The thought of the track marks made her stomach flip uneasily.I did that.I may not have held him down and pressed the hypo button, but if it wasn’t for me Headquarters would never have been broken and he wouldn’t have had to suffer.Maybe he’s angry and just trying to work through it on his own.
In the living room, Henderson still sat with his back propped against the wall.But she thought she heard a smothered chuckle, and would bet he was awake.Embarrassment flooded her; she took a deep breath and a scalding gulp of coffee, promptly burning her mouth.
Get a grip on yourself, Rowan.
“All right, I can hear you giggling,” she said, hoping her voice didn’t quiver.“Get up, General.Yoshi’s got one of his feelings again.”
CHAPTER18
Del glanced over the printout.His neck hurt and bones ached from second-stage Zed withdrawal; he ignored the sensations.
“How much worse is it?”He checked the living room again, helpless not to.
Rowan was occupied with packing kitbags.She took a sip of cold coffee, swirled it in her mouth, and grimaced, downing the rest as if it contained alcohol.She was so pale her skin appeared almost translucent, save for the faint flush that rose to her cheeks whenever her eyes met his.
He wondered what that meant.
He’d lain next to her last night, listening to the steady rise and fall of her breath as the party wound down and the others dropped off.When he had finally found himself relaxing despite the aching of withdrawal, he had even dared to turn his head and take a deep lungful of pure heaven.He’d tucked his coat around her because she’d looked cold.
And this morning she’d been gone when he opened his eyes.
That was a nasty shock, but he’dreachedinstinctively, found her concentrating on taking a shower.He’d retreated hurriedly back into his own head, glad she hadn’t been aware of the quick brush.It made him feel like a voyeur—not so much because he’d done it, but because he wanted to crawl into her mind like a badger into its hole.
Andstaythere.
The General spared a brief grin.“Actually thisisthe bad news.We’ve gained a lot of ground in the last month or so—fourteen newbies, and we’ve gone back to the decentralized training.Eleanor’s got a bunch up in Calgary.She sent word back with Boomer that things are kosher there.Everyone who was out and away from Headquarters survived largely intact, thank God.”Henderson’s voice dropped.“If it wasn’t for Rowan we wouldn’t have made it.”
“Ro!”Cath stuck her head in the living room.“Zeke wants to know where you put the?—”
“Bathroom, second shelf.”She nodded at Yoshi, handed over his full kitbag.“In the blue bottle.Tell him to leave some for the rest of us, and is he taking his meds?”
“You know how he is.”Cath rolled her eyes.There was a large, fresh hickey on the side of her neck; her blue-violet eyes were hooded and sleepy.“Thanks.”
“No problem.”Rowan flipped the messenger bag on closed, handing it to Yoshi as well.Del watched, but the man didn’t steal the chance to brush her wrist when he took the bag, didn’t lean in like Justin would have done.
That was very good.
“Rowan?”This time it was Brew.“Need anything else?”
“Just another couple mags for Zeke’s Walther, if you have any.Oh, and ask Justin what kind of hardware he needs.”She hunched, shooting Del a guilty look.Her hands continued moving, swift and deft, taking the next canvas messenger bag, stowing the medkit, extra mags, pad of paper, the pen with the digital camera in the shaft, copper wire, Matheson handheld—all the little things no Society op should be without.
“Already did.”Brew tipped Delgado a wink and vanished, after Cath, back down the hall.If the danger came closer, into the critical zone, it was Brewster’s spider-sense that would warn them to scramble.
Del’s throat was dry.His body cried out for Zed.So long as he stayed near her it was tolerable—the red-hot ants didn’t jitter so badly over his skin and he didn’t feel like he was breathing through wet cloth.The spikes of pain were distracting, intense enough to make him sweat, but still tolerable.
Take Rowan out of the room, though, and everything got a lot worse.As object lessons went, it was extremely elegant.If he needed yet another reason to watch over her, that would have done it.
His jacket also smelled like her now.It was an unexpected blessing, the faint scent ofwomanattached to the lining of his coat.Not just any girl, either; the only one Del had ever…
“She’s missed you,” Henderson said quietly.The table between them was a flimsy portable number, barely capable of holding the printouts and maps.The old man’s steel-rimmed glasses gave a glint to match the white patch at his left temple.That patch had grown, and Henderson himself looked older.The fine fans at the corners of his eyes hadn’t been there before, nor had the weary shadows in his eagle eyes.“I had to tie her down so she didn’t go running off to ‘rescue’ you from Sigma.”
“Christ.”Del’s blood ran cold at the thought.He wouldn’t have been able to help her.“Ipushedmyself to forget so they couldn’t beat it out of me.I don’t think they know what she can do.”
“I don’t even thinksheknows what she can do.I mean it, Del.We had to damn near kneecap the lady to keep her from raiding any Sig installation she could find on her own.”
Del’s heart felt like it was cracking and throwing itself against his ribs at the same time.He flipped through a few more printouts, seeing precious little of the data.So she wanted to come riding in and save me, huh?Well, that’s something, at least.“Glad you kept her from doing that.”
“You’d kick my ass if you came back and found out I’d let her go.”Henderson’s tone changed, became businesslike.“They’re sending Carson.”
