Page 91 of Wilde and Untamed
Jess swept the weapon across the room, forcing everyone to obey, while Keene snapped on gloves and dug into his kit. Glass vials clinked against one another as he prepped a syringe, his movements fast but precise.
“You’re not taking him anywhere,” Irina spat.
Keene didn’t even look at her. “I don’t need him. Just his blood. Enough to start the test over somewhere else.” He bent over Tyler and slid a large-bore needle into his neck, where the largest black vein pulsed. Tyler didn’t make a sound.
Elliot caught Noah’s eye across the room. The geologist nodded slightly, understanding immediately, and shifted his weight to the balls of her feet.
Jess noticed the movement and swung toward him. “I said against the wall!”
That split second of divided attention was all Elliot needed. He lunged forward, driving his shoulder into the middle of her back just as Noah grabbed her gun. The weapon discharged, the bullet embedding itself in the ceiling as they crashed to the floor in a tangle of limbs.
“Koos! The door!” Elliot shouted as he wrestled with Jess, trying to pin her arms.
Koos sprang into action, wedging himself against the door to prevent reinforcements from entering.
Jess fought like a cornered animal, all elbows and knees and teeth. She managed to get a hand free and clawed at Elliot’s face, her nails raking hot lines of pain across his cheek.
“Little help here?” he grunted as her knee connected with his already-injured ribs.
Rue appeared beside him, grabbing Jess’s flailing arm and wrenching it back with a nasty twist. “Got her. Shit, no, don’t got her.”
Jess bucked violently, sending Rue sprawling backward. Jess twisted like a snake, her elbow catching Elliot’s jaw with a crack that rattled his teeth. Stars exploded behind his eyes. She slipped from his grasp, rolling away and coming up in a crouch.
“You’re all dead anyway,” she hissed, blood trickling from her split lip. “Praetorian always wins.”
She lunged for the fallen weapon, fingers stretching toward the grip. Elliot dove after her, but his injured shoulder betrayed him, sending a white-hot lance of pain down his arm that momentarily paralyzed him.
A gunshot cracked through the room.
Jess jerked backward, a look of surprise crossing her face as a red stain bloomed across her chest. She looked down at it, almost confused, then collapsed to the floor.
Elliot whipped around to see Camille standing with the gun clutched in both hands, her normally perfect composure shattered. Her hands trembled, and her eyes were wide with shock.
“I—” she started, then stopped, swallowing hard. “She was going to kill us.”
Noah stared at her, mouth agape. “Holy shit, Cami.” He crossed to her, gently pried the gun from her shaking grasp, and handed it to Rue. Then he clasped Camille’s face in his hands and kissed her hard.
“Dr. Keene,” Mia gasped, her wide eyes fixed on the empty space where the scientist had been moments before. “He’s gone.”
Elliot spun around, scanning the room. In the chaos of the fight with Jess, Keene had escaped. If he had the pathogen…
“Moretti, too,” Koos pointed out, and Elliot scanned again. Sure enough, Moretti was missing, too.
“Fuck. Keene took a hostage.” Made sense. Other than Tyler, Moretti was the weakest of them all, thanks to his concussion.
The sounds of combat grew closer—shouted orders, the staccato burst of gunfire, and the unmistakable sound of Dom’s voice bellowing commands. His family was fighting their way through Praetorian’s defenses, but they’d be too late to stop Keene if he reached an extraction point.
“Go,” Irina said, and grabbed some fresh gloves and a mask from the table by the quarantine. Her normally icy demeanor had softened, her pale eyes showing genuine concern. “Stop Keene. Rescue Moretti. I’ll stay with Tyler.”
“No way I’m leaving him,” Mia said. “He’s my best friend. He’s not dying here alone.”
Camille lovingly touched Noah’s cheek, then stepped out of his arms. “I’ll stay too. I’m... I’m not cut out for chasing armed men.”
Elliot hesitated, torn between ensuring everyone’s safety and pursuing Keene. The samples he took could doom countless others if Praetorian weaponized them. But leaving half their group vulnerable...
“Go,” Irina insisted, meeting his gaze with steely determination as she strapped on a mask. “We’ll barricade ourselves in here until your family arrives.”
That decided it. Elliot nodded sharply and turned to the others. “Rue, Noah, Koos—with me. Keene will head for thesnowcats in the east garage, closest to the airstrip. If Praetorian’s plane isn’t ready, they’ll try to take ours.”
