Run To Me (Lazarus Rising #4)(34)

A wild shriek erupted from her. She lunged toward him, her scream echoing in his ears.

Before she could reach him, Flynn grabbed her. He locked his arms around her stomach and hauled her back, having to use his own super strength in order to hold her in check.

“He can’t die!” Willow yelled. “He can’t!” Tears slid down her cheeks.

“What in the holy hell is happening here?” Sawyer muttered.

Jay never let up on the pressure. “He used some kind of trigger word on her, hypnotism or mind control or some freaking thing. Wyman got in her head.”

She head-butted Flynn. Screamed. Nearly lunged free.

God, it hurt to say, but he had to do it. “Take her downstairs to containment,” Jay had to force out the words from between clenched teeth. “Don’t so much as fucking bruise her,” he warned grimly. He’d made sure all of his properties had containment rooms. Rooms that he had specifically designed for the Lazarus test subjects. Some of those subjects weren’t threats—some were like Flynn and Sawyer. Totally in control.

But others—like Bryce King—they were unhinged. Dangerous to humans. Psychotic. And they had to be secured.

Right then, Willow was fighting like a woman driven mad. Sawyer had to lunge up and grab her when she nearly knocked Flynn out.

Flynn and Sawyer carried her back inside as she screamed. Her screams were like knives cutting into Jay’s soul. I’m so sorry, Willow. He’d said he wouldn’t lock her up again. And he’d just been the bastard to give the order.

He looked over his shoulder. Saw the men who were there, tense, waiting. West was in front of them, his hand on his gun. A gun that had been up and aimed—

At Willow?

“Don’t even think it, man.” Jay gave a hard shake of his head. “She’s going to be fine. She just needs—” Jay broke off because he didn’t know what she needed. But he’d figure it out. He’d give it to her. “Just make sure all of your men understand the situation.” Code words—what he really meant…Make sure your men know that what happened here will never be discussed—or there will be hell to pay.

“P-protect…”

Shit, Wyman was talking? He’d thought the guy had passed out.

“P-protect…”

“You think I’m going to protect you?” Jay demanded. “Hell, no. But I am going to keep you alive. You’ve got a lot to answer for—”

“Willow…Protect…”

Jay leaned closer because it was hard for him to hear Wyman’s words. “Of course, I’m going to protect Willow. Why do you think I had her taken inside? You are the one who hurt her, you screwed with her mind, you—”

“Mine…”

A growl broke from Jay. “The hell you say! Willow isn’t your creation, she’s—”

“Daughter…”

The last word was barely a whisper. If Jay hadn’t been so close to Wyman, he didn’t think he would have heard it. But he fucking did hear it, and his whole world seemed to stop spinning.

Wyman Wright’s eyes sagged closed. The bastard was barely breathing.

“No!” Jay shook his head. “You’re lying!” Had to be a lie. A trick. Wyman was trying to get into his head, that was all. “You’re lying!” Jay shouted even as he kept working on Wyman’s body. Trying to help the bastard. Trying to get him to breathe. To live.

“Talk to me, you sonofabitch!” Jay yelled. “Talk, fight!” Because the guy wasn’t dying. No way. Jay couldn’t let him die.

Daughter.





Chapter Nine


“He can’t die.” Jay’s words were flat as he stared at Dr. Elizabeth Parker. Elizabeth…his friend, former lover, and the woman who’d created the Lazarus formula. The woman who hated Wyman Wright just as much as he did.

No, probably more. Because Wyman had killed Elizabeth’s lover and put Sawyer in Project Lazarus.

“You have to keep him alive, Beth.”

They were in a private hospital. He’d taken over the whole floor. Money could be handy—money could buy nearly anything in this world. Right then, it was buying him a place to hide Wyman Wright and a mini-army of guards to keep the floor secure.

“He’ll need transfusions,” Elizabeth said. She was wearing green scrubs and a face mask dangled around her neck. “I checked before I came to talk with you. The wound is bad, not going to lie, but I think he’ll pull through.”

“He has to pull through.”

Her eyes gleamed. “I understand how important it is to find the others, okay? I get this, I don’t—”

“You have Willow’s DNA.”

Her lips parted. “Uh, yes, I have the DNA for her, Flynn, and Sawyer. Why do you—”

“Wyman said he was her father.”

She stepped back. “What?”

“Wyman Wright.” Jay glanced over his shoulder. No one else was there. “Bastard said he was Willow’s father.”

Elizabeth shook her head. “I didn’t know that Wyman had any children.”

“The guy’s life is shrouded in mystery. He’s got enemies all over the globe. Makes sense that if he did have kids, he’d keep them secret.” Wiley bastard. “Or could be he was just jerking me around. We all know how much he likes his mind games.”