Amber Silverblood: Silverpack

Chapter Twenty Six

The funny thing about how a doctor's office smells is... it really doesn't.

Sure, you can smell the people, but that's about it. Places like that are always so sterile that it's almost like you're in outer space. At most, you might get a whiff of the alcohol they clean everything with, but that's it. When your nose is so sensitive that you can rely on it almost as much as your eyes, not being able to smell anything is spooky. I'm not ashamed to admit it, doctors' offices creep me out, even if it isn't for the same reason most people are creeped out by them.

That's why, when I came to and the first thing I smelled was a doctor's office, I immediately sat bolt upright in bed.

"Where am I?" I blurted out, my mouth running on autopilot because my head wasn't awake enough to form words on its own yet. The room had white walls, white floors, and a white ceiling. I was lying on a bed with stark white sheets. It all had the combined effect of making me feel like I was looking directly into the sun, and I had to close my eyes again before they got burned out of my skull.

"Calm down," someone said. My breath caught in my throat, and I turned my head to see a man sitting at my bedside. He was old, what was left of his hair was white, and he had bandages wrapped around his head, covering his eyes. "You're acting like there's a rattlesnake in your bed."

I blinked a few times before my brain woke up enough to recognize him. "Mordecai," I said.

He nodded in reply, his face as solemn as a statue.

"So, that means," I slowly pieced together, "that I'm back in Majestic's headquarters again."

"That is corr—" He didn't get to finish, because I'd thrown my sheet over his head and leaped out of bed, my heart pounding a mile a minute. I didn't care how I had gotten here, or why, all I knew was that they weren't going to keep me here for much longer. The door was on the other side of the room, and I made a beeline for it. I grabbed the handle, threw the door open, and charged out into the hallway.

Or, at least that's what I meant to do. Instead, the door refused to open, and my panicked brain wasn't able to process this in time, so I ended up running face first into it.

"What the hell?" I asked, stepping back and rubbing my nose. I grabbed the handle again and jiggled it, but the door still wouldn't open.

"Hmm," Mordecai mused, and I turned around to see him pulling the sheet off his head. "Perhaps there was a rattlesnake in there. I can't think of anything else that would account for such rude behavior."

"Why can't I get out?" I demanded.

"Because the door is locked."

My face turned red, and a wolfish growl came out of my throat. "I know it's locked. Why is it locked?"

Mordecai sighed in exasperation. If he had any eyes, under those bandages, he was probably rolling them. "Because you're a dangerous wild animal who nearly killed two people earlier today. Why wouldn't the door be locked?"

Before I could ask again, the burst open and suddenly I had a bright red gem in my face.

"Step away from the door," Victor commanded me.

"Screw you!" I shot back. "I'm leaving, and—"

"Amber, I will kill you if you don't do exactly what I say. Step away from the door!"

For a second, I was tempted to ignore him and make a break for it anyway. I was Majestic's fallback if their other Silverblood died during testing. They wouldn't just kill me, would they? There was something in Victor's voice that made me pause, though. Something that told me he would do exactly what he said without a moment's hesitation. That gem on his scepter was already glowing and ready to blow my head off of my shoulders, so...