Page 59 of Fight or Fly

Nikolayev yanked his arm out of Irina’s grip and was at Beckett’s side in three long strides, kneeling next to the stretcher and tearing away the velcro cuffs binding Beckett’s wrists to the metal side rails. Beckett let out a tortured noise and dove forward into Nikolayev’s arms, burying his face in the Russian’s neck and shaking uncontrollably.

Nikolayev held him fiercely and rocked him back and forth, murmuring, “Solnishko, my heart—I have you now... it’s over. It’s over, I promise—your alphas are safe. I have you.”

Beckett made another terrible sound and clawed weakly at the back of Nikolayev’s suit jacket, grabbing handfuls of the material and holding tight.

My throat closed up, and I had to look away, turning toward Jax’s chest. I was peripherally aware of Nikolayev scooping Beckett up as though the smaller man weighed nothing and whisking him away, out of the helicopter.

Jax drew in another shaky breath, his arms coming up to pull Kam and me against him. I hugged back hard.

“He’ll be all right now,” I said. Ihadto believe that was true. My entire world had just been turned upside down with the confirmation of my crazy theory—but Nikolayev wouldn’t allow any harm to come to the man he’d just carried away like he was handling the most expensive and breakable glass.

“When did you realize,odama?” Kam asked, pulling back a bit from the three-way embrace.

“I didn’t,” I said. “I mean, there were some things that weren’t adding up, but I wasn’t sure until just now.” I looked up to meet Jax’s dazed expression, hoping desperately that Nikolayev hadn’t been lying about the others. “Flynn and Alex—are they okay?”

“No,” Jax said hoarsely. “No, they’re not. But they’re here, and they’re alive.”

“Then we’ll deal with the rest of it as it comes,” Kam said. “And speaking of people who obviously aren’t okay—you’re about to collapse. We saw a man outside who looked like medical personnel. Come on.”

By the time we helped Jax hobble outside, there was no sign of the man in the white coat—or of Irina, Nikolayev, or Beckett. We got directions to the medical building from one of the people working on the other helicopter and began the slow trek in that direction.

“So apparently we’re not prisoners anymore?” I asked, still trying to rearrange this new revelation into my worldview.

“I think the guy in charge was a bit too distracted to worry about details like that,” Kam muttered. As the taller and stronger of the two of us, he was doing the lion’s share of the work in keeping Jax upright and moving forward.

“Irina was the one who let us out of the cell,” I mused, remembering the way she’d grabbed Nikolayev in the helicopter cabin, holding him back from an alpha killing rage. “She’s high up in this secret hierarchy, I’m sure of it.”

Jax shot me an alarmed look. “Alex didn’t see her when she brought you out to the choppers, did she?”

“No,” I told him. “We didn’t see Alex or Flynn when we came out.”

He relaxed. “They must have already been wheeled off to this medical unit. Good.”

“So Alex doesn’t know about Irina being alive yet?” Kam asked.

Jax shook his head. “Irina was with the team going after Beckett, and she was in the other chopper on the way back. Alex lost consciousness before we lifted off, and she hasn’t woken up since.”

Worry for all three of our alphas pricked at me. I hoped we’d get some answers once we delivered Jax to the doctors.

“That’s not going to be a fun conversation for anyone when she wakes up,” Kam pointed out.

“No,” Jax agreed. “It’s not. No more than the ‘hey, I’ve delivered you into Nikolayev’s hands, and it turns out he’s the one Beckett’s been protecting... but I didn’t know it at the time’conversation.”

Every few seconds, some new piece of fallout from that particular revelation popped into my head to throw me for a loop again—but right now, Jax, Flynn, and Alex were at the top of my worry list. The rest of it would have to wait, even if waiting felt like standing at the bottom of a snowy pass and expecting an avalanche to fall on my head.

“One thing at a time,” I said.

We made it to the squat, unremarkable building beyond the main house that allegedly contained the medical facilities. The armed and uniformed guard stationed in front took one look at Jax and waved us inside.

The interior was basic, but clean and well lit. Darkness had nearly fallen outside, and I blinked a few times to accustom my eyes to the glare of overhead fluorescent lights. Jax waved away the offer of a gurney and instead let the two orderlies take his weight from Kam and me.

“We’re staying with him,” I said quickly.

“You can come into the ward as long as you keep out of the way,” said one of the orderlies.

“That’s fine,” Kam told him.

We followed them down a hallway that opened into a large area containing perhaps two dozen medical cots, several of which were occupied.

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