Page 67 of Beyond Reason

As it was, I was still reluctant to take any part in this.

“They’re after you?”

I slid the unopened bottle I’d pulled from the refrigerator along the bar, and Seth caught it before his question had even left his lips.“Apparently. They keep talking about information I took. The last guys said something about taking me to meet their boss.”

At that, Kade’s mouth ticked up at the corner in the slightest smirk.

“If they’re so desperate that they’re trying to track you down, it means I’m doing better than I thought.” He sounded so fucking pleased with himself. There was obviously more going on than I knew about, but maybe we were finally going to get a few answers, whether I wanted them or not.

“I think we all need to sit down and share information. You’re here, which means you want our help, even if you don’t want to admit it,” Axel added the last bit before Kade had a chance to argue. “And I’m willing to share whatever information you want if it means people will stop trying to kill Xavier. So… consider this a mutually beneficial working relationship.”

And like the killer other than myself in the house had agreed to the terms already, Axel walked across the room and made a point of sitting down on the couch, like we were just a group of old friends catching up.

I guess, in a way… we were.

Chapter 20

Axel

Ishould have known better than to call Kade. I should have thought about it and realized he was one of the most dangerous people I’d ever met. It was obvious that dying, coming back, and finding someone who he apparently cared about enough to keep? None of that was enough to make him any different.

He was all predator, all monster.

But… he was a monster with a pet now. That pet sat beneath his arm with a leather jacket that was entirely too big for him thrown on over a faded black hoodie. He looked rumpled and sweet, and for all the world like he didn’t belong in the room with three men who made death their profession in some form or another.

He was smiling at Xavier, who was looking at him with a bemused expression. I couldn’t blame him—Seth was too soft, and he was snuggled into Kade’s side like the man hadn’t killed more people than I could keep track of. Hell, even though I’d been working nearly the entire time he was active, I’d only been called to his scenes a few times.

He was that good.

“So, you’re after the same people we are, huh?” Seth finally broke the silence and let out a small squeak of a sound when Kade’s arm around him tightened. I didn’t like the way he was still glaring at Xavier like he was a target.

“They’re after me, if we’re being honest. Apparently, my little vehicle here decided to steal information before…” Xavier trailed off, and his eyes flicked between Seth and Kade curiously. “What exactly did happen? Do you remember?”

Seth turned to Kade, and his copper ringed gaze flashed in annoyance for a second before he finally rolled his eyes and nodded.

“Uh, I wasn’t… exactly there for it, but I was?” Seth started, and the way he phrased it made me sit forward a bit. Even though having them here wasn’t as safe as I’d hoped it would be, they were still a font of information I wouldn’t have had otherwise. Kade had been through whatever Xavier had gone through, so he would know if something was going to happen to bring Marshall back.

He would know how safe it was to really believe I could keep him forever.

“You…” Xavier had apparently picked up on something that I hadn’t. “I saw your name in the file… but half of the information about you was encrypted after their initial experiment. You’re like us?”

Seth’s expression fell slightly, and he toyed with the frayed edges of his hoodie string for just a second before shrugging.

“Kind of? When I came to the facility with…” He paused, and his breath hitched for just a second. “When I came with Jayce, we were both injected with their little fucked up serum.”

At the name Jayce, Kade’s arm slipped around Seth’s waist and he pulled the smaller man onto his lap like it was a perfectly normal thing to do in front of other people. And maybe for them, it was. I was holding Xavier’s hand like I was afraid something was going to tear him away from me, so I couldn’t really say much.

“But… you’re still here and… he isn’t?” Xavier pressed, but his eyes flicked between the two men again like he was already making leaps of logic I hadn’t grasped onto yet.

“I was taking something else, and it interacted with the drugs. When my past life showed up, I was still here. We kind of shared? Until I got caught…” Seth’s eyes dropped. “He was the one who brought you back. I wasn’t really in control of myself when he did it, but I remember. I saw it.”

“So, I’m… not like you?” Xavier’s voice was careful, but I could hear a small spring of hope welling somewhere in his chest. I felt the same thing, twisting somewhere in my gut and tethered to him.

“I don’t think so. Clay…” Seth paused at the name again and took another breath. “He injected you with a dose of the same shit they gave Jayce. And… he can’t come back. Unless you have a man talking to you in your head, I think you’re safe.”

“What about dreams?” I cut in finally, and Seth winced. I watched a myriad of emotions trail across his face before he finally blew out a breath and nodded.

“Yeah, I mean, all of those memories are still locked away somewhere inside of him. It would make sense if he… dreamed… sometimes.”

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