FEATURED TITLE
Bulletproof
Mindy MacKay
Excerpt Heat Level: 1
Book Heat Level: 4
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Kiera
tried to calm her jitters with a series of slow, deep exhales. "Well, you
did it," she said. "You've turned the kid into another human nuke.
What are we going to do once your brother gets his hands on him again?"
"See, if you hadn't
been getting all hot and bothered over dissecting him, maybe you would have
thought up an answer to that," said Isabella. "Fortunately, I did.
We're going to need to install a failsafe that we can detonate from the outside
at the first sign of treachery."
"You mean like a bomb
within the bomb?"
"Actually, I was
thinking a poison sac that would release its contents into his bloodstream at
our command, but if you can build a bomb in the boy, go for it!" The Queen
grinned evilly.
Suppressing a yawn, as it
was getting quite late, Kiera dug through some drawers. "I'm sure I can
improvise a bomb out of something in here…what's this tubing for?" She
held up a length of soft plastic tubing about the width of the tooth of a comb.
"I can tell you five
things it's not for."
Rolling her eyes, Kiera
looked through a few more cabinets, eventually collecting three vials and
pouring all of their contents into the tubing so that they mixed. "These
three combined are explosive when lit. Cham taught me," she said. Her
jittery scalpel hand carved deep incisions down each of Colin's limbs and she
wound the tubes around and around his bones. With a touch and a thought, she
sealed up the cuts as quickly as she'd made them. As a finishing touch, she
built a primitive switch and implanted it where the tubes came together, under
Colin's heart and over the slit nerve. "One spark, and then…kaboom!"
"Now all we need is a
detonator," said Isabella.
"Can I build it in the
morning?" Kiera pleaded. "If I have to concentrate for one more
second, I think I'll
explode."
"Of course. It's late.
Of to bed with you."
As they left the lab and
began to retreat to their separate bedrooms, Kiera looked over her shoulder.
"Is?"
"What is it,
Kiera?"
"How long are you going
to keep messing with my head like this?"
Isabella grinned darkly.
"Only until you start messing back."
~ * ~
Colin awoke naked in a
strange room. He felt stiff, as if he'd gotten some new ligaments installed and
hadn't had the time to break them in. On the table next to him was a note:
Dear
William,
The
injuries you sustained in your car accident required treatment via invasive
surgery, so I took the liberty of saving your life. You may feel a little sore.
It's nothing to worry about. Take the two pills on the console to your left if
the pain becomes too bothersome.
Hoping
you are well,
Isabella
Sordeno, M.D. (In case you were worried)
Colin plucked the pills off
of a small metal tray and swallowed them without water. They knocked him out in
a heartbeat.
~ * ~
Kiera awoke with her cheek
pressed against the bathroom floor, facing the toilet. She felt stiff, as if
she'd been sleeping in her current tangled position all night. On top of the
toilet tank was a note:
Esteemed
colleague,
Well,
I hope you're happy. I told you to quit knocking yourself out with Tongue of
the Reaper, but you just don't listen to the doctor's orders, do you? I do hope
you haven't killed yourself this time, and if you are alive, you should be
ashamed of yourself. You think this is any better than the alcohol problem you
had a few years back? Well, it isn't.
I
suppose I owe you an apology for having a laugh at your expense last night. So
I'm sorry. But think about it. Your fascination with bodily mutilation truly is
funny, and how do you suppose you'll live with it if you can't have a laugh at
yourself once in a while?
You're
probably not too happy about my forcing you to perform a surgery you were
underqualified for, either. I can see why you might have needed to search for
solace after that, but trust me, you won't find it in the afterlife. I know. I
was there once, remember?
All
that said, if you aren't dead yet, please get to work building that detonator
for Colin's bomb. You might feel a little nauseous, which is why I moved you
next to the crapper. If you need to vomit, go on and vomit, but after that, get
to work.
All
my grudging respect,
Isabella.
Relieved to find she wasn't
nauseous, Kiera pulled herself off the floor and headed to the lab.
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