The King (Gentlemen Rogues 2)

SAFFRON

I was just returningeverything to the disguises and weapons department when Tabs came out of the opposite corridor and snatched my arm tightly.

"Ow. What are you doing?"

"Come with me." She tucked me into one of the empty med bay rooms and glanced around the corner as if waiting for somebody to interrupt us. "We have to talk."

"What is happening?"

"We have to talk. You need to hear this right now."

"But I'm starving. Wouldn't you know, of course, Lachlan completed the mission. No one completes, but he did. So Lock is gloating, and then Gabe wouldn't even let me eat afterward. I'm hungry. Can we go get something to eat?"

She shook her head, practically bouncing from foot to foot, her ponytail swishing over the back of her neck and shoulders.

"What? Spill it."

She was vibrating so hard she might explode. “It's not his fault he doesn't remember you."

I frowned. "What?"

"Lachlan King. He doesn't remember you for a reason."

"Because, he's a dick? Or he was drunk? I don't know."

"No. That's not it." She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a photocopied sheet of paper.

“Is that part of a medical report? Please tell me that's not part of a medical report."

“I'm not saying where I got it or who I coerced it from. I'm just saying that I happen to have his."

“I don't want to see that."

“Yes, you do."

"No, I don't." I was worried about what I was going to find.

“Fine, I'll read it to you. Subject displays symptoms consistent with an overdose of GHB."

I frowned at her. "Wait, like we roofied him?"

"Well, we gave him symptoms. We didn't really use GHB, but apparently the chemical compound that they used when they tranqed him and black-bagged his arse to bring him here mimics the effects. It’s meant to be less stressful. Anyway, he didn't go down easy. He fought them, so they dosed him again."

"How many times?"

She screwed up her face with an odd grimace. "Twice."

I blinked rapidly. "What?"

“Yes, I know, that's a lot."

"But that's unnecessary. I've tranqed him since he’s been here. He went down like a sack."

"Maybe because he wasn't fighting for his life or he trusted you. I don't know. But it says so right here."

I snatched the sheet from her hands. "What on earth?" I stared at the line from the doctor after they examined him. Symptoms may include memory loss, fogginess, and missing patches of time from that period. Flashbacks may occur later.

"Oh, fuck me."