Page 36 of Generation Omega: Revealed
Was it a knife?
Did he get stabbed?
Ethan falters and drops to his knees.
The phone is still at my ear and I hear Gideon’s friend say, “All clear this way. Time to move.”
Gideon overhears him, grabs the phone and shoves it in his pocket, and then reclaims the gun from my hand. A second later, he dashes forward, kicking the Russian in the head, before moving directly to Ethan. I’m right behind him and, as soon as I’m close, I can finally make out what Ethan’s still staring at—a dart sticking out of his chest in the small space not protected by his jacket.
“Are you okay?” I whisper.
“I don’t know… I can’t feel anything.”
Gideon seizes the dart and tosses it aside, before grabbing Ethan and throwing him over his burly shoulder. “With me, Tillie. Now.”
Together, we rush down the alley toward the SUV waiting at the end. Before we get there, a man steps out from the darkness between two buildings, a gun in his hand—another fucking gun.
One second. One bullet in my head and the omega legacy will have to start again. So quickly. No time to even make peace with anything before violence destroys everything. Again.
I expect threats. I expect his gun to send death our way. What I don’t expect is for the man to remain silent, studying us from the shadows. All I know about him is he’s massive, just like the rest of the thug brigade.
His tone is as dark as this alley when he finally speaks. “He’s already dead.” Another Russian.
“What?!” I shriek.
Unhurried, he speaks again. “He’s alreadydead.”
“No, he’s not.” I know this because Ethan’s gripping hold of my hand, even though I must be burning him.
I can’t see a single feature on the stranger’s shadowed face.
“My brother is a dishonorable coward and a miserable loser, and your beta friend will die for it.” Then he provides an explanation that wrecks me. “Poison… meant for you—not fatal to an omega or an alpha, but deadly to a beta. He has minutes, if that.”
Hope fades and I hear a death rattle in my soul. “Ethan…”
He doesn’t speak, but he’s still holding my hand.
“Why are you telling us?” Gideon asks savagely. “Why aren’t you shooting us like your pathetic comrades?”
The man steps forward, almost like he can’t stop himself and then curses under his breath. The light from a nearby warehouse flicks on and I see the man lick his lips and close his eyes as though he just tasted something extraordinary in this awful alley. It makes no sense at all.
But Gideon’s heart tells me it means something vital, hopeful even.
The man nods toward the ground. “Set him down.”
“No.” I tighten my hold on Ethan.
“You can’t save him,” the man growls at me.
Gideon hesitates and then carefully lowers Ethan to the pavement, while the stranger stows his gun in a holster.
I drop to my knees beside Ethan and reach for his hand. I can finally see his eyes, faded blue against so much darkness. I can’t see the blood, but I’m sure it’s everywhere beneath his father’s jacket.
“Till, you have to go,” Ethan mumbles, clearly fading. To Gideon, he adds, “Take her now. Be her alpha. She needs you.”
“No, you’re coming with us,” I cry. “You have to…”
He tries to swallow but only chokes.
