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I loathed admitting the weakness, but I didn’t have enough energy left in me to keep up pretenses. “Knife wound. Bad enough I needed stitches. That was after all the torture and running and fighting.”
Steel reached for my shirt. I flinched away from his hand, but he ignored my reaction and lifted the hem. He and Emerson peered at the wound. After a few seconds, Emerson rubbed his hand against the scar on his jaw. “Steel, do you have any of your girl’s special blend with you?”
Steel nodded and produced a needle virtually out of nowhere.His hands are fast. The sight of a needle caused me to tense up all over. Ethan stepped forward, suspicion in his voice. “What is that?”
Steel’s voice was cool when he answered. “Nanobots in a special solution designed for rapid cell growth.”
Emerson laughed. “She’s rubbing off on you, isn’t she? You sound like her.”
“Nanobots?” That was the word I latched onto.
Steel nodded. “They’ll fix you up quickly, like you were never hurt.”
“Is there anything else in it?” Ethan asked. “Pain medicine, anything?”
“No. Just nanobots.”
“Inject me.” I didn’t hesitate. I almost didn’t care if there was pain medicine in it or not at this point. I was so tired of being in pain.
Steel administered the nanobots, and I leaned back in the chair, trying to relax and let the little bots work. “Your stitches need to come out.” Steel stood up and moved away. “You won’t need them in a few minutes.”
“They’re that fast?” I couldn’t believe it. I knew nanobots were cutting edge, but that seemed a little far-fetched.
“Yes. The woman who made the solution is the best at what she does. Those are the best nanobots out there.”
Pieces started falling into place. “She’s your girlfriend, isn’t she?”
His jaw tightened slightly. “She stays out of this. Off limits. Clear?”
I lifted my hands in surrender. “I’m not a threat to her. I promise.”
Emerson rolled his eyes. “Steel gets a little overprotective when it comes to Cass. Apparently, it’s true love or something.”
“Shut up, Emerson.” Steel sounded irritated.
I ignored their bickering. “Can someone take my stitches out?”
Steel and Emerson exchanged looks. Steel sighed and started clearing off the desk. I shifted in my seat, suddenly realizing I’d just asked an assassin to come near me with a sharp object. I swallowed and looked at Emerson. “You can do it.”
He gave me a flat look. “Steel has far more experience with this kind of thing than I do.”
Once the desk was sufficiently cleared, Steel walked over and lifted me into his arms. I sputtered out a few protests, but he ignored them. He was far gentler than I thought he’d be. He didn’t seem like a gentle sort of guy at first brush. Perhaps there were more layers to him than what I could see.
He set me down on the desk and looked at Emerson. “Scissors?”
I swallowed, feeling panic rising. “Listen, maybe this wasn’t a good idea. The stitches will be fine. They’ll come out on their own.”
Both men ignored me, and Emerson dug around in the drawers of his desk until he produced a slim pair of scissors. Steel frowned at them. “We should sterilize them.”
“I’ll wash them in alcohol.” Emerson left the room, presumably to locate some alcohol.
Deciding I needed to take more proactive measures, I sat up, surprised when my side didn’t react as violently as I expected. I still winced though. Steel pushed on my shoulder, forcing me to lie back down. “Stay still.”
There was no hiding the fear now. “I’m fine. Really. They’re just stitches.”
Steel shook his head. “They need to be removed. If the skin grows over the stitches, they’ll hurt a lot more coming out.”
I started to say something else, but Ethan took my hand, moving closer to me. His presence calmed me almost immediately, and my reaction only irked me further. I clamped down on my lips and stared up at the ceiling.
