Page 95 of Huntress

“Captain.” He smiled, but it held no warmth, as if he were going through the motions of propriety. “Did you know rats don’t actually like cheese?”

“No, that’s news to me. What do they like?” There was a lump in her throat that she couldn’t swallow down.

“People.” All expression slowly fell away from his face, and he resumed staring out his window.

“Why is his condition worse now than when we got back?” Elsie hissed at the first healer she found.

“That’s how the brain works sometimes.” She put a hand on Elsie’s shoulder, steering her beyond Steve’s hearing. “Part of it is because of how you’re trained. It’s been ingrained in your minds to finish the job, so his nervous system wasn’t allowed to fall apart until it was over.”

“And it’s not over until we get off the tram,” Elsie muttered.

“He held himself together until he got home, where he’s safe. Stevenson is to be commended for that.”

“Of course he is, don’t patronize me. What treatments are you giving him for the PTSD?”

“We started treatment for PTSD in the past two days. Our initial focus was bringing him fully out of catatonia. Steve’s now capable of voluntary movement, and he verbally responds the majority of the time now, which is a vast improvement. He’s made great strides toward recovery,” she said.

Elsie shoved the woman against the wall, her face contorted in fury. “He was catatonic?! I stopped in three times since we got back to check on him, and I was told he was in a therapy session or sleeping. You people told me he was improving! Why wasn’t I informed how bad his condition is?! He is my responsibility, and I have a right to know!”

The healer shrank, her voice squeaking. “We were given orders not to worry you. He told us knowing their status would be detrimental to your healing. That,” her volume lowered to a whisper, “your well-being was more important than anyone else in the compound.”

Elsie’s eyes narrowed. “Who?”

The healer checked to make sure no one was listening, then whispered a name.

Elsie kicked Mordane’s door open, and it slammed against the wall behind it with a bang. A framed photo crashed to the floor.

“Elspeth! What are you doing?” Mordane nearly yelped, jerking upright. He’d been relaxed in his chair with a drink in hand. She stomped in, leaning over his desk, jaw working hard.

His guest looked up at her, amused. “What’s this all about?”

She turned her fury on the man seated behind her, glaring at his scarred face. She hadn’t expected to find him here, but it was easier than having to track him down.

“My health is more important than anyone else’s in the compound?!”

Mordane put his hands on the desk, fingers splayed. “Calm down, and we can discuss this. I can’t make things right if I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Did you give him the authority to interfere in my squad’s healthcare?! HE’S NOT EVEN A RESIDENT HERE!” She shoved a finger in Angus Cornick’s face.

“He instructed the medical staff to keep the truth behind my squad members’ recovery status from me! Do you really think I’d have been out on the field practicing with staves if I’d known Steve was catatonic?!” Her voice rose further, and a door opened down the hall as footsteps headed their way.

Elsie slammed Mordane’s door closed with a snarl, locking it. She turned back to him, moving to his desk in a cold fury.

“Now, I’m sure that’s not what happened.” Mordane glanced at Cornick, then raised an eyebrow before nodding toward Elsie. “Tell her.”

“It’s true. You are more important,” he admitted easily. “Your talents are exceedingly difficult to come by, you should focus on yourself, not expendables.”

Elsie kicked his chair away from the desk, forcing him to face her properly, then she punched him in the mouth so hard his head smacked against the back of the chair. She planted her hands on his armrests and loomed over him.

“Listen well, asshole. You are not entitled to interfere in my life, and you are not entitled to interfere in my squad’s lives. As far as you’re concerned, my talents do not exist! I am not your fucking experiment, and I am not your reaper!”

“Are you finished?” he asked, an unimpressed look on his face. He was almost convincing, but she heard his accelerated heartbeat, and she smelled the trickle of his fear. Blood trailed from the corner of his mouth to his chin.

“Stay the fuck away from my squad,” she growled, giving his chair another shove.

“Keep your mutt on a leash, or I’ll let mine off his,” Elsie spat at Mordane. She tore the door open, brushing past a pair of eavesdroppers outside.

“Intimidating little thing, isn’t she?” She heard Mordane chuckle as she walked away.