49. Honey
Honey
“He fell from at least fifty feet.”
“What in the fuck was he thinking?”
“He was trying to save her. He’s a fucking hero.”
They’re all talking about Lazarus while they’re carrying him on a bed of their shadows. Fox hand applies pressure to a wound on his chest.
“We’ll take that van and race him back to the hospital. Xavier has the nexus and hospital on standby for us. Get the omegas loaded into the other van.” Revenant barks orders. He starts talking about other things — what to do with motorcycles and shouting about finding Salem.
But I can’t focus on any of that. Lazarus’s closed eyes, scrapes along every surface of his exposed arms, his hair wild and tangled with a stick and some leaves. I don’t feel anything in the bond.
All I can feel are my own shaking hands as I experience everything as if I’m watching it from the outside. None of this feels real. Everything is happening around me, not to me.
The van ride is silent the whole way. They let me ride in the one with Lazarus rather than the other omegas.
We’re driving even faster than we did to get to the new community, and the high rate of speed is terrifying.
At the same time. I will the ground to move more rapidly beneath us. Maybe pray to God that he will save Lazarus, but I’m not sure God is listening. I’m not sure anything will work.
They’ve taken Lazarus back behind the doors and told me to wait with the rest of the group I came in with. I’m sitting, behaving, in a chair alongside a bay of windows, but I just keep seeing his body in my mind. The blood. So much blood.
“They’re prepping a surgery room for you now.
” Revenant looks worse for wear. A head wound drips blood down his face.
He snaps his fingers, drawing my attention to him.
“Honey, they’ll need to fix whatever the issue inside you is so that you can glow.
Then once you’re out of surgery, you’ll have to finish claiming Lazarus —”
“Angel, what are you doing here?” Mayhem shoots up from the chair he’d collapsed into.
“Don’t you angel me,” Evangeline snaps as she marches over to us.
“First, you shut me out of the bond and expect me to just stay at home under lock and key while you go off chasing after the rest of the club. Then the bond opens up, and all I feel is pain. Then you close it again because you’re asshats.
And then, to top it off, I find out you’re at the hospital that’s right next to the nexus.
I’m scared, I’m in the dark, and my alphas are missing because apparently answering your phones or opening the bond is too much of a hassle. ”
“Aww, she was worried about us.” Revenant turns his attention to Evangeline.
It’s almost as if he’s talking down to her in a condescending way but somehow still lovingly all the same.
“Fuck you,” she sneers, but her eyes are locked on his head wound.
“Fine by me.” Revenant smiles and pulls her into his chest for a hug.
I want a hug. I want a Phoenix hug.
“Honey?” Xavier calls from where he’s come out of the doors they took Lazarus through. “We’re ready for you. Revenant, quit bleeding on the floor.”
“We’ll be back in the morning to check on all of you. Don’t be afraid.” Mayhem tries to comfort me with a pat to the shoulder.
I’m afraid, and I want Zephyr and Phoenix to reassure me that Lazarus is fine. But apparently, they were hurt when the motorcycles stopped following us. I’m all alone, and it aches.
Xavier steps closer from where he was leaning against the door.
He offers his hand out to me. “Trust me, you’re better off not letting Mayhem and Revenant sit around in the lobby waiting for you.
They tend to rush things in a mostly garish way.
We’ll get you to your alphas as soon as we can without the two of them intimidating the poor people of the lobby stuck with their presence. ”
Being led to the back, with various rooms and omegas lying in beds, is terrifying.
But Xavier talks to me along the way. “We’re just having you get cleaned up, and then we’ll take you back to surgery. I’ll have a nurse handle all of that so you’re more comfortable.”
I stop walking, and he takes another step before turning to look back at me. I want to be firm, to demand, and to take back some feeling of being okay after a whole day of not being okay. But my voice shakes when I try. “What happened to Phoenix and Zephyr? What is going on with Lazarus?”
Xavier looks me over, consideringly. It makes me wrap my arms around myself. The skirt and shirt I’m wearing are not warm enough for the cool temperatures of the hospital. Or maybe I’m just that tired.
“Phoenix suffered a maj —” Xavier draws a breath before starting again.
“Phoenix flipped over the handlebars of his motorcycle, and his shadow softened some of the fall, but he hit his head pretty bad against the pavement. He has been in and out of consciousness. Zephyr has a through-and-through gunshot wound to his abdomen. They’ve performed a couple of surgeries to stem the bleeding.
Lazarus sustained a gunshot to the chest and a fall of approximately fifty feet through a wooded patch.
Remarkably, his lacerations are minimal, and the bullet being retrieved from his chest is the worst of his injuries. ”
I understand the words he’s saying. Finally, someone is talking to me about what’s happening. What’s happening . . . My head spins, and I start to feel woozy. I try to draw in air, and spots form at the corners of my vision. My alphas are all hurt. They were helping me, and now they’re hurt.
“Honey,” Xavier growls, eyes narrowed on me.
They’re sharp, predatory. He’s standing much closer than a second ago.
I look up at him. “Iona didn’t give you a second chance at a normal life for you to have a panic attack and break down before you can save your alphas.
Breathe and let’s go. You can’t glow without surgery, and if you can’t glow, then you can’t heal them.
You can freak out after you save their lives. ”