If not for him, I wouldn’t have had the chance to meet Kali.
If not for him, I doubted I would’ve dared to dream about the future.
53
ZION
On her tiptoes, Eislyn reached for the plastic crate sitting on the top shelf of the med supply closet in our main infirmary. “The answer is still no, Zion.”
Snickering at how short she was, I took the white box myself. And winced from the pain as the groove in my forearm stretched out. At least the bullet wound didn’t require stitches this time.
“Here you go, shorty.” I gave a pointed look at her currently flat belly. “Or should I say,shorties?”
She snatched the crate from me. “That will certainlynotland you on my good side.” As she carried the box to the steel table in the center of the examination room, her high ponytail bounced left and right, left and right, like a pendulum clock. “You have yet to repay me for dislocating Eli’s fingers, so I’m not giving you anything.”
I hopped onto the corner of the table. The chill from the metal seeped into my ass as I pushed away her leather-bound notebook. “They weren’t even the good fingers.”
Sure, Eislyn might’ve had to set his bones without pain meds as Ilasall’s upped security hindered our efforts to re-supply. But it wasn’t my fault Eli had forgotten how to fall properly. The rule was simple: act like a baby. There was a reason why smallchildren could run straight into a wall and walk off with just a scratch. Or a bruise in the worst-case scenario. They relaxed at the moment of impact.
But instead of doing precisely that, Eli had decided to ogle Eislyn walking past our training rings.
I understood the man, but the idiot had trained with me for years. He should’ve known better. Which was probably why he’d clapped my shoulder and murmuredGood fightafter his defeat.
Eislyn removed the opaque lid obscuring the crate’s contents. “All fingers are necessary.”
“Not equally. These two”—I wiggled my second and third digits—“have an extra purpose that the other lack. Or has he not used them on you yet?”
She slapped my bicep with her notebook. “You’re insufferable today.”
I clutched my chest. “That’s such a nice compliment. Exactly what I was missing.” Spotting a large jar of candy they gave to kids afraid of needles, I reached for it. “Now, does this mean I get two lollipops? One for each finger?”
Quick as a cat, she seized the jar. “That meansnocandy for you.”
But she wasn’t fast enough.
I waved a lollipop at her. “Too late.” Untying the twine bow off the clear plastic covering the candy, I asked, “What about those special little drops that make my dolls lose their voices?”
The use of the neuromuscular blocking agent during my playtime activities in our underground had been Eislyn’s idea, and a freaking good one too. The drug paralyzed all muscles in a person’s body, including their diaphragm, but didn’t affect their nerves. My knife could sail along their tendons as easily as if they were butter, but no screams or fits of tremors would rock through my dolls.
Which would be a perfect method to gently nudge Ezra into talking. The traitor we’d called our friend deserved to feel the pain he’d caused before we graciously offered him a chance to speak.
Only that was all it would be—a chance. Not a certainty. A release or a quick death was not in the cards for him.
Eislyn swiped her overgrown chocolate bangs away. “My answer isn’t going to change.” Hiding the candy in the bottom drawer of her desk, she added, “I have none to spare. We need everything we have for critical cases.”
“I should’ve sent Eli to get it.” Pouting, I jumped off the examination table, my knees bent to absorb the collision force. “Where is he, by the way?”
“Off.” She closed the drawer, her focus lingering on the furniture. “He’s teaching a class on close combat with cold weapons.”
Eli wasn’t scheduled for a class this evening. He had four tomorrow, but today was his day off.
“You kicked him out, didn’t you?”
A smug smile bloomed on her delicate face. “I needed a break. He keeps fussing over me. He can spend the day helping Ava herd the stragglers in group practices.”
“What if I adjust his schedule so you have the evenings to yourself?” Ripping the plastic packaging off my candy, I discarded it in the trash can under the sink. “Will you give me the meds then?”
Eislyn pointed at the door. “Get out before I use our last vial on you.”
