18. Elliott
Elliott
Every part of my body was sore, but I thrummed with energy.
After our marathon in the red room, Jet and I were instructed to shower and change our clothes.
Then we were separated.
I don’t know what came over me, but I went nuts when that happened.
Crying hysterically, I threw myself onto the bed of my room, where I’d been escorted, and refused to eat.
Dr. Freedman shocked me twice with his evil mechanism, but I just lay there after each torture session and stared at the ceiling, tears running from my eyes.
All I would say to him was that I wanted my alpha back.
My alpha.
Yes, I actually said that. More than once.
Until Dr. Freedman stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
Elliott!
The word echoed in my head over and over again until I sat up and concentrated.
Elliott, are you there? I can hear you crying even though I’m not dreaming, and I don’t know what it means.
“Ben?” I said aloud. Then again, in my head this time, Ben?
Oh, thank the gods! I’ve been trying to contact you, but you never appear in my dreams. Ben sounded both worn out and frantic. Elliott. Talk to me. Are you okay?
I started to cry harder. I felt so utterly bereft.
I heard Ben sniffle. Did they hurt you? What’s happening? You’re in Capital City, right? Elliott, please stop crying and talk to me! We’re going crazy here.
Struggling to get a hold of myself, I thought, Yeah. I’m in a facility. I…I’m just so tired. I had to give Ben information. This was my chance. I didn’t know where Jet was, and I was afraid I’d never get out of there.
Ben, listen carefully. I told him everything I knew about the betas and why they were doing this. About the altered alpha doctors. About how they wanted to increase beta fertility and use omega x’s to do it. How they’d figured out about the freckle.
Hold on, El. I’ll tell Kristopher Gatlin. Just do what they tell you to for now, okay? Stay alive and we’ll get you out of there. Did Jet reach you?
The tears overflowed again.
Y-yes. I saw him. I don’t know where he is now, though.
Ben was crying along with me. It’s okay. Everything’s going to be okay.
Are they guys all mad at me? Keane?
They love you and want you back home safely, Ben said.
The door to my room opened, and I jerked around, almost collapsing when I saw it was Jet, with Dr. Freedman behind him.
Launching myself off the bed, I ran and threw myself into his arms, sobbing into his shirt.
“It’s okay, El. It’s okay. Shhhh.” Jet stroked my hair and back until I calmed down.
“You two are awfully demanding for test subjects,” Dr. Freedman said nastily. “Make sure he eats, Mr. Russo, or I’m taking you out of here.” He left, closing the door behind him.
“Are you okay?” Jet held my wet face in his hands, looking worried.
I nodded, unable to speak. Face crumpling, I buried myself in his arms again.
He held me for a while, but when I didn’t calm down, he finally led me to the bed.
“Here, sit. You have to eat this food, Elliott.” He brought the untouched tray over to me and took the lid off.
When I didn’t do anything, he stabbed a piece of broccoli with the fork and brought it to my mouth.
Looking into my eyes, he said, “Please eat, Elliott. Maybe if you eat now, they’ll let me stay with you.”
That got me to open my mouth and accept the broccoli.
I chewed, drinking in the sight of him. We’d showered in separate stalls earlier. The clothes they’d given him matched mine—blue scrubs.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
I swallowed the piece of broccoli. “Better now you’re here,” I said, my voice hoarse from crying. It was as though after getting through what I had by myself, Jet’s appearance and subsequent disappearance had pushed me over the edge.
Jet brought a piece of ham to my lips, and I opened them to take it, watching him while I chewed. He was handsome—I’d always thought so. His black hair and thoughtful dark eyes with their long lashes. The dark stubble on his face made him even more goodlooking.
He smiled at me, showing white teeth. “What are you staring at me for?”
Lifting my hand, I touched his chin. “I like this.”
He lifted his dark brows. “You do? Maybe I’ll grow a beard for you.” He gave me a bite of macaroni and cheese. “Would you like that?”
I nodded. He kept feeding me bites and talking to me like that—like we were a couple, like we had a future together—until I’d eaten everything on my plate. Then he made me drink the entire glass of water.
As though they’d been watching, which they very well might have been, Dr. Mooneyham and Dr. Freedman came in right after. Rory was behind them, and he silently carried the tray out of the room, shutting the door behind him.
Seeing the two doctors, I immediately threw my arms around Jet.
“Don’t worry, we aren’t taking your alpha away from you,” Dr. Mooneyham said. He sat down in a chair. “We have a few questions.”
Looking at him warily, I waited.
“First, Elliott. Are your heats normally that short?”
“No. They normally last two or three days.”
Dr. Freedman was taking notes.
“Were there any other differences from your usual heats?” Mooneyham asked.
“Usually, I’m alone and miserable,” I said.
Freedman reached in his pocket, and, heart accelerating, I hurried to say, “I’m just being honest!”
“I’m only getting a tissue,” Freedman said with an amused smile as he pulled one out and wiped his nose.
Jet’s arms tightened around me.
Mooneyham looked at Jet. “Same question for you.”
“My ruts normally end when sexual intercourse is over. However, I’ve only been with betas. Right now, I can feel it thrumming beneath the surface. I get the feeling it would take very little to initiate again with Elliott.”
“You don’t think you would react to another omega?” Mooneyham asked, cocking his head in thought.
“No. I have no interest in any other omega.”
“Too bad we don’t have one available to test him with,” Freedman said to Mooneyham.
“Indeed.”
Mooneyham asked Jet questions about his desire level during his rut, the effect of my tang on him, and how many times he came.
I only half-listened. I felt numb and anxious at the same time, as though hysterical but on a strong medication for it.
But even so, I thought that if the doctors were to produce an omega to push onto Jet, I would summon up the energy to protect what’s mine.
The fuck, Elliott? You never wanted an alpha. Has that all changed after what happened?
Eventually, Freedman and Mooneyham left the room.
Jet and I sat together on the bed. There wasn’t a television set or even a book in the room, so we just talked quietly with one another.
I couldn’t bring myself not to be touching him.
I’d been so afraid before he came, and I was so grateful to have him there with me now.
I told him that, and he brushed it off.
“I mean it. You didn’t have to come after me. I did something so stupid, and you put your life on the line for me. And…and you offered yourself up for me.” I hoped he knew what I meant because I didn’t want to have to say it.
Chucking me under the chin, Jet’s dark eyes sparkled as he said, “That wasn’t exactly a hardship, El.”
Feeling a hot blush creeping over my face, I looked away. After a moment, I leaned forward to whisper in his ear.
“Do you think they are listening to us?”
“Possibly,” he whispered back.
That meant I couldn’t share anything I’d learned with him. I also wanted to know if he had any idea of a way to get out of here. Outside the window, the sky was growing dark.
“Can I put my head on your chest?” I asked, very aware how unusual a request like that was coming from me. I couldn’t explain it. Maybe after being so physical with him, I just wasn’t shy with him any longer.
“Of course.” Jet put his arm around me and pulled me closer to him, and I rested my ear against his chest.
“Try not to worry. Everything will be okay,” Jet said, stroking my hair.
I didn’t mean to drift off, but I must have because I suddenly sat up straight when a blaring alarm went off.
Panicking, I looked for Jet, relieved to see he was still beside me.
“What’s that?” I asked. “What’s happening?”
We both scrambled off the bed.
“It may be the cavalry,” Jet said, pushing me behind him. “Stay with me at all times, Elliott. I mean it.”
“I will,” I promised, heart pumping hard. Were we going to get out of there?
The ear-splitting whooping sounds repeating throughout the building had me covering my ears with my hands.
A blue light flashed in the room, and when we opened the door to the hallway, they were flashing out there, too.
People in lab coats were scurrying out of rooms, heading for the emergency exits.
Jet kept my hand in his as made our way down the hall.
“FBI! Stop!” a deep male voice shouted, and Jet and I froze.
“We’re victims here,” he said as the men began to pat us down. I backed up until I hit a wall. This man was an alpha, and he had his hands all over me. I tried to get away, but the man overpowered me.
“Leave him alone!” Jet yelled at him as he was being patted down by another agent. “He’s a traumatized victim!”
The alpha agent belatedly seemed to realize that I was an omega, and he stepped back, apologizing.
I hurled myself into Jet’s arms, and he held me, cursing at the agents.
“Haven’t you fuckers been trained to work with victims? Didn’t anyone tell you there could be omegas here?” he shouted at them.
“Jet.”
I felt Jet turn, and thinking I recognized the new voice, I peered out from the safety of his arms.
Jermaine Gatlin stood in the hallway, several SOS special ops with him.
“Kris said you needed some help,” Jermaine said with a smile. “Come on. We’re going to put you up somewhere safe.”
The ops alphas hustled us outside into the parking lot.
Over a dozen vehicles circled the building, some flashing blue and red lights in the darkness.
Four ops guys got into an SUV with us, and we drove less than five minutes before turning onto a treelined street with cobblestoned sidewalks and stopping in front of a row of narrow historical townhouses.
We were escorted into one with white brick, black shutters, and a red door.
“You’re safe here. We’ll be posted outside,” one of the ops guys told us. “Kitchen’s fully stocked. Stay indoors. The Gatlins will be here to see you in the morning.’
When he left, I looked at Jet.
Jet wrapped his arms around me, and I was surprised how easy it was to accept his embrace. “Looks like we made it,” he said.
My nose buried in Jet’s chest, I closed my eyes and took deep breaths of him.