“Any news about the explosion?” I asked, reassured that I at least remembered what he and Jez had told me about it before.
“Yeah, the news outlets are admitting it was a bomb now.” He huffed out a breath. “Not that there was much question. The place is swarming with police and FBI, but I don’t expect Vozzina will have left anything behind that ties it to him.”
“Assuming it reallywashim,” I said, and winced when my ribs reminded me how little they liked breathing right now.
Heath shrugged a shoulder. “Helluva coincidence that he was too ‘sick’ to be there, while all the people he’d love to get rid of were conveniently gathered in one place, right around the stage.”
I tried to wrap my brain around the idea of an alpha trying to murder the omega he’d mated. It made me feel nauseated in addition to feeling broken.
“Can’t believe he’d do that to Paolo,” I wheezed. “’S fucked up.”
“Yeah.” Heath sounded sour. “Much less fucked up for your scent match to try and kill youfirst, and for the mating to come afterward.”
I peered at him, because the tone didn’t match what was coming through the bond. “You and Jez still at each other’s throats?”
He shook his head and rested his elbows on the edge of the mattress. “No. No... we’re actually not. We had a talk. A couple of talks. Which doesn’t totally cancel out the fucked-uppedness of the situation. But... I think we’re good. Still not sure about Knox, though.”
That was fair. Jez had tried pretty hard to kill both Heath and me when we’d been holding her prisoner in the attic, but not in the same cold-blooded way she’d almost killed Knox. It was a lot to get past, on both sides.
“Glad you’re working it out,” I told him. “Is Tony okay with it, d’you think?”
Betas could be tricky. Relationships looked different for them. I sometimes wondered what it would’ve been like, back in ancient history when alphas, betas, and omegas were all kind of jumbled up together... before everything got so segregated.
Heath scrubbed both hands down his face. “I don’t know. But I think... maybe? It’s complicated, but they were friends before.” His gaze met mine and held. “I didn’t say this like I should have, earlier. What you did for him... he’d be dead if you hadn’t protected him. I can’t ever pay you back for that, Gage.”
A thin thread of surprise pierced through the pain. Heath didn’t say things like that. Not with those big, wet, red-rimmed green eyes pinning mine, and without so much as a flicker of sarcasm anywhere to be seen.
I made myself smile up at him, hoping it didn’t look too much like a grimace of discomfort. “Don’t need to pay me back, idiot. We’re pack. Besides, he’s adorable. Think I might be in with a chance, if I play my cards right?”
It probably would have been more effective if I didn’t sound like a wheezing old man, but Heath let out a little amused huff anyway.
“You’d have to ask him yourself,” he said. “Just as long as he doesn’t get a taste of you and suddenly realize what a bitter old asshole I am. I swear to god, you’re too fucking good for this world sometimes.”
“I’ll make it clear we’re a package deal,” I promised. “And only if Jez is okay with it, obviously.”
“Fair.” Heath paused, sobering. “I’m starting to worry about how Knox fits in with all this. You know what I mean?”
I snorted, and immediately regretted it.
“I’m more worried about people trying to blow us up, to be honest.” He had a point, though. “But... yeah. Guess we’re going to need a few more pack meetings, huh.”
FORTY-EIGHT
Tony
