you.”
Adam’s head ached. “Give me an alternative. I can see what’s coming. I know you can, too. How do we fight an army of wraiths?”
“It’s still not right.” She shrugged helplessly.
“Are you going to run your tests or not?” Adam had no time or patience for stalling.
“If I say no?”
Adam put a hand on her shoulder and gentled his voice. “I’ll find someone else to do it. I can find someone else, regardless. I can’t have you breaking down on me, not now.”
She shifted her weight forward. “No, I’ll do it. Anyone else won’t stand up to you. Won’t stand up for her. I won’t see her made a prisoner, though. I can tell you that much.”
“Look, Talia’s a little overwhelmed right now. Perhaps her wanting to leave won’t become an issue. I’ll be back this afternoon to show her around. I’ll convince her to stay with as much truth as I think she can handle.” He hadn’t remotely considered Talia’s leaving a possibility, not after the hell she’d been through, or he’d have been prepared for her question. Smoothed it over a bit.
Adam gripped the back of his neck with one hand to loosen the corded muscles that seemed to grip his skull.
But as long as he was making women mad at him…“I want to start testing the extent of Jacob’s rapid healing again.”
Patty’s eyes glittered. “Don’t push me, son. No matter what that poor man has become, I won’t be part of any purposeful harm. No harm. I draw the line there.” Patty drew an emphatic imaginary line between them.
“He’s a cold-blooded killer and you know very well what the aim of this institution is.”
Patty’s face flushed. “I was at Jacob’s christening. I saw him graduate from Harvard. Your mother borrowed my hand-kerchief. I will not purposely cause pain until the moment we can euthanize him. Even then, my aim is to see that he goes as peacefully as possible.”
The argument went back six years to the family “intervention” in Jacob’s disturbing new lifestyle. Dr. Patricia Riggs, Mom’s childhood friend and the Thorne family doctor, was on hand for discreet support. No one doubted she’d keep her evaluation of Jacob’s condition within the Thorne family. Mental illness? Drug addiction? They should be so lucky.
Patty was in the room when Jacob “kissed” Mom, witnessing the extent of Jacob’s transformation. She saw what came after, as well. Adam wasn’t proud of that. Now she still honored the friendship regardless of the risk to herself.
Ah, hell. She deserved a little honor back, not him snapping at her.
Adam exhaled his frustration and dampened his tone. “You’re a softy, Aunt Pat. Always have been.”
The Aunt Pat had Patty’s nose reddening, eyes rapidly blinking against tears. Pat with no family of her own, no family but the fucked-up Thorne brothers.
“I need to get back. Get Dr. O’Brien back in bed,” she said, voice high and broken.
“Okay. I’ll be around, say two o’clock?”
“That’ll be fine. Try to keep the tour short. She’s bound to get tired quickly.”
Adam nodded and rounded the corner from Patty’s lab to his own office. He coded himself inside. A glance at the monitor told him that over the past hour Jacob had migrated to the far corner of his cell to recline, head lolling with boredom. Which was just fine.
Then he got a good look at his desk. The files dedicated to leads on Talia O’Brien’s whereabouts could safely be shredded. Security reports had to be seen to. Budget. Correspon-dence to a half dozen field researchers. And the updated global wraith watch needed reviewing so that he was current on areas of wraith growth, movement, the establishment of supply chains and wealth.