Page 12 of Slick

“Yeah, I got it.” He waves a hand behind him at the cart of medical supplies. “If the pharma option fails me, I’ve got the padded room in the corner. But you’ve crossed some lines here, Dex. And I don’t just mean breaking about a dozen hospital rules.”

That’s not something I can think about right now. “Yeah, well, my grasp on right and wrong got a little fuzzy when the bullets started flying.”

I dump the gangster’s ride in an alley about five blocks from the hospital, then boost another car to drive us to a walk-in clinic down by the docks. It’s being renovated, so it’s dark and empty, but I know the door code for most of the clinics in the area. I leave Diana locked in a treatment room while I ditch the car in a long-term lot at the ferry terminal, sweat pouring off me in rivulets by the time I make my way back. The clinic is still dark and quiet, and I collapse onto a cot beside her.

Ben’s warning plays back through my mind as I try to will my overstimulated limbs to relax. The truth is, I’ve stopped counting the felonies I’m racking up, because what’s the point?Even if the cops track me down, I’ll be dead before they ever prosecute me. The Carrillo gang has eyes and ears everywhere, and once they mop up the mess at the facility, they’ll call in all favors to hunt us down. Dying at the hands of a bloodthirsty gang isn’t exactly appealing but as I turn on the cot to watch Diana sleep, I can’t think of much I’d do differently.

“I love you. I always have.”

The sweet declaration felt like a knife to my heart at the time, but now I clutch at it, holding it close. Fuck ethics and fuck the Carrillos. Diana loves me – sheclaimedme – and not even the thought of dying a slow, painful death will make me turn my back on that.

CHAPTER SEVEN

I wake with a groan, my head a fuzzy blur as I try to take in my surroundings. It’s small and cold, with medical equipment lining the walls and the tang of antiseptic in the air. I’m lying on a cot that’s softer than a slick bed, but so narrow I grip the edges in case I roll off. I have no idea what time it is, but pale light seeps through the plastic blinds over the window, leaving a lattice pattern on Dex’s sleeping face. His head is back, his mouth slightly open, and my heart twinges to see the dark shadows under his eyes.

I squirm right to the edge of the cot, reaching out to feather my finger across one of those blue-black bruises. I don’t think he’s coped very well with everything that’s happened, and I swallow around a lump of guilt. I’m certain he sacrificed a lot to get me out of The Serenity Center and will probably be in trouble with his bosses now. But he didn’t hesitate to come with us, and while I didn’t like the friction between him and Kane, Dex was with us every step of the way.

I feel my face grow warm as I remember exactly how close he was in the car. I never thought I’d be lucky enough to have Dexrighttherewhen I was claimed by my alpha. As my caretender, he usually stays out of the slick room, and never attends my meetings with the counselors. According to the rules of retirement, once an omega leaves the center to join their alpha, they break ties with everyone else, including their caretender. The thought always made me sad, but I had to balance it with the excitement of finally being claimed by my one true scent match.

Bittersweet. It’s a word one of the other omegas told me, and means that while something good is happening, a part of you still hurts to leave something precious behind.

And Dex is very precious to me.

Although, I can’t really tell if he feels the same way. I know he cares for me, because that’s always been his job, but there’s no denying I’ve caused a lot of trouble for him. When he wakes up, will he be happy to see the back of me and our alpha? After everything that’s happened, maybe he just wants to go back to his doctor friend and his old job at the hospital.

Tears prick my eyes at the thought, and I crawl off the bed, resting my head gently on his chest. The steady thump of his heart calms me a little, but the scent of blood – both mine and my alpha’s - makes me restless. I need to find my alpha and then sit down with them both and decide what happens next. If Dex wants to move on and forget us, I’ll do my best to convince him otherwise, but I won’t take that choice away from him. I’ve had enough of other people deciding things for me to last a lifetime.

Dropping a kiss on Dex’s lips, I breathe in his morning scent for a moment, then tiptoe away in search of our alpha.

Kane.

My mate.

My steps speed up until I feel a sharp twinge between my thighs. It’s the ache of his knot, I realize, both because it stretched me to my limit, and because I feel empty now without it. If he’s recovered from his gunshot wound, will my alpha giveme another? And this time will he give me his bite as well, so we can be mates in every way?

My heart gives an excited flutter at the thought, but as I step into the next room, I stop abruptly at the sight of a woman sitting behind a reception desk. She’s tapping on a computer and wearing a neat, navy-blue uniform that makes me acutely aware of the blood and slick soaked into my jumpsuit. As I skid to a stop, her stern, dark eyes swing my way, but she doesn’t look surprised to see me. For an awful moment I wonder if I’m back in The Serenity Center, but when I sniff the air, all I can smell is sawdust and something chemical, like paint. “Where am I?”

“The walk-in clinic at the docks.” She nods at a sheet of thick plastic tacked to a doorway. “It’s closed now, because of the renovations. But it seems you and your friend managed to find a way in.”

“Dex…” I glance behind me, wondering if I should go and wake him up, but the nurse waves me over to her.

“If you’re here now, you might as well let me look at you.” She has the kind of voice that’s hard to disobey, and when I’m standing in front of her, her lips twitch into a thin line. “Show me where you’re wounded.”

I hesitate, but obedience is too deeply ingrained in me, and I peel down my jumpsuit to show her the puckered scar on my arm. It’s even smaller now, with only the slightest tinge of pink at the edges. Her cool fingers robe the area for a moment, and then she nudges my hip. “Turn.” I shuffle around, standing silently as she peels the jumpsuit down further and inspects my back. When she’s done, she nudges me again, and I quickly tug the zipper back into place. “Right. Well, you’ve healed remarkably well, but you should still be monitored for any infection. Have you seen a doctor?”

I bite my lip, because I’m pretty sure Dex’s friend will get in trouble for treating us off the books. Dex might have thought Iwas too shellshocked to notice the makeshift trauma room, but one fact I know for certain is that doctors have to follow some pretty strict rules.

“My alpha healed me,” I tell her, which is the truth after all. “I didn’t need a doctor.”

“Hmmm.” There seems to be a lot of judgement in one simple sound, but then she holds up a small flashlight, pointing it at my left eye and clicking a button. It flashes and whirrs, and then a file appears on her computer, but she tilts the screen away from me so I can’t see it. “And what about your alpha? Is he hurt, too?”

“He’s fine.” It’s harder to maintain eye contact now, but there’s no way I’m telling her anything that could get Kane in trouble. I nod over my shoulder. “I think my friend and I should leave now…”

“How about a shower first?” She’s on her feet before I can reply, herding me down a hallway away from Dex. “A pretty omega like you can’t go walking around dressed like that.”

I frown at the compliment, since her scent has soured, and her hand is tight on my arm as she steers me into the bathroom. She’s a beta like Dex, but she moves like an alpha, and her scent reminds me of flowers that have been left without water for too long.

The bathroom is small and dark, with five metal lockers on one wall, a long sink with a mirror above it, and three shower stalls, all with doors. It’s not that different to my bathroom back at the center, except that the scent of bleach is strong in the air, and I rise onto my tiptoes, hating the feeling of the cold tiles under my feet.

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