Lowering my head, I gave a loud, wracking cough. I spat again and continued coughing, so hard that the metal legs of the chair bounced against the floor.

I could feel the two men watching me. Waiting.

Finally, I stopped and wiped my nose as best I could against my shoulder. “I think I got what they got,” I said in a choked whisper. “You know what it is. The media’s been downplaying it, but it’s a highly contagious form of avian flu.” I jerked my chin up and met their gazes. “The one that has an eighty percent fatality rate.”

Both men took a long step back without even realizing.

“Lying bastard,” said the stockier man, but his eyes darted uncertainly from me to the closed door.

“Better to return in suit next time,” Da Ge said.

“Oh, it’s too late for that, gentlemen. And a fancy you suit won’t protect you. Viruses always find a way.” I gave them a bloodstained smile, feeling every bit as monstrous as I knew I looked. “It’s airborne, and you’ve got my blood and spit splattered all over you.”

“Let’s go,” Da Ge said, striding for the door.

The muscular thug whipped out his taser as his boss was slipping into the corridor.

“Jin wants him alive,” Da Ge said from outside. “Let’s go up to the lab and use the decon pod.”

I could barely hear Da Ge as the oaf stalked out after him, thudding the door shut with a loud clang.

I remembered the egg-shaped contraptions on the third-floor lab during our tour. I was sure I was somewhere in Jin Corp.

And Jin was on his way.

CHΔPTER FIFTEEN

I dozed off, despite my pounding head and aching arms. The sleep spell took the edge off my pain. I jerked awake when I heard the metal door screech open but quickly pretended to be out.

“What did you do to him?” A man’s voice, assured and educated.

I recognized it and looked through one slitted eye. Expensive leather shoes and tailored suit. Jin.

Only Da Ge had returned. “Just a few smacks.”

Jin shifted closer so I could see the edge of his gray suit jacket. His nails were manicured, and he wore a thick gold band on one hand and a carved jade ring on the other.

“Fools,” Jin said. “I told you I needed to question him. How well do you think that goes when he’s got his brains dribbling from his nose?”

Da Ge shuffled back, and I saw him bow down in subservience. “We didn’t hit him so hard.”

“Yes, you did,” I rasped and raised my head, looking Jin square in the face, surprising both men. My cheekbone was swollen, and my limbs now screamed for circulation. But my vision was not as bleary, and I knew my gaze was clear when it met Jin’s.