Chapter 10 You saved me

The grip was iron. It crushed her windpipe, cutting off air instantly.

Athena didn't struggle. She didn't claw at his hands.

She looked into his eyes. They were the eyes of a wounded animal fighting for survival.

"Caesar," she rasped. Her vision began to spot with black dots. She reached up and gently cupped his cheek. "It's me. Athena."

The name cut through the fog of poison.

Caesar's pupils contracted. He blinked, seeing the woman in front of him. Seeing his hand on her throat.

He let go as if he had been burned.

Athena collapsed to the floor, coughing violently, dragging air into her starving lungs.

Caesar stared at his hands. Then he looked at the bruising already forming on her white neck in the shape of his fingers. Horror washed over his face.

"Heart rate is stabilizing," Dr. Vance whispered, staring at the monitor in disbelief. "The toxin levels are crashing. It's... impossible."

He turned to Athena. "What did you give him?"

"An experimental counter-agent," Athena said, her voice wrecked. "My mother was a biologist. She developed it to neutralize a similar neurotoxin."

Vance looked at the needles still sticking out of his boss's chest. "That wasn't tea."

"Leave us," Caesar croaked.

"Sir, you need monitoring-"

"OUT!"

Vance and Derik retreated. Derik cast one last look at Athena-a look of newfound respect.

The door clicked shut.

Caesar slumped back against the pillows. He looked at Athena, who was still sitting on the floor.

"You know medicine," he said. It wasn't a question.

Athena stood up, her legs shaky. "My mother was a biologist. I read her notes."

"You saved me." Caesar reached out, his fingers hovering near her neck but not touching. He was afraid to touch her again. "Does it hurt?"

"No," she lied. "As long as you are alive."

She sat on the edge of the bed. Caesar watched her. The exhaustion was pulling him under, but he fought it.

"Don't go," he mumbled, his eyes drooping.

"I won't."

Athena stayed until his breathing evened out into deep sleep. She checked his pulse one last time. Strong.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She stepped out into the hallway to answer.

Godfrey's voice, slurred with alcohol and thick with pain, crackled through the phone. "You bitch! You think breaking my wrist ends this? I'm selling your mother's research. The patents. Everything in the storage unit goes to the highest bidder tomorrow morning!"

Athena went cold. Her mother's research. The only thing that could permanently cure Caesar.

"You touch that box," she whispered, "and I will bury you."

"Bring cash, or bring a lawyer. I don't care."

The line went dead.

Athena lowered the phone. She couldn't stay here tonight. She had to secure the legacy.

Derik was standing at the end of the hall. He looked at the bruises on her neck.

"Ma'am?"

"He's not stable. The attack will come back," Athena said, her voice steel. "I need to get something from my parents' house-my mother's research. It's the only way to create a permanent cure."

Derik's gaze flickered from the ugly marks on her neck to the closed medical bay door. Protecting the Master was his only directive. And right now, she was the only one who could do that.

"Prepare the car," Athena commanded.

"I'll drive," he said, his voice firm.

He was no longer just the security guard. He was her ally.

Athena walked toward the elevator. The night wasn't over. The war had just begun.