Chapter 30
THIRTY
JADE
Casey was a wall of misery in the bond. As soon as we were alone, he started apologising profusely.
He sat down on the bench and hung his head. “I messed up so bad.”
I turned to him. “Aw, don’t worry, peaches. It’s all good. I’ll have us out of here in no time.”
“But how?” He lifted his head to look at me. “They confiscated your tools.”
Sometimes being a beta was an advantage, especially against narcissistic alphas. The idea that we might actually be a threat never occurred to them, and being chronically underestimated was something I was more than happy to take full advantage of.
“They confiscated my official tools.” I gave him a wink and twisted onto my knees so that I could reach my feet. “I always come prepared.”
He watched in amazement as I pulled out more tools from underneath my right shoe. I wiggled over and got Casey out of his cuffs first, then walked him through how to help me with mine.
“Come on,” I said. “Let’s get out of here.”
I pressed my ear to the door and listened for any movement on the other side. Nothing.
I popped off the cover on the door handle and started working on the lock. It was easy. They really didn’t have good security in this place, especially for so-called interrogation rooms.
There was a click as the door unlocked.
“Okay, peaches. I think we’ve got to get us some weapons.”
“Weapons?” Casey echoed.
“Good thing there’s a stockpile in the basement.” I winked at him and tugged him out of the door.
We took the stairs, slow and steady. Casey wasn’t as good at moving around quietly as I was, but we still made it downstairs without incident.
There was a security guard stationed outside the stockpile room, showing someone in here had some brains, at least.
“Casey, I’m going to need a distraction.”
“Okay,” he said, giving me a nod.
I could feel he was terrified, but he was still being so brave. I moved slowly around behind the guard, pulling my garrotte wire from my belt.
Casey stepped from our alcove, giving a little wave. The guard turned to face him, hand going to his baton.
“Hi! Sorry, I’m a little lost—” he started, and I pounced.
“Suprise, motherfucker,” I hissed as I landed on the guard’s and wrapped the wire around his throat.
He staggered forward, dropping to the ground as he scrabbled at me. I held firm until his movements had stopped, then climbed off his back.
“Is he okay?” Casey asked, alarmed.
I hesitated. According to Jewel, the guards here were scum. I mean, at the very least they were complicit in human trafficking. But Casey had a big heart.
I shrugged.
“Eh, he’ll sleep it off,” I said. Not, I added in my head.-.
“I’m glad I have you here. Usually, it’s a struggle to move them after they’re down,” I told Casey.
He helped me drag the guard’s limp body behind some crates in the corner. I plucked the keys from his belt, and we made our way over to the stockpile room. I had been prepared for a guard; I was not prepared for a small, quiet omega to pad around the corner and spot us.
She had dark eyes and bright red hair, which was up in pigtails. All of us froze, staring at each other.
Shit.
Attacking a security guard was one thing, but a small omega who already had bruises laddered up her arms?
“We don’t want to hurt you,” I said, raising my hands. “We’re with Jewel.”
“You’re his betas?” she asked.
I nodded, and she wrung her hands. Literally. “You need to go. Prince is going to blackmail Jewel’s alpha and join the dark bond. He’ll hurt you both.”
“He’s going to what?” I asked, my temper rising. He was planning to force his way into our pack? Hadn’t he done enough?
“Please—I know a safe place you can hide. Come with me.”
She could be lying, but it didn’t seem likely. All she’d have to do right now is scream, and all the people we’d snuck past would come running. Still, that didn't mean she actually knew a safe place to hide. I’d be the judge of that.
“Show us.”
“Come on,” she said, waving us over.
When we came closer, she turned and scurried away down the corridor. She was a jumpy little thing and kept twisting one of her fingers through a strand of hair. We didn’t go far, but it took a little while so we could avoid other people.
“Here,” she finally said. We’d reached a row of what looked like industrial freezers.
“We want to hide, not get turned into popsicles,” I told her.
“That’s not the secret place. It’s up there.”
She pointed to a rack of shelves at the back. She gave her hair another twist, then stuck her tongue out as she picked up a hefty step stool and set it down by the shelves. “See it?”
I did. It was a ledge tucked away in the corner, invisible from most of the room. The omega tugged at the shelf, which rolled to the side, and placed the step stool underneath the ledge. I turned to Casey, who was looking stressed out.
I reached up and rested my hand on his chest, drawing his attention to me. “Take this.” I pulled the USB from its hiding place and pressed it into his hands. “And go in there.”
“You’re not coming?” he asked.
I shook my head. “I’m gonna go bail out Jewel again. Here’s the phone. Remember my plan?”
He nodded.
I stretched up on tiptoes and kissed him. “Great. I want you safe, okay? You just have to wait till midnight.”
“Midnight,” he repeated.
I watched as he climbed the step stool and heaved himself up onto the ledge. He’d disturbed some dust, and I watched as he rubbed his nose. Then he gave a little sneeze that sounded just like a kitten.
Oh my god, that was adorable.
I was smiling to myself as I started to roll the shelf back over to conceal him. I jumped as a soft hand touched my arm.
“You’re not hiding too?”
I shook my head. “Nah. Someone has to go bail those idiots out of trouble. Thanks for your help.”
The omega’s lips tightened into a line, and I thought she was going to argue for a second. Then she gave a little sigh. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Appreciate it.”
“I’ve got to go. Good luck,” she said and gave me a sad smile.
Right. I had some idiots to free.
?
JADE
I found Jewel locked in one of the interrogation rooms on the second floor. “Oh, thank god,” I said, closing the door behind me.
He raised an eyebrow. “Took you long enough.”
I stopped halfway across the room and gaped at him. “Excuse me?”
“I’ve been waiting here for ages, darling. Is Casey all right?”
“Fine. So am I, thanks for asking.”
“Angel, I knew you’d be fine. Now, free me?” He raised his hands.
I folded my arms. “I don’t know. Maybe you should get yourself out. If you remember how.”
His eyes flashed in indignation.
Ha! What the fuck was he indignant about?
I was the one who hadn’t even got so much as a thank you.
He sniffed. “Of course I remember. It’s just quicker if you do it.”
“Oh, I think we’ll survive a minute or two. I want to see this.”
He rolled his eyes. “Fine,” he huffed, twisting his arms around and starting to try and free himself.
“Pah. I got out of my cuffs in thirty seconds.” Maybe a little white lie, but Jewel didn’t have to know that.
“Oh, come on, you know that isn’t fair. You have smaller wrists than me.”
“Size doesn’t matter. It’s all about flexibility.”
“Amen,” Jewel muttered. I let him struggle for a bit. He finally gave up and turned to me. “Uncuff me?”
I folded my arms. “I want to hear it first.”
He pouted. “Fine. Thank you for saving me. I can’t do it by myself. Happy?”
“Ecstatic,” I told him, closing the distance between us. That wasn’t enough, though.
It was kind of nice to be able to look down on him for once. I took a second to appreciate it, because I doubted it would happen very often.
His hooded eyes met mine as I trailed my hand up his thigh.
I stopped at the holster where he hid his knife.
He was wearing skintight shorts, and I watched as his dick began to lengthen beneath them, a wet spot marring the fabric.
They didn’t hide anything. I could feel his arousal swelling in the bond, and my nipples prickled as an answering flutter pulsed through me.
I plucked the knife from its holster and grinned down at him as I made it dance through my fingers.
“You’re so fucking hot when you’re holding my knife.” He shifted, arching slightly so his hips were angled toward me more.
I stole his holster, strapping the knife to my own leg. “And look at you. Poor little Jewel, all tied up and helpless. Maybe I should make you work for your freedom.”
“Don’t tease me,” he said, pupils dilating. His scent was thickening in the room, switching my arousal into overdrive. His cock was tenting his pants and practically begging to be freed.
A quickie couldn’t hurt, right? Lord help me, the thought of someone walking in on us right now practically set my panties on fire. Jewel, helpless and bound to a chair while I helped myself to him. He was at my mercy, already forced to admit he needed me.
It was intoxicating.
I needed that dick, like now.
“Who said anything about teasing?” I said, placing the knife on the floor and working my panties off underneath my skirt.
He groaned. “Fucking hell, I love you.” More perfume saturated the air.
I tugged his shorts down and wrapped my hand around his cock. He let his head fall back with a groan. He was practically panting as I straddled him, rubbing him against my entrance.
“When I come to rescue you, you say thank you. Understood?”
“Mm-hmm,” he managed.
I squeezed my hand tight around him and moved away. “Understood?” I asked again, making him look at me.
“Yes,” he whined, bucking under me as he tried to rub against me again. “Yes, angel, I promise. Now fuck me, okay?”
“Good.” I sank down again.
“God, yes,” he panted. He felt so good sliding into me. “God, you feel amazing. Fucking perfect—”
Talk about gods—his dick definitely felt like a higher power.
He lost the ability to form words as I started moving. His frenzied eyes held mine. They blazed with need, and there was a little thrill in my stomach as I saw him straining against his cuffs.
The more I moved, the more worked up he got.
I wrung one orgasm out of him, his release spilling out between us, but neither of us were done yet.
I slid off, wrapping my arms around him so I could free his cuffs.
As they clattered to the floor, he swept me up in his arms. Two steps, and he had me backed against the wall, my legs wrapped around his body as he slammed into me again.
There was nothing but this, our bodies tangled together and the pounding of danger in the air.
I was so close, just a little more pressure there, and—
The door opened.
Jewel snarled at the slack-jawed alpha who’d just stepped inside. I whined as he moved and was no longer in the perfect spot.
He plucked his knife from the holster on my leg and hurled it at the alpha. It hit him dead in the eye, sinking deep. I yanked Jewel’s head back to face me, holding him in place as I put him right on my sweet spot again.
His hands dug into my hips, and I cried out as I came.
He pulled my head down for a sweet, languid kiss. When we broke apart, he patted my ass as I slid down him.
?
“What’s taking him so long—” There was a shriek from the corridor as someone found the dead body.
I tugged my panties back up, not that it was really going to make a difference. I caught Jewel’s eye, and we both grinned.
The door slammed open, and two alphas shouldered their way inside. Behind them were Prince, Valentino, and a gold-pack omega with fluffy blue hair.
The alphas had guns raised at us, and Jewel and I raised our hands in the air.
“What the fuck is this?” Valentino snarled, kicking the body.
I shrugged. “Yeah, we found him like that. Pretty gnarly, huh?”
There was a moment when all of them just stared at us. I saw a couple of nostrils flare as some of them scented what must have happened in here. The blue-haired omega arched an eyebrow, and Jewel’s grin became infuriatingly smug.
“Get them upstairs,” Valentino snapped, and stormed out of the room.
Cuffs were reapplied—I don’t really know why they bothered—and we were taken toward the elevators.
We were crowded into the elevator, stuck between the two beefy guys. Prince rested against the other side as the elevator ascended. I didn’t miss that the blue-haired omega had stayed as far away from Prince as possible.
Same, dude.
Prince hadn’t noticed; he was focused on me. His face was twisted, and he looked like he was sucking on a lemon.
I lifted my hands and rapped my knuckles on my forehead. “Any thoughts happening up there?”
He scowled. “I didn’t even know Jewel liked women,” he said, turning away from me. “He always made such a fuss when we tried to pair him up with one. It was never worth it. Although, I have to say, I’m not even sure you are a woman.” His gaze flicked down to my A cups.
I looked down at them and tried to squeeze them together to get some cleavage. It wasn’t very successful, and I sighed before nodding at his pecs. “Yeah. You probably have bigger titties than I do.”
The blue-haired guy gave a huff of laughter that he tried to pass off as a cough. Jewel didn’t bother trying to hide his laugh. Prince’s face went splotchy red, and his hands curled into fists.
He took a steadying breath. “Don’t worry. I’ll find out sooner or later,” he said lightly.
“If yours are bigger?” I cocked my head to the side. “It’s not that hard to beat an A cup, man.” I couldn’t resist reaching up and squeezing one of his pecs. I mean, it was right there.
“No!” he fumed, jerking away from me. “If you’re a girl. Woman. Whatever!”
The elevator doors pinged and opened on the fourth floor, Prince stepped off. One alpha grabbed Jewel and followed him, while the other herded me a different way.
“See you later, I guess!” I called to Jewel.
“I’ll miss you,” he called back. “Don’t take too long.”
I glanced up at the clock on the wall, wondering how close to midnight we were. Enough time to have some fun, still.
I caught a glimpse of Hugo sitting in the middle of the room, but before I could catch his attention, I was hustled into a room off to the side.
The guards stepped outside and closed the door, leaving me alone with the omega.
He smelled nice, like blue raspberry and sherbet. For a moment, he just studied me.
“Hi.” I raised my hand and gave him a little wave.
“I’m Synth,” he said, raising an eyebrow. “So, you’re Jewel’s Jade, huh? Like, the Help me, Jade, Jade?” His voice was smooth and had a pleasant southern twang.
“Yeah, you got me. I guess I’m a couple of years too late.”
“You must be something special. I ain’t never seen an omega like that in heat before or since.”
“It seemed bad.”
“Bad? Girl, I had to knock him out to stop the seizures. Dax never tried that again, let me tell you.”
There was a rapping on the door. “Hurry up in there,” Prince called.
Synth rolled his eyes and grabbed a large makeup box from under the counter. “Right. Imma get you all prettied up. Sorry, doll.”