Page 24 of Witches Be Damned

“Yes, sir.” Steel pumped through my veins and hardened my muscles. Maintaining the ruse, I leaned forward and patted my leader’s leg. “Get well soon, Serena. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Next, I moved to Knoxe, clapping his shoulders. “I’ll catch up with the rest of you later to interrogate the vamps.”

Vancor bristled at the last word. “The rest of you have work to do processing and interviewing the prisoners.”

We sure did. Get Styx’s crew processed in the system and returned to the vampire homeworld for arraignment and judgment. Receive the contract points from the Guardians, freeing Knoxe and Pascal from this place once we retrieved all the prisoners, and me in six months tops if they earned more tally points to wipe away the extra they scored.

Everyone cleared out as he marched me into the next examination bay for tests, my stomach spinning faster than the blood samples in the medical laboratory next door.

I sat through an hour of being poked and prodded, having my blood taken, using every wit about me to preserve the ploy and not react once to any of the full body exam of my legs and spine.

“Everything looks normal so far,” the doctor commented.

I put on my most resigned face. “That’s good, Doc.”

When the time came to perform scans of my spine, I prayed to Mads once more. “If you can hear me, thief avatar,” I whispered when the doctor left me on the bed for the CT scan. “Please falsify the images they capture.”

“You want to owe me another debt?”The voice of Mads invaded my mind.

“Get me out of this bind, and I’ll do your damn laundry,”I replied in my head, wondering if I imagined this out of fear and self-preservation. “I’ve gotten good from practice in here.”

“I never wear anything twice,”Mads scoffed at me, and I crushed my fingers into a ball.“But, if you can get me out of doing my baby’s laundry, we’ve got a deal. My wife insists on using all-natural diapers, and that means loads of washing of unfriendly substances, if you catch my drift.”

Yep. This was Hell, all right. No man in his right mind would clean shitty nappies for someone else’s kid unless they were royally screwed. Why did I even mention it? Me and desperate situations were a bad combination.

“Fine,”I hissed back at him, hoping he joked just to mess with me.

Mads chuckled. “You really must be desperate to agree to that.”His voice faded away to nothing on the last word.

Fuck. Did he agree? Leave me to my own fate? Some part of me came to terms with my fate if it got me out of Mads’ laundry.

“You all right in there, Mr. Helms?” the doc asked through the speaker in the corner of the room.

I flashed a thumbs-up and tried not to have a breakdown. “Just nervous of the results.”

“Naturally,” he replied. “There doesn’t seem to be any change from the physical examination, therefore I’m sure you have nothing to worry about.”

I almost choked at his response. “Good,” I croaked out.

“Relax and let the machine do its work,” the doctor soothed, but it sparked me to tighten everywhere.

I closed my eyes, forcing my body to slacken. Then I prayed to Hades and every other god who might listen and grant me a speck of mercy. None replied, and I guessed I couldn’t blame Hades when I kind of blackmailed him.

Nervous sweat streamed down my face and onto the bed. My heart almost broke a rib as the machine performed its duty. I thought I was going to pass out at one stage. I thanked all the gods as the scan completed, and the bed slid out of the tube. I twisted my head sideways and watched the doctor’s drawn brow as he reviewed the results.

He came into the room, lifted me into a seated position, and offered me tissues to wipe my sweaty brow.

I dabbed at my forehead, edgy and unsure whether Mads came through for me or not. “What’s the verdict, Doc? Any miracles to report?”

If the scans showed repair to my spine, then they’d ask questions. The wrong questions that got me tested every which way, and having to make up reasons for my cure.

Lying about it was a new low for me, and I was disgusted with myself for resorting to this. I could burn for an eternity with Hades in the Underworld. Hopefully, he went easy on me for saving someone I loved, because I would torture myself over this enough that he didn’t need to add to my torment.

The doctor’s lips pressed together as he delivered the results. “You have nothing to worry about. There’s no further damage to your back.”

“That’s a relief.” I pretended to blow out a long breath. “Is there any improvement from the physical therapy and weights?”

The doc cleansed the machine that I dripped all over with antibacterial wipes he kept in his pocket. “A slight decline in muscle strength, but no miracles, unfortunately.”

Hold the disheartened face. Do not smile. Definitely do not jump off the bed and flashdance. Do not forget to thank the thief avatar.

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