The stench of burnt gunpowder still hung in the ruined cabin. Outside, rain hammered down in sheets, washing over the wreckage.
Ryan leaned against the staircase railing and fished a small vial from inside his coat, its contents giving off a faint blue glow. He flicked it with his fingertip and the tube arced through the air, dropping neatly toward Luis, who was crouched by the fireplace catching his breath.
"Catch, senior consultant."
Luis fumbled the vial into his hands. When he saw the swirling blue liquid inside, those perpetually amused eyes went wide, and for a second he forgot to breathe.
"God... this is the Plagas suppressant I cooked up in my lab at Salazar Castle! How do you..." Luis's head snapped up and he stared at Ryan like he'd seen a ghost. "You went to the castle and cleaned out my stash?!"
"Technically, I moved house for you ahead of schedule." Ryan raised an eyebrow, perfectly matter-of-fact. "Salazar was going to trash that lab sooner or later, so don't bother thanking me. Honestly though, your hiding skills are a lot worse than your running skills."
Luis's mouth twitched. "That one stings."
"Save it. You made the stuff, so you know the dosage better than anyone." Ryan tilted his chin toward the corner where Ashley was curled up in pain. "Give her the shot."
Luis didn't waste a second. He took the suppressant and went straight to Ashley's side. She was clutching her neck, dark blue-black veins already spreading beneath her pale skin, her whole body shaking uncontrollably.
"Don't worry, princess. This is my own genius recipe. Might sting a little cold."
He loaded the agent into a portable injection gun with practiced hands and pressed it against the side of her neck with a click. The blue liquid pushed in and Ashley gasped sharply. Then, like a tide pulling back, the ugly veins across her neck faded and vanished, and her ragged breathing finally steadied.
"Thank you..." Ashley slumped against the wall, gave Luis a grateful look, then let her gaze drift to Ryan on the staircase. Her eyes were full of awe.
Leon stepped forward to check on Ashley, and the worry he'd been carrying finally eased.
"Will this completely clear the parasite?" He looked at Luis.
"You wish. This only blocks the parasite's synchronization with her nervous system. Buys us a few hours at most." Luis put the injector away, his expression turning serious in a way none of them had seen before. "To remove it for good, we need the laser extraction table I left at my lab on The Island. We're running out of time. We have to go tonight."
"The Island? Saddler's home base?" Leon frowned and glanced at the darkness outside. "How do we get there?"
"Through Salazar Castle, behind the village. There's a smuggler's speedboat docked in the underground waterway beneath the castle. Only way across." Luis traced a rough route on the dusty floor. "But the castle is crawling with Salazar's fanatics. The place is a deathtrap maze."
"Sounds like the real exam starts now." Becky calmly swapped the magazine on her electromagnetic rifle, the mechanism snapping clean.
"Correction. Your exam."
Ryan straightened up and brushed the moisture from his coat. He looked at the group and spoke evenly. "Luis, stick with Leon and the others for now. Someone will come pick you up when you're done. I've got to head out. Good luck."
"You're not coming with us?" Leon blinked, his hand tightening on his gun by reflex.
"Got something I need to take care of." Ryan's gaze passed through the cabin walls, out toward the dark expanse of ocean beyond.
"Oh, one more thing before I go. A little cheat item for the road."
He reached into his coat pocket like a magician doing a bit, and when his hand came back out, sitting in his palm was a gleaming golden egg the size of a goose egg.
While everyone stared in stunned silence, Ryan walked over to Ashley and pressed the heavy golden egg into her hands.
"Uncle Ryan, are you... hungry?" Sherry looked at the egg, then at Ryan, completely lost.
"For self-defense." Ryan ignored Sherry's jab entirely and fixed Ashley with a dead-serious look, a hint of dark amusement in his voice. "Could save your life when it counts."
Ashley held the golden egg in both hands, feeling her grip on reality loosen by the second. "Save my life? What, am I supposed to throw it at a monster?!"
"Physics? Crack open a monster's skull with an egg?" Leon rubbed between his eyebrows, eyed the glittering thing, and gave up holding it in. "Ryan, did you spend too long in that underground base? I think your definition of 'lethal force' needs recalibrating."
"Uncle Leon, don't underestimate anything Uncle Ryan gives us." Sherry crowded in and studied the golden egg with exaggerated intensity. "Maybe it's a micro high-explosive electromagnetic grenade disguised as an egg. You just pull the pin and... wait, where's the pin?"
"It's a golden egg. All natural, zero additives, maybe a little high in cholesterol." Ryan waved a hand over his shoulder without looking back. "When you run into that dwarf of a castellan, toss it right in his mouth. And aim well. Of course, you could also skip it and make egg fried rice instead."
Everyone exchanged bewildered glances. Ashley looked close to tears as she cupped the egg between both palms, terrified she might accidentally crush it.
"Trust me. It's a miracle of physics and biology." The corner of Ryan's mouth curved into a cryptic smile, and he turned toward the cabin's back door. "The small fry in the castle are all yours. See you on The Island."
Before the words had finished echoing, his silhouette had already vanished into the pouring night rain.