Null & Void_a Royal States Novel

by RJ Blain

  “Indeed, especially since I pulled the plug on your painkillers last night to see if pain responses interfered with your talent.”

  “Isn’t torture illegal? It should be.”

  “You didn’t even notice I’d taken your painkillers away, so don’t try that with me, Mackenzie.”

  I scowled, but as he was right, I kept my mouth shut.

  “March, Mackenzie. Geoff’s waiting, and he’s eager to be back on duty rather than benched because I banned RPS agents from the floor.”

  “Why did you do that, anyway?”

  “A certain someone wouldn’t relax with them hovering, and the hospital’s security meets RPS standards, so I had the authority to keep them out.”

  I sighed. “Has he been a bother?”

  “Yes, so please give us the two hours we need so we can send you home to him. My wife isn’t going to remember what I look like at this rate.”

  One of the other doctors grinned. “Don’t listen to him, ma’am. His wife and children are booked into the same hotel we are, which is a five-minute drive away. I’m Dr. Farlo, and I specialize in trauma recovery. My colleague is Dr. Timmons, and he’s an expert in bone and muscle restoration. I’m a manipulator, so my talent allows me to rearrange cells in the human body, allowing for short-term regeneration of tissue. Dr. Timmons has worked with me before, and together, we’re going to give you a foundation for natural healing. Our primary focus will be on unhealed and damaged tissues and strengthening your muscles enough you can move to the next phase of physical therapy.”

  “I’m going to need trauma therapy by the time I walk down the hall,” I complained, but as I liked the idea of escaping the hospital a lot sooner than expected, I swung my legs over the bed and lurched to my feet. “Should I ask Geoff to protect me from you?”

  “You can try. Will it work? I doubt it. So you’re aware, he’s been transferred to the Montana RPS, and he’s been confirmed as the head of your detail, so he’s not going to show you much mercy if it hastens your recovery.”

  “Hastens? Really?”

  Dr. Glaskow grinned at me. “March, Mackenzie. I really do want to send you home tonight.”

  I sighed and surrendered to the inevitable, making the walk across the hospital step by painful step. It took me half an hour to make the hike, and I was bathed in sweat by the time Dr. Glaskow held open the door for me so I could limp inside.

  Geoff smiled when he saw me. “You’re looking better.”

  “Aren’t you supposed to be protecting me?” I whined.

  “I am, by making certain you make it through therapy intact. I’m an accomplice today, alas, as I’m the only shocker His Royal Majesty trusts with you, and today, my job is to fry your nullification talent. I’m rested and ready to rumble.”

  “Why isn’t torture illegal?”

  “I have a pardon,” he replied, grinning at me. He pointed to a thick mat on the floor in the center of the room. “For this, you’re going to be lying on the mat, so if I do manage to bypass your talent, the doctors can get to work. I won’t lie, if it works, it’s going to hurt like hell. I have a list of ways you can get revenge on me later. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.”

  “You’re stuck with me. I’m pretty sure that’s punishment enough.”

  Geoff chuckled, took my IV stand, and helped me down onto the mat. It hurt more than I liked admitting, but I couldn’t help but suck in a breath through clenched teeth. My back and abdomen ached the worst, and I blinked to keep my eyes dry and clear.

  It mostly worked.

  “As your talent is an excellent defense tool, I’m not going to tell you—or anyone—how we’re planning on breaking through it,” Geoff admitted, sitting on the mat beside me, taking my hand in his. “It’s too much of a safety risk. The only people who will know are myself, Alfred, and the Montana royal physicians. Hopefully, we’ll never have to do this again.”

  “Do your worst,” I invited, hoping I wouldn’t regret my words.

  Within five minutes, I did.

  It began with a nefarious tingle in my hands, the same sensation I remembered when Geoff first introduced me to his talent. The feeling raced up my arm and hit my head, triggering an instant headache. I hissed a curse at him, but the RPS agent ignored my protests, holding onto my hand tighter when I tried to pull away.

  “What does that equate to in a normal person?” I demanded between clenched teeth.

  “An annoying tingle prone to causing severe headaches,” he replied, smiling. “It won’t hurt you, even if I have to subject you to this for hours. You’ll be shaking like a newborn filly afterwards, though, and I expect we’ll have to carry you back to your room when we’re done.”

  “Have you done this to William?”

  “No. I wasn’t invited to test my talent on him.”

  “I’m inviting you to test your talent on him. I’ll hold him down for you.”

  Geoff laughed. “If that makes you feel better, I’m willing to assault His Royal Majesty on your behalf.”

  The trio of doctors swarmed, joining me and Geoff on the mat. I’d grown accustomed to the hospital gown revealing my secrets, including the fact I’d lost so much weight I could count all of my ribs through the material. Dr. Glaskow touched my forehead.

  Fire seared through my stomach, and I yelped, my attempt to curl into a ball to escape the pain aborted by a pair of hands on my shoulders and another on my legs. Geoff tightened his grip on my hands.

  The fire dulled to a lingering ache, and I gasped to catch my breath. The nefarious tingle stopped, and true to Geoff’s word, I shook. “That was awful,” I whispered.

  “Well?” Geoff demanded.

  “I recommend you get a good grip on her and hold on tight,” Dr. Glaskow replied. “It’s going to be a wild ride. Again, Geoff, and keep it steady. No matter how much she screams or fight you, control your talent and trust us to do the rest.”

  “You got it. Sorry about this, Mackenzie.” Geoff adjusted how he knelt beside me, holding my hand in an iron grip while he braced a knee against my shoulder. His other hand grabbed a handful of my hair, pulling hard enough I yelped.

  “Hey!” I protested, struggling in his grip. With a single twist of his hand, he pinned my head to the mat. The tingle shot up my arm again.

  Before the headache had a chance to set in, Dr. Glaskow cupped my face in his hands and stared into my eyes.

  Fire consumed me from within.

  I cried, screamed, struggled, and even tried to bite Geoff to get him to let me go, but he ignored my efforts and kept me pinned while the three doctors worked. Geoff yanked on my hair when I put up too much of a fight.

  I’d never again underestimate the power someone had over me with a good handful of hair. The instant they set me free, I intended to find a pair of scissors and cut it all off. Then I planned to find somewhere safe, dark, and quiet to hide until they forgot about my existence.

  Then I’d tattle on them for torturing me, although I wasn’t sure who I’d tell. William wouldn’t work; he’d be so happy I was out of the hospital he’d thank the bastards. I suspected Pat and Jessica would support Geoff, especially since they’d agreed to send him to Montana without penalty.

  Mireya would side with the doctors because the blend of science and magic intrigued her.

  No one would blame me if I made a run for it. In fact, the bastard doctors and the ruthless bodyguard would praise me for getting exercise. The instant I got away from them, I’d find a way to make them regret the torture session thinly veiled as help.

  Long after I cursed myself hoarse, they continued, and I delivered threat after threat in a raspy whisper. Only when I barely had the strength to take my next breath did they relent. Dr. Glaskow smiled, smug and satisfied, rising to his feet. “All right. Let her go, Geoff.”

  The instant they released me, I scrambled for the end of the mat, made it a few feet, and flopped, panting to catch my breath. The door was only ten feet away, but I lacked the strength to crawl to f
reedom.

  “Welcome to phase two, Mackenzie,” Dr. Glaskow announced, clapping his hands. “Your job is to drag yourself and your IV stand to your room without help. You manage that, and I’ll gather your discharge papers and make Geoff fill them out.”

  Revenge in the form of paperwork would do for the moment. “Give him extra forms,” I croaked.

  “We’re going to give you some space.” Dr. Glaskow pointed at the intercom on the wall. “If you need anything, use that. Someone’ll be by in an hour to make sure you’re all right if you haven’t pulled yourself together by then.” He pointed at a closed door. “There’s the bathroom, and it has a shower if you’d like to take one. You’re going to have nerve flares, so not only are you going to be sore, but you’re going to experience random but brief flashes of pain. It’s normal, so bear with it. It’ll stop in the next few hours.”

  “Are you saying if I’m not back to my room in an hour, I don’t get to break out of here today?”

  “Yes.”

  “I demand an extra twenty minutes of grace time because Geoff pulled my hair. I need to find scissors and cut my hair off so no one pulls it ever again.”

  Geoff crouched beside me, ran his fingers through my hair, and massaged my scalp. “I’m sorry, Mackenzie. It’s the easiest way to immobilize someone without causing permanent damage. It also limited how much damage you could do to yourself. I’ll only do it to you if it’s truly necessary. You don’t have to cut your hair.”

  “An extra twenty minutes,” I demanded.

  “All right,” Dr. Glaskow agreed. “An extra twenty minutes. Pull yourself together and limp your way upstairs, then we’ll get the IV removed, put you in some real clothes, bundle you up, and deliver you to Montana. Since you did so well, I’ll even give you a full week of respite before we start the next phase of physical rehab.”

  Geoff leaned down and whispered in my ear, “I’ll be down in an hour and ten minutes to make sure you’re upstairs in time. I’m not above cheating.”

  Despite everything, I laughed. “You’re still a jerk.”

  “That I am.”

  Armed with my IV stand, I went on a quest for scissors. I suspected Geoff warned the doctors and nurses on the floor I meant to chop off my hair, as I was unable to procure a single sharp object. I wasted my twenty minutes poking around the physical therapy floor while the hospital staff kept an eye on me.

  I was beginning to believe all medical students took a class dedicated to unrepentant grins.

  Thwarted, I debated my options. If I returned to my room, I’d win freedom, but I’d have to keep my hair, giving Geoff another chance to restrain me with his dirty tricks. Hair grew back.

  If Geoff and the doctors meant to take me to Montana, I’d surprise William in more ways than one. It’d look like a weed whacker had run over my head, but watching him have a meltdown over the change would keep me amused for at least a week.

  As I expected Geoff and the trio of wicked doctors had warned everyone on my floor I’d be on a quest for scissors, I took my search to the ground floor, taking the steps to dodge any nosy RPS agents named Geoff.

  Instead of a sharp, pointy object, I found Sylvia Ambrose at the bottom of the stairwell, and sharks in process of ripping their dinner to bits seemed a hell of a lot friendlier than the New York princess.

  Her smile made my skin crawl, and she looked me over from head to toe. “You just refuse to die.”

  While I still trembled as I’d been warned, the sight of the woman annoyed me so much I clutched the IV stand and put in some serious thought if I could bludgeon her over the head with it. “Why are you here?”

  The last thing I’d ever expect from Sylvia Ambrose would be good will.

  “You got me removed from the auction.”

  A laugh burst out of me. I limped down the steps, dragging the IV stand along with me. “I did what?”

  To get the higher ground, Princess Ambrose climbed up a step so she could look down her nose at me, “You got me removed from the auction,” she hissed, balling her hands into fists. “I was going to find you in your room, but this is even better. I should have gotten rid of you in New York. First, you took Dylan from me. Now you’ve sunk your claws into Montana’s king. I wasted a day making sure I knew where you’d be so I could get rid of you once and for all. Haven’t you figured it out yet? No one wants a stupid, null bitch—”

  When wielded like a baseball bat, an IV stand had an impressive heft, and I put every bit of strength I had into cracking the metal and plastic contraption upside the princess’s head. One of the bags burst, the fluid splashing against her face and into her eyes.

  She screamed.

  A better woman would’ve stopped after the first blow. A better woman would’ve given the princess a chance to defend herself. A better woman would’ve done a lot of things.

  I firmed my grip on the IV stand, wound up, and hit her so hard we both fell down. I smacked into the landing hard, and the breath whooshed out of my lungs. The IV stand clattered to the tiles beside me.

  Princess Ambrose fell on top of me, her infuriated scream echoing in the stairwell. She wielded her fingernails like weapons, slashing them at my face. Flames burst into life around her fingertips.

  I took a trick out of Geoff’s book, grabbed her hair, and twisted as hard as I could. When that didn’t stop her. I squirmed beneath her, jabbed my knee into her gut, and used the one weapon I had left at my disposal.

  The next time I watched martial arts films, I’d remember that cracking my forehead into someone’s nose wasn’t a bright idea. Pain blossomed behind my eyes and stabbed through my skull, and the shock of impact stunned me into falling limp beneath the writhing princess.

  Fire licked at her skin, but it didn’t burn me.

  She wasn’t so lucky, and as her clothes ignited, her shrill screams cut over the ringing in my ears. I shook my head, and as I didn’t want to burn, too, I wiggled out from beneath her.

  The IV stand and its many bags were just within reach, and I grabbed the nearest one with clear fluid. I ripped off the cap from the hose, pointed the tube at her, and squeezed.

  The trickle steamed where her shirt had caught on fire, and the absurdity of the situation made me giggle. Then I ripped the hose from the plastic and dumped the liquid onto her, then beat the flames out. Once the fire died away to smoke, I slapped her with the empty bag. “You are the dumbest damned excuse for a human being I have ever met.”

  My rage over having spent weeks in intensive care because of her petty jealousy grew, so intense it wouldn’t have surprised me if my blood boiled in my veins.

  Smacking her around with a piece of plastic wasn’t enough.

  I snarled curses and lifted my fist to give her a taste of real pain.

  A hand in my hair jerked my head back, and I wasn’t sure how he pulled it off, but Geoff shunted me out of the way, got between me and Princess Ambrose, and kicked her in the side so hard she crumpled. He clutched a fistful of my hair, pinning me to the floor with one hand.

  The crack of thunder startled a yelp out of me, and Princess Ambrose’s body jerked and twitched. Grunting his satisfaction, Geoff released his grip on my hair, got to his knees, and flexed his hands. While the princess groaned, she stayed down.

  “You all right, Mackenzie?”

  I gulped, looking at the bent IV stand, irrefutable evidence I’d beaten a member of royalty with it. I squeaked, covering my mouth with my hands, my eyes widening as it sank in I’d not only beaten her with my IV stand, I’d cracked my head into her face.

  The blood and the crooked angle of her nose promised I’d broken it.

  I was glad. She deserved it. I hoped her nose healed crooked, so whenever she looked in the mirror, she remembered she’d tried to kill me and gotten the shit beaten out of her. She’d made my daughter and William miserable.

  She deserved far worse than a broken nose. I wanted to take the IV stand and beat her until she bothered no one else ever again.
r />   “Mackenzie!” Geoff barked, grabbing hold of my shoulders. “Are you all right?”

  My anger surged, and I snarled, “That bitch tried to kill me!”

  I lunged for the fallen princess, reaching out so I could wrap my hands around her scrawny throat. Geoff cursed, snatched another handful of my hair, and wrapped his other arm around my shoulders to restrain me. “Let me at her!” I howled.

  By the time the hospital security arrived, I’d gotten a hold of Geoff’s arm with my teeth, struggling so I could finish what I’d started and rid the Earth of the menace princess who’d attempted to keep her promise to ruin and kill me.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  In the grand scheme of things, I had no talent at self-defense, but I had one hell of a bite. Geoff’s arm required five stitches, and I covered my face in shame while Dr. Glaskow tended to him.

  “I’m so sorry,” I choked out. I’d lost count of the times I’d apologized, horrified I’d done something as violent as wield an IV stand as a weapon and mauling my own RPS agent with my teeth.

  “Mackenzie, I’m not mad.”

  I’d lost count of the times he’d made that same reply, too. It didn’t help. All his forgiveness did was make me cry harder.

  “It’s a stress response, Geoff,” Dr. Glaskow stated loud enough to be heard over my bawling. “We should be grateful her fight instinct kicked in. Flight wouldn’t have worked well for her, not against a healthy opponent so shortly after treatment. If you think you’ll need a sedative to get her to Montana, I’m happy to administer it.”

  “If you’re trying to incite panic with His Royal Majesty, you’d do a good job bringing her to him while recovering from sedation. She’ll remember she’s a dignified adult soon enough.”

  “I beat her with an IV stand,” I wailed.

  Geoff sighed. “Yes, you did. You did a very good job beating her with an IV stand. As soon as she’s fit to fly, she’ll be deported to New York and barred from returning to Texas, and I’ll be filing a travel ban in Montana as soon as we arrive. Once His Royal Majesty of Montana finds out, the New York royals going to have a diplomatic nightmare on their hands. He’s already publicly announced your engagement. Princess Ambrose’s attack will be classified as attempted regicide.”