Chapter 10

Panicked staff streamed from Lab Five's entrance, hands clamped over their mouths. Some collapsed onto the pavement, retching violently. Others swayed on their knees, faces drained of color.

Military medics in white coats pushed through the crowd with urgency.

Evelyn arrived breathless at the perimeter, scanning the chaos with frantic eyes. Her pulse hammered against her ribs - where was Liam?

Then she saw him.

Emerging from the smoke-filled doorway, Liam carried Victoria's limp form with practiced ease. Medics rushed forward with a stretcher.

The irony burned Evelyn's throat.

While she'd been terrified for Liam's safety, his only concern had been Victoria.

After transferring Victoria to the medical team, Liam turned back toward the building without hesitation.

"Nate!" Victoria's trembling fingers caught his sleeve. Tears streaked her ashen face. "Don't leave me. I can't breathe—"

"Easy now." Liam's voice softened as he pried her grip loose. "The doctors have you."

Her chest heaved with panicked sobs. "I'm dying, Nate. I can feel it!"

At that moment, Ryan's voice cut through the commotion. "General Blackwood! Building's cleared. Thirty-five confirmed poison cases."

Liam's attention snapped to Ethan Reynolds nearby. "Doctor, what chemical leaked? Fatal?"

Ethan's hands shook as he adjusted his glasses. "Azurium, sir. Experimental import. We barely understand its properties—" He flinched under Liam's glacial stare.

"General, I swear," Ethan babbled, "I've never encountered Azurium in twenty years of practice. We need tox screens before—"

"Carelessness with hazardous materials?" Liam's roar made several researchers jump. "Explain this negligence!"

Ethan swallowed hard. "Ms. Dawson was...rummaging through restricted storage when the container tipped."

All eyes turned to Victoria, who sniffled dramatically. "If they'd labeled things properly, this wouldn't have happened!"

Liam's jaw hardened. "This is a secure facility. What were you doing in chemical storage?"

Victoria dissolved into fresh tears. "You're blaming me when I'm poisoned? How cruel!"

Evelyn observed the theatrics with detached amusement before approaching Ethan. "Azurium alone isn't toxic. Was Rhenium compound also spilled?"

Ethan blinked. "Yes, but Rhenium's used in jet propulsion. Harmless."

"Not when combined." Evelyn's calm voice carried across the stunned crowd. "The reaction produces a colorless, odorless neurotoxin. Symptoms progress from nausea to violent purging, then death by dehydration."

She turned to Adrian. "Their systems are dangerously acidic. Alkaline solution will neutralize it. Check the commissary for food-grade bicarbonate."

Adrian nodded sharply. "On it, Ms. Carter."

As he sprinted away, skeptical murmurs rippled through the onlookers. Liam studied Evelyn with an unreadable expression, something unfamiliar stirring behind his steel-gray eyes.