Page 94 of Beyond Reason

He didn’t know Xavier at all. He sounded casual, cheerful even, but I could clearly hear the undertone of danger and worry in his tone.

“Now, here’s what’s going to happen. I’m going to start raining fire all over your fucking parade unless you make the smart decision and… Fuck, how do they say it in the movies? Come out with your hands up?”

My brows snapped together. He sounded a little too casual. Which meant that Kade was probably with him. But why had he given his position away?

Nathaniel West turned to the computer in front of him and hit a few buttons on the keyboard—the sound of the door behind us locking in place might as well have been a gunshot. Not only had he given away his position, but he was giving his target time to barricade himself behind closed doors.

I’d hoped he would find a way to sneak in and get me out of here without putting himself in danger… not put himself in the line of fire as…

What?

A distraction?

“He’s not very bright, is he? It’s no wonder he died so young.”

It took every ounce of self-restraint I had not to throw a punch at his smug face. The only reason I didn’t was because I didn’t know if Otto had been given orders to shoot me if I made a move. It wasn’t like they had a purpose for me anymore. I’d been bait, and I had to wonder if that was what I was supposed to be all along.

“Xavier…” I had no idea if he could hear me. “Unless you have an amazing plan, you need to get the fuck out.”

Fuck. I really hoped those weren’t the last words I said to him.

Again.

Chapter 29

Xavier

Come on you son of a bitch, be a coward already. You know you want to.”

I could see Axel on the screens, standing in a room with two other men, but I couldn’t figure out where he was. I would have rather silently made my way through the building until I got to him, but the security system made it impossible—apparently there were access codes and electronically locking door mechanisms, though I still couldn’t wrap my head around all of it.

Kade read off a string of numbers over the phone, then punched something into the main computer. Apparently, that was all Jensen needed. I was too engrossed watching Axel on the screen and waiting for Nathaniel West’s reaction to pay attention to the information being relayed. It didn’t matter—if we got out of this alive, I’d hand deliver that flash drive to Jensen with a thank-you card and flowers.

He’d warned us that the exterior of the building was more heavily guarded than the inside, and Kade and I had taken that information to heart and gone through nearly a dozen men to gain access to the front gates. The interior of the building was just as heavily guarded, but Jensen was confident that the bulk of that responsibility went to their security system... which meant we needed to shut it down if we wanted access to everyone inside.

“I hope Jensen is as good as he says he is.” Saying it aloud sounded ridiculous. He’d already proven he was by getting us through the gate remotely, even though that was as far as he could touch without the codes we’d given him.

Kade shrugged, looking around the room. He was practically vibrating with the need to start moving, tensed and coiled and confident. I’d probably be confident too if I literally handcuffed my boyfriend to the bed to make sure he didn’t follow me. Seth had promised he’d stay back at the hotel and wait for his call, but his word alone didn’t seem to be enough.

Kade wasn’t very trusting, it seemed. And honestly, from the look on Seth’s face, I had a feeling he’d been right to cuff him there—he probably would have followed us.

Now wasn’t the time to ask Kade how they made their relationship work—how Seth still let him be the person he obviously was without losing his mind every time he did something dangerous.

I needed to rescue Axel before I worried about convincing him to let me keep working. And honestly, seeing him on the screens was driving me to the point of completely losing it. He was hurt. There were bruises on his face, a cut on his lip.

Finally, an alert that a door had been locked lit up on the screen. Down the hall, one level below me.

That’s where Axel was.

“Gotcha, asshole.”

I took my finger off the intercom button and turned to Kade.

“Whoever touched Axel is mine.”

For just a second, we shared a look, and I could feel the connection between us. We both knew what it was like to be willing to burn down the entire world around us if it meant we could protect the people we cared about.

Kade had been here before with Seth. He knew what this meant.

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