Run To Me (Lazarus Rising #4)(23)

He didn’t either, but, sometimes, secrets were necessary.

Willow’s head swung toward Sawyer. “Don’t you mind? Don’t you…don’t you hate that they were together?”

“Makes me want to drive my fist into his face some days,” was Sawyer’s drawling reply. “But then I remember, Elizabeth is with me. She chose me. Then I get to leave his face exactly as it is.”

Um, okay. Jay glared at the guy. “Not helping much.”

Willow rubbed her forehead. “Everything is jumbled. Confused.” Her eyes squeezed shut. “Anger. Jealousy.”

Wait—Willow was jealous? Because of Elizabeth? Reva? She didn’t need to be.

Then her eyes opened. “Who is John Smith?”

Back to that. Fine. So it looked like they were having this little talk right then and there. “He’s another Lazarus subject I managed to track down. You know I’m looking for the others.”

She gave a jerky nod.

“I found him right before Christmas.” Tread carefully. “Turns out, he was in the same North Carolina lab that you were. He remembered hearing the guards talk about you.”

Willow took a step back. “I don’t know him.”

“John said he never actually saw you.” So she probably didn’t have memories of the guy. Which was why he hadn’t pushed too hard for them to meet yet. “But he overheard the guards and doctors talking about you.”

“You were the control subject,” West murmured.

Really, why was everyone oversharing right then? He tossed a glare at his brother.

West just shrugged. “Man, I get that you’re trying to protect her, but sometimes, a person needs to hear the truth.” He paced forward. “John Smith was experimented on in that lab, killed again and again, just so he could be brought back. From what we can tell, you were isolated, never allowed contact with him or with anyone else at the facility. You were the controlled comparison. I’m guessing they wanted to see how far they could push John.” West inclined his head toward Sawyer. “And all the others. See how far they could be pushed before—”

“They broke?” Willow finished.

West didn’t speak.

So Jay did. “We know some of the test subjects can’t handle the surge of darker emotions. They go…” Now he was the one to stop, letting his words flounder.

“They go crazy.” Once more, Sawyer wasn’t sugar coating. “Absolutely fucking psychotic. And that’s why we’re hunting them. We have to figure out who’s sane and who is a threat that has to be eliminated.”

Willow’s hands twisted in front of her. She stared down at them. “Which category am I in?”

“Willow.” Jay’s voice had turned rough.

She glanced up at him. “Or are you all still trying to figure that part out?”

Enough. Jay positioned himself right in front of her. He held her gaze as he said, clearly and flatly, “There is nothing else I need to figure out about you. You aren’t a threat. You aren’t psychotic.”

“If you were,” West pointed out from behind him, “don’t you think Jay would still have you locked up in one of those hi-tech cells he created for the Lazarus subjects?”

Jay’s eyes squeezed shut. Not helping, West. Not helping at all. “We’re leaving.” Enough talk. Enough fucking drama. His eyes opened. Willow was staring at him with her wide eyes, and so much emotion burned in her blue stare. The problem was that he couldn’t quite decode what she was feeling.

“I’ll check the exterior perimeter.” Sawyer gave him a nod. “Flynn is still in the club, making sure no signs of trouble are in there.” Then Sawyer was heading out the back. A few moments later, he gave a low whistle, and Jay knew they were good to go.

They filed outside. The limo was waiting. A new driver was there, one of the guards West had handpicked. Willow stilled, and her gaze swept the dark alley. A light drizzle of rain had begun to fall on them.

“All clear,” she whispered.

The shooter wasn’t going to make another appearance. Maybe he had run. But we’ll find you, eventually.

Jay and Willow slid into the car. Before the door shut, West leaned inside. “I’ll have guards tail you. I’m going to do a little more recon. Want to check in with the cops, see if they turned up anything new.”

“Watch your back,” Jay warned him.

West just smiled. “Don’t I always?”

The door slammed shut. A few moments later, the limo was rolling away from the club. When they swept around the corner, Jay glanced through the tinted windows. A throng of bodies surrounded the entrance to Push. His latest investment seemed to be a definite success.

The silence continued in the limo as they drove away from the center of the city. His home was just outside of D.C. Jay liked his privacy, and the estate certainly gave him that. He had several houses, all scattered around the U.S. After growing up without a home at all, he knew he’d overcompensated. But so the hell what?

His gaze swept toward Willow. She was staring out of the window. She looked so beautiful sitting there. Her soft profile. The long tumble of her hair. Her silken skin.

“Why are you watching me?”

His lips twisted. “Because you’re absolutely beautiful.” An honest answer.