Page 7 of Sin

He wasn’t wrong. Even the small amount I’d ingested sat heavily in my otherwise empty stomach. Still, I felt parched.

With a pitiful whine, I flopped my head back onto my pillow. My headache pulsed behind my eyes. “My head hurts so fucking much. His boots must have been steel-toed or some shit, because that’s a really long time to be unconscious.”

“Yes and no. Yes, he was actually wearing steel-toed boots. But no, that’s not the reason you were unconscious for so long.” He pointed to the IV drip situated beside the cot. “We actually had to keep you sedated until they figured out what to do about your cuffs.”

I frowned as my eyes followed the IV tubes down to my body. But the IV wasn’t attached to my hand or arm like in the past.

Horrified, I whipped the scratchy blanket off my legs. Bandaged to my foot was the IV.

I yelped and reached to yank the needle out, but Cyril grabbed my arm to stop me. He was ridiculously strong for a man almost too old for Nat King Cole to wish Merry Christmas. “Leave it.”

“Ew, no! Like seriously, Cyril, what the hell? Why couldn’t you put it in the hand or arm like a normal person?” I was going to vomit. “Get it out!”

He let out a sigh brimming with untold suffering. “Mr. Gonzalez, I needed unobstructed access to your arms to deal with your injuries. Your foot was the most ideal spot to place it.”

“Cyril, I don’t care if you’re old enough to be my great great great grand papi. If you don’t take that out of my damn foot right the fuck now, I’ll kick your ass.”

Tsking, Cyril went about sanitizing his hands. “Always so crass. But if it really bothers you, I’ll place it somewhere else.”

“Can’t we just, like, not do that?”

He tapped the IV drip. “You might need more fluids, and the fastest way to get them into your system is with an IV. Your body needs to replenish what your power burned up when you fried those cuffs.”

“Fine, but how much longer am I going to be here?”

Cyril opened his mouth to respond, but someone else said, “Well, that actually depends on your answer, Mr. Gonzalez.”

Just inside the doorway stood several unfamiliar people. But at the front of the group? The one who’d spoken? I knew exactly who she was.

“How are you feeling, Mr. Gonzalez?” President Osborne asked, not even glancing my way as she strolled casually around the small infirmary, scanning over the meager items in the room. Her security personnel, however, remained by the door.

Cyril pulled the needle out of my foot, making my eyes water.

“Peachy,” I wheezed.

She snorted and finally deigned to look at me. “Really? After such an impressive display of power, surely you’re feeling a little… drained.”

I stared at her, refusing to watch as Cyril went to work sanitizing my inner elbow. He was a little aggressive as he inserted the fresh IV, almost like he was warning me to be more polite to the president of our nation, and I still winced as he went about taping the IV to my skin.

I scowled at his back while he tossed the old IV before giving President Osborne my full attention. “Look, I don’t mean to be rude—”

Cyril snorted but tried to cover it with a cough.

“I don’t mean to be rude,” I started again through clenched teeth, sending the old man some serious side eye, “but what are you doing here?”

“Can we have some privacy?” she asked, her words directed toward Cyril.

Cyril hesitated, his expression wary as he flicked a quick glance at me. “Of course. I’ll step outside and let you talk.”

After he’d hobbled outside and the doors shut tight, sealing only me, Osborne, and her two personal guards inside the room, President Osborne faced me.

She stopped at the foot of my bed and gave me an assessing once over. “How much do you remember about the time your father attempted to strip the world of powers?”

“I…” I blinked at her, whiplashed by her choice of topic. “What?”

She continued as if I hadn’t spoken. “Two years ago, the UAS government had been working on something top secret. A weapon. Do you remember?”

Slowly, I nodded, because it had been all over the news for several years. It was the reason I’d finally given in to my dad and broken him out in the first place. Still, I was confused as all hell why she was here talking to me about this. “Yes, the mind-control weapon. It was stolen from the Citadel during my dad’s attack.” I frowned. “If that’s why you’re here, I can assure you I didn’t steal—”

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