Page 20 of Bond of Passion

Think fast, think fast… “You told me you like being a medic, so I assumed you’d been doing it for a while.”

He frowned. “I did?”

She nodded. “Just before the bomb,” she lied. “Don’t you remember?” When he didn’t reply, she shrugged. “Must be the brain injury.”

“We were both assassins back in the day,” Sin said. “Lore too.”

Whoa. Deja had grown up with people who were what they were from their first breath to their last. No one grew. No one changed.

Deja’s gaze flicked from Sin to Tavin and back. Had they—and Lore—actually gone from cold-blooded killers to people who helped others?

“Okay, so clearly someone was targeted,” Eidolon said. “We just have to figure out who. Then we can determine why.” He looked between Sin and Tavin. “How close does the target have to be for the bomb to go active?”

“About ten feet.” Tavin reached across his chest to massage his biceps, and Deja wondered if it was cramping again. She hoped so. Hoped it hurt.

“But it doesn’t blow instantly,” Sin added. “It takes time to arm.”

“How much time?”

Sin shrugged. “It’s programmable, so it’s hard to say. But it’s usually anywhere from five to thirty seconds.”

Eidolon contemplated that. “The patient was wheeled through the busy Emergency Department before he was dropped off in the room. There were dozens of people on the route that could have caused the activation. I’m going to need the names of everyone in the area.”

Sin nodded. “I’ll work with Idess to get one put together. She wanted to know how she could help.”

A cell phone rang, and Eidolon spoke as he dug into his pants pocket. “Perfect.” He looked at the screen and then over at Tavin. “I have a meeting to get to, but I’ll check in after Shade sees you.”

“Thank you, Doc.”

They all filed toward the door, but at the threshold, Eidolon paused in front of Deja. “Helluva intro to Underworld General.”

Deja took a step back so she could look up at him. He was tall like Tavin, and he exuded the same smoky sexuality and confidence. But where Tavin—as much as she hated to admit it—was fairly easygoing, Eidolon seemed unforgiving and as cold as ice.

“Yes, sir.”

“Are you okay? I know Gem cleared you to work, but I wanted to see how you’re doing. We have a counseling department if you need to talk to someone.”

“I—I’m fine,” she stammered, taken aback by his concern. And not just his. She’d gotten more queries about her medical, mental, and personal status in two days than she’d gotten in an entire lifetime as a Neethul princess. She gestured to Tavin, lying immobile in his bed. “It’s not like my job is arduous or anything.”

“Well,” Eidolon said, “you did take a substantial blow to the head. I’ll have your supervisor keep you on Tavin’s babysitting detail for a while, if that’s okay with you.”

Wasthatokay? She couldn’t have hoped for a better assignment. “Perfect.”

Eidolon started out the door but swung around at the last second. “Oh, one more thing. Can I ask you a personal question?”

Shit, shit, shit. “Sure.”

“I spoke with Annette this morning. She runs the DNA database, and she said you haven’t submitted a sample yet.”

“Ah…that. I kind of forgot. I’ve been busy.” Not entirely a lie.

“It’s okay. It’s voluntary. It’s just that yours will be the first sample from a Neebless.”

Which was why she hadn’t submitted one yet. She wasn’t a Neebless. She might look like one, but only because of her hair and skin color. Everything else was exactly the same as it had been before Tavin killed her.

“I’ll get it done right away, Doctor,” she promised.

And then she’d count the days until the questions began.