Dreya visibly relaxed. “So…what do I do?”
“Get out of town for a while, at least until everything is cleaned up,” Ivy suggested. “And when you come back, you might want to think about staying away from men like Thorn.”
Pocketing the diamond and the little black box, she turned and headed for the door.
“Hey!” Dreya called. “That’s it? You’re just going to walk out without even telling me your name?”
Ivy stopped at the door and turned back to look at the feline shifter. “I don’t think we have to worry about that. I get the feeling we’re going to meet again soon. I’ll tell you my name then. Take my advice and get out of town, okay?”
Dreya nodded.
Without another word, she turned and walked out, closing the door softly behind her. On the way down the stairs, she called Landon and let him know that she’d found Dreya and had Thorn’s stuff.
“What the hell did she have besides the diamond?” Landon asked.
Ivy climbed into the SUV and cranked the engine. “I think it’s some kind of electronic storage media, like a hard drive. I’m going to show it to the techs at the complex. If it’s some kind of storage drive, they’ll know how to get the info off it.”
“If you’re right about that being some kind of hard drive, you know what this means, don’t you?”
She laughed as she pulled out of the parking lot and headed for the beltway. “It means we have Thorn by the balls and all we have to do is twist. Make sure Hayes stays away from Dreya Clark, then get your sexy butt down to the complex. This is all coming together fast.”
“I’m on it.” Landon chuckled. “Holy shit, I’m on it.”
* * *
Jayson felt like he was sinking in quicksand. He’d already told himself that the hybrid serum hadn’t worked and that he’d gained little if anything from taking it. He’d been okay with that and had come to accept that what he’d done since arriving in Donetsk was more about the power of his will and his commitment to Layla than some crazy miracle drug. Finding out that the serum hadn’t even had a chance to work because Zarina had dosed him with something that kept it from ever being a possibility made him angry as hell. He felt betrayed…cheated.
Shit.
They didn’t have time for this. Dylan, Mikhail, Olek, and their friends were going to be ramming that car into the gate any minute now. But Jayson had to know.
“Why would Zarina inject me with something like that without telling me?” he asked softly.
Layla closed her eyes. When she opened them again, the green glow was gone. All that was left in the darkness was overwhelming sadness. She hadn’t wanted to tell him about this, he realized. If he hadn’t made that crack about trying to leap up on the wall like a shifter, she probably never would have.
“Zarina knew that serum would almost certainly kill you—or worse, turn you into a monster that even you wouldn’t recognize,” Layla said. “She used the only thing she had that might stop it. Considering the fact that you were willing to die for a chance at having a normal life again, she didn’t see much point in telling you about the antidote in advance.”
“Did you know she was going to do it?” he asked.
Layla shook her head. “No. When you walked in with Dick all ready to take the drug, she didn’t have time to call me and ask what she should do. She had to act. But if I had been there, or if she’d been able to reach me, I would have told her to give you the antidote. Even if you hated me for it later, I would have told her to do it. Because while you needed more from your life than you had, all I needed was you. And if it means that I’m selfish for wanting you alive, then so be it.”
Jayson started to say that it wasn’t her decision to make, but the words died in his throat. Suddenly, he felt like he was the one being selfish, not to mention frigging stupid. Layla was completely right. He’d been willing to die rather than keep living with the injuries he’d sustained in Afghanistan because he thought those injuries were keeping him from living the life he wanted. But since coming on this mission, he discovered it had always been within his power to decide what kind of life he ended up living. It had just taken him time—and Layla’s love—to figure that out.
In return for this wonderful gift, all Layla had ever asked was that he simply not give up, that he stay here in the world with her whether he was whole or not. And here he was making her feel like there was something wrong with that. Of all the people who had done things wrong in this situation, Layla wasn’t one of them.
Tears stung his eyes and he blinked them back. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against him.
“There’s nothing selfish about not wanting me to take a drug that could have killed me, or being happy Zarina gave me something that kept me safe,” he said hoarsely. “And if I made you feel any differently, I’m sorry. I got stupid there for a second, thinking about what could have been instead of what I already have. Again—I’m sorry.”
Layla tipped her head back and stood up on her tiptoes to kiss him. Time stopped for a moment as their lips touched, and he was reminded once again that he had already gained the only thing of any real value that could have come from taking that serum—Layla.
“What you’ve accomplished on your own is far more impressive than anything you could have done with hybrid abilities,” Layla said. “I couldn’t be prouder of my partner—or the man I love.”
At those words, Jayson felt a surge of pride unlike anything else he’d ever experienced. He kissed her again, then pulled back. “Let’s go get those girls and bring them home.”
As if on cue, an explosion from the front of the estate shook the ground beneath them and a big, red fireball rolled up through the night sky. Seconds later, the popping sound of small arms fire filled the air like someone was hosing down the front of the estate with a half-dozen machine guns.
Shit. If they blew this because he was too busy throwing a pity party for himself to stay focused on the mission, he was going to be pissed.
