Page 99 of Beyond Reason

Suddenly, Nathaniel West wasn’t as secure as he thought he was.

“Otto!” he shouted after him. “I gave you back your life. I own your life, you ungrateful bastard.”

“You can’t own a person, you shit.” My voice came out a little thicker than I meant it to, and I swayed again. Nathaniel was staring at the doorway with an incredulous expression, but Axel’s eyes were all for me.

“Baby, are you okay?”

“If you’re okay, I’m okay. Let’s shoot this jackass, and we can go home.”

I gestured toward Otto’s gun, but Axel’s voice cut me off. “Wait.”

“Why?” I was tired. I was so fucking tired now that I’d found Axel and I could see he was safe. Whole. Intact, and worried about me.

“Where are the others?” He turned his attention from me and back to Nathaniel.

“Others?” I hated that I sounded confused. I hated that I felt confused.

“There are other places like this, other people he wants to hurt. I want to know where.” I’d never heard Axel sound like this. I knew he was capable of killing if he had to, but the way he talked to Nathaniel West told me he wanted a reason to pull the trigger. The fact that there were other people in danger wasn’t a concern to me. I didn’t care about any of that. I just wanted Axel and me to walk out of here in one piece.

Nathaniel West apparently didn’t care anymore, either. He knew he was outgunned and outmatched—the man in front of us let his dark eyes drift for just a second from Axel to myself, then he nodded. “There’s too many for me to tell you. Take me to my office and I’ll give you the files.”

Bargaining. He was still bargaining, as though he had a chance of getting out of this alive. Was he so arrogant that he thought he’d be able to talk his way out of his fate?

“Do you know where his office is?”

Axel flicked his eyes from his target long enough to glance at me. “I do.” He was moving toward Nathaniel.

“Then why do we need him to give us anything? Get Otto’s gun. I’m done with this.”

I wasn’t sure if he realized when I asked Axel to get the gun, or if he was just desperate enough that he was willing to risk it. Whatever the reason, I think Nathaniel West knew that he wasn’t getting out of the room alive, and he was going to make sure that he took one of us with him. I was already moving around the table, but an empty gun was useless, and I realized a second too late he hadn’t put down the syringe he’d picked up earlier—the syringe that was full of blue liquid.

I knew what the drugs did.

And I saw the way his eyes focused on Axel.

I didn’t think. It might have been Marshall’s muscle memory that told me exactly what happened next. Or maybe it was knowing that I’d die if it meant keeping Axel safe. I’d found him once… I would find him again.

The gun in my hand fell to the ground, and I twisted the knife from my shoulder with a scream—the blade took Nathaniel in the side just as he lifted the syringe up and the needle slammed home in my chest.

The man in front of me was grinning—a knife in his side wasn’t enough to kill him, but the sudden echo of gunshots was.

One pop, then another. He fell to the ground with two holes in his head, his blood and brain matter splattering across the floor.

I turned to see Axel holding Otto’s gun and Kade standing in the doorway.

“Took you long enough,” I murmured. It sounded less scolding than it should have, since I was swaying where I stood. The needle was still sticking out of my chest, and I yanked it free a second before I felt it. The burning sensation along my muscles, tearing across my body where the drug had seeped in.

White-hot heat… and for a brief moment, a flicker of memory, like a light flaring bright before it went out completely.

Seth standing in front of me—only it wasn’t Seth, it was a man named Clay—and a needle jamming into my skin. Falling to the ground and hitting my head. The betrayal, the fact that I’d just wanted to help them.

I stumbled back with a low groan and nearly fell against the desk.

This was how Marshall had died.

The ground suddenly came rushing to meet me, but I didn’t remember falling.

I just remembered Axel running to catch me.

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