Page 27 of Hide or Die

“Yes,” Beckett said, grim-faced. “Let’s collect Mr. Patel so we can get the hell out of here. And, please god, let the safehouse our contact arranged for us be as safe as it’s cracked up to be.”

“This is turning into ten different kinds of clusterfuck,” Alex said, equally grim.

She hauled the ambassador’s body into a sitting position and ducked under her torso, distributing the omega’s negligible weight across her shoulders as she straightened. I had no idea how she managed to avoid sniffing Leona McCready’s skin like a cocaine addict snorting a fresh line—but then again, Alex hadn’t earned the nickname ‘The Ice Queen’for nothing.

I crossed to Jax and hauled him up the same way, the two cracked ribs I’d sustained in the I.E.D. attack grinding painfully as I steadied the bastard’s bulk. Securing him in the fireman’s carry with my left arm around his thigh, I grasped my weapon right-handed and brought it into firing position.

Beckett had completed one final sweep of the lab, gathering up a few papers that had been left behind and shoving them into his pack with everything else. “Move out,” he ordered. “Stay sharp—I’ll take point. Let’s get these three to safety, and hope like hell there’s a medical lab somewhere around here that’s equipped to figure out what they were pumping into Jax.”

“Your lips to god’s ears,” Alex muttered, and fell into step next to me.

ELEVEN

Kameron

THE DARK storage roommight have been even worse than the cell. I crouched among a pile of crates in the corner, trying to convince myself that Leo and Jax were still alive... that Beckett wouldn’t arrest us and turn us over to the Committee the moment he got his alpha away safely.

Time was still moving oddly. My bruised side ached and throbbed in sync with my heartbeat. I had no idea how long it was likely to take to find the others. And what if they were still being guarded? What if Beckett’s team fell to a counterattack in some deep part of the cave complex where I wouldn’t hear the gunfire?

A sharp rap sounded against the door, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. I rose on shaky legs, keeping to the shadowed corner as the knob turned and the door creaked open.

“We’re leaving,” Beckett said.

“The others?” I asked breathlessly.

“We’ve got them. Move.” He jerked his chin toward the corridor, all business.

He would have said something if they were dead, I told myself firmly. He’d be acting more upset. More...something.

Outside, the huge, dark-skinned alpha—Flynn?—had Jax’s limp body slung over his shoulders. The female alpha, Alex, had Leo draped over her shoulders in the same way. The air caught in my lungs.

“Are they—” The words burst free without conscious intent.

“Alive,” Alex confirmed. As if to drive home the point, Leo gave a low moan.

“Time isn’t really on our side here,” Beckett said.

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