“You think Warrick would trade anything for me?” I ask. “You’re insane.”
She straightens, peering at me through the hollow cut of her mask. Her eyes are a deep gray, clever and assessing.
“We’ll see.”
She turns and leaves, shutting the door behind her. I’ll have to wait until Knox sleeps to ask her my questions.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
There are blood marks on his forehead. Small flecks dot the barbell between his brows, and a bruise blooms on his cheekbone.
“No,” he says, shifting uncomfortably. “I feel empty without my power.”
“Welcome to the life of a Common.”
He groans. “How can you joke right now? These people could kill us.”
“Not a chance.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, if we’re in real danger, I’ll save our ass, pretty boy,” I say.
Knox lets out a breathless laugh. “You’re something else, you know that?”
“I know.”
Exhaustion crashes through me. My body still aches from the impact, every muscle bruised and trembling.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Knox asks, concern threading his voice. “You look a little pale.”
The lights blur, and that’s when everything goes black.
Voices are whispering around me.
“Where did you find him?” the woman hisses.
“Outside,” a boy says defensively. “Look, we needed a doctor. We have no leverage if the girl dies from internal bleeding.”
“This guy isn’t a doctor,” the woman says. “He’s a damn technician.”
A man clears his throat. “May I look at the girl? Do you have a medical kit?”
“What’s in your fancy bag?” the boy asks.
“A testing kit,” the man says dryly. “You didn’t let me pack anything when you took me off the streets?”
I laugh, before it turns into a cough. Blood splutters on my chin. I slowly open my eyes. There is a man beside me. His hair is graying, and he has a warm look in his eyes. Fear laces through me at his sterile, white uniform. I jolt upright, but the cuff on my wrist yanks me back.
They have me lying flat on a bed, and my hands are restrained.
“I don’t need a doctor,” I rush. “Let me go.”
“I’m not a doctor,” the man says. “I am a?—”
Panic rises in me. He has his kit here. What if he tests me without my permission?
“I know what you are,” I bite. “Just let me go. I’m fine.”
