“Okay.” My heart was racing so hard, and my ears were ringing, but I was hanging on to consciousness. That was all I could do.

Audrey gave me a nod and hustled off.

“I’m so sorry, Maité.” Tyler whispered the words. “The suits… They’re only meant for a few hours at most. I didn’t even think… We should’ve traded out suits, but Matt only gave you the one, and with your shoes, you might not have felt the boots being compromised until it was too late, but I don’t understand why the suit’s internal system didn’t warn you long before this happened.”

I knew. I knew why.

My suit didn’t warn me because Jason didn’t want it to. He wanted me in pain. He wanted me to suffer. He was punishing me. For hitting him. For being a halfer. For being Amihanna di Aetes. For whatever reason his evil, shitty, microscopic brain could come up with.

I closed my eyes and started my deep breathing. I focused on the pain in my feet and tried to picture it flowing out of me, but it didn’t work. Closing my eyes only made the pain worse.

My skin wasn’t glowing. I didn’t know why, but at least I wasn’t totally giving myself away in front of strangers.

Audrey came back. “Okay. Painkillers first.”

She was my savior. “Yes. Please.” I barely felt the sting of the injection.

“Okay. Those should kick in five seconds.”

As soon as she said it, the pain eased a bit. “Thank you. It’s already helping.”

She patted my arm through the suit. “Of course. This suit is trash, so I’m going to start cutting you out of it.” She started with my arm and attached an IV patch as soon as my wrist was free. Cool tendrils ran up my arm as the liquid seeped through the patch and into my body.

“All right. That’ll get you hydrated and cooled down. Hang tight, and I’ll go grab the nanos. They’ll fix you right up.”

My heart skipped a beat, and suddenly I was filled with a whole new terror. “I’ll be fine. I don’t need any nanos.”

“The company will pay for them if that’s what’s concerning you. They consider it part of keeping the workforce going here. It’s not in their best interest to have you down, so it’s free.”

Nothing was free with SpaceTech—even if it got me back to work sooner—there would be a cost involved. “I can’t afford for SpaceTech to hold anything else over my head.” Plus, I couldn’t have nanos. They’d drive me mad before I healed.