His clothing rustled. “Three currently, but another two are outside.”
“Can you take the pins out of his fingers?” Eleanor’s voice wobbled. “They’re still stabbing his right hand.”
I splayed my fingers, seeing nothing. I’d gone past sensation. I’d blocked out the discomfort to focus on the worst parts.
Campbell lowered his voice, slipping to an audible I might not have heard if I still had sight. “Sinclair…I’ve brought a few of the noncompliant serums and pharmaceuticals. Do you give me permission to administer?”
My mind raced. After years in the business of drug manufacturing, we had crates of failed experiments and unapproved medicines. Some were rightfully denied—causing worse side effects than the original problem. But some…some were just too potent to be approved.
Those would decimate the industries and cause anarchy in the public sector because to them…they were miracles. Drugs that could work in a fraction of the time as others. Creams that could reverse damage in a few hours. Nanobots injected in a fluid that could knit flesh together from the inside out faster than any surgeon.
I had no idea he had a stash on my shores.
Gritting my teeth, I nodded. “Use whatever you want. I need to be able to walk. To see. To fight.”
He cleared his throat, taking my right hand and using a pair of tweezers to remove the nails holding the fingerprint sensors against my flesh. “There might be side effects that we can’t foresee.”
“I’m aware.”
Eleanor sucked in a breath. Following our conversation, she understood the risks but wisely stayed silent.
Removing the final nail, Campbell sighed and settled into his task. “In that case…let’s begin.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
I NEVER TOOK MY eyes off Dr Campbell as he pulled the buds from Sully’s ears and threw them away in disgust. “Chilli in someone’s ears? He’s a madman.”
Sully winced. “I told you I was the sane one.”
My trust was a shattered thing by my feet.
Was Dr Campbell part of this war or had he been caught in the middle of it?
Who was our enemy, and who was loyal?
“Is Cal still alive?” Sully murmured, keeping his voice too low for the guards to hear.
The doctor nodded. “He’s made it through the past few days. He’s getting stronger but still hasn’t woken.”
Cal?
What happened to Cal?
Sully nodded, flinching as Dr Campbell cleaned his face, throat, arms, and hands with antiseptic wipes, smearing away as much blood and sweat as he could. “The massacred guards? Are they rotting on my beach?”
The doctor blanched. “No, he dragged them out to sea. There’s no evidence of what happened.”
Sully sat unmoving, callous. “And Skittles?”
Skittles?
My heart fisted. “What about Skittles?”
Sully’s shoulders tensed. He didn’t reply, allowing the doctor to speak. “She’s recovering too. Her wing will mend.”
“Her wing?” I blurted.
“She broke it,” Sully muttered. “Trying to defend me.” His jaw clenched; the cords of sinew visible in his neck as he struggled with the truth. “I’m sorry, Jinx.”
“Sorry?” I struggled against the rope trapping my hands. I needed to touch him again. It was the only thing that made sense. The only thing that calmed my heart even though it existed in a hopscotching, hiccupping mess. “Don’t apologise. She loves you. She—”
“I put her in danger. Just like I put you in—” He hissed between his teeth as the doctor stabbed the back of Sully’s hand, inserting a new needle and bag of antibiotics.
“This is concentrated. I don’t like your fever, Sinclair. We need to lower your temperature if you’re to stay conscious.”
I bit my lip, forcing myself not to ask questions about Skittles and the drugs that Sully had agreed to take. What sort of side effects? How deadly could this be?
For the next fifteen minutes, I stayed silent while the doctor did his best to put Sully back together again. I watched as he smeared black cream over the bloody abrasions around his wrists and ankles.
I flinched as he patted the raw flesh of Sully’s chest with a green goo that made his back bow with an influx of agony.
Two colours that I’d never associated with healing before. Black and green. Poison. Dangerous. Wrong.
“Take these.” Dr Campbell took Sully’s hand, popping four pills into his palm. He waited for Sully to place them on his tongue before passing him a bottle of water from his bag.
Sully downed the entire thing.
“Shit, I should’ve remembered sooner.” Pulling free two tin-foiled wrapped sandwiches, the doctor passed one to Sully and placed one on my lap through the bars. “It’s simple salad and egg. The only ingredients I could find in the kitchens with the staff evacuated.”
Sully ripped at the foil, wolfing the food down. “Seems you’ve thought of everything. Guilt’s a bitch, huh?”
The doctor scowled. “I told you it wasn’t my intention to cause more pain. I just wanted to protect the goddesses.”
Sully snorted, wiping crumbs away from his chin.
I eyed mine.