you need out before then, hit the emergency release,” Aoife said. “Remember, everything off, including bandages, before you get in.”
I crossed to the open door and murmured, “Thank you, Aoife.”
She smiled in sympathy and handed me a pair of bandage shears. “Good luck.”
Chapter 18
The regen room was dim and tiny, just big enough to walk along the front of the tank. The healing liquid glowed a brilliant aquamarine under the special lights. It was beautiful, but that wouldn’t make up for the fact that the next hour was going to suck.
I unwrapped the bandages from my feet and thigh. My bodice was secured with a row of tiny hooks behind my neck. I huffed out an irritated breath as I tried to remember which side was the hook and which was the loop because neither way seemed to work.
“Need help?” Ian asked from far too close. I froze in surprise before nodding silently. His warm fingers glided along the back of my neck as he worked his way down the short row of hooks. I shivered in pleasure.
He let go of the fabric to trace a finger down my spine. But with nothing to hold it up, the dress slipped down my body, over my hips, and to the floor, leaving me clad in only my underwear. Ian sucked in a startled breath.
I peeked at him over my shoulder. Mistake. His eyes blazed with heat and his expression was filled with what could only be described as yearning. A blink later, it was gone and the polite mask he usually wore was back in place. I frowned. Had I seen what I wanted to and not what was actually there?
I cleared my throat. “Do you need help with your bandages?” I offered.
“No, thank you,” he said, turning away. “You can go ahead and get in.”
The rejection was not unexpected, but it still smarted. I stripped off my last piece of clothing and climbed into the tank. The liquid was tepid, a few degrees cooler than body temperature and somewhat opaque, softening the clean lines of my limbs into hazy, shadowy blobs. Maybe this wouldn’t be too awkward after all.
I tipped my head back against the end of the tank and closed my eyes. I could offer Ian that bit of privacy, at least. A tiny ripple announced his entrance, then his feet slid against mine as he sat. The tank was big enough that we only overlapped up to our knees.
I peeked at him from under my lashes. His mask was firmly in place, but his hands were tight on the sides of the tank. My own hands clenched as the first pulse hit. It felt a bit like a static shock, except it hit everywhere at once. The pulse passed and my feet and thigh tingled, a sure sign that pain was just around the corner.
“I forgot how much this hurt,” Ian murmured. Gut wounds were notoriously painful.
“You want Aoife to knock you out? I’ll keep an eye on you.”
“No, it’s not unbearable, just unpleasant.” His smile proved he knew just what an understatement he was making. “Tell me a story.”
Another pulse hit and I tensed as the tingle flared into a burn. I decided to share one of my happiest memories. “When I was six, I convinced Benedict to run away from home with me. We waited for Mother and Father to be out of town, then we raided the kitchen for bread and jam, packed up our favorite things, and set out into the garden.”
“How far did you make it?”
“The park in Sector Three. We set up camp—a tarp over a shrub—and gorged on jam sandwiches. We thought we were so clever.”
“And how many guards were hidden around the park?” Ian asked with a smile.
I grinned at him. “Many. And Ferdinand and Hannah were in on it, too, of course. The next morning, like magic, a pot of soup showed up. We thought it was fairies.”
“How long did you stay?”
“Two days. Until it rained and we realized camping wasn’t fun when you were soaking wet. We snuck back in only to have Ferdinand and Hannah shower us with affection because we weren’t dead and we came back. I didn’t find out until I was an adult that they knew we were fine the entire time.”
Another pulse hit and Ian hissed. “Can I do anything?” I asked.
“Tell me about MineCorp.”
“They are a private company, but each of the High Houses owns a stake. They mine rare minerals from