Page 50 of Betrayed Kidnapped Mate

“Sorry,” Maisie says, “You’d mentioned working on the antidote—I thought you might focus better if I just knocked him out.”

“Did you use a horse tranquilizer? How much did you give him?”

I blink, my eyelids feel like they’re sticking shut. I swallow thickly, thinking I’ll just close my eyes for a moment. The last thing I hear is Maisie’s voice as everything goes to black.

“He’s a big guy…”

***

When I wake up, Maisie is sitting next to me, drinking a smoothie.

“Oh, good,” she says, “you’re up. Let me check your vitals, quick.”

I blink groggily, the bright lights above me stinging my eyes. My body feels a little stiff, but overall, I feel okay.

“Everything looks good,” Maisie says a minute later, snapping her stethoscope around her neck. “You are free to go, but you’re going to need to come back tomorrow so I can switch out those bandages.”

“Where’s Rosa? And Kaila?”

“Rosa is in the lab, working, and Kaila is at Aris and Linnea’s. She’s safe. But you should probably head home and try to take it easy. No shifting until this is healed—I don’t want your progress slowed down by the transition.”

“Rosa’s in the lab?”

“Don’t bother her—she might be having a breakthrough on the antidote.”

I nod at Maisie but push up from the bench with full intentions to go straight to the lab and see Rosa for myself, making sure she’s okay. Maisie gave me some clothes Rosa had brought for me, and I changed out of my hospital gown before wandering down the hallway.

As I near the chemistry lab, I hear loud shouts and increase my pace despite the sting in my side. Rounding the corner, I see through the lab and into the holding room, where Byron is standing outside one of the cells, saying something I can’t hear over the screams.

“Percy!” Byron says, his voice cracking, “Please, just calm down! Sit down, take a breath, man!”

Percy doesn’t seem to listen; instead, the shouts increase in pitch. The wall of the cell rattles loudly. Rosa is standing in the lab, her goggles around her neck, and her hands by her sides. When she turns and sees me, her brow wrinkles.

There are few sights in this world that genuinely take my breath away. Rosa standing there in her lab coat, her soft blonde hair cascading over her shoulders, is one of them. I file it away to think about later.

Then, I realize she’s trying to project to me, and I shake my head, giving her a small smile.

“Did Maisie let you go? Or did you break out?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” I ask, leaning close to her so she can hear me over Percy. “What’s going on here?”

“He gets like this, sometimes, just breaks into screaming fits. Byron was trying to ask him about the humans who have gone missing, and he just imploded, started hitting his body against the glass, wailing against the cot; we were worried he was going to hurt himself.”

“Gods,” I mutter, and Rosa reaches out, putting her hand on my forearm.

“They didn’t find any serum on him, Bigby,” she says, “so maybe it wasn’t Percy who took it. I know Olivia was really confident that was the answer, but I’m not so sure. I think everyone should just be extra careful until we figure out where the serum actually is.”

“You know I’m careful,” I say, stepping toward her, but she pulls back, shaking her head.

“I was there, in the clearing—I came to warn you, and I saw you launch yourself at Percy like that. You might be used to being the guy who barrels in like a tank, but that has to stop now that Kaila has you in her life. I won’t allow her to lose a father.”

Rosa is right. In our team, I’m always the first one to take a risk, to put myself in harm’s way when it isn’t strictly necessary. Other than my sister and parents—who all have lives of their own—it never really felt like I had a reason not to.

“You’re right,” I say.

“I know.”

I turn away from Rosa, moving into the room with Byron and Percy.

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