Page 9 of Dark Princess: Shadows

In the imaging room, Merlin gave Dagor another thorough look. "Good, I see that you've followed instructions, and you're not wearing any metal on you." He scanned the rest of the group. "Everyone else, if you are wearing any belts with metal buckles or metal buttons, please stand at least ten feet away from the machine."

Kian had been through enough of those to know that, and he had come prepared.

Negal cursed under his breath and proceeded to remove his belt. "I forgot about that."

"That's okay," Merlin said. "No harm done." He turned to Dagor and pointed to the MRI machine. "Lie down and try to remain as still as possible during the scan."

As Dagor settled on the narrow platform, the machine hummed to life, its rhythmic thumping filling the room. Kian watched the monitors, but the images meant little to his untrained eye. Merlin, however, leaned in close and muttered something incoherent.

"There," the doctor murmured after several long minutes. "Left thigh, embedded in the vastus lateralis muscle. Quite an ingenious placement, really. Easy to implant, difficult to remove without significant muscle damage, but naturally, that wasn't the intention since gods heal so fast. They just wanted it well hidden."

Aru's eyes narrowed. "Will you need to put Dagor under to extract it?"

Merlin shook his head. "A local anesthetic will do."

As Aru released a relieved breath, Kian lifted a brow. "Why were you concerned with Dagor being anesthetized?"

"Because I wasn't sure that it would work on him. Our bodies repel foreign substances that are perceived to be harmful."

"Your body might react the same way to a local anesthetic," Kian said. "Maybe we should get him drunk? I know that you can consume alcohol and feel its effects."

"That might be an option," Aru agreed.

After Merlin completed another full MRI scan to confirm nothing was missed, and Dagor emerged from the machine looking unperturbed, Kian wondered whether the god had heardwhat was discussed. The gods' hearing was even better than immortals', but the machine had been loud, and it had probably drowned out their conversation.

"What now?" Dagor asked.

"Now, we put you in the operating room," Merlin said. "I thought we wouldn't need it, but because of the location of the tracker, I prefer to do this in a properly equipped OR."

7

ARU

"Can you wait a moment?" Aru asked Merlin when Dagor went to change into a hospital gown. "I want to run up to the penthouse and bring a few bottles of whiskey in case your anesthetic doesn't work on him."

Merlin gave him an incredulous look. "I will test it before I begin. I won't operate on Dagor before I'm sure the area is numb."

"Test it on me," Negal offered. "Inject it into my finger or something, and let's see how long it stays numb."

"Good idea." Merlin motioned for Negal to sit down. "I have a hunch that whatever works on immortals will work on you just as well, but testing is always preferable to assuming, right?"

Negal nodded.

Merlin gathered his tools, including a small syringe that was filled with liquid. "The lidocaine will block the nerve signals in the area."

He cleaned Negal's hand with antiseptic and then pinched his finger. "The base where the nerves are located is the bestlocation." He took the syringe and inserted the needle. "I'm injecting the anesthetic just beneath the skin."

Negal didn't even wince, and he didn't react when Merlin repeated the procedure on the other side of the same finger.

"How bad was it?" Aru asked.

"It was just a small pinch, and now it stings." The trooper chuckled. "Stop hovering over me like a mother hen. We are soldiers."

"Right." Aru crossed his arms over his chest.

For some reason, little hurts suffered in civilian circumstances seemed larger than major injuries suffered by a soldier in battle. That reminded him of what his commanding officer at the time had told his unit during training—it was all a mind game.

"Okay." Merlin brandished a wicked-looking tool. "Let's see if that worked." He prodded Negal's finger. "Did you feel it?"

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