Page 98 of Beyond Reason

“Come on now, Mr. Benham. Show me you still have the information I need trapped in that head of yours, and we’ll release Mr. Fetterman.”

He was lying. I think we both knew it, but that didn’t stop me from walking to him with the gun leveled at his chest.

“Fine. Show me where everything is.”

He moved as I moved, putting the table between us and shifting closer to Otto.

Closer to Axel.

I didn’t like it.

He gestured to the table in front of me, picking up one of the syringes in a slow movement and holding it out to me.

“Well?” He sounded impatient.

“I—” I picked up a vial of blue liquid with a frown. I just needed to stall long enough to get into a better position… or for Kade to make his way down here, or—

The label on the vial just said Re-X2.

Well, shit. I’d failed that little bit of bullshitting spectacularly.

“Disappointing, Mr. Benham. Very disappointing. Though I’m sure with enough time, we can figure out how to bring those memories back to the surface.”

I forced myself not to sway—blood loss was a bitch.

“Xavier, how hurt are you?” Axel could tell, if no one else could. His voice was strained, and when he shifted forward like he meant to come to me, Nathaniel tsk’d.

“Shoot Mr. Fetterman if he moves again, Otto. We don’t need him anymore.”

I froze—his gun was still pointed at Axel, and even though I knew I could kill Nathaniel West, I wasn’t sure if I’d be fast enough to kill them both.

Not in this body.

Not with my injury.

And not with an empty fucking gun.

“Or you can just go,” Axel said calmly, though I could see his hands shaking. His eyes kept flashing to me. “Xavier didn’t come here alone. This place is going down one way or another, Otto. There are others like you, people who have been hurt by all of this… and they want revenge.” Axel paused, his expression imploring, almost pleading. “This isn’t your fight—you didn’t ask for this shit. Time to break the leash, right?”

“Otto.” Nathaniel sounded furious at the implication his pet might betray him.

“Others? Here?” He completely ignored Nathaniel’s command, his attention fully on Axel.

“Yeah, others. If I’m right and they’re here with Xavier, this whole place is going up in flames. He’s probably making his way from room to room killing everyone he comes across. The guards, the scientists,” Axel paused, then added, “the test subjects. Everyone.”

I noticed the man tense for just a moment, his expression going hard before smoothing out completely.

“Okay.” Otto’s voice came out cool, calm. Reasonable. “I’m taking what’s mine and I’m leaving.” He turned to me and tilted his head. “I can do that, right?”

I stared at him—on one hand, Kade wanted to kill everything breathing in this building. On the other… Was it really his fault that he was here? He was apparently part of their experiment, just like the rest of us.

“Don’t go out the front if there’s another way.” I honestly wasn’t sure where Kade was anymore, but that was the best I could give him.

Maybe it was dangerous, letting him run loose. But Axel seemed to trust him on some level, and I was positive Kade was more than capable of taking him out if he ran across him. Either way, taking the loaded gun out of the equation was the right decision.

“I can handle that.”

He sat the gun he was holding on the table beside Axel and walked out of the room without looking back.

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