I wasn’t sure what difference that made now, but my ache for her was endless. Knowing how close she’d been to death, and then to survive just to live through this.
“So yes, I’d like to keep her here for at least four days…”
At that, my mind instantly focused, and my mission became clear once again.
“I’m sorry, that’s not possible.”
The easy-going smile on his face began to fade. “Excuse me?”
“I said that’s not possible. She’s required to be in Noctis in…” I checked the clock on the wall. “A little over twenty-four hours. Do what you can to stabilize her, but we need to leave here by the morning.”
He opened his mouth in disbelief. “I don’t know who you think you are, but it doesn’t matter, because you don’t get a say in her treatment.”
A darkness fell over me, and the persona I wielded when I was usually on the job, the one that made me a success, began to come to the surface.
I wasn’t her friend. I certainly wasn’t her alpha.
I was a bounty hunter, and she was my bounty.
“I’m afraid I do,” pulling out my license.
He grabbed the card out of my hands, scanning the information quickly and then shoving it back towards me. “This is ridiculous. She’s my patient, and I won’t stand for this. Her health—”
“I appreciate your concern, doctor. But the contract I have for her was signed by Premier Victor Corvane himself. If you stop me from taking her, you’re going to have to deal with him next.”
“The Premier of Noctis?” he gasped. “What would he want with Sage?”
I shrugged, trying to keep my cool, to keep the apathetic, “tough guy” mask on my face. But I was hating every second of it. “It’s not my business to know, it’s just my business to find and deliver her alive by tomorrow evening. I’ll let the Premier know about her condition, so she can continue her treatment there.”
Maybe. The Premier had said he wanted her alive, unharmed and untouched, but that didn’t mean he wanted her to stay that way.
The doctor growled, baring his teeth as he stepped closer to me. I was a little surprised. Elves, even alpha elves, were rarely this aggressive. “I made an oath to heal without harm. This goes against every tenet of Orithiel…”
I sighed, letting a tendril of red smoke bloom from the palm of my hand. It snaked around my fingers, and I gave the doctor a warning look. “I will do this, one way or another. Sage broke the law and has to face the consequences.”
The lies burned like acid on my tongue, but I needed to get this done.
“Write up everything you can, from care and discharge instructions to prescriptions for meds, and do it quickly. I’m leaving with her at first light.”
* * *
I sat in the corner of her room, elbows on my knees and my chin resting on my hands, watching her sleep.
Each breath put my mind at ease, but every once in a while, she would wince and whimper, her subconscious clearly troubled.
And it was my fault.
By now her whole team knew who I was, and what I was going to do. They shot me daggers whenever they entered the room, ignoring me and speaking like I wasn’t there.
I wasn’t going to take it personally.
I’d gotten a panicked text from Garrick earlier that I’d been ignoring, but I figured I should probably reply before he had his own stress-induced cardio-whatever.
Garrick: The clock is running out, Ronan. Do you have an update? I’ve never had to beg for an extension on one of your deals before, but I’m sweating bullets here and ready to pull the trigger.
I sighed, rubbing my face with my hand in frustration. The Premier had originally offered me ten days to get this done, and while an extra two days would allow Sage to recover, I figured we both just needed to get this over with. What was the point in prolonging the inevitable?
Me: I’ve got her. We’re in Elmaris for the night. Will head to Noctis in the morning.
