Page 158 of Javier

“A technician has been found locked in a supply closet upstairs,” Micah added. “Bekker rendered her unconscious, but the woman is okay now.”

“Let’s get Guzman back on an IV stat,” Dash ordered, and he and Micah helped Javier to his feet. “Ferranti, run ahead and coordinate with the doctors.”

“Yes, boss.”

“Let me help you.” Kai’s strong grip raised me up.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Thena asked, bracing me on the other side. “You’re not about to faint, are you?”

“I don’t faint anymore,” I met Javier’s eyes. “Unless he faints, in which case, I’m not sure I can stand the fright.”

“I’m gonna be all right.” He winked at me. “No venom in the world will ever come between us.”

“Deal.” I blew him a kiss and followed him and his friends as they made their way back inside the hospital, but I crossed my fingers behind my back, praying he was going to be okay.

Chapter Forty-one

Javier

I blinked, opening my heavy eyelids. It took me a moment to find my bearings, but under the dimmed ambient lights, I recognized the dark paneling and the polished wood of our team’s jet. I lay on the bed in the back compartment, neatly tucked under the covers. I had to make an effort to remember the last few days. Those damn med-cocktails always made me woozy as hell.

Only this morning, the doctors had finally given me permission to fly. An hour later, the jet was on the tarmac ready to go, and Dagger had herded all of us onto it as if he were the original German Shepherd. We were in the air and on our way before noon.

The boss had game. We even had armed jets escorting us along the route to ensure the NWO wouldn’t pull a fast one on us. Omega’s objective was to get Missy, Thena, and the rest of our team to safety.

I seconded the motion.

Once I boarded, I’d been ordered to the bedroom in the back of the plane. No amount of whining kept me in the cabin with the team. Between Dagger and Missy, I’d been overruled. It wasn’t such a bad thing. I’d fallen asleep within seconds of hitting the rack.

The last few days in the hospital had been an uphill battle. Even with the antivenom working, the pain had been acute and persistent. The doctors told me at least a hundred times that I was lucky that my friends had gotten me to the hospital in time. As if I didn’t know that they’d almost sacrificed their lives for mine. On the day I joined the team, I’d hit the jackpot.

Missy’s face and voice had been my constant companions as I worked through my body’s attempts at shutting down. She’dbeen glued to my side throughout the entire ordeal.

“Hey, Goof. Are you awake?” King’s whisper preceded the moment in which his face came into focus. “How’re you doing, bro?”

“I’m gonna say good, now that I’m out of the hospital and we’re on the way.” I scrubbed the sleep from my eyes with my good hand and lifted my bandaged one. “I kept all my fingers and my dick to boot. Gripping and fucking. I’m calling it a win.”

King laughed his quiet cackles. “Yours is a puny dick, but thank the universe for small mercies.”

“Where’s Missy?” I asked. “Is she all right?”

“Take a look for yourself, Romeo.” King cocked his chin.

I turned my face and found Missy, cuddled up between me and the paneled wall. Her red hair spilled over the sheets. The skin on her face looked even paler than usual, and dark circles underscored her closed eyes.

“She wanted me to wake her up when you did,” K-man said, keeping his voice low.

“Nah, let her sleep,” I said. “She needs her rest.”

“Amen to that, bro,” King said. “Can I get you anything?”

“A shot of whiskey would be nice.”

“How about some electrolytic hydration instead?”

“Sounds fab as dirt.”

“I’ll get you some, but only because you asked nicely.” He reached for one of the bottles lined up on the desk behind him, cracked open the top, and handed it to me.

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