I had no idea how long I’d been out. Could be hours. Even a day. A wave of nausea swept over me, and I fought it. If I threw up, I’d choke to death on my own vomit. Slowing my breathing, I willed my pulse to stop racing, my mind to stop screaming in panic.
The only exit was a metal door with a round knob. I strained my ears, trying to gather any clue as to where I might be. Nothing but the buzzing of the dim fluorescent light above me, casting the dusty room in its lurid glow. I scanned the empty walls, raised my pounding head to look up at the ceiling. A square ventilation grille was set right above me, but I had no delusions of escaping through the vent. My bleary eyes caught a red light in a dark corner. I blinked rapidly, trying to focus. A camera, and it was recording. Which meant that someone could be watching.
I heard the sharp sound of footsteps before I heard the lowered voices. Dropping my chin, I shut my eyes just as a key jangled in the doorknob. The metal door banged open a moment later.
“He’s still out,” said a gruff voice.
“Well, wake him,” another man said in a bored tone.
Someone stalked up to me, wrenched my head back by a fistful of hair, and ripped the rag from my mouth. I didn’t want to react but gulped one breath. Then a slap hit me so hard across the cheek my head snapped to one side, the sound loud and resounding in the chamber. My ears rang with it. The spike of adrenaline that shot through me made my head swell with heat, my fingertips tingling. The thug tried to hit me again, open-palmed, but I twisted, wrenching my shoulders in their sockets, and he smacked my jaw and neck instead. The sting of it brought my mind into sharp focus.
“He’s awake, Da Ge.” The oaf smirked, revealing teeth stained yellow from smoking. I could smell it on him.
Da Ge approached, his thin frame towering over me. “What were you doing outside the temporary hospital ward?”
“You mean the holding pen?” I spoke to the concrete floor. “Where they were letting sick meis die?”
“Who the fuck cares?” Da Ge drawled. “What were you doing there?”
“Just meeting my friends.”
“You’re dispensing meds. Undernet says that whatever you’re doing is working.” He cracked his knuckles. “That some of those wretches are actually recovering.”
I raised my head and stared into Da Ge’s face, saying nothing. He had mean, ruthless eyes and cutting cheekbones, reminding me of a shark.
“What were you giving them?”
I didn’t reply, and in a blur, he punched me in the face, and my head slammed back against the metal edge of the chair. Blood spurted from my nose; I could feel my cheek swell beneath my eye.
I coughed, then spat at their feet; blood ran into my mouth and dribbled onto my shirt. Rage filled me, and it tasted of blood and bile. I couldn’t feel any pain, only a tightness in my face.
Lowering my head, I gave a loud, wracking cough. I spat again and continued coughing, so hard that the metal legs of the chair bounced against the floor.
I could feel the two men watching me. Waiting.
Finally, I stopped and wiped my nose as best I could against my shoulder. “I think I got what they got,” I said in a choked whisper. “You know what it is. The media’s been downplaying it, but it’s a highly contagious form of avian flu.” I jerked my chin up and met their gazes. “The one that has an eighty percent fatality rate.”
Both men took a long step back without even realizing.
“Lying bastard,” said the stockier man, but his eyes darted uncertainly from me to the closed door.
“Better to return in suit next time,” Da Ge said.
“Oh, it’s too late for that, gentlemen. And a fancy you suit won’t protect you. Viruses always find a way.” I gave them a bloodstained smile, feeling every bit as monstrous as I knew I looked. “It’s airborne, and you’ve got my blood and spit splattered all over you.”
“Let’s go,” Da Ge said, striding for the door.
The muscular thug whipped out his taser as his boss was slipping into the corridor.
“Jin wants him alive,” Da Ge said from outside. “Let’s go up to the lab and use the decon pod.”
I could barely hear Da Ge as the oaf stalked out after him, thudding the door shut with a loud clang.
I remembered the egg-shaped contraptions on the third-floor lab during our tour. I was sure I was somewhere in Jin Corp.
And Jin was on his way.
CHΔPTER FIFTEEN
I dozed off, despite my pounding head and aching arms. The sleep spell took the edge off my pain. I jerked awake when I heard the metal door screech open but quickly pretended to be out.
“What did you do to him?” A man’s voice, assured and educated.
I recognized it and looked through one slitted eye. Expensive leather shoes and tailored suit. Jin.
Only Da Ge had returned. “Just a few smacks.”
Jin shifted closer so I could see the edge of his gray suit jacket. His nails were manicured, and he wore a thick gold band on one hand and a carved jade ring on the other.
“Fools,” Jin said. “I told you I needed to question him. How well do you think that goes when he’s got his brains dribbling from his nose?”
Da Ge shuffled back, and I saw him bow down in subservience. “We didn’t hit him so hard.”
“Yes, you did,” I rasped and raised my head, looking Jin square in the face, surprising both men. My cheekbone was swollen, and my limbs now screamed for circulation. But my vision was not as bleary, and I knew my gaze was clear when it met Jin’s.
He was a good-looking man in his forties. I had studied his profile and photos extensively. But he looked even younger in person, with a content healthy glow that I’d only ever seen in yous. And though Daiyu got her looks more from her former model mother, there were mannerisms—a certain way Jin tilted his chin, how he took in and assessed a situation immediately with just one glance—that reminded me of her. There was no question that Daiyu was her father’s daughter.
“Have you given him food?” Jin asked in a cold, detached tone, although he didn’t glance away. “Some water at least?”
I swallowed then; my mouth was so dry, my throat swollen with pain.
Da Ge’s narrow eyes flicked over toward Jin, his expression unreadable. “Didn’t think to.”
“Well, go!” Jin roared.
Da Ge left the cramped chamber, closing the door with a loud thunk.
“I apologize.” Jin sighed and pulled up a chair from a back corner, shifting machinery parts and servers out of the way so he could sit across from me at a short distance.
I stared at him.
“Do you really have the super flu like you claimed?” Jin asked, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth. I wanted more than anything to punch the smug look from his face. Instinctively, I knew that Jin had never known fear or rage, had never, ever felt helpless.
I shrugged noncommittally.
“I was only half following you and your friends’ endeavors while abroad. Didn’t know what you were about.” Jin laced his fingers, pressing his thumbs together. “But my interest was piqued when reports came back that whatever you were doing seemed to be helping those infected. Something that could work against a virulent flu strain never seen before? How is that?”