Page 37 of Skinwalker's Bane
Devin could see gro-patch gel on the back of Adam’s head and blood visible beneath the clear pink gel.
The small cut on his jaw, where the pipe had hit, had been sealed and was now just a red line on the flesh, beneath the blonde stubble.
Adam’s eyes were tiny slits. “Devin.”
She moved closer. “You’re safe,” she told him. “I’ve told Noa and Haydn. They’ll warn the others.”
Daly looked at her sharply, yet said nothing.
“Good,” Adam said softly. His eyes closed.
Kall beckoned Devin out of the room and gestured to Bernice Daly that she follow.
They moved out to the loungeroom again. Kall turned to face her. “Who is the other doctor that is coming?” he asked.
Devin recalled the name. “Anar Bader. He’s used to working with skinwalkers.”
“He lives with one,” Kall said, nodding. “I know Bader. He’s very, very good. I can tell you now, though, that Adam is not permanently hurt. Lots of bruising. Most of the damage came from landing on his back on hard ground. The back of his head took most of the impact. The headache will be gone in about forty-eight hours and he’ll be fine after that. Bader will tell him when he can go back to work. He understands the subtleties of their physiology better than I do.” Kall nodded. “I’m hungry and want my dinner. Good night, Devin.”
“Thank you!” she called after him.
Bernice Daly was still waiting patiently. “What did you mean about telling the Institute about Adam?”
“You know Haydn and Noa?”
“I do,” Bernice said. “They have a history of getting in trouble. Have more skinwalkers been attacked?”
“Yes,” Devin said. “Noa said six of them since Dhaval Bull spoke in the Aventine.”
“Idiots,” Daly said, her voice low. “Although this does sound like something the Cavers would do. They prefer to strike in the dark, in packs. They’re getting bolder, though. They don’t seem to understand that every time they attack a skinwalker, it just builds the skinwalkers’ public esteem. It makes skinwalkers look sympathetic.” She tugged at her jacket and ruffled her hair. “We’ll get out of your house. Adam will need the quiet.”
She gathered up her men and they left. The housedidfeel quieter once they had gone. The silence didn’t last. A few minutes later, the house AI informed her that Anar Bader was at the door, which Bernice had shut behind her.
Devin let him in. He was a short man with very black eyes, short black hair and a full beard. He gave her a friendly smile. “Noa says you saved Adam from a fate worse than death?”
Devin had to smile at the exaggeration. “Four cavers, we think. Although I didn’t do anything. Adam took out three of them before the fourth hit him with some sort of pipe.”
“I saw the pipe outside,” Bader told her. “Industrial plasteel. The heavy kind. Assholes,” he added. “Where is he?”
She took him through to her bedroom, where Adam lay still beneath the covers.
“Shame to wake him from sleep.” Bader put his instruments on the bed next to Adam. “I wonder, could I ask for a cup of coffee, Devin? It’s been a long day so far.”
She went back out to the kitchen to prepare two big cups of coffee. As the printer was finishing up the last cup, it occurred to her that asking for a coffee was a neat way of getting her out of the room, without curtly asking her to leave, as Kall had done.
So she took Bader’s cup back to the bedroom, put in on the nightstand next to him and withdrew again. She waited on the lounge, drinking the beverage and trying to anticipate what might happen next. Her day had skewed into uncharted territory.
The bottom line was that she would not abandon Adam while he was asleep and unable to make decisions for himself. That meant staying in the house for a while. Bracing herself, she called Bishan.
Once he had exploded and vented himself with some choice words and predictions that she would never amount to anything if she continued to disappear without notice, she told him she was taking a few days off.
Bishan erupted once more. “Why?” he demanded. “How could you even think of disappearing at a time like this? You’re just starting to build some momentum. Mina even smiled when I mentioned your name this morning.”
“I can’t tell you why,” Devin said. “They’re private reasons. All I can say is that it’s necessary. Something has come up that I have to deal with. Besides,” she added, with an artless, unstudied tone, “after what happened on the Bridge, I think I can afford to coast for a couple of days.”
“What happened on the Bridge?” Bishan asked suspiciously, his eyes narrowing.
Devin told him about her appointment with the Captain and her participation in the meeting afterward, and her contribution to the meeting that had sent it off in a whole different direction.
