Run To Me (Lazarus Rising #4)(33)

Outside, Jay heard the squeal of tires. The shriek of brakes. His men had arrived, the back-up team. “You’ve lost, Wyman,” Jay said, but he was staring up at Willow.

Her fisted hand had lowered, but she still straddled him. Her left hand was at her side, and her right still gripped his wrist. Willow wasn’t shoving his fears at him. She wasn’t fighting him. She was struggling to find her way back to him. To push back the compulsion that Wyman had used on her.

“No, I don’t lose.” Wyman cleared his throat. “Willow, move away from him.”

Her head swung toward Wyman. And Jay’s gaze followed hers. Wyman stood just a few feet away, and he had Jay’s gun gripped in his hand. Wyman aimed the gun at Jay.

“You’re the biggest threat to her.” A muscle flexed in Wyman’s jaw. “So you’re going to be eliminated. I always protect Willow.” He exhaled slowly. “Get off him, Willow. Come stand beside me.”

She didn’t move.

“Bloom, Willow. Bloom!” Wyman yelled.

Her body shuddered.

“Willow, dammit, I don’t want to shoot you!” Wyman’s face flashed with what looked like torment. “But you’ll come back.” His fingers were shaking around the gun. “I made it so that you’ll always come back. I just—I’m sorry, Willow. I have to do this. You should have just moved away from—”

He was going to shoot Willow. She might die again. She’d hurt, she’d bleed, and she’d go wherever the hell it was that she went when she died.

No. Jay surged up, shoving Willow back. “No!” Jay bellowed. He twisted his body, trying to protect her, even as he heard the blast of the gun. He tumbled Willow back onto the floor. He covered her with his body. Glared at her. “You stay down. You aren’t dying again!”

He heard footsteps rushing away. Freaking Wyman trying to escape. Jay surged to his feet.

Willow’s gaze was still glassy and cold, her body too tense. She looked confused and scared, and he wanted to protect her—

The best way to protect her is by stopping Wyman.

“I’ll be back, baby, I swear.” He chased after the bastard. “Wyman!” Jay shouted. “There’s nowhere to run!”

The jerk fired the gun again. The bullet sank into the frame of the door, sending chunks of wood flying at Jay. He ducked, and Wyman’s steps thudded again.

Sonofa—

“Freeze!”

The shout had come from the front of Jay’s house. He scrambled toward the entranceway, and he saw that Wyman had wrenched open the front door. The guy stood there, his weapon in front of him, pointing it at whoever was waiting outside.

“I’ve had a really shitty night,” came West’s voice. “Nearly got blown out of a chopper. Since I figure that’s your doing, you don’t want to piss me off anymore. Drop your gun.”

Wyman wasn’t going to drop the gun. Jay knew it. The bastard was the type to go down in a blaze of glory, and if he could, he’d take out as many others as possible in that blaze.

And he’ll take out my brother to hurt me.

Jay didn’t hesitate. He surged forward, and he slammed into Wyman. They tumbled through the front entrance, and they hit the ground even as the gun fired one more time. For a moment after that thundering blast, there was silence.

Then Jay became aware of the drumming of his own heartbeat, pounding far too fast in his ears. He flipped Wyman over. “Okay, you asshole—”

Blood. A whole lot of it. The porch lights shone down on Wyman, and Jay could see the blood that was covering the man’s stomach.

That last thunder of the gun—

Hell. The bullet had gone into Wyman.

“Get an ambulance!” Jay bellowed. He put his hands over Wyman’s wound. The blood pumped between his fingers.

Wyman groaned. “You…you want me…dead…”

“Yeah, I do,” Jay agreed immediately. “But I also want to know how many others you’ve experimented on. You’re answering for your crimes. You got me? You’re—”

The guy’s eyes rolled back into his head.

West crashed to his knees at Jay’s side. Flynn and Sawyer were there, too. Voices rose and fell behind Jay, but he didn’t look back. He kept his focus on Wyman Wright.

The boogeyman. The big, bad ruler of D.C. Only the guy was bleeding out in front of him. Dammit.

“We need him alive,” Sawyer gritted.

Jay just pushed down harder on Wyman’s gut.

“He’s the only one who knows how many test subjects are out there. Fuck.” Frustration boiled in Flynn’s voice. “He could have labs running right now. We need the bastard alive!”

“Then you’d better get an ambulance here fast,” Jay bit off. “Because unlike you two, he’s not going to come back once his heart stops.”

A sharp gasp had his gaze flying up. Willow stood in the doorway, her body swaying a bit. Her eyes were wide, her face far too pale. She stared down at Wyman in horror. Then her shocked gaze rose to lock on Jay’s face. “What did…” Her voice was barely above a whisper. “What did you do?”

Wyman’s blood was all over his fingers. The guy was gasping out, barely breathing, and Jay knew the man’s death would be on him. Literally on his hands. “Willow,”