Page 77 of Captured By the Scaled Outlaw

“It’s alright. I’ll always put in a good word for a…fellowscientist,” I lead.

“Ah, you’re amazing! Thank you! I’ll leave you to rest, then,” she exclaims, her arms swinging back and forth as she walks away with a bounce in her step.

When she’s out of earshot, I exhale a deep, terrified sigh.

She’s an analyst, not a soldier.

Not a soldier.

Feelings of dread burrow into my chest, heavy and tight. My breathing quickly becomes labored as anxiety consumes me, the sound of Kinsley’s and Lowell’s conversation drowned out by the rushing blood in my ears.

Those people are not Nilsanian soldiers. Which means they are non-military. But why would they send scientists—

It hits me.

Nilsan doesn’t know Kinsley’s here.

The thought makes my mouth dry.

While it’s only speculation, any other explanation wouldn’t make sense. Kinsley and his subordinates are rarely allowed to leave Nilsan for any reason, let alone go on a rescue mission. However, even as my ‘rescuer’, Kinsley’s reaction was not what I’d anticipated.

He seemed so eager to make a deal, even though Lowell would have let me go without compensation. It’s out of Kinsley’s character to not only compromise but to concede.

It’s all just… weird.

A shiver runs up my spine, a feeling of unease washing over me.

I shake myself out of the trance, directing my energy towards preparing for the unknown, and what comes after.

Keeping the vehicle’s door open, I scoot back into my seat to garner a better listening position. As I move, my boot knocks against a white box on the backseat floor, the contents rattling like glass.

A slight smile cracks my frown. In a pinch, glass can be broken and used as a knife. It’s better to be prepared than not, if not only to quell my unease.

I lift the lid off the box, the neatly placed bottlesclinkagainst one another with any slight movement.

Staring back at me are nine corked boiling flasks, all filled with brown liquid that shimmer with rainbows along the surface. Atop the flasks lay a piece of paper with a formal letterhead, reading:

PROPERTY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL WARFARE

Blood stills in my veins and a chill raises the hair at the back of my neck.

I pick up a bottle, swirling the bubbling liquid with a gentle spin.

The flask and contents look the same as the one used by the bandits at Rime Mountain.

I lift the paper to my face, scanning the multiple lines of text formatted into a data table. As I read, I recognize the names of the ingredients listed in the flasks.

It’s….

I shakily slide the flask back into the box, the liquid bubbling and slopping against the glass.

The ingredients make herbicide, but it also contains heavy metals that are made to dissipate quickly within the bloodstream.

In other words…

It’s poison.

Chapter 26