Page 47 of Truth or Lie

TWENTY-ONE

Leona

IWAS RUNNING beforeI even realized I’d moved. Flynn and Beckett were hard on my heels; Jax and Alex somewhere close behind.

Thank goodness I’d learned my lesson about wearing impractical stiletto heels to places that might be attacked by terrorists, or I probably would have broken an ankle. As it was, I slid to a halt, grabbing Irina by the arm with fingers that felt more like claws.

Polonsky looked alarmed in the instant before he recognized us, but then his shoulders sagged in relief. They were both soaking wet—they must have already been through the decontamination showers.

“Where’s Kam?” I demanded, dreading the answer.

Irina took in my crazed appearance, her light-brown eyes dull with exhaustion.

“In the ambulance,” she said, and I had a horrible vision of the body bag being transferred behind us. She jerked her head toward the vehicle parked a few yards away. “He was throwing up earlier, but they’re giving him atropine to counteract the nerve agent. They think he’ll be fine.”

I blinked, trying and failing to take that on board. “H-how?” I managed. “How are—?” My voice cut off due to the blockage in my throat.

“How are we alive?” Irina’s tone was sour. “It’s just a theory, but the gas is designed to affect alphas and omegas. We’re both neutered. There’s very little left in us that’s omega, from a physical or a hormonal standpoint.”

“It was still a huge risk going after him,” Beckett said quietly.

Irina shrugged a shoulder. “And what isn’t, in this life?”

Polonsky had his fingers tangled with hers. “One day, you will do the wrong brave thing and end up dead,Kachanaja. And yet, I will still give thanks for whatever time we have together.”

“You ran into the gas, too,” Irina reminded him.

“Only because you are a terrible influence on me.” Polonsky tore his gaze away from her. His eyes landed on Alex, and he frowned. “He is alive, my friends—I promise you. I’m so sorry we weren’t able to find a way to contact you more quickly. I don’t think the paramedics would appreciate five people cramming into the back of the ambulance, but I imagine they will allow one person to ride along to the hospital.”

I’d been paralyzed in place like a statue, terrified that if I made a move toward the ambulance, I’d jerk awake to find that this was all a dream, and Kam was dead. Alex squeezed my hand. I hadn’t even realized she’d been holding it.

“You should go.” Her words were raspy, but I could feel her mental presence unfolding from its defensive huddle within the bond. There would be psychological fallout from this horrific near miss—not just for Alex, but for all of us.

Now, though, I needed to see my odama and make certain this was, in fact, real. I nodded. “Meet us at the hospital.”

“We’ll be there,” Beckett promised.

I met Jax’s blue eyes, and then Flynn’s brown ones. Jax’s gaze held the relief I expected, but Flynn’s expression was still closed off.

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