The man who had spoken before gave Damien a pointed look. “He’s in the office with my associates. Once he’s done with our questioning and gives up the devicehe—”
Damien’s arm came out lightning quick, grabbing the man’s gun with one hand while the other gripped the front of his shirt, pulling him into Damien’s reach. He spun the man around and pointed the gun at his head, then met the eyes of the other men in theroom.
“Drop your weapons or I’ll kill him. Jail doesn’t scare me. My lawyers will have me out in twenty-four hours because we all know you’re here illegally. My brother has special needs, and is never to be questioned without meandhis lawyerpresent.”
Holyshit.
The man he held against his chest looked ready to rip Damien’s head off. “I have awarrant—”
Damien didn’t waste any time listening to his bullshit. With one hit, the butt of the gun cracked against the base of the man’s skull and he crumpled to the ground. Damien then pointed the gun at one of the men nearesthim.
“He’s in the Dream Wars now. Who’s next? Keep me from my little brother any longer and I’m going to start shooting,” Damienthreatened.
Maxine looked at me with one raised eyebrow. I was pretty sure she had a lady boner for Damien right now. Lord knew Idid.
The remaining men exchanged nervous glances and lowered their weapons. Damien tossed the gun to Nox, who was standing nearest him, and then bolted out of the room calling Jeremy’sname.
The second Damien left, one of their men went to help the fallencomrade.
“Here!” Ronnie tossed a smelling salt at theagent.
He cracked it and the man started to regainconsciousness.
“Now get the hell out of my OR,” Ronnie snapped at the men, then tapped my thigh. “You can situp.”
I slowly sat up onto the bed and met the men’s eyes as they rose to leave the room. “You’re FBI?” They’d said it was a matter of national security, so I assumed. I’d worked with President Buckley and her night team, but I didn’t recognize any of thesemen.
One of them, a short, stocky, light-skinned fella, with no neck, nodded to me. “Yes.”
I frowned. “Well, I used to work with Madam President on her night team. This is total bullshit, and she wouldn’t stand forit.”
Lara Buckley was a badass second-generation half-American, half-Iranian descendent who was smart and military trained. She was also honest, if there was such a thing as an honest politician. In my time working with her, I’d never seen her pull shit like this. Going after a cuff that could end the Dream Wars? It wasn’t her style. She was in her final year of presidency, but in her time she’d done nothing but try to protect the people. Especially thepoor.
“Well, she’s changed.” They started to leave the room and I stood, putting weight on my one good leg and immediately regretting it. The room swam before me and drowsiness hitme.
“Kit, you just had major surgery! Even with the gel cast it’ll be six days before I can put you into a walking boot,” Ronnie hissed, pushing me lightly back onto thebed.
I peered down at my leg. Gel casts cost upward of twenty grand. Ronnie had one for the leg and one for the arm in her kit. The fact that she’d used one of them on me spoke both of how much she loved me, and how bad my injury was. Gel casts were made from stem cells and sped up the regenerative healing process by 90 percent. It felt like my bare foot had been smooshed into a bag of Jell-O.
Peering down at my arm, I saw that it was just in a regular gauzecast.
“Follow them,” I told Maxine and Nox. Damien might’ve been my client to protect in the Dream Wars, but I was extending that to the living world for now, if I could. Everything about this was shady as hell. Had they been watching us somehow? How would the government know that his cuff was ready, that it workednow?
Nox and Maxine left the room, guns drawn, while I sat there with my headspinning.
Tatum was standing with her back against the wall, staring at me with a panickedgaze.
I looked at Brisk. “Why don’t you take Tate to the training room? Start her lesson for the day, and then call her mom.” I always did the daily work out with Tatum, but for the next six days I was going to be useless. I already felt like I was wearing a fifty-pound blanket, my body sluggish and heavy as it tried to process theanesthesia.
Brisk nodded to me, getting my underlying meaning. Taking Tatum to train also meant getting her out of here because shit was about to godown.
“I can’t feel my left leg,” I told Ronnie with a bit of panic the moment the room was clearedout.
She nodded, stripping her hands of bloody gloves and tossing them in a makeshift trashcan. The entire bed and carpet were covered in white plastic. It looked like once I’d been knocked out, they’d turned the master bedroom into a sterileOR.
“When I realized I was going to have to wake you early, I gave you a nerve block. It’ll only last a few morehours.”
“Then what?” I stood, slower this time, and leaned on a metal crutch she pulled out forme.
