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nervous. She cocked her head, studying him. Cam s nerves made her anxious.
 What is it? Her demand sounded harsh to her own ears. Had something happened
to Kyle?
Cam sighed, removing his hands from his pockets.  Nothing. Clearly I need to work
on casual. I wasn t trying to scare you.
Unaccountably amused, Maddy lifted a brow.
He grinned wryly.  Fine, I ll just get right to it. We need an accountant. No, we have
an accountant, but I don t trust him fully. What we need is a Chief Financial Officer.
Gavin s got that job now, but he s miserable at it, so he leaves it to the accountant.
For a heartbeat, she wasn t sure she d heard him correctly.  Cam, you can t just offer
me the CFO job. For all you know, I could be a terrible accountant and a worse financial
manager.
Cam smiled, shaking his head.  You aren t. You re a fine accountant and an
excellent financial manager. We checked you out before taking the job, remember?
Oh. Right. Well, that took some of the wind out of her sails. Still&  I haven t agreed
to stay.
Cam s knowing smile scraped her nerves. Damned arrogant males.
 Fine, he allowed. She knew he was humoring her, the jerk.  Think about it and let
me know.
 What about the young ones?
He shook his head at her.  Some of the young ones are interested in other pursuits,
but there s a limit to what training they can get. Since they re unmodified, they can t
pack their wings in the same way we can. If they can t pack their wings, life becomes
challenging. We can home school for a lot of things, and then there s online classes for a
lot more. Beyond that, though, we can t really do much.
Maddy considered for a moment. No medical training, no advanced professional
training, limited options for advanced technical training. That really did put the Tlin at a
major disadvantage. On the other hand, the security business evidently made money hand
over fist, and all the older, modified Tlin contributed in some way in that area. It was
obvious, though, that they really did need help.
 I think you should be hunting for your mates. The more resources we have
available, the more likely we can keep the Tlin from ending up guinea pigs in some
government lab.
Cam s lips quirked. Maddy realized then that she d included herself in their fight.
We. Such a telling little pronoun.
With a jaunty salute, Cam turned on his heel. Maddy watched him walk out,
wondering how he had so easily read her. She obviously needed to work on her poker
face.
Still smiling, she allowed herself to drift off.
* * * *
The quiet snick of the door closing dragged her awake. What was the deal with
hospitals? Were the nurses trained to wait until you were asleep to come in and poke at
you?
Maddy s eyes fluttered open. The gray light in the room told her it was dark outside.
She turned her head toward the door. A darker shadow hovered near the door. Odd. The
nurses usually turned on the light willy-nilly, without a care for whether she was
sleeping. The shadow moved slowly toward her, resolving into a willowy female shape in
scrubs. Maddy relaxed. A nurse, then. The most considerate nurse in the hospital,
evidently.
Maddy let her lids drop. A strange scraping sound had her forcing them open again.
The faint light seeping between the blinds glinted off the needle of the syringe in the
nurse s hand as she approached the IV stand.
Wait. That was wrong.
A sudden chill spread through her and she instinctively tensed. Every other time the
nurses had put something in the IV, they d used syringes without needles and hooked
them to the little docking station thingies on the IV line. No needles. And the chair the
chair had been moved in front of the door. That must have been the scraping sound she d
heard.
 What are you doing? Her voice was scratchy from sleep.
Chapter Thirteen
The woman whirled in the tiny space between bed and IV stand. The slatted light fell
across her face not a nurse. Cheryl what the hell was her last name? from payroll.
Maddy shook her head. This made no sense.
 Bitch, Cheryl hissed. The whites of her eyes glowed in the dim light. Her face
twisted into a snarl. She shifted her grip and raised the syringe over her head.
Maddy had a split second. She rolled off the far side of the bed, grateful Julian had
forgotten to raise the rail. Pain exploded, radiating up her arm. She d ripped out the IV.
Blood arced from the wound, splattering across Cheryl and spraying across the ceiling. It
looked black in the gray light.
More pain slammed into her. Her already bruised knees cracked into the floor, her
right arm gave out under her, the wounded shoulder unable to support her weight.
Forcing herself to ignore the pain, she scrambled up, using the chair for leverage. Crazy
chick climbed onto the bed, starting across it with the syringe still gripped in her fist.
Fight or flight.
Time slowed, stretched out. Jesus, the woman was insane. Connors had God only
knows how many pieces of ass, and this one decided to kill her for ratting out the firm? It
showed clearly on Cheryl s face. Whatever her damage, she was not going to be talked
down. Maddy lunged awkwardly around the end of the bed. She glanced at the door with
its chair blockade and knew she d never make it outside. A heavy thump on the door
gave her hope. The cavalry had arrived.
Cheryl reached out to grab her, but she was off balance and only managed to rake her
nails across Maddy s arm. Momentum carried Cheryl forward off the edge of the bed.
She couldn t count on the cavalry. They d never get in here in time. The sting of the
scratches barely registered against the searing burn from the bullet wound and the IV site.
It was distant, though, like a memory of pain.
Cheryl sprang to her feet and started around the bed.
 You re dead, bitch! I ll do it myself this time.
Rage welled up, filling her. This crazy freak hired the hit. She was responsible for
spilling Kyle s blood. Because of this woman, she might lose her one real shot at happily
ever after, however screwed up it was. Oh, hell, no.
Maddy grabbed the IV pole. Awkwardly hefting it with her left hand, she brought
her injured arm around to grip the pole like a baseball bat.
Cheryl s eyes widened a fraction.
Maddy swung, putting everything she had into it. She had one shot. It would by God
count.
The IV pole smashed into the side of Cheryl s head with a sickening crunch. The hit
sang up Maddy s arms, throbbed through her shoulder, the force making her teeth ache.
She couldn t maintain her grip and the pole clattered to the floor.
Cheryl skidded sideways with the blow before collapsing. Shaking her head, she
pushed up on her hands. Maddy hadn t had enough juice to knock her out, but she was
clearly dazed.
The door crashed open. The sudden light from the overheads hurt Maddy s eyes.
Julian took in the scene in an instant. He jumped on Cheryl, flipping her onto her
belly and putting his knee in her back.
Cheryl squirmed ineffectually under him, cursing. Blood seeped from the side of her
head, matting her hair.
Good. After watching Kyle bleed on the floor of that lobby, Maddy wasn t inclined
toward sympathy. Not to mention the whole trying to kill her thing.
Julian looked over at her.  Maddy, honey, are you okay?
Suddenly exhausted, Maddy slid to the floor.  Oh, sure, she said weakly.
A nurse a real one stopped in the doorway.  What is going on in here?
Talk about a day late and a dollar short.
* * * *
Maddy stood at Kyle s bedside. His face was pale, drawn, and his head had been
shaved to allow for the bandages on one side. His wings were unpacked, folded under
him. According to the Tlin medic, keeping them packed took energy away from healing.
Though he hadn t regained consciousness again, they told her that was normal. Tlin [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]