Page 36 of Silver Fire

“Derek!” Sophie rebuked.

The technician smiled apologetically. “I’ve patched you up a bit, but you will be needing stitches. Fortunately it’s on your hairline so it won’t be visible. I’ll also suggest a CAT scan just to rule out any complications from the concussion you’ve sustained. You did lose consciousness, you said?”

“She did,” Derek answered abruptly.

“Do you want to ride in our ambulance?”

“I’ll take her,” Derek said.

“I am capable of answering and making decisions for myself,” Sophie retorted, glaring at Derek. To the EMT, she said, “I’ll come with you. Give me a minute.”

Sensing an oncoming quarrel, the EMT walked away.

Derek regarded Sophie with amusement. He was so relieved she was alright and did not care that his bossiness was irritating the hell out of her.

“You need to dial it down.”

“What, Angel?”

“Your high-handedness.”

“Someone needs to take care of you.”

“Take care? I can take care of myself,” Sophie snapped. “Did what I had to do to stop the assassins, didn’t I?”

“That you did,” Derek said, controlling his lips from twitching.God, she was brave, gorgeous and —

“Oh, by the way,” Sophie reached into her pocket and took out a spherical device that had blinking numbers on them.

Reckless.What the fuck?

Derek forced himself to ask calmly, “What is that, Sophie?”

She walked away from him, saying over her shoulder, “I need to disarm it.”

“Jesus Christ!” Derek stalked over to her. “Give that to me!”

The room suddenly got tense as all eyes swung to Sophie and Derek.

“Oh, calm down!” Sophie chided. “It’s plastics, it’s not doing anything until it’s triggered.” She flicked a switch on the device and the blinking numbers disappeared. “See? The frequency—Hey!”

Derek snatched the device from her, ignoring the mutinous glare she threw at him, and bellowed, “Manning!”

A tall, muscled Guardian that resembled Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson came forward. “Take care of this.”

“That device is proprietary to Silver Fire, you can’t have it!” Sophie cried.

“It’s evidence,” Derek fired back. He had felt his heart stop when Sophie pulled out the sphere.Damn her,he wanted to strangle her. He gripped her arm and led her to the EMT.

“Which hospital?”

The EMT told him.

Turning back to Sophie, he said, “I’ll be following you there shortly. Try not to slip away. You are coming home with me tonight.”

With that statement he turned away and walked over to where Jack and Maia were having a heated discussion of their own.

“I need to go to the hospital, do you need me for any debrief?” Derek asked Maia.

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