Page 18 of Alpha Infected
“Ice, your hair.” Hazard reached up to brush clumps of loose blond hair off his forehead but Ortiz grabbed his hand and yanked it back.
“Don’t get close to his face,” she cautioned.
“It’s Ice. He wouldn’t...”
Hazard stopped when Ice’s lips peeled back from his teeth to reveal his fangs.
“It’s starting to happen,” he said, his voice rough and raspy.
“Here.” Hazard pulled off his glove. “Bite down on this. If you drop it, I’ll know you’re zombie Ice.”
Ice accepted the glove, but he didn’t put it between his teeth.
“Dylan, it’s too late for that.”
“I agree,” Ortiz said quietly. “I’m sorry, Royce. But it’s too risky for you to stay with us any longer.”
“What does that mean?” Hazard asked.
Ortiz looked at him, her brown gaze tinted with sympathy. “We have to leave him behind.” She turned back to Ice. “We need to get you somewhere you’ll be safe from the infected but you won’t be able to easily get out and follow us. Once we have the cure, we’ll come back for you.”
Hazard wasn’t on board with that plan. “C’mon, Major, we can make it. There’s only two floors left,” he said with dogged determination.
“And we have no idea how long it will take us to get through them. Or how long it will take us to access the antidote once we reach the lab. Or how long it will take the antidote to go into effect once we administer it. It’s too dangerous to have Ice at our back when he’s this close to turning.”
Hazard shook his head, refusing to believe that they were out of time. “Royce, you can make it right? Stay with us. Stay with me.”
“Dylan.” Ice started to reach for him but dropped his hands before he made contact. “The major is right. It’s too dangerous for me to stay with you.”
Hazard stood there unmoving. As he stared into his mate’s eyes, he noticed red creeping into their corners. He knew they were out of time. Cursing, he turned away. “Fuck. Fuck!”
“C’mon, Ice. Let’s find a place to lock you in,” Jax quietly said.
They followed Jax, the infected alpha deliberately hanging back so he wasn’t close to them. Jax went up to a set of double doors and pulled them open. He checked inside, making sure the room was empty. “This should work, Major.”
After Jax gave the okay, they all went inside. The room appeared to be where they created product designs, packaging, and labels. There was a big board of color swatches on the wall, several drafting tables, two desks cluttered with product samples, and ad posters clipped to easels.
“You can finish some of their projects while you wait,” Jax joked.
Ice snorted. “I’d rather shift and chase my tail for an hour than help this company with anything.”
He went over and leaned against a desk. By now, most of his hair had fallen out and his skin was starting to take on a grayish tinge.
“You don’t have to do this.” Hazard tried one last time to convince Ice to continue on. He didn’t quite trust in the strength of the antidote. He feared that if they left Ice behind and went after the cure, the infection would be too far advanced for the antidote to work by the time they got back to him. “I don’t believe you will hurt us. Hurt me.”
In his soldier’s mind, Hazard knew it made tactical sense to leave Ice behind. But his heart didn’t give a fuck about tactics. He didn’t want to abandon his mate.
But Ice shook his head.
“I’m not willing to take that chance. I want you safe, Dylan.”
Hazard swallowed past the thick knot of emotion in his throat. “Fine. But before I go, I wanted to tell you-.”
“Sssh.” Ice held a hand up, cutting him off. “You’re going to come back with the cure, right?”
“Absolutely.” Hazard emphasized his word with a firm nod.
“Then tell me whatever it is you want to say when you return.”
