Page 89 of Her Captivated Hero

Calm.

Breathe.

Think.

How was she supposed to think? How?

“Riya?

“Riya?

“Are you all right?”

It was Wyatt’s voice.

She let go of her hand and forced both of them down to her sides. She turned, thankful her face was obscured by the helmet.

“I’m fine, Wyatt.” If she asked a question, he wouldn’t question her. “Where’s Gray? When is he coming back?”

“Griff needed a lift back to the hotel. He should be back in an hour.”

“Okay. Got to get back to it.”

“How is it going?” Wyatt asked.

“Got a sample to work with from the new canister. I’ll be able to create an antitoxin in under four hours. Do you have any idea how the Jordan royal family is doing?”

Wyatt rubbed the top of his thigh. It was the first time she saw him do something to indicate his injury still bothered him. “I haven’t been able to. Dex is trying to work his magic now.” He seemed sad. Riya finally understood that he was upset that Dex was better than he was.

“Shouldn’t you be over there learning what he’s doing?”

“I guess so.”

“You’ll never get any better at this if you don’t learn.”

“I want to be on the team. Out in the field with Hunter. Not stuck in here working communications.”

Her hand throbbed. She needed to get started. “You mean Dex is somehow less than the others on the team because he does communications?”

Wyatt was quiet for a long moment. Finally he shook his head. “I’m a dumbshit.”

“So it would seem. I have to get to work.”

Wyatt walked away and she turned around. Her neck was beginning to ache just a little. That was the first sign of meningitis. She had been inoculated for the disease back in D.C. when she realized what she was working with. It seemed to be helping keep the symptoms at bay. Maybe she had time to get the antitoxin created before the Princess died.

Wait a minute. What the hell was she thinking? She could do two things at once. She couldn’t believe she was such a defeatist. Riya grabbed the broad poison that had gone through the thermal cycler. She quickly prepped it and put it into the fluorescence reader.

Finally she could breathe again. She would have both antitoxins made up.

One for her, and one for the royals.

A sense of peace flowed through her.