15
“This hurt enough the first time,” Austin said with a scowl as he folded his legs to fit in the chrome bathtub. “Will this be easier?”
“No.” Vakar leaned over him. “Might even be a little worse.”
His stomach turned. “Wonderful.” He glanced at his underwear. “Is this really necessary?”
“Yes.”
Vakar had arrived fifteen minutes after Austin had changed. He said something about destroying the agent’s body Tia had killed in the elevator and that Cameron’s counterpart was chasing a decoy heading toward the Ara Sea. Mumbling, Vakar had pushed Austin into the bathroom and offered no other explanations after instructing him to strip to his underwear.
A shiny layer of sweat covered Vakar’s angular face as he loomed over Austin. Tia sat on the sink, engrossed in her flashing fingernails as s
