Alex poked a finger at the man with a nod. But before they could leave, Raven returned. He tossed something into the middle of the floor. It spewed smoke. “Can’t have you following me.”
Alex coughed and choked, trying to cover his nose when he started to feel light-headed. The world closed in around him before everything turned black.
CHAPTER 4
AVA
Ava's eyes fluttered open as she came back to her senses. The whir of computers and the sharp scent of new technology filled the air. Her head pounded slightly, and the room spun around her.
She groaned, raising her bound hands to her head as she winced.
“There’s water on the bedside table,” a robotic voice said from the darkness.
She snapped her hands away, her heart racing as she searched the room.
Her eyes, still not adjusted to the dim light, couldn’t find him. “Raven?”
A dark figure stalked across the room with heavy footfalls from his thick boots. With a gloved hand, he grabbed the glass of water and thrust it forward toward her.
Ava tried to sit up, the room spinning, and she slouched back down.
Raven set the glass on the table, easing onto the edge of the bed. “Ava?”
“What the hell did you hit me with?” she groaned. “This has never happened before.”
She pressed her hands over her eyes.
“Nothing different. Tell me your symptoms.”
“Dizzy, fuzzy-headed, and there’s a strange, masked man hovering over me.”
Raven sighed through the mask, grabbing the water again. “Try the water. It will help you recover.”
She bobbed her head as she struggled to lift her chin for the water. “This should do it. Some water will counteract any of the ill effects of the drugs you keep pumping into my system.”
“They are harmless and necessary, Ava.”
“Show me the studies,” she said with a groan as she twisted onto her side with a groan, tugging her legs up to her abdomen.
“Are you feverish?” Raven asked.
“I don’t know. I’m not that warm, I don’t think.” Her stomach convulsed as the water roiled inside it. “Ohhh.”
She rocketed up to sit, shoving at Raven who refused to budge. “Move or I’m going to puke on you.”
He stumbled back, rising quickly as she scrambled off the bed. “Door on the left is the–”
She didn’t hear the last of the statement as she raced into the bathroom and dropped to her knees at the toilet. Raven followed her in, grasping her hair as she emptied the contents of her stomach.
She sat back on her haunches, blowing out a long breath as she wiped at her lips with the back of her bound hands. “Tell me again how the water was supposed to help.”
“The drug should not have caused this,” Raven answered.
“Yeah, keep telling yourself that,” she said before blowing out a long breath.
“I would never take a chance with your life, Ava.”
She glanced sideways at his hand, still clasping her hair behind her back. “Thanks for the assist. I think I’m okay now.”
