When they reached the first of many, many doors, Carter stumbled. Mitch and Landon both rushed forward to grab him so he wouldn’t smack his head on the floor and break it open. Ironic, because a second ago they’d decided to do something similar.
His body suddenly went limp in their arms. That, against their forward momentum, made one big fumble. Mitch’s foot—and all the weight attached to it—came down on Carter’s calf. Something cracked, but the kid didn’t make a peep.
“What the fuck?” He looked at Landon, equal amounts of confusion on both of their faces.
Landon leaned down, putting two fingers against Carter’s neck. In what seems like hours, Landon finally said, “Nothing.”
“Nothing? As in, dead?”
Landon raised his eyebrow. “Yes.”
Holy hell. Well, wasn’t that a strange turn of events. Carter had been living close to death for as long as Mitch had known him. Everyone involved with The Clinic lived that way. But to just collapse in a hallway, after going through all the shit he’d outlived?
Well, that’s fucking tragic.
But they didn’t have time for any long monologues, a list of Carter’s accomplishments. Mitch would leave that to The Clinic. Because, honestly, any list he made would be very, very short.
Carter. A total screw-up. Doing all the wrong things for all the wrong reasons. Deluding himself into thinking that evil was good and that he wasn’t part of it. May he figure it out in the afterlife, wherever the fuck he ends up. “Amen.”
Sighing, Landon stood slowly, folding his hands together. “Do you think whatever he did in the past is forgiven by what he was trying to do now?”
“He wasn’t here for anybody other than himself.”
Landon studied him. “Isn’t it exhausting for you? Not to believe anyone has any good in them?”
“Yep. It is.” He nabbed Carter’s keycard from his pocket and handed it to Landon. “But someone who is good is locked up in here somewhere. And we need to go get her.” Then, out of respect for Landon, he carefully hoisted Carter’s body into his arms and waited as patiently as he could for the cop to open the closest door. They both peeked inside before Mitch went in and put the kid’s body down.
Not speaking, they moved along the silent hallway a bit too slowly for Mitch’s tastes. He knew it was only a matter of time before someone found them, so why try to fight the inevitable? Why not just fight? Take down as many of the motherfuckers as they could along the way?
Mitch stopped and looked back to Landon who was standing in front of a door, unlocking it. “What are you doing? Carter said her room is down the second hallway.”
“Yeah, but he also said that her father would be in the cage room. I thought you wanted to get him out too. Or, at least, see if we can.”
“Not yet. Eden first. Then her dad.”
“Look, the farther we go into the building, the more chance there is of running into the guards. We do this in order of what’s not going to get us killed the fastest.”
“No.”
“He’s right through this door. We get him out and see who else they have in there. Then we find Eden.”
“No.”
“Shit.” He grimaced, obviously losing his considerable patience. Finally. “Be smart, Turner. This isn’t a game. We can’t fight them all.”
“I can try.”
“You can try? What about me? Are you so frigging stupid that—” He blew out a breath. “You know what? I’m not wasting time arguing with you.” He swiped the keycard in front of the lock and opened the door.
Mitch waited for a second. He felt Hyde pushing to be free, like water in a hose, searching for any crack to break out of. Hyde wanted to follow the cop. But all Mitch wanted was to find Eden. Find her and get her out of this fucking place. Then he’d worry about her dad. He forced himself to turn away from the door. Steadying himself by putting a hand on the wall, he stumbled a step before he heard Landon say, “Holy shit!”
Damn it. I don’t have the time or the patience for this shit—holy or not. But Mitch did an about-face and went back to the door Landon had just gone through. His stomach so tight it felt like he was wearing a steel corset, he pushed open the door and stepped inside.
CHAPTER XXIX
Mitch’s entire body spasmed when he saw the Hyde. Strung up on the wall like some sort of marionette. Blood stained its pants, dripping from the metal clamps around its wrists. Ice cold eyes stared past Landon like he wasn’t even there. Honing in on Mitch, calling out to the evil inside of him. Like seeking like.
Mitch had never seen another Hyde, not since his father. Not since his own Hyde had truly matured into the bastard he was today. Never thought he would. Unable to stop his feet from moving forward, he approached the beast in the cage. So this was Eden’s father—Hyde01, or so the sign said, the big daddy of them all. The one she never knew and—damn it, Carter was right—the one she was better off not knowing. As Mitch gripped the bars of the cage, the beast didn’t growl. He didn’t move. All he did was watch.
“What do we do?” Landon asked from somewhere behind him. Mitch understood why the cop wouldn’t want to come closer. Mitch didn’t want to be closer, except that he did. He wanted to fight. Like some kind of absurd stallion-call, Hyde01’s eyes promised war. A fight to the death that Mitch couldn’t refuse.
This was her father. He tried to pull away, to break the bond that surged between the two beasts. Think about her, asshole. Think about why you’re here. But he couldn’t pry his hands off the steel. Instead he yanked at them, as if he was already inside the cage.
“Hello, sir,” he said, glad he could still control his voice. That it was his voice and not Hyde’s. “I’m Mitchell Turner. I’m sorry we had to meet like this.” Each word he spoke helped him focus. He wasn’t this beast—he was still a man. At least partly. He held onto that, praying it could overcome the intense need to kill the creature in front of him. No, he would not be that.
“I’m here to help,” Mitch said. “Although how that’s going to happen is a tough one ‘cause you do not look like a very nice guy and I can’t really feel my body.” Then he called out to Landon, “Think there’s enough morphine in here to down this bastard? A gallon, at least.” Just to combat the pull he had over Mitch. This is a bad fucking idea—her daddy or not. “Where the hell am I going to put another goddamn cage?”
Hyde01’s eyes widened and he shook himself…like a wet dog.
Memories of Mitch’s own father filled his mind—the hate, the hurt, the murder. The night his father’s Hyde killed his mother. The night his father’s Hyde died by Mitch’s hand. He jerked back, finally free of the bars. Then he stumbled into Landon.
Hyde01 started slamming his fists against the wall he was attached to, drawing his arms forward as much as the chains allowed and then flinging them backwards. The chain and cuffs clanged along with his growls. Blood splattered the wall and the floor. Mitch leaned against Landon, unable to stand or do anything other than shake.
The cop wrapped his arms around Mitch and dragged him backwards. “We need to leave. We can’t take him, not like this.” He shifted Mitch onto his feet and came in front of him. “Turner?”
Someone moaned.
As soon as Landon’s bulk stood between Mitch and the beast, Mitch could blink. His eyes dry and scratchy. Then he heard her voice, like out of a dream—calling out his name. Fuck, I’m totally losing it.
Landon flinched, looking behind him towards one of the other cages. “Oh shit, Eden!” He shot forward, leaving Mitch concerned about both their sanities.
Then he saw her, slowly standing up from the ground, holding the side of her head, blood trickling down her jaw from behind her ear. Eden. He couldn’t move. Motherfucker! He wanted to go to her, rip the fucking bars out of the floor to get to her. But he just couldn’t move. No Taser to blame this time. No, this time his paralysis was all his.
“Eden, are you alright?” He knew he’d just growled. Not a human sound at a
ll. Both Landon and Eden looked at him, their expressions telling him they’d heard it as well.
“Turner, don’t screw this up,” Landon warned. “Not now, man. Not now.”
What could he say—‘I’ll try not to’? He still felt the stare of Hyde01, his presence, calling out to Mitch’s Hyde like the serpent calling out to Adam and Eve. Seductive. But instead of an apple, he was offering peace. The peace Mitch knew he’d feel if he gave in to his evil, gave up the fight, and gave away his humanity.
There was nothing he could do about it, nothing he could do with that creature in the room. The need was primal, even more potent than poison. The venom tore through his veins, incapacitating him, rooting him to where he stood, even as he heard Eden calling for him. Begging him to help her.
He couldn’t. Once again she needed him, and once again he was unable to be who she needed.
“I can’t…fight.”
“Yes, you can, Mitch. You can fight. You can win.”
He saw the look on her face. The terror in her eyes as her gaze darted between the monster in the cage and…and…at Hyde. Numero sixteen. Him.
The facts crushed him, suffocated him. She’d finally seen what he really was, everything he’d ever tried to hide from her. It was all laid out to bare. He knew that she’d met Hyde—seen him, fought him—but it was something he tried not to think about too much. Because the pain was something he couldn’t live with. Knowing that she was looking at him and seeing Hyde instead sickened him. He prayed death was listening to his pleas. To end him. So he never again had to see that look on her face.
“I’m so sorry, Eden.” He knew he was repeating the words over and over, hearing her tell him she understood, that it would be okay, and a thousand other things. But he didn’t listen. He couldn’t listen. Because she was lying to him. How could she possibly understand? He wouldn’t be okay. Not ever.
Humiliation felt like a thousand swords piercing his gut. Like some sick bastard was dissecting him, prying apart his skin and then his ribcage. Exposing the ugliness that was inside. There was no way to stop, no way to take it back, no way to turn around and head in a different direction. Like hitting a brick wall at light-speed. This is now. Here. The end of all of him.
§ § §
Eden did understand. And she wept for him. She saw the shame and desperation in his face. Heard it in his voice. How many times had she told him that she understood? Ten? Had he even heard her? She saw what being in the room was doing to him, seeing another Hyde, feeling the same pulse of something unnatural that she did. But it looked like it was magnified in Mitch. Like every tendon, every muscle, every joint was frozen, his face filled with terror at something in himself he couldn’t control.
Oh no. She hoped it was a trick of the light. That his eyes weren’t actually lightening, changing, transforming into Hyde’s. “Landon, you need to get him out of here! Now! He can’t do it alone, and without a key, I can’t help him.”
He turned towards Mitch. “Oh, shit.”
Though she couldn’t see his face, she heard the shock in his voice. “Get him out of here! Now. I’ll be fine for a little while longer. Right now, he needs your help more than I do.”
Mitch swallowed. “I can’t make my feet work.”
Landon seemed confused but, as always, the guy was on it. “Where’s the key?”
“I saw one of the guards put it around his neck.” Before they took Fields out. “But they all look so similar, I don’t know which is which.”
“There are multiple keys?”
“No, I was talking about the guards. I’m pretty sure the key works in both cages, and I doubt they’d all share one key.” Not when Alex thought it was so much fun to torture Hyde01. “Find Alex. She probably has a duplicate.” After a quick explanation of where Alex’s office was, she shooed him away. “Hurry. Mitch is…”
They both looked at him. Shock and fatigue from his muscles being contracted so tightly for so long were making his entire body shake. Landon ran over to him, prying his arm away from his side and looping it around his neck.
“I can’t move my feet, man. I can’t…fight it.” Mitch’s voice brought tears to her eyes—it sounded hopeless, as if he’d already given up.
“Hurry!” she yelled. “Knock him out if you have to!”
Landon stopped trying to walk next to him, wrapped both arms around his waist, and yanked backwards, practically dragging him to the door. Mitch’s legs moved stiffly, erratically, content to stay stuck to the poisonous ground, even as it killed him.
“It’ll be okay, Mitch,” she called. “You just need to get away from him. It’s his pull. He’s not you. He’s nothing like you. You’re better than he is, Mitch. Don’t forget that.” She kept talking until the door closed behind them. Then she glared at the monster one cell away from hers and wished for freedom that might never be.
§ § §
Each step gave Mitch control, little by little, as more distance was put between him and Hyde01. He could think more clearly, evaluate and reassess the situation. But each step was also painful—taking him away from someone he loved and who needed his help. And right now, he was useless to her.
By the time they got out of the room, he was crying. Not bawling like a baby, but close. Inside. On the outside, it was just a single tear. He didn’t bother to wipe it away—it was a sign of who he was, who he’d always be. A useless pile of shit. But free of the confines of the room, at least he could move on his own again.
“Next time we fight each other,” Landon said, a tight-lipped smile on his face, “we’re doing it in there.”
“You’re a good man, Landon. You’re a fucking good man.”
Landon brushed off the compliment with a shake of his head. “So make sure I get out of this alive. Got it?”
“Got it.” Alright, bastard. What the hell you gonna do now? If this was his last stand, he needed to be standing. “I can walk now…I think.” Freed from Hyde01’s force, he shifted onto his own feet, hearing Landon’s sigh of relief.
“Was it Hyde?”
Mitch nodded, but said nothing. Words couldn’t even begin to explain what had happened, how lost he’d been. But he was back now, shaking out limbs that were finally listening to his brain. A brain that was finally doing what it was supposed to. A moment ago, he prayed for death, but he couldn’t just go out without doing something right.
“Okay,” Mitch said. “Time to reevaluate. Just in case you missed it, I can’t be in that room. You’re going to need to get her out of there without my help. I can play gatekeeper and kick anyone’s ass who gets close, but if they get past me, I’m no good to you at all.”
Landon smirked. “So then, nothing’s new. You’ve never been any good for me.”
“I could fucking kiss you right now, you know that?”
“You even try, and the only way you’ll be able to stop anyone from going through that door is as an unconscious lump on the floor that they have to hurdle over.”
“No kissing, got it. Shall we go find the key to Emerald City and get her the hell out of here?”
“No skipping either.”
CHAPTER XXX
Alex’s office was just down the hall, exactly where Eden had said it would be. But Carter’s keycard didn’t unlock the door.
Mitch kept his eyes on the hallway, playing look-out while Landon grumbled. “If it’s not working, no amount of swiping will change that.”
“Damn it.” Landon waved the card, yet again, in front of the lockbox.
“Use your gun.”
“They’ll hear it.”
“Don’t shoot the lock, beat the shit out of it.”
Landon checked that the safety was on, and smacked the knob hard. “This isn’t going to work.”
“Then come up with another option.” Then he heard an odd thunk, and the door swung open. “See? Told you it would work.”
They went inside—Mitch to the desk and Landon to the file cabinet. Papers flew everywhere as Mitch ran
his hand over the mess, hoping to find a key, hear the sound of metal hit the floor. No luck. He started rummaging through the drawers.
“Oh man,” Landon said, a few manila folders in his arms.
“We don’t have time for paperwork, Landon. We need to find the fucking key.”
“You don’t understand. These files are about all of you. Psych stuff.”
“Great. I’d be happy to lie down on a couch sometime and tell you all my feelings, but can we focus on the key right now?”
When Landon reached down and picked up a planner from the floor, Mitch had to stop himself from yanking the cop backwards by the neck.
“Landon! We have no time and no key!”
“This is information that we need.” The bastard didn’t even look up, just set the planner down on the desk and started flipping through pages. It must be in his blood—once a detective, always a prick who cared about asinine things like justice and evidence.
No. The only thing Mitch cared about was currently in a cage they didn’t have a key for. In a room he couldn’t go into. And the only person he could rely on was more interested in tree-pulp than a mostly-human being.
“Eleven-oh-five.” Landon stopped. But then he looked down again, mumbling some more numbers. He glanced up to the ceiling, repeating them. The lock wasn’t the combination kind, so what the hell was Landon trying to memorize?
Mitch was tired. Tired of worrying. Tired of feeling so fucking dependent on other people. Tired of being so goddamn useless. He went to a bookcase next to the door, not really expecting to find the key there. But, then again, his expectations always fell flat, so maybe the reverse was also true.
And then someone outside said, “What the hell?”
Mitch pressed himself against the wall as the door opened. Before she could scream for help, Mitch threw one hand over her mouth and dragged her inside the room with the other. Eyes wide, pulse pounding in her neck, she careened into the desk. He pressed her backwards until she was practically sitting on it, using his body to keep her from moving.
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