V-Day: (M-Day #4) (30 page)

Riley leaned into me, his breath tickling my neck as he whispered in my ear,
“
Did I tell you how sexy your new short hair is? I think it suits your personality more since you
’
re so
…
feisty.
”

Personally I would have gone with bitchy but I
’
d take it.
“
Really? Most guys don
’
t like short hair.
”

He nipped at my earlobe.
“
I
’
m not most guys.
”

He could say that again. Riley was an anomaly. Despite everything we
’
d gone through, he
’
d always been there for me even when we weren
’
t a couple. He genuinely loved me for who I was, not what I looked like. It didn
’
t mean I don
’
t want to look pretty for him. But a girl could only do so much in a post-apocalyptic world when it came to glamming it up. My heart squeezed with the urge to tell him how much I always appreciated the fact that he loved me for me
—
that he let me be me unapologetically. But it wasn
’
t the time or place.

“
And here we are,
”
the scientist announced as we followed him into a larger than expected lab. The man with him shut and locked the door as soon as we were all inside.
“
I
’
m Ethan, by the way, and this is Kyle.
”
The other man, large and bulky, nodded at the introduction.
“
Now, Riley, have a seat please.
”
Ethan nudged a metal stool at Riley with his foot.

“
Where should I be? I don
’
t want to be in the way.
”

“
You
’
re fine where you are,
”
Ethan said absently while he gathered his tools.

I took the opportunity to study my surroundings. The lab was more spacious than I
’
d expected for a room on an aircraft carrier, although not huge by any definition. It seemed to be pretty standard as far as I could tell. Nothing nefarious or suspicious looking. Except for the obvious guard at the door. I narrowed my eyes at him.
Does he think he
’
s being inconspicuous?
I idly wondered what would happen if we decided to attempt a quick exit.

“
I
’
m just going to draw some blood first,
”
Ethan said before tying off Riley
’
s arm.

I inched closer to Riley, knowing I was hovering for no good reason. I glanced up to meet Kyle
’
s gaze who was watching me too closely for my taste.
Why is he even here? Why do we need a guard on the inside of the room?
I was starting to feel antsy.
Maybe this was a bad idea.
I turned my attention back to Riley as Ethan drew his blood.

“
Okay, that
’
s all I need for the moment. I
’
m just going to give a quick look at it under the microscope to see if I need more now or later.
”
He started humming under his breath as he prepared a slide with Riley
’
s blood and placed it under a microscope.

He jerked his gaze up almost immediately, his eyes wide.
“
Umm
…
let me just
…”
He clamored over to Riley, his hands fluttering around nervously.
“
How do you feel right now?
”

Riley shrugged.
“
Fine. Perfectly fine. Why?
”

Ethan grabbed the side of Riley
’
s face and shined a tiny light into his eyes, moving it back and forth.
“
And were your eyes the same shade of blue as the other infected before? When you claim to have been exhibiting all the symptoms such as aggression, rage
—”

“
His eyes were all the way ice blue,
”
I interjected.
“
He was just like all the rest of them.
”
I shuddered at the memory. I reached down and took Riley
’
s hand within mine, squeezing gently.
“
I thought I lost him forever.
”

“
And what happened before those things changed?
”

“
He started having these seizures, but besides that
…
yeah
…
I don
’
t know what cured him. We were kind of hoping you could tell us that.
”

“
He
’
s still infected,
”
Ethan blurted, his face pinching with distress.

Kyle went for his gun, pointing it straight at Riley. I instinctively moved in front of him.
“
Whoa-whoa-whoa!
”
I waved my hands.
“
He
’
s not a threat. There
’
s just been some kind of mistake. Maybe you can detect the dead virus in his blood or something. He
’
s obviously not an I-Man!
”

“
Calm down, Kyle,
”
Ethan ordered.
“
I need him alive.
”
Some kind of silent conversation passed between the two men resulting in Kyle reholstering his gun.

I exhaled slowly.
“
Thank you.
”

“
We
’
re going to have to quarantine him,
”
Ethan said.
“
We can
’
t take any chances until we know what
’
s going on.
“
I
’
m thinking there might be some kind of natural immunity in his blood that could lead to the cure.
”

“
Quarantine?
”
I squeaked.
“
No. I don
’
t think
—”

“
In here.
”
Kyle opened the door and stepped away as several men moved around him, brandishing their own weapons. I narrowed my eyes at Kyle, knowing he
’
d contacted them somehow, which was why he
’
d backed down so easily.

“
I just need a bit more blood before you take him,
”
Ethan said. He jabbed Riley with a fresh needle, drawing more blood than he had the first time.
“
That
’
s good for now. Go ahead.
”
Ethan nodded without looking up.

One of the men with a gun stepped forward.
“
Let
’
s go,
”
he ordered Riley.

“
No!
”
I moved in front of Riley who had been suspiciously quiet.
“
I need to talk to Martha about this first.
”

Kyle smirked at me from the corner of the room.
“
Who do you think gave me the authority to make this decision?
”

“
No, I won
’
t let you just take him.
”

Riley placed his hand on my arm and turned me to him gently. He stroked his fingers down the side of my face, his blue eyes churning.
“
It
’
s fine, Viv. It
’
s just a precaution.
”
He dipped his head to kiss me, his tongue sweeping into my mouth briefly before he stepped away.
“
Don
’
t worry. We won
’
t be separated for long.
”

I gritted my teeth, every muscle in my body tense from restraining myself. Anger simmered within me as Riley went willingly to his prison. I shouldn
’
t have expected any less from him, after all, he was a soldier. Me, on the other hand, had been trained to operate independently. Going out in teams had felt unnatural to someone like me, which was one of the reasons I
’
d been picked for S-Ops to begin with. I
’
d passed the personality test with flying colors. I
’
d been one of the few females who had.
Time to get my head out of my ass and take charge of this situation. I refuse to be separated from Riley again, even if it
’
s just for a little while. I just got him back.

I glared at Ethan who didn
’
t seem to notice since he was so enthralled with his work.
“
You scientists are all the same. No care for anything but your work. It was someone just like you who started all of this, you know.
”

“
Doctor Greensley? He was quite brilliant
…
all things considered.
”

“
Yeah, all things considered like the fact that he lost his friggin
’
mind.
”
I snapped my mouth closed before I said something I
’
d regret, like giving away that I knew more than I was supposed to. I really didn
’
t want anyone beyond who already knew to be privy of that shaming information.

I stalked from the lab, my mind swirling with plans. I wasn
’
t about to sit back and let Martha, or anyone else for that matter, make executive decisions about me and mine, without giving me the courtesy of the truth. Martha had obviously planned on quarantining Riley from the time I first told her about him.  I wasn
’
t going to take any of it lying down. I was a fighter not because I
’
d never been knocked down, but because I had been. No matter how many times I was forced to my knees, I would always pick myself back up. I would never stay down permanently.

If someone like Martha thought she was just going to do whatever she wanted and no one would call her on it, she was damn wrong. Last time I checked no one had voted her queen of the planet. She only had power because most of us agreed to let her have it.

And
I
’
m disagreeing now.

I started to waffle with indecision by the time I reached the end of the hallway. I
’
ve always had a short fuse, especially when it came to protecting the ones I love. Maybe Martha had been afraid of me reacting just the way I had and no one knew anything for sure about Riley. Martha hadn
’
t known he
’
d test positive for still having the virus. Hell, neither had I. She was only taking a precaution. It wasn
’
t like she
’
d ordered him shot and shoved overboard. Maybe I needed to go talk to her calmly and rationally.

I registered a man in the hallway coming from the other direction. I didn
’
t pay him much mind, until I went to go around him and he purposely blocked my way with his large frame.
“
Excuse me,
”
I snarled, not bothering to look up at him.

He grabbed my arm and pressed his face into my neck.
“
You smell really good.
”

I yanked out of his grip and went to take a swing at him, pissed at the invasion of my space and the blatant sexual harassment on top of it. He caught my fist easily before I could make contact.
“
Hey, asshole
…”
My voice trailed off when I met his gaze. His ice blue I-Man gaze.
“
What the fuck?
”

He smirked at me.
“
I thought it would feel different. I thought I would be some kind of monster, but
…
I feel in control, powerful. I definitely don
’
t want to die.
”

I took in the short dirty blond hair and tall wiry body, which already seemed larger than a few hours ago. Recognition washed over me.
“
Marshall,
”
I rasped.
“
No.
”
He
’
d trained with me for S-Ops, but ultimately hadn
’
t cut it. The last I
’
d heard, he
’
d been reassigned to some other program that better suited him. And now he was infected. How? Or maybe that part didn
’
t really matter, maybe all that did was figuring out how far the contamination had spread within the ship.

“
Ah, good to know you recognize me without the wet suit on. You
’
ll be able to recognize me naked real soon too, Moore.
”
He grabbed both of my wrists and slammed me up against the wall, pinning me with his body weight.
“
I always had a thing for you, but I was afraid of how it would be perceived by you and by everyone else.
”
He laughed as I struggled.
“
I don
’
t give a shit now.
”
He skimmed his teeth over my shoulder blade.
“
I bet you
’
re a wildcat. Don
’
t be afraid to use your claws with me. I hear the infected heal really fast.
”