“Alexi?”
“Who the fuck are you?” I was staring down at a good-looking redheaded human with light green eyes and a sprinkling of freckles over his nose.
“Long story,” I sidestepped. “We’re busting you out of this place, but I need you to do as I say.”
The man studied me for a minute and then shrugged. “Whatever, bro.”
I stifled a laugh. “Sky will be glad to see you.”
“Who?” Sky’s whisper came from the hall behind me.
“Alexi,” I said, stepping aside with a flourish. “Tada!”
Sky raised a brow and shook his head. “That’s not Alexi, Colt. I don’t know that man.”
Well, shit.
“Let’s get him out of here,” I suggested, swallowing a sigh. “Maybe Alexi is in the next cell.”
As Sky led the strange Alpha out, I wrenched open the last three doors. They all held Omegas.
Sky’s friend wasn’t there.
“Colt! Need you in the lab!”
I’d just begun to bind the twins’ hands when Colby’s voice rang out through the near silence, making me jump.
“I’ve got them,” Fang called out to me. “Just let me finish here.”
He hoisted the last Omega up to grab the rope and headed my way after he’d been pulled to the surface. I tossed him the second rope and took off for the stairs at a run. I didn’t even notice that Sky was following me until I stumbled to a stop and he crashed into my back.
The place was a disaster. The assholes appeared to have been in the middle of their morning work when the drugs kicked in. When they’d fallen to the floor, they’d overturned tables and smashed glass beakers.
“Fuck.” I stared at the mess in front of me.
“Over in the corner,” Clint called out as he snapped restraints on one of the unconscious men.
Picking my way through the debris field, I found a man strapped to an oddly familiar torture device – a St. Andrew’s Cross. He was caked in dried blood and covered in open wounds – many of which appeared to be infected. Red lines streaking out from an iron bar stabbed into his thigh screamed blood poisoning. His head hung limply at his chest and only the occasional faint rasping breath told me that he lived.
“Alexi!” Sky ran past me, dropping to his knees and retching when he reached his friend. “Oh, god, no!” Still kneeling at my feet, he looked up at me through heaving sobs. “Colt! Please, you have to save him! Make him like me!”
I winced as he begged, knowing that I couldn’t do as he asked. “I’m sorry, Sky, but I can’t.”
“You have to!” Sky stared wildly around the room. “Someone has to!”
“We can’t,” I repeated more firmly. “He’s unconscious. We can’t do that. We have to get him out of here and get medical help.” I felt for a pulse in the Alpha’s neck, relieved when it was stronger than I’d expected. “Clint! Where are Alrick and Seb?”
“Already gone,” came the grim reply. “They were pretty sure that they were being watched, so they split when we got to town yesterday.”
“Help is on the way,” Colby told me. “Rafe called in a chopper. See if you can stabilize him and get him outside.”
Thank fuck!
Coby tilted his head to acknowledge my silent thanks and turned back to photographing evidence. “Get your ass moving, Colt. This whole fucking floor is booby-trapped.”
“What?” I snapped back, reaching for my knife and slicing through the bands that held his ankles in place. “Don’t you think you should have fucking said something?” I reached for a roll of bandages and began to wrap his wounds.
“Just did,” Colby snapped back with his usual aplomb. “Now double-time it! Sky! Get over here and give me a hand!”
