Page 97 of Beyond Reason

I didn’t have time to look for it, but I did have time to bend down and scoop the dead man’s gun from the ground. When I checked, I realized I was right.

He’d emptied the entire thing like a jackass in a Western movie, and a quick search of his body showed me he didn’t have any more bullets.

What a fucking amateur.

It was a good thing no one else had to know that. I was close now, the office was just down the hall. I could feel him waiting for me.

The room was empty when I rounded the corner—I probably would have moved too if I’d heard that much gunfire. My head fell against the doorframe and I took in a slow breath; my body was aching, my gun was empty, and I had to find Axel.

I had to find him.

“You know they’re going to kill you, right? Your best bet would be running while you have the chance.”

Relief struck me so violently I almost went limp at the sound of Axel’s voice drifting to me from down the hall. He sounded fine—maybe a little worried, but he was okay. I knew I still had to deal with the people in the room… with a gun that didn’t have any bullets. And I probably needed to figure out the blade still sticking out of me, but…

Well, I didn’t have time to worry about any of that right now. I just hoped in my next life, my fucking birthmark wasn’t a slash on my shoulder.

I made my way down the hall to the double doors at the end, and rounded the corner.

There was a tall, slender man with dark, curly hair who had a gun pointed at Axel… and there was an older man in the corner who was looking at me with a grin. I recognized him from the pictures we’d seen—Nathaniel West.

I pointed the gun at his smirking face and said a silent thank you that I’d brought it with me, even if it was empty, because the smug expression wavered for just a second before he forced it back into place.

“So nice of you to join us, Mr. Benham.”

He knew who I was—that was good. At least I didn’t have to pretend to be Marshall.

“Why don’t you tell your little friend to stop pointing his gun at Axel and let him go? You don’t want him, right?” It took everything I had not to turn my full attention to Axel, to rush to him… to ask him if he was okay and run my fingers over all the places where his skin was marked. I needed to touch him.

“Otto.” Nathaniel’s voice was calm. “Kindly keep your gun on Mr. Fetterman. As long as you do, I have a feeling the situation will remain under control.”

He was so wrong—everyone in this room who’d had any part in Axel getting hurt was going to die.

“You don’t have to do this, you know.” Axel’s voice came out soft, controlled… and it took me a second to realize he wasn’t talking to me or the man I had my gun leveled at. “You’re not part of this, Otto.”

I frowned. Not part of this? Otto had a gun pointed at Axel. Of course, he was part of this.

“He’s every bit as much a part of this as I am, regardless of the circumstances that brought him here. Do you think you can sway him with pretty words?”

Circumstances that… Was the man pointing a gun at Axel like me? Like Kade? Something about the way Nathaniel West looked at him with a proprietary expression told me he was.

“Listen, I don’t give a fuck who anyone is,” I snapped. It drew all eyes in the room back to me, though Axel’s instantly dropped to my shoulder and the knife sticking from it. “All I care about is getting Axel out of here safely. So, let’s make a deal, hm? What do you want?”

“Xavier, don’t—”

“Do you remember anything from your past life, Mr. Benham?” Nathaniel’s voice cut off Axel’s protest, and I smiled at him.

“Of course,” I lied. “I remember everything.”

Axel fell quiet while the man in front of me smiled. “Perfect. If that’s the case, you wouldn’t care to come over here and prove it, right? Draw up a syringe with an appropriate dosage of FM87s.”

Fuck, I didn’t even know if that was the name of the damn drug I’d been injected with. It sounded familiar from the file I’d read, but I hadn’t realized I was going to be quizzed on it.

“I said I remembered everything, I didn’t say I was stupid. I’m not putting my gun down unless he does, too.”

My empty gun. Shit.

I needed the upper hand. I needed a few seconds where Axel wasn’t in danger, and I’d kill them both. I needed—

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