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He rolled off of her, collapsing on his back for a moment before sitting up and sliding off the condom. “Be right back, Butterfly.”
He walked to the bathroom, and she curled on her side and tucked her hand under the pillow. Wes returned a few minutes later with a glass of water. She sat up and drank a few swallows before handing it back. He drank some water and set the glass on the nightstand before climbing into bed and pulling the sheet and quilt over them.
Feeling awkward, Eleanor said, “I can go to the guest room if -”
“No,” he said and then pulled her into his arms like he thought she might jump out of bed. “Stay here with me.”
She smiled happily and burrowed up against him, yawning as she rested her cheek on his chest. “That was amazing, Wes.”
“For me too, Butterfly.”
She kissed his chest before squinting at the clock. “Hey, it’s after midnight. Happy Birthday.”
He chuckled and kissed her forehead. “Thank you. Go to sleep, Eleanor.”
“Hmm,” she said and closed her eyes, the sound of Wes’s heartbeat lulling her into sleep.
CHAPTER 16
“Christ, there has to be something you can do for them.”
Hoyt’s voice behind him was a mixture of disgust and pity. Chad moved away from Barkwell’s door, bumping Hoyt’s shoulder as he did so. “Step back, Hoyt. You’re nearly up my fucking ass.”
Hoyt backed away, his gaze still on the small window at the top of the thick steel door. “They’re dying, Chad.”
“They’re not dying,” Chad said. “They’re going through withdrawal.”
“Sounds like they’re dying,” Hoyt said as Barkwell let out another scream that was audible even through the thick door. Robinson echoed it in the room next to his, and Hoyt winced. “You can’t give them something?”
Chad walked down the hallway, hiding his annoyance when Hoyt followed him. The security head wasn’t the chatty type, so he obviously had something to tell him. Despite the empty hallway, he didn’t give in to his temptation to ask Hoyt to share the information while they walked. It was better to speak in his office.
Hoyt stepped into the elevator with him, and as the doors closed, finally cutting off the screams of the enhanced, he ran a hand over his face. It didn’t shake - you didn’t get to the position Hoyt held by having shaky hands, but Chad had never seen him so rattled before.
“Can you give them something?” Hoyt repeated.
“We’re trying to ease the symptoms, but coming off the serum cold turkey is proving to be more difficult than Dr. Lowenstein anticipated,” Chad said.
“Once they’re through withdrawals, will they be back to normal?” Hoyt asked as the elevator carried them up the seventeen floors to Chad’s office.
Chad shrugged. “Dr. Lowenstein believes so, but right now, it’s hard to tell. All of them are weak and nauseous with tremors and muscle ticks. They can’t shift.”
Hoyt’s face paled. “They can’t shift? Is that permanent?”
“It’s hard to tell,” Chad said. The elevator doors opened, and they walked swiftly to Chad’s office. He sank into his chair, rubbing at his temples. He had a fuck of a headache starting, and he had no idea what day it was. Too many nights of sleeping on the couch in his office.
“What day is it?” he asked.
“Saturday,” Hoyt said.
Chad groaned and opened the desk drawer to grab the bottle of aspirin. He shook out four and crunched them down, the bitter taste in his mouth making him grimace.
“You keep taking them that way, and it’s gonna fuck up your stomach,” Hoyt said.
“You think I give a shit about that right now?” Chad said. “Bradmore is breathing down my neck over the loss of the formula, and if we don’t get it back in the next seventy-two hours, I guarantee that you and I will be sharing a shallow fucking grave in the desert. So, give me some good fucking news, would you, Hoyt?”
The flash of fear in the ordinarily unflappable Hoyt’s eyes wasn’t a good sign.
“Kirkman hasn’t had a chance to get the formula yet.”
