Javier (Alpha Heroes #12)

Chapter Thirty-five

Missy

“Javi, please, don’t move.” I held on to his good hand and spewed out the standard recommendations. “Keep your hand lower than your heart, breathe normally, and remain calm.”

“I’m calm, Angel.” He caressed me with his eyes. “It’s gonna be all right.”

He didn’t know that. I didn’t know, either. I trembled inside. What I did know with absolute certainty was that he looked ill, and if we didn’t get him to the hospital and get some antivenom in him, he would die.

Dash knew this, too. It explained why he’d taken the wheel from Finn and was driving at top speed down the two-lane road while Bozeman, sitting in the passenger seat, tracked our route on his tablet and barked out directions into his cell.

“Let’s stay positive.” Thena’s hands settled on both Javier’s and my shoulder. “We’re going to get through this.”

We rode in one of the resort’s vans. Javier and I sat in the first row behind the driver’s seat. Thena and Matt occupied the seat behind us. Finn sprawled on the back bench, gripping his big-ass rifle, with Kai by his side. We all agreed that this emergency trip to the hospital was most likely an ambush, but Javier needed the antivenom now, and we couldn’t wait for the BB escort to arrive. So here we were, playing Bekker’s sick games.

“I should’ve killed Bekker when I had the chance.” With an angry swipe, I wiped the tears that escaped my eyes. “I knew there were six snakes. I knew it!”

“This is not your fault,” Javier rumbled, his eyes closed, his head leaning against the side of the van. “If anything, it’s my fault. I should’ve checked the laptop case earlier.”

“Hey kiddos, let’s stop the blame merry-go-round.” Ferranti came around, and crouching next to Javier, took his pulse. “If we don’t, King and I are gonna be riding it right along with you. We should’ve checked the case first thing, but we didn’t get to it, so, clusterfuck.”

“We know who did this and why,” Kai said from the back seat without taking his eyes off the tablet he held. “Save your anger for payback.”

His voice was as amiable as ever, and yet I sensed the fury and frustration vibrating from him, from every person in the van, including me.

Matt had already cleaned and bandaged the wound, leaving me with very little to do. Javier had been focused and alert, and yet now he was looking downright sickly. The swelling and redness spread beyond the bandage. I could tell by the clench of his jaw that he was in a lot of pain.

The most important variable affecting a snake’s strike outcome was the time passed between the bite and the treatment. The second most important variable was the amount of venom injected. Javier kept saying it was only a scratch, but Terciopelos were known for injecting huge loads of venom into their victims.

I had no idea of how much venom was currently circulating through Javier’s system but I knew we had one hour at best before irreversible damage and or death occurred. I worried about shock, internal bleeding, blood loss, organ failure, thrombosis, necrosis, amputation—

Focus on the now . You won’t be any help to him if you panic.

I gulped down my fear and glanced at the van’s clock. If Matt was right, we were about fifteen minutes into the bite. If we could get Javier to the hospital and on antivenom within thirty minutes, he had a fair chance. After that the danger increased exponentially with every minute that passed. I didn’t want to think about that.

At this moment, all I could do was monitor his vital signs and hope for the best. Bouncing and rattling in the speeding van, I gnawed on my lip and added some prayers, in case anyone was listening.

“Don’t hurt yourself, Angel.” Javier released my hand and brushed his fingertips against my mouth. “If you keep that up, you’re gonna draw blood from those pretty lips of yours.”

Here he was, in mortal danger, worrying about me.

I swallowed a sob.

“We’ve got bogeys on the radar,” Micah called out, his stare fixed on his screen. “Three at our six o’clock. Two more at our three and nine. Visual anyone?”

“Six o’clock,” Finn replied. “Confirmed.”

“That’s your cue,” Dash bellowed. “Prepare to deploy the stingers.”

“ Stingers ?” I looked to Javier, trying to keep him alert.

“Spike strips,” he explained as Finn and Matt clambered to the back of the van. “Tire shredders. What the police use to end chases?”

“Oh.” Another question popped into my head. “How does Micah know that there are bogeys on the radar?”

“We’ve got a drone flying above,” Javier answered, squeezing his eyes shut. “King’s flying it back there. It’s programmed to also feed information into Micah’s tablet.”

The good news was that the team was prepared. The bad news was that every second that delayed treatment for Javier increased his odds of dying. I craned my neck. Finn and Matt used carabiners to hook their vests to the van and opened the vehicle’s back doors.

“Ready,” Finn shouted over the clatter of the van bouncing on the potholes and the wind blowing through the cabin.

Dash took his foot off the accelerator. “Go!”

Working together, Finn and Matt tossed out several stingers that landed across the road.

“Stingers deployed,” Matt reported as he clambered out of the trunk and returned to the back seat. “Pointy side up.”

“One vehicle out of circulation at six o’clock,” Kai called out, looking at his screen. “Two out! Dammit. The third one made it through. It’s accelerating. They’re trying to take down the drone.”

“Don’t you let them.” Dash stepped on the accelerator. “Heads down, everyone.”

“On the ground.” Javier pushed me out of the seat, and using his left hand, reached out for his weapon and settled it on his lap. “You too, Thena.”

Thena crawled around the seat and joined me on the rubber-matted floor. She checked to make sure my plated vest was on tightly then put an arm around my back. Curled over our knees, we huddled together.

“Hey, Javi?” I squawked through my hoarse throat. “You need to be down here with us.”

“She’s right,” Thena said. “Don’t pull an alpha hero on us.”

“Me, a hero? Ha!” He had the nerve to laugh in my face. “I hate heroes. They get killed way too often. There isn’t a single hero gene in my DNA, but if I can breathe, I can shoot.”

I wanted to scream at him.

Clank, clank, clank . Bursts of gunfire clattered against the back of the van.

“You all know what to do,” Dash yelled. “Cooper? Get rid of the fuckers behind us.”

“On it.”

Balancing on my knees, I peeked out from behind the seat and caught a glimpse of Finn. Kneeling at the back of the van, he rigged the back doors with a bungee cord so there was a crack between them. He braced on his knees and lifted his long-ass rifle. After fitting his long muzzle between the corded doors, he pressed the stock against his shoulder.

A few seconds later he shouted over the noise. “Target acquired.”

“Engage,” Dash ordered.

Crack, crack, crack .

“Oh, God.” I held on with one hand and threw my other arm over Thena, fighting the fear crushing my chest. “Did the stars tell you how this ends?”

“Not a clue.” Thena met my eyes. “Your dreams?”

“I got nothing.” I groaned.

“Bogeys, on approach,” Micah shouted. “Six, three, ten!”

The engine roared and the vehicle gained speed.

“I got six.” Finn took another shot.

Matt came forward to the right side of the van, rolled down the right window, and readied his weapon. Working one-handedly, Javier cracked the left window, lifted the carbine with some effort, and, after bracing it against his shoulder, perched its muzzle on the lowered glass.

“Don’t move so much,” I snapped.

“Gotta keep us alive,” he shot back.

Every effort he made sent more of the lethal venom flushing through his veins. If he got injured in his present condition, his blood would not clot. He could bleed out on the spot.

“You can’t shoot with your left hand,” I shouted, borderline hysterical.

He smirked but kept his stare out the window. “We train to shoot with both hands.”

Of course they did.

“Down here,” I snapped. “Now!”

“I’m good.” He flashed me a lazy smile “But I wanna tell you something important before all hell breaks loose.”

I slapped the rubber mat. “Then get down here and tell me, for fuck’s sake.”

He blew me a kiss. “Artemis Astor, I love you.”

The words hit me in the chest like a wrecking ball. Had he just told me he loved me? This from a man who’d said he didn’t believe in love. And yet, in my heart, I knew it was true. That same heart broke into a million pieces. He believed he was going to die.

So did I.