by Cynthia Eden
We’re not their perfect soldiers. We’re screwed.
“It’s not a tracker. It’s an explosive device.” Her words were hollow. “And as soon as Wright and Landon realize what you’re doing, they’ll trigger them. You and your men—you won’t get out of this facility. You’re not going to escape. You’ll die.” A tear slid down her cheek. “And I don’t want to stare at your dead body again. So stop this. Just—stop! Call off your men. There’s another way. There has to be another—”
Her voice was rising. He clamped his hand over her mouth once more even as he sent a fast message to his men. They lied to us a-fucking-gain. The metal bands on our ankles aren’t tracking devices. They’re bombs. The bastards will blow us up before they let us go. Their advantage, though, only three of them still wore the bands. Sawyer, Three, and Five. Get Landon. That bastard is going to take these off us. Or he’d be the one dying.
Sawyer brought his face near Elizabeth’s. “You’re holding back more.”
A tear leaked from her eye.
The sight of her tear made his head pound. A scene flashed in his mind.
Elizabeth…screaming. Elizabeth…falling. Blood on her chest. Blood pooling on the floor beneath her.
Then…then he’d been falling, too. Falling and reaching for her. Wanting to hold her, needing to get close to her one more time. They’d been in another fucking lab, in a sterile room, and gunfire had echoed around him.
He shook his head, hard, banishing the images. Then he stared down at her chest. She wore a white lab coat and a blue blouse under that coat. In his screwed-up visions, she’d been shot in the chest.
When he’d fucked her the night before, he hadn’t taken off the Navy shirt she’d worn. He hadn’t seen her chest.
His hand lifted from her mouth, and he grabbed her shirt-front. He yanked and the top two buttons on her blouse went flying. She gave a sharp gasp as she tried to shove his hands out of the way.
Too late.
He saw the scar—long, red, and raised—that slid under her bra. A scar that was too close to her heart. A scar…
“Sawyer!” She was screaming his name. Only the scream was in the past. In his past. In that sterile room, with the bodies on the floor. For one wild moment, Sawyer was back in that room, and as he looked down at himself, he realized he was holding a gun.
And Elizabeth—she’d just been shot.
Oh, my God…did I shoot her?
His knees hit the floor. In the past. In the present. He just fell.
And that was how the bullet missed him. A bullet thundered, the shot coming from the door, and it whipped by his head and it missed Elizabeth by inches—damn inches—as it sank into the wall of the exam room. Sawyer jumped to his feet and whirled to face the threat. And Landon Meyer was there, aiming a gun at him.
Only that wasn’t a tranq he just fired. It had been a real bullet.
“Get away from her!” Landon yelled. “Get the hell away!”
Sawyer put his body firmly between that guy and Elizabeth.
“I knew, I knew you were hiding secrets!” Spittle flew from Landon’s mouth. “Your men are running around this place like fucking ninjas, but you aren’t taking control of the facility. I won’t let you.” Landon lifted the gun. “I will stop you. I’ll end you. There will be more to take your—”
Sawyer charged at him. Landon fired, but Sawyer had anticipated the move. The bullet barely grazed his upper arm, and then Sawyer had the bastard. He hit Landon’s wrist, he broke the bones with a snap, and the gun hit the floor. Sawyer shoved Landon back against the door frame. “Do you want to be ended?” In a blink, Sawyer grabbed the fallen weapon and aimed it at Landon.
Landon stared at him with fury and fear on his face.
“Take off the metal band, Dr. Meyer,” Sawyer snarled. “Get that shit off me now.”
Landon’s gaze darted to Elizabeth.
“We’re taking a trip,” Sawyer put the gun to Landon’s head. “To your office. You’re going to use your computer and you’re going to remove this band. You’re going to disengage the lock on me and my two men.”
Landon lifted his chin. “If I don’t?”
“Then I will end you.” Because Sawyer wasn’t going to die.
“Elizabeth…” Landon’s voice was choked. “You were right. They are monsters.”
Sawyer’s shoulders stiffened. He didn’t take his eyes off Landon. If he did, he knew the guy would attack. But was Elizabeth about to attack him, too?
Shit. No choice.
“Elizabeth, come here,” Sawyer ordered her flatly.
She didn’t move.
His eyes stayed on Landon. “Do you want me to shoot him, Elizabeth?”
“No! I don’t want you to shoot anyone.”
“Then come to me.” He held out his left hand to her. “Come here, doc.”
Landon flinched. “Don’t be fooled by him, Elizabeth. He’s not the man you knew before. He’s playing you. He’s—”
“It doesn’t matter.” Elizabeth’s quiet words seemed to fall heavily in the room as she shuffled closer. “I can’t watch you die, Landon, even if I do think you’re a prick.”
She was close now. Sawyer reached out and grabbed her, pulling her against his chest, curling his body around hers. She felt so right against him, and some of the rage inside of Sawyer seemed to ease.
Never hurt her.
“We’re going to your office, Landon. You’re going to get this band off me.” If he’d realized he was wearing a freaking explosive device, step one in their coup would have been to get the bands off and then to take over. But he hadn’t known, and now he had to make the escape work, without getting anyone on his team blown to bits. “Move,” Sawyer barked to Landon. “Get your ass in gear, now.”
Swallowing, Landon followed orders.
Elizabeth was tense in Sawyer’s arms. Tense and terrified. Sawyer bent his head. He had a role to play, men that were counting on him, but he couldn’t stand her fear. It burned at what was left of his soul. His lips feathered over her ear as he whispered, “I swear, I will never hurt you.”
***
Cecelia grabbed her bag and turned to face the guard who stood in her doorway. “I’m done, okay? Let’s just get the hell out of—”
The guard fell. His body tumbled forward and crashed onto the floor. She stared at him, utterly horrified, stunned, and then…
“You’re already packed?”
Her gaze flew back to her door—to the man standing there, smiling his fake smile. To the man holding a gun in his hand. To the man with the handsome face and the devil’s eyes. Subject Five.
“How did you know it was time for us to make our getaway?” Five stepped over the unconscious guard, lowering the gun he’d used to slam into the back of the fellow’s head. “I must say, I’m impressed.”
“You shouldn’t be here.” He shouldn’t be standing there, with a tranq gun in his hand. He shouldn’t be smiling. He shouldn’t be coming closer. He shouldn’t—
“Why not?” He blinked. “I’ve been here plenty of times before. Not just the two occasions when you caught me.” His head cocked. “I do love to watch you while you sleep.”
What? She backed up, fear bursting past her shock. “Help!” Cecelia screamed.
“No one is going to help you now. No guard is coming in to save you.” He aimed the weapon at her. “It’s just you and me…finally.”
***
Sawyer kept a tight hold on Elizabeth as they stood in Landon’s office. She hadn’t spoken, hadn’t fought him, and he wanted to just get her the hell out of that place.
But I have to make sure that I don’t explode on the way out. Shit. He should have realized that a contingency plan would be in place by the bosses of hell.
He used the gun and motioned toward Landon’s laptop. “I’ve seen you disengage the bands plenty of times. Use your right index finger to access the program. Then key in your code and get the lock to open.”
Landon reach
ed for the laptop, no hesitation. “Fine, if that’s what you—”
“If you trigger the band to explode, Elizabeth will be hurt, too.”
Now Landon stopped.
Right, bastard. I knew what you planned. You were a little too eager when you grabbed the laptop.
Sawyer guided Elizabeth forward so that they were right next to Landon and his laptop. “We’re going to watch you. Every single keystroke. Elizabeth is so close to me, if you trigger the explosion, you know she’ll be taken out, too. And at this angle, you’ll be hit, as well.”
Landon’s head turned as he glared at Sawyer. “You never cared about her, did you? Not back in D.C. Not here. Hell, you can’t care about anyone or anything, can you? ’Cause you aren’t human. Not anymore. You’re just a weapon that’s out of control.” His gaze darted to Elizabeth. “You were right. I realized it back in D.C. But you don’t say no to Wyman Wright. No one says no to him.”
“You don’t know a fucking thing about me,” Sawyer’s voice was low and lethal as the rage built inside of him again.
“No, you’re the one who doesn’t know anything. The woman you’re holding—I think she loved you.” Landon’s face was sad. “That’s why you came back to Lazarus, isn’t it, Elizabeth? Because you fell for him back when Sawyer was still human. Wright was thrilled as hell when I told him my suspicions about you two. I thought he’d kick Sawyer off the team, but no, not his bright, fucking leader. Wright had plans for him.”
Elizabeth’s body trembled. “What happened on that final mission, Landon?”
I think she loved you. Sawyer shook his head in hard denial. Elizabeth couldn’t love him. She’d just come back to Lazarus. There was an insane desire between them, a primitive reaction, but there was no way she loved him.
Did she?
“He almost killed you before.” Landon tapped on the keyboard. He scanned his index finger. “I think he’d do it right now, too, no hesitation.”
No hesitation. The hell he would. But…
What the fuck am I doing? Sawyer tried to think past the red haze in his mind, the haze that had gotten worse with every test mission Jamison sent him out on. The rage was so strong it seemed to be choking him but…
This isn’t me. This isn’t who I am. “Get away from me,” Sawyer gritted out.
The urge to kill. To hurt. To destroy—the darkness within him was stronger right then than it ever had been before, and it was wrong.
I wouldn’t hurt Elizabeth. Never hurt her. So why the hell am I keeping her close when the band on my ankle could freaking explode?
He pushed Elizabeth away. “Get out of here.” His temples were throbbing and everything around him seemed to be covered in a red haze.
Attack. Destroy. Won’t be the prisoner any longer.
The feelings inside of him were getting worse. Bubbling up, consuming him and—
I’ll start with her. The pretty doctor. Been watching her for so long now.
Sawyer’s eyes closed. For just a moment, he could see…
Cecelia? Staring with terror on her face, holding up her hands as if she were fending off an attacker.
“He’s unstable, Elizabeth! Run!” Landon shouted as the tap, tap, tap of his fingers flew over the keyboard, even faster now. “I’ll terminate him, I’ll—”
Sawyer’s hand flew out and his fist slammed into the side of Landon’s face. The guy fell back, his head banging into the nearby wall. Sawyer whirled and saw Elizabeth standing in the doorway. She stared at him with absolute horror on her face.
His hands flew to his temples. “It’s not me.” The words tore from him, but he finally, finally thought he understood what was happening.
The darkness swelling inside of him, the twisted fury that would come and go, eating away at him, screwing with his thoughts, messing with his mind. “It’s not me.”
“I know you aren’t the same.” She shook her head. “The Sawyer I knew would never—”
“It’s one of the fucking others. It’s his rage that’s charging me, and I think he’s attacking Cecelia!”
Her lips parted in shock. “What? That’s—that’s not possible!”
It was more than possible. It was happening. He had another flash. Cecelia, weak, helpless. “I have to get to her!” He still had the fucking band around his foot, and Landon was unconscious. No time. No time. The red haze was growing in his mind, building up. Fury had his muscles tightening, but the fury wasn’t Sawyer’s. It was someone else’s.
The same way the team had been able to share their thoughts…shit, they were sharing emotions, too. Only someone’s emotions had started to fuel Sawyer. To get in his head. To control me. Because he would never risk Elizabeth. Never put her in danger the way he had moments before. This isn’t me.
“Run,” he told her flatly as he tried to keep his mind from splintering. “Get the hell out of this place, and don’t look back. Don’t ever look back.”
“Sawyer?”
“I’m going to save her. I swear, I will.” And he didn’t have time for anything else. Didn’t have time to beg Elizabeth to forgive him. Didn’t have time to tell her that he was wrong. That he was sorry he’d scared her. That he wished everything could have been different for him. That he wished—
Make her scream. Make her beg. Make her bleed.
The dark emotions were back, and Sawyer burst out of that room. He flew by Elizabeth, knowing that she had to get away from him. He was, quite literally, a ticking time bomb, and if he exploded, she couldn’t be anywhere near him.
***
“Sawyer?” Elizabeth watched as he ran away from her. In those last few moments, his face had been absolutely savage. But his eyes had been full of pain and sorrow.
She took a step forward, hesitating. He’d said Cecelia was in danger.
He’d also said Elizabeth should run.
Cecelia saved me before. I can’t leave her.
A groan came from behind Elizabeth. Landon. Damn, she’d almost forgotten him. She rushed to his side, and she shook him, trying to get him to wake up, but, despite the groan, the guy seemed to be out cold. Considering Sawyer had punched him with full strength—full enhanced strength—Elizabeth wasn’t sure how long Landon would be unconscious. She didn’t exactly expect him to wake back up anytime soon, though.
He hadn’t released the band on Sawyer’s ankle. But right before Sawyer’s fist had collided with Landon’s face, the guy had been typing frantically on the keyboard. The control screen was still on the laptop. He had opened the program, and she could see that in order to detonate Sawyer’s band, all she had to do was click one button. Landon scanned his finger already, he typed in the code.
Elizabeth stared at the screen. There were two options right there for her.
Detonate.
Or disengage.
If she hit detonate, Sawyer would die. If she hit disengage, the lock would release. He’d be free.
He was going to risk your life! But…but he hadn’t. Instead, he’d shoved her away. And he’d seemed so lost as he said, “It’s his rage that’s charging me…”
Her hand hovered over the keyboard as she replayed Sawyer’s words.
“Get out of here, and don’t look back.”
Was he the man she’d loved before? Or was he a monster now?
Chapter Seventeen
Something is wrong. Subject Two slammed his shoulder into the door of his cell. The guards had changed things up on him, switched the access code to the cell, reinforced the damn door, and trapped him.
The team was supposed to be escaping, but he was trapped like a freaking rat. And something was wrong.
Fury twisted in him as Two rammed his shoulder into the door again and again.
I’ll make her bleed. Make her beg.
He was tired of being a prisoner. Tired of not tasting freedom. He wasn’t going to live this life any longer. The guards wouldn’t keep him back.
The fury deepened, burned hotter. He hit the door again. It groane
d. It—
I’ve been watching you, Cecelia.
Two froze. The rage was still inside of him, nearly choking him, but he had a flash of Cece. She looked terrified. She was holding up her hands, trying to fight—
Who is she fighting?
The rage grew inside of him. I’ll make her pay.
No, wait, shit that wasn’t his thought! Not his emotions, either.
But something dark and deadly had taken hold of Two. He wanted to attack and destroy, wanted to kill—
He broke that damn door. It flew off its hinges and hit the floor. He stood there a moment, chest heaving, hands fisted, and a guard came running toward him. A terrified looking fellow who’d pulled out his tranq gun. “Stand down!” the guard shouted.
“Make me,” Two dared. He advanced.
The guard fired. He missed. Two easily dodged that tranq. The subjects were so much faster than the guards had realized. He grabbed the gun before the guard could fire again.
Attack. Destroy. The world seemed to be painted in shades of red. No, in shades of blood. Kill.
The guard tried to run away. Two shot him, and the fellow sank to the floor. Two walked toward him, glaring down at the guy as he held the gun gripped tightly in his hand. “I’m not going back into a cage again.”
The guard was out cold. It would be so easy to finish the job with him. To reach down and to snap his neck. The guards had kept him locked up for so long. They’d thought they were the ones in charge.
Attack. Destroy. Kill. The darkness spread inside of Two.
The guards weren’t in charge any longer.
***
Guards were slumped in the hallway. Sprawled on the floors. Sawyer rushed past them as he headed toward Cecelia Gregory’s room. His heart was drumming in his chest, and he couldn’t get to the shrink fast enough. Images of blood and pain were filling his mind, and Sawyer feared he’d be too late.
No innocents were supposed to be hurt. We were just going after our freedom.