Untouched The Girl in the Box - By Robert J. Crane Page 0,61

me?”

Zollers smiled again as he injected the needle in my arm. “You’re not the first succubus to cross his path. I think he’s playing things a little close to the vest, though. Big surprise, coming from him, right?” The last words were delivered with unrepentant sarcasm. “But as he is the boss, that’s his prerogative, I suppose.”

“Yeah,” I said, my head starting to grow hazy. “I get the feeling it’s not the first time.”

“You’re probably going to sleep for a while,” Dr. Zollers said. “This is something new for your system, and one of the genuine side effects is drowsiness, which is working along with the fact that you’re tired because your body is healing. You’ll build up some resistance after the next few doses and pretty soon it won’t affect you at all, okay?” He took care rolling my sleeve back down, making certain he didn’t touch my skin, even with the latex gloves he was wearing. “When you get out of here, you’ll go talk to Ariadne and Winter first, but they’ll tell you I’m next on your list after them. Doesn’t matter if it’s day or night, you come see me.”

I stared up at him. His chocolate skin was blurring, running into the white ceilings in the most bizarre mixture. “Why?”

My eyes were already closed when he answered. “Because together, we’re going to find a way to put Wolfe in a cage.”

Chapter 19

I awoke again to the beeping of the machines, this time with Dr. Perugini standing over me. “Oh, good, you’re awake,” she said without enthusiasm.

“I had to pee before I fell asleep,” I said. “Did I...”

“You got a catheter after Zollers injected you.” She delivered the news with a little snippiness. The restraints were gone, though my hand was elevated. The flesh on it looked to be an angry red, with blisters standing out like little white bubbles against a torch red background. Also, now it itched.

I rubbed my eyes with my good hand. “I’m hungry.” My stomach growled as if to emphasize the truth of my statement.

“I’ll send for the cafeteria to bring you something in a few minutes.”

“Poison?” I asked with a smile.

She ignored my wisecrack and used her stethoscope to take my pulse, avoiding touching my skin even with her gloves. “You are nearly back to normal, which is good because I want you out of here as soon as possible.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that, Doc.” I said trying to be coy, but I think it came off sneering. “After all, I can’t do any more damage when I’m here. Once I’m out in the world, it’ll be no time at all before you’ve got the medical unit full again.”

She let out a hiss that startled me, it was so violent. “You,” she said, spitting it at me with the same vehemence as the Italian curses she so frequently used.

“Me what?” I shot back. “I didn’t ask for any of this—not my powers, not my mom to disappear, not Wolfe to come after me, nor this Armored Assclown. I wasn’t looking for Scott Byerly to grab at me when Wolfe was so close to the surface of my mind, and I damned sure wasn’t spoiling for a fight with Clary! I didn’t ask Gavrikov to vaporize my hand, I never wanted a single person to die—but they all happened, and I can’t do anything about them now.”

“Porca miseria!” She withdrew her hands and took a step back, and for a moment I thought she was going to spit on me. “Oh, yes, you have had such a miserable time. So many bad things have happened to you, poor you, nobody else has it as bad as Sienna.” Her voice came slow, mocking me.

It smarted. Enough to bring that curious burning to my eyes, the one I wished I could disavow. I hate crying, and I wasn’t going to do it in front of an enemy. Not that I had many friends at this point. Or ever. “Yes, I have had a miserable time. And you don’t hear me griping about it.”

“No, not griping,” she said, almost as if she were agreeing. “Moping. Sulking. Stewing, I think they call it also? You are a girl, about to be a woman, yet you act like a child.”

“Act like a child?” I almost choked on it. “I’ve had all these things—”

“Happen to you, yes, such miseries, I already acknowledged.” She folded her arms. “So sad, no one in the history of the world has