No scent that he could catch over all the stench, but like it mattered? He knew what was coming.
Determined to at least go out punching, he flipped around in the tight squeeze, and as his head lifted, he felt a foot on the side of his face. Kane’s.
In a sudden surge, he pushed himself up, only to get caught in a tangle of legs and the folds of that cover he’d wrapped Kane in when he’d carried the male out. The seat belt he’d fastened around the other prisoner at the last second was holding what was clearly dead weight in place above him, all those loose, unresponsive limbs making Apex’s gut twist.
Batting the blanket aside, he was able to see better, thanks to the glow of the dashboard. Breathing. Okay, at least Kane was breathing. For how long, who the fuck knew.
“Mayhem?” he hissed.
No reply. No movement, either, from the guy behind the wheel who was hanging in his seat from his belt just like Kane was.
With the grim triaging done, Apex assessed whether he could squeeze into the front to look for another grenade or maybe a gun. The impact should have thrown anything loose forward, the kinetic energy of the objects unchanged even as the SUV hit a hard stop—
“Apex,” came a voice from what seemed like far, far away. “Don’t start shooting, for fuck’s sake. It’s me.”
“Lucan?”
“I’m going to get you out of this wreck.”
Apex put his hand to his head and winced. Maybe this was because of a concussion? Then again, he’d had a few in his lifetime, and they’d never come with auditory hallucinations before.
“What the hell are you doing here, wolven,” he mumbled.
There was a pause. “Are you complaining? Because I’ll leave you in this wreck if you’d rather wait for Santa-fucking-Claus.”
“Hollow threat, wolf.”
But come on, of course the guy would return. That half-breed had too much lupine DNA in him to desert anyone from what he perceived as his clan, and too much vampire in him not to protect those who hethought were his. Even though he’d escaped the prison camp with the human woman he’d claimed as his mate, and in spite of the fact that he shouldn’t get anywhere near the place, at least not without a pistol to his pea head, here he was.
“Take Kane first.”
Lucan’s voice was muffled. “Cover your head.”
“What?”
“Cover your damn head, just in case.”
An absolutely insane part of Apex wanted to stick his fucking neck out because he was just that kind of a defiant SOB. But he ducked down and took shelter behind the seat.
“Be careful of Kane!” he barked. “And Mayhem!”
Up at the front windshield, there was a dull thud. And then a second that was louder, and a last—
“I’m in.” The wolven’s voice was clear as a bell now. “Oh, hell, Mayhem…”
“Is he dead?” Apex said as he pushed himself up.
“I don’t know.”
Apex tried to look around, but the blanket’s dark folds turned everything into a stage set that had yet to be revealed.
A familiar female voice now: “Unlock the doors.”
“Why is Rio here?” Apex demanded. “Are you fucking nuts? The guards are coming. We were followed—”
“Of course you were,” Lucan’sshellanmuttered. “That’s why we’ve gotta stop talking and move fast.”
It had been a long time since anyone had essentially told him to shut up. Like maybe, ever.