Page 338 of Immune

Valeria’s jaw tightens. “If you run in blind, you’ll get her killed.”

My hand closes around the hilt of my blade but I don’t raise it. Hell, I don’t even need to.

“She’s being carted off by men who came prepared with Omega suppressants, scent-kill chemicals, shock weapons, and a route under your compound,” I tell her with a little more bite than I aim for. “If we wait for a meeting, we’re literally choosing procedure over her life. I’m not doing that. I’ve followed that woman since she saved me from Biters when I was bleeding and fucked six ways to Sunday. I followed her when she told me not to, and I followed her when she didn’t tell me I couldn’t. You can bet this entire compound that I’ll be following her down that fucking hatch.”

My words hit with a hard enough punch that no one answers. That’s okay. I don’t need an answer from them.

Mercer arrives literally a split second later, out of breath, coat half-buttoned, and eyes sharp behind cracked glasses. “He’s right.”

Valeria turns. “Mercer.”

“They used broad-spectrum scent masking and bond-disruption compounds. Old NOVAC-adjacent formulas, only slightly modified.” His gaze cuts to the hatch. “It’s not perfect and it’s not permanent. But it is enough to blind immediate pursuit.”

A cold wave washes over me and I mutter, “Sedation window.”

Mercer looks at me. For once, he doesn’t soften the answer. “If they used a standard Omega transport dose, she might have roughly fifteen to twenty minutes of partialmobility before full motor shutdown. Less if they’ve layered suppressants.”

Ewan’s face twists and Fletcher closes his eyes. Maine makes a sound that only belongs to wounded animals and older brothers who have just lost their sister a second time in his lifetime.

“And after?” Xeon asks quietly, almost softly, though that softness is underlined with a sharp violence and a bright panic I’ve never seen or heard come from him since the moment we met.

Mercer swallows. “Unconsciousness. Instinct suppression. Scent dampening. Compliance through chemical restraint.”

Fletcher steps forward slowly and the air completely changes around him. Cedar and leather, blood and wrath.

“Say that again,” he says.

Mercer wisely doesn’t, and so I step closer to the hatch.

The bond pulls south, then slightly east.

Weak.

Covered.

But there.

“Can you track her through us?” Fletcher asks Mercer when the doctor keeps his silence rather than pissing off the biggest Alpha of all four of us.

“Not me,” Mercer says. “You. Her markers are reactive around her chosen pack. Her scent, her NOVAC response, the bonds. Whatever they gave her may dampen it, but I doubt it can erase it completely.”

“She chose four,” Ewan says, voice rough.

Silence follows and Xeon looks at him.

Ewan doesn’t look away. “How about you wipe that look off your face, mate? We all know she did. You should know. I don’t know what the hell happened with the two of you, but shechose you just as much as she chose us and you’re not going to make me feel stupid for seeing it when you won’t.”

Xeon’s expression does not change but his throat moves once, because he realizes Ewan has a point. We already know they slept with one another. Could smell it on them as soon as they emerged from the greenhouse they snuck into. But she didn’t ask for a bite then, and something tells me it was purely out of fear. Fear of not understanding that a bond with us isn’t a chain around her neck, or a cage to shove her into and feed through the bars. It might have taken her a minute to realize it, but something tells me not having a bond with Xeon is bothering her more than it’s bothering him.

Valeria’s radio crackles then and Hale’s voice cuts through the static. “All armed units hold position. No one leaves the compound until we establish breach status. Repeat, no one leaves.”

Fletcher turns his head slowly and Ewan goes completely still. Maine looks about ready to gnaw through the radio, just because everything is pissing him off now that he’s riled up and ready to burn the world down if it means he gets his sister back.

I take it from Valeria’s hand.

“Kaito,” she warns.

I press the button. “Where were you when the hatch opened, Commander?”