Chapter Twenty-Two
Elizabeth leaned against the closed bedroom door. Sawyer paced around the bed, looking like a caged lion who was about to roar.
Then he just stopped. His head sagged forward as he stared down at his clenched hands. “I’m not him.”
Elizabeth wanted to wrap her arms around him and hold tight. “Who?”
His head lifted. “I’m not the man you loved. I’m not the same.”
“Sawyer—”
“I was Subject One for months. I lived in a void. I existed to hunt and to kill, and I don’t know how to go back to being normal.” He gave a bitter laugh. “But then, I’m not normal, am I? Far the fuck from it. I’ve got voices in my head—literal voices that aren’t my own. I’ve got emotions that aren’t my own. As for my feelings, they’re wrong.”
Her heart ached.
“I want you too much.”
Elizabeth shook her head. Her lips parted. That’s not possible—
“I want you fucking constantly, Elizabeth. Every moment I’m with you, I want you. I crave you, like—like you’re a fire in my blood. I need you. And the things I want to do with you…” He exhaled. “The guy you knew before—he was the tender lover, right? The one who had dreams with you. Pretty promises about the future.”
Her throat had closed on her.
“But he’s gone.” Sawyer took a step toward her. “You lost him, and you’re just left with me. A man who wants to fucking own you. Who wants to keep you, possess you, always. Because I swear, you are my sanity. I feel whole when I’m with you, and the thought of losing you…” Another step. He was right in front of her now. His hand lifted and his knuckles brushed over her cheek. “That terrifies me. Nothing else scares me. But living in a world without you? I can’t.”
She caught his hand. Held tight. “Now you know how I feel.”
A furrow appeared between his eyes.
“I wasn’t going to let you go, I wasn’t going to—”
Pain flashed on his face. “I’m not the same man! I’m not him!”
“And I’m not the same woman I was before, either. But I am the woman who is standing before you, the woman who is saying…I want you just as much as you want me. I crave you.” In her blood? Yes. He was in her very soul. “I don’t care what name you go by—One, Sawyer—it’s you I want. You. I would risk anything for you, don’t you see that?”
“Elizabeth—”
“I want you. And you’re not some monster. A monster doesn’t risk his life for someone else. A monster doesn’t fight so desperately to protect someone else.” She brought his hand to her lips and pressed a kiss to his knuckles. “You know who does that?”
His eyes blazed at her.
“A good man,” Elizabeth whispered. “You are a good man.”
“Does a good man want to beat the hell out of two guys he just met? Two guys who did nothing but help him.” His breath was ragged. “Because Jay and West—they’ve done nothing to me, but seeing them with you…when they put their hands on you…”
“Jealousy is normal.”
“I’m not normal, and emotions like that aren’t safe for me.”
“Then trust me.”
He blinked at her.
“Trust me. Because you’re not trusting me. You’re looking at me with them and thinking…hell, what are you thinking? That I’d want to be with them? That I’d choose them over you? Look, they’re both great guys, don’t get me wrong. But it’s you that I want. You. I’ll say it as many times as you need to hear it. Until it sinks in. I’m not running from you. I’m running with you. Because you’re the one I choose. It will always be you.”
His eyes widened. She thought she saw the faintest flicker of hope in his gaze. But in the next moment, his head lowered toward her. His mouth crashed onto hers. The kiss was rough, wild, and desperate.
And she didn’t care. Her hands rose and locked around his shoulders. Her nails sank into his shirt. He kissed her with such need. Like he was starved for her. Like he’d never get enough of her.
She’d never get enough of him.
His hand slid between them. He yanked up her shirt and shoved her bra out of the way. His warm, callused fingertips stroked her nipples. Teased. Tugged. Arousal flooded through her. Sawyer had said that he always wanted her. Didn’t he get it? She always wanted him, too. She always would. He wasn’t a monster.
He was her man.
Show him. She pulled her mouth from his. Her hands slipped from his broad shoulders and pushed against his chest.
“Elizabeth? Baby?”
“You’re a man. Mine.” She gave him a smile and then she let her hands drop to his waist. She unhooked his pants, slid down the zipper—
“Elizabeth.”
“I want you. I want to do this.” She’d always loved to drive him wild this way.
He shuddered.
And he let her hands go. He wasn’t wearing underwear, and that just made things easier. Elizabeth lowered to her knees before him. His cock filled her hands, long and stretching, with moisture already gleaming on the broad head. She put her mouth on him. Licked the tip lightly and his hips jerked against her.
“Baby…”
She opened her mouth. Took him inside. Sucked. A shallow suck, not too deep. Teasing.
He growled.
She took him in deeper. Licked him more. Pumped his cock with her hands even as her mouth slid over him. He was warm and hard. And she loved the feel of him. Her hips rocked even as she took him in her mouth once more. She’d suck him, then go back to lick the tip—
His hand sank into her hair. “I can’t…control…Can’t…”
She let him go. Licked her lips and stared up at him. “That’s what I want. I want you to let your control rip away. I want you to see that with it gone, you won’t hurt me. I can take what you have to give.” I always could. “I want everything you have.”
She put her mouth back on him. Licked. Sucked. And she—
He gave a guttural cry and lifted her up. He moved fast, and she found herself dropped onto the bed. She sat up, but he was yanking off her shoes, pulling down her jeans and her underwear. He’d stripped her so fast, and there was no stopping him. She didn’t want to stop him. She wanted to drive him wild.
He dragged her hips to the edge of the bed. Her legs splayed open. He sank into her. No tender touches. No seduction. Just raw, savage need. Exactly what she wanted. He thrust into her, withdrew, then plunged deep with hard, driving strokes. Her legs locked around his hips as she bucked up against him.
She didn’t want him to slow down. Didn’t want him to go softer. She wanted faster. Harder. She wanted oblivion.
Her nails didn’t bite lightly into his back this time. They raked down his back in a frenzy. She was as savage as he was. His hands were too tight on her hips, and she didn’t care. She wasn’t afraid of rough. She wasn’t afraid of him.
He dragged his cock over her clit as he thrust, and Elizabeth came, erupting with pleasure. Her sex spasmed around him as the climax went on and on, pounding through her body. He drove into her, not stopping and making the climax all the stronger. He grabbed her legs and lifted them over his shoulders, opening her fully to him. She couldn’t control his thrusts, couldn’t limit him, and she didn’t want to.
I want everything.
His eyes were stark, filled with lust, his face locked into tight lines. “Again.”
Her breath heaved from her lungs.
“Want to feel you come around me…again.”
He plunged deep into her. She was swollen and sensitive from her climax, and Elizabeth gasped out his name. She wanted him to find release. Wanted to see the pleasure on his face.
He kissed her. Rough. Demanding. His tongue swiped into her mouth even as his cock sank into her body. She was lost in sensation. Lost so completely in him.
He withdrew from her. Pulled out completely.
No!
Sawyer flipped her over on the bed. Her hands flew out and grabbed the sheets, bunching them in her fists. He caught her hips in his hands, lifted her up, and drove into her. She couldn’t limit his thrusts, couldn’t stop him, didn’t want to stop him. A second release was closing in on her. Elizabeth tossed back her head. “Sawyer!” She was moaning and gasping and being too loud. She clamped her lips together.
He bit her. Right on the curve of her shoulder. The bite made her sex clench around him as she came once more.
And he was with her. She felt the hot tide of his release inside of her, and he held her even tighter. His body surrounded her. So strong and powerful. He held her, held her so close.
Monster, man—hers. Always.
***
“Don’t!” Elizabeth’s voice was sharp. Desperate. Terrified. “Don’t die! Don’t! Don’t leave me!”
Sawyer’s eyes opened. He was in bed with Elizabeth. They’d both crashed hard, and, even in sleep, he’d held her close.
Now, her body was tense against him, and when he turned his head, he saw that her face was twisted in fear, even as her eyes remained closed. Keeping his voice gentle, he soothed, “Baby, it’s okay. Just a bad dream.”
“Sawyer!”
He stiffened. She was calling his name, but he knew she was locked in a dream. “Elizabeth?”
“Sawyer! No! Stay with me! Don’t die! Don’t leave!”
The pain in her voice gutted him. Sawyer shook her. “Elizabeth, wake up. It’s a bad dream.”
She gave a gasp and shuddered. Her eyes finally opened as her head turned toward him. “Sawyer?”
“Right here, baby. I’m right here.” And this scene—it was so familiar to him. Elizabeth has bad dreams. And he didn’t like it when she had to wake from those dreams alone. He worried about her waking up alone and being scared.
She’s not alone now.
“I had a bad dream.” The words were oddly familiar to him.
“I know.” His voice was still gentle. He pulled her closer, held her cradled against him.
Her desperate breathing evened out, but her body remained tense. “Sawyer?”
“Yeah?”
“It…wasn’t a dream.”
He swallowed and kept his hold on her. “I know.”
“You died. You were on the exam table, and Landon was going to bring you back. He wanted to put you in Project Lazarus. I couldn’t—the formula wasn’t ready, and I never wanted it for you. Not you. You weren’t supposed to die. You were supposed to stay with me.”
His hand was on her back. He stroked her spine. I am with you.
“He had a guard drag me out of the lab. I saw Landon give you too much of the formula. Two doses. You didn’t wake up, and Landon thought something was wrong. He was blaming me, and…” Her words trailed away. He heard the painful little click of her swallow. “Then you woke up.”
There was so much pain in her words.
“Part of me was so happy.” Shame slid into her voice. “You were awake. You were back…”
“I don’t remember that.” He didn’t remember anything before he’d opened his eyes to find himself in a cell at the Lazarus facility. And when he’d woken, Landon had immediately shown him a video, proof that Sawyer had “volunteered” to be in the government program.
“You woke up,” she said again and gave a little shudder.
He realized her hand was on her chest, tracing the red line of her scar.
A cold wind seemed to fill the room. “Elizabeth?”
“Promise me, tell me that you’ll always come back.”
Did she think he was going to walk away? Cut and run, vanish with some new identity because of what Jay had said? No. Not without her. Not ever without her.
“Promise me,” she said again, and it was almost as if she were begging him.
He would have given her any promise she wanted. Didn’t she see that? He would give her anything. Everything. “I promise.” Sawyer held her, keeping her close against him, cradling her, until Elizabeth fell asleep once more. When the tension finally eased from her body, he pressed a kiss to her temple.
He heard the faint sound of footsteps on the stairs. At first, he figured someone was just heading to one of the other guest rooms, but those soft steps headed toward his room. His head turned as Sawyer stared at the door. His eyes narrowed on that door. He could hear the faintest of rustles…
Sawyer slipped from the bed. He dressed quickly. Silent, he stalked across the room and he yanked the door open just as Jay was lifting his hand to knock.
Jay’s eyes widened. “How did you—”
Sawyer pushed the guy back into the hallway. When they were both clear of the doorway, Sawyer pulled the door shut behind him.
“Right. Enhanced senses.” Jay nodded. “Just takes a little getting used to, you know?”
“Elizabeth is sleeping. She had a bad dream, and I don’t want—”
“Still has them, huh?” Sadness flashed on Jay’s face.
The bastard has been with Elizabeth at night. In her bed. He’s held her when she cries out.
“Guess she’ll never get over the death of her parents.”
Elizabeth hadn’t been dreaming about her parents this time. She was dreaming about me.
“She was trapped with them, you know.” Jay rubbed his hand over his jaw. “Not that Elizabeth ever told me that part. Don’t think I got past her wall far enough for her to reveal that bit about herself.” He flashed a quick smile. “But I have this terrible habit. I always have to know everything I can about the people in my life. And with a computer, I can find anything. Anything.”
Sonofabitch. “You dug into her past.”
“I wanted to know what demons drove her.” Jay turned away and headed down the hallway. He kept his voice low as he said, “She was like a woman possessed. She never told me specifics about Lazarus, not while we were together, but I figured it all out. She wanted to stop death. She never wanted to lose anyone close to her again.”
Slowly, Sawyer followed the other man down the stairs. He didn’t want to leave Elizabeth. What if she had another bad dream? But he needed to clear the damn air with Jay.
When they reached the landing, Jay sighed. His gaze raked over Sawyer. “She didn’t want to lose someone she loved, and that’s why it must have hurt her so much when she found out that Landon and Wright planned for you to be the first test subject.”
You weren’t supposed to die. You were supposed to stay with me.
“Do you remember her at all?” Jay asked, pushing.
“Yes.” And what he didn’t remember…I think I’m falling for her again.
“There are some videos you need to see.” He looked back up the staircase. “Some that she needs to see, too, but maybe it will be better for you to see them first.”
“I don’t have secrets from Elizabeth.”
“You sure about that?”
No, actually, he wasn’t.
“Come on.” Jay waved to the left. “My office is this way.”
Eyes narrowing, Sawyer followed. When he entered the office, he wasn’t particularly surprised to find West standing near the window. West had his arms crossed over his chest, and his back was against the wall that bordered the window. When his gaze fell on Sawyer, West lifted a brow. “We gonna have a problem?”
“Not if you keep your hands off Elizabeth.”
West’s lips twisted. “Known her for years. If we were interested in fucking each other, it would have happened by now.” He pointed at Jay. “I would have stolen her away from this asshole.”
Jay frowned at him. “If you weren’t family, that line would piss me off.”
“I am family, and it still pisses you off.”
Sawyer shook his head. He didn’t understand these two men. “I’m living in a damn nightmare right now, so can you both save your shit for someone else?”
Jay gave a brisk nod and headed for his desk. The laptop was there, but it was still closed. Wires ran from it, though, wires that connected to the two giant screens set up behind Jay’s desk. “Took me all of five minutes. Hardly a challenge.” Jay tapped on a wireless, black keyboard and a video appeared, stretching to cover both of the two screens. “This is the first one we need to talk about.”
Sawyer saw his own face staring back at him from those screens. The image was frozen. “Play it,” he bit off.
“Here we go.” Jay tapped a key, and the video played.
On the screen, Sawyer’s face tightened. “Why the hell do you need to record this?”
“For the record.” That was Landon’s voice. No mistaking that smug asshole’s identity.
In that video, Sawyer rolled his eyes. “This is such bullshit. Fine. Okay. I, Sawyer Cage, volunteer to be part of Project Lazarus.”
The video stopped. Thirteen seconds.
“I’ve seen this shit before.” Sawyer knew an edge had entered his voice. “When I woke up in my cell at Lazarus, it was the first thing that Landon showed me. He wanted to prove that I’d agreed to be in the program, that I’d volunteered—”
“Did he show you the rest of the video?” Jay cut in.
The rest?
“Right. Judging by your expression, I’ll say he didn’t. He’d separated the files, but once I got into the system, I found the rest of your, um, volunteer reel, shall we say?”
“Play it.”
Jay did.
Sawyer saw himself lean forward, his hand clenched on a metal table. “Are we done? Because this is such bullshit. I’ve been involved in the program here for over a year.”
“The program is going through some changes.” Landon’s voice was mild. “This is just a new protocol that Wright wants the Pack to follow.”
“It’s a waste of my time. I have a mission to get ready. I need to be with my men.” He shoved away from the table and rose.
“You’ll get to keep working with Dr. Parker now,” Landon assured him. Landon still wasn’t on camera. “That’s the most important thing, isn’t it?”
On the dual screens, Sawyer tensed. “Are you threatening to separate me and Elizabeth?”
“No, not at all. On the contrary, I’ve just assured that you’ll keep working with her for as long as you want.”
“Yeah? Well, here’s a newsflash for you. This is my last mission. After this, I’m done. Getting out of this program, and starting a new life.” He spun on his heel.
“A new life with Elizabeth?”
Sawyer threw an angry glare over his shoulder. “What I do on my private time is none of your concern. I’ve got a mission to run.” He stormed out of the small room.
The video kept filming. The camera lens was locked on Sawyer’s empty chair.
“It will definitely be your last mission.” Landon’s words were a low whisper.
The video ended.
Sawyer realized he wasn’t breathing.
“Yeah.” Jay cleared his throat. “Based on that little parting shot and the documents I found on the guy’s laptop, it’s safe to say he was involved in getting you killed.”
Sawyer’s gaze jumped to Jay’s face.
“The mission was a success, you see. I found documentation of that. The hostages were rescued. There were no reports of enemy fire on the ground. No reports of friendly fire, either. The mission was logged in Landon’s computer as being a complete success.”
Sawyer shook his head.
“Yet, somehow,” West didn’t leave his seemingly relaxed position against the wall as he spoke up, “both you and your buddy Flynn wound up dead after you came back to the facility in D.C.”
“And you were both immediately placed in preservation per Lazarus protocol.” Jay looked at him with pity in his eyes. “You never had a chance. They wanted you for the program, and they made sure they got you.”
Sawyer forced himself to take a deep breath. “What the fuck else is on his laptop?”
“There’s a tape of your buddy Flynn basically saying the same thing you did. I don’t believe he had any idea about what Lazarus truly was. He just thought it was some new pre-mission BS that Landon and Wright were swinging his way.”
Sawyer heard a faint creak from upstairs. His gaze lifted to the ceiling.
“And then there’s this…” Jay’s fingers tapped on the wireless keyboard. “I believe you mentioned Bryce King? Subject Five?”
“He’s the, uh, sadistic bastard who thinks he’s gonna get his hands on Elizabeth.” Fury battered every word.
“Not happening,” West announced flatly.
“No, it’s not.” Sawyer stared at the screens and fought to regulate his breathing. “So Bryce was tricked, too?” Maybe the bastard had been normal, once, before Lazarus.
“No, not at all. He wasn’t tricked.”
A new video began to play. Bryce was smiling—that smug, twisted smile that never reached his eyes.
“State your name.” The voice came from off-camera. Landon’s voice again.
“Bryce King.” He lifted a blond brow. “What? You want my rank and serial number, too?”
“No, I want you to state that you are willingly offering yourself as a participant in Project Lazarus.”
“Hell, yes, I’m in. I’ve seen the results, and I want that power boost myself.” His eyes shone eagerly. “I willingly volunteer.”
Jay paused the feed.
I’ve seen the results myself. “He came into the program a few weeks after Flynn and I were there. At first, it was just the two of us.” Sawyer’s shoulders tensed when he heard the creak of the stairs.
“Yeah, well, turns out the guy knew exactly what he was getting into.” Jay resumed play on the video.
And the camera zoomed out. The video had just been focused on Bryce’s face, but now Sawyer could see the exam room around him. Bryce was sitting on a reclining hospital bed. An IV fed into his arm. “How long will it take?” Bryce asked.
Landon walked into the frame. “Just a few moments. It’s not going to hurt, I assure you.”
Bryce was wearing a paper hospital gown. He gave a rough laugh. “I don’t mind pain. Never have. Never will.”
“You’ll be out for a few moments. When you wake up, well, the other test subjects have no memory of their past lives.”
“Some memories are better forgotten anyway. If I can do the things those other bastards can, it will be well worth the loss.”
Landon gazed down at him. “You’ll be able to do more than they can. I’m improving the formula with every new experiment.”
“And folks always wake up? I mean, they always come back?” His voice had grown sluggish. His eyelids were falling shut.
“Usually.” Landon checked the beeping monitor on his right. A moment later, he moved to strap down Bryce’s right wrist, then his left. “Though we’ve had a few failures.”
The beeping turned into a steady drone of sound. Sawyer realized what he was watching. “He just flat-lined.” Sawyer shook his head. “Landon killed him.”
There was a flurry of activity on the screens then. Men and women in green scrubs rushed in. Landon picked up a large syringe, and he plunged it straight into Bryce’s heart.
Sawyer’s hand rose and pressed to his own heart even as he heard the soft creak of the door opening behind him. He didn’t look back, not even when he heard Elizabeth’s swift intake of breath.
Landon is plunging another needle into Bryce—this time into the back of his head.
Sawyer’s hand fell away from his chest.
“Come on,” Landon urged as he stared at Bryce’s still form. “Wake your ass up. The faster you wake up, the stronger you’ll be. Come the hell—”
Bryce’s eyes flew open as he roared. He jerked upright, ripping right through the straps that had locked down his wrists.
“Tranq him!” Landon shouted. “Tranq—”
The video ended.
Sawyer didn’t move. “So that’s what it looks like. When a man dies and comes back. And Bryce knew what was going to happen.” Fucking hell. “Landon documented it all, didn’t he? Because he’s a scientist, and this is all his grand experiment. He documented every transformation.”
“Yes.” Unflinchingly, Jay met his stare. “Every one. The successes and the failures.”
Elizabeth slipped to Sawyer’s side. He didn’t touch her, but Sawyer could feel her warmth near him. Her sweet scent wrapped around him. “How many failures were there?”
“Four.”
Four dead men. Sawyer unlocked his jaw. “Were they like me and Flynn? Dead first, then given the formula? Or were they—”
“They were like Bryce. Landon gave them some sort of IV cocktail that stopped their hearts. They died, and he tried to bring them back with Lazarus. Only he was doing something wrong with them.”
Elizabeth’s fingers brushed Sawyer’s. “How many successes? There were, um, six men in the Lazarus facility—”
“And one of them is dead. I killed Subject Three.” Sawyer’s voice was cold. He couldn’t let emotion get to him, not then.
Jay licked his lower lip. “Ten subjects made the transformation.”
Ten?
“But the exam room was different for the last four test subjects. The background was off. I think Landon must have kept them in a different location.”
Where the hell were those men?
“I also saw some files that made me think Landon changed up your original formula, Beth. He wanted to increase the aggression that you feared. Only I don’t think he ever told you that he was stirring up the cocktail even more.”
“Sonofabitch,” Elizabeth breathed.
Yes, Landon was a damn sonofabitch. “I want to see my transformation.” The words burst from Sawyer. Still cold, still emotionless, but a demand nonetheless. “Show it to me.”
Jay glanced at Elizabeth. “I don’t think that’s the best idea…”
“Show the fucking video to me.”
West stepped in front of the screens. “Why? You know what happened. You were dead. You were injected, and you came back. End of story.” West crossed his arms over his chest. “Let it go.”
“I want to see it. Show—”
“Just show him,” Elizabeth cut in quietly. “He has a right to see it.”
West glanced at Jay.
Jay’s face tensed. “But I don’t like seeing your pain, Beth. I never did.”
“Neither the hell do I,” West muttered, but he stepped aside.
“Show him.” Elizabeth reached for Sawyer’s hand. She laced her fingers with his.
Jay bent to tap on his keyboard. It took a moment, but then another scene loaded.
Elizabeth squeezed Sawyer’s hand.
The video began…
“What’s happening? Why are they here?” On the screen, Elizabeth was in a cold, sterile-looking exam room. She was staring at several guards who crowded in the room. Two sheet-covered bodies waited on exam tables.
Landon picked up a chart. “Because in case any of that aggression that you mentioned manifests with these test subjects, I want to be prepared.” He gave a brisk nod as he seemed to scan the notes in the chart, then he focused on her. “This is your moment, Elizabeth. Don’t back away now.”
Her hands clenched at her sides. “There can’t be any degeneration to the tissue. The subjects—”
“Their bodies were protected,” Landon responded at once. “Exactly per your protocol.”
She stepped toward the nearest exam table, her movements stiff and jerky.
“Glad to see you’re getting on board,” Landon murmured.
Elizabeth’s hand lifted and curled around the sheet. She pulled it away from the test subject’s head. “S-Sawyer?” There was so much pain and shock in that gasped name. “Sawyer!” Now she was yelling. Her face had gone chalk white.
“He was killed on the mission.” Landon’s voice was brisk. “Both he and operative Flynn Haddox didn’t survive. Wright knew these two men would be prime candidates for Lazarus, so he immediately ordered the preservative process to be utilized with their remains.”
Elizabeth’s body hunched, as if she’d been punched in the gut. “Flynn’s…dead. Sawyer’s…dead.”
“Obviously, they’re dead.” Now Landon sounded annoyed. “But if Lazarus works, they won’t stay that way. We’ll start with Sawyer first—”
She whirled to face him. “Sawyer…no! We can’t use Lazarus on him!”
“Why not? He’s the perfect specimen. His body is strong, he’s a warrior, exactly what Wright wants in Project Lazarus. Sawyer is the ideal candidate. With his background and training, he’ll be the alpha for this program.”
She was crying. Elizabeth swiped her fingers over the tears on her cheeks. “Lazarus isn’t ready. You can’t—you can’t do this to him!”
“Do this?” he repeated. “He’s dead, Elizabeth. We can either let him stay that way, or we can try and bring him back. You’re crying. Look, I get that it’s…difficult…because this is someone we both know—”
“Difficult?”
“But you had to realize the men here would make perfect subjects. And if they died on a mission, well, isn’t this the natural next step?”
She didn’t speak.
Landon edged closer to her. “He’s dead. What we’re doing…we’re bringing him back.”
“What if he comes back wrong?” Her voice was rasping, so weak with pain and grief. “The Lazarus formula is not perfect and it’s—it’s Sawyer!” More tears slid down her cheeks. “No, no, this is not happening. I can’t do this to him! I won’t—Sawyer isn’t some lab rat. He’s—”
The video stopped.
Jay let out a long sigh. “I really think that’s enough. Obviously, you were given the formula and you—”
“Play the fucking rest,” Sawyer snarled.
Jay opened his mouth.
“You heard him, Jay,” West growled. “Just play the rest. You can’t start it and then stop. At this point, he deserves to see the end.”
“But she doesn’t.” Jay was staring at Elizabeth. “She doesn’t deserve that pain again.”
“It’s okay.” Her voice was soft. “Play the rest. It’s a scene that I see in my head every day. Seeing it now isn’t going to hurt me more.”
“Sonofabitch…” Jay tapped the keyboard.
The video resumed.
Landon’s gaze was on Elizabeth. “I thought you might respond this way. Once you saw it was him. Unfortunate, but…it is what it is.” He motioned vaguely with one hand. “Guard, escort Dr. Parker out of the lab. She’s done here.”
As he watched, Elizabeth tensed. A guard grabbed Elizabeth and pinned her arms behind her back. The guard yanked her across the lab, hauling her toward the lab’s door.
“Stop it!” Elizabeth yelled. “Let me go, right now!”
But the guard didn’t let her go. And Landon reached for a syringe.
“Don’t!” Elizabeth screamed. “Not to him!”
Landon put the needle over Sawyer’s body. Then he pierced Sawyer’s chest.
The guard had dragged Elizabeth to the door. “Sawyer!”
Landon reached for the second needle. He moved behind Sawyer, placing the needle at the back of his head. But Landon paused and glanced over at Elizabeth. “Don’t you want him back?”
Before she could answer, Landon gave Sawyer the injection.
“Stop! Let me go, please!” Elizabeth begged the guard.
Landon frowned down at Sawyer. “Nothing is happening.”
The guard hauled Elizabeth into the hallway. A nurse slammed the door shut behind them. More needles were brought to Landon. The bastard grabbed one and injected the formula into Sawyer’s heart again.
And Elizabeth was there. She’d ripped open the door to the lab. “Don’t give him too much!” Elizabeth yelled. “Don’t—”
Landon administered another dose to Sawyer. “He’s not fucking moving. This doesn’t work.” Sweat covered his forehead. “I have to tell Wright this doesn’t work!”
The guard grabbed her again. And once more, she was physically pulled out of the lab. A nurse shut the door.
Then…
In the video. Sawyer sat up. Landon started smiling. He reached out his hand to Sawyer.
Only I threw the bastard across the room. Sawyer felt his eyes widen as he watched the scene. He’d just tossed the bastard a good ten feet. Landon’s body smashed into a glass viewing window. Elizabeth’s horrified face was on the other side of that window.
The guards inside that lab room immediately pulled their weapons. They aimed at Sawyer. They fired.
But Sawyer didn’t stop. He jumped off the table. He ran right at them. He attacked, punching, kicking, taking their weapons—firing on them.
The nurses were racing for freedom. They screamed as they fled into the hallway.
Sawyer kept attacking the guards.
Watching that terrible scene, Sawyer could only shake his head. He’d been so out of control. Dangerous. A monster. “Who stopped me?” The question ripped from him.
But then he saw—on those two freaking monitors—he watched as Elizabeth rushed back into the lab. Landon was on the floor, trying to crawl for the door. And Sawyer had taken a gun from one of the guards.
“Sawyer!” Elizabeth yelled his name.
At her call, his head lifted. He still held the gun in his hand. His eyes immediately locked on her.
“Sawyer, put down the gun,” Elizabeth told him, her voice shaking. It sounded as if she were begging him.
He looked at the gun in his hand.
She crept closer to him. Behind her, Landon kept crawling toward the door.
“Put it down,” Elizabeth pleaded. “I know…I know this is confusing and scary, but I can help you. I will help you.”
He glanced back at her…and he…he aimed the gun at her.
“No!” The video was still playing, but Sawyer had just shouted that denial. No, no way would he hurt Elizabeth. “No!”
“This is why I didn’t want this fucking video shown,” Jay muttered as he raked a hand through his hair.
On the screens, Elizabeth had frozen, seemingly rooted to the spot. “Sawyer? It’s…it’s me.”
But on the monitors, he was staring at her with no recognition.
“Shoot him!” Landon thundered.
Elizabeth looked over her shoulder. A guard stood near the doorway, and he held a gun—one that was aimed right at Sawyer. “No!”
The guard’s finger began to squeeze the trigger. Elizabeth threw her body forward, placing herself between the guard and Sawyer.
The bullet hit her in the chest, and as she fell… “Sawyer!”
He stared down at her, watching as the blood covered her body.
A fog—no, a gas—began to fill the lab. The gun fell from Sawyer’s fingers. He staggered forward, and then he sagged to his knees, right beside Elizabeth.
And then Sawyer reached out to her. His hand pressed to her chest as he shuddered. For an instant, pain—grief?—flashed on his face, but he collapsed, his body falling on top of hers.
A few moments later, the lab door opened again. The people who rushed in were wearing masks that covered their faces. They dragged Sawyer away from Elizabeth, but he roused enough to fight them. To fight them and try to reach for her once more.
The video ended.
Sawyer’s chest was tight. His muscles were locked with tension. With fury. With fear. Elizabeth.
“I swear,” Jay cocked his head as he studied Sawyer now. “I swear, it seemed like you recognized her at the end.”
Sawyer’s head turned toward Elizabeth. “You took that bullet for me.”
One of her shoulders lifted in a shrug that wasn’t casual. “I’d lost you once. I wasn’t going to let someone kill you again.”
“You loved him that much?”
“No.” She gave a hard, negative shake of her head. “I love you that much. It’s not him, it’s you. You’re the same. No matter what happened with Lazarus, you are the same. You are the same strong, brave man I always knew.”
A brave man who’d attacked guards? No, no, he was—
“I see it when I look in your eyes. Landon gave you twice the dosage. Yes, when you woke up, you were out of control, but you fought your way back. Because you are strong. And you are fierce, and you will always be the man I love.”
An alarm began to sound. A shrill shriek that had his body immediately going into fight mode as he pulled Elizabeth closer. “What in the hell is that? What’s happening?”
Jay was already typing on his keyboard once more. “Security footage, I need a live feed from outside now…Shit.” The live feed appeared on the monitors. The feed showed several guards slumped near the entrance gate. Dead? Or unconscious?
“On my way,” West immediately barked as he headed for the door.
“If a Lazarus soldier is out there, you won’t stop him.” Sawyer was certain. “You need me. I’ll go.” He stared down at Elizabeth. “Stay inside. I won’t let anyone hurt you. Not ever again, I swear it.”
Her eyes were wide. “You think it’s Bryce? But…do you feel him? Has he contacted you again?”
Actually, Sawyer hadn’t felt anything on their psychic link. But he sent out a message now—not one to Bryce, but to Flynn. We’ve got trouble. Guards outside are unconscious, maybe dead. I need you to keep Elizabeth safe while I take care of the threat.
Immediately, Flynn’s voice was in his head. I’m coming, too. You need me—
I need you to keep her safe. Her and Cecelia. If something happens to me, you make sure no one so much as touches them, you got me?
“There’s a safe room in this house,” Jay announced. “One of the reasons I decided to make it my base while I was in Arizona. I can keep Elizabeth and Cecelia there. No one will get in.”
Elizabeth shook her head. “Sawyer—”
He kissed her. Had to do it. “I won’t lose you again. No one will take me from you ever again.” He pressed his forehead against hers. “I’ll come back. I swear, I will always come back to you.”
Then he let her go. Sawyer glared at Jay and West. “You keep her safe—or I will kick your asses.”
West handed him a gun. “Take this.”
“You keep it for—”
“I have another. And I get that you’re all enhanced and shit, but nothing beats a bullet. Take it.”
He didn’t wait any longer. Sawyer took the gun. And as he slipped from that house, he let the shield in his mind lower as he began to hunt. Bryce, you fucking bastard…are you here?
There was no answer. Just a thick, heavy silence.
And then Sawyer found the first body. A guard who was lying in a pool of his blood. His neck had been broken, and he’d been stabbed, again and again.