Run To Me (Lazarus Rising #4)(35)

Elizabeth pulled in a deep breath. “What if it is the truth? What are you going to do?”

Cross that damn bridge when he got there. “Priority one is keeping him alive.”

She gave a brisk nod.

“We make sure he keeps living. We make sure he stays in our custody. Then we find out about Willow.”

He heard the double doors swing open behind him. Jay looked back and saw Sawyer marching toward him.

“Status,” Sawyer prompted.

“In surgery. And I’m heading in to monitor right now.” Elizabeth squared her shoulders.

“I’ll be here,” Sawyer vowed. “I’m not leaving until I talk to that bastard.” Rage vibrated in each word. Sawyer was justified in feeling his fury. His hate.

Plenty of people in the world hated Wyman Wright.

Plenty of people wanted to hurt him.

Is that why he kept his daughter’s existence secret?

Elizabeth hurried away. Jay expected Sawyer to immediately rush after Elizabeth and push into the operating room, but instead, Sawyer asked him, “What in the hell happened with Willow?”

Jay straightened his shoulders. “Wyman happened to her.”

“She was out of control.” Sawyer’s face was tense as he grabbed Jay’s arm. “I tried to reach her mind, tried to use our link, but there was nothing but chaos inside.”

“I’m going to her.” He shrugged out of Sawyer’s hold. He’d already been away from Willow too long.

But before he could get to the doors, Sawyer was in his path. Sawyer’s eyes had narrowed. His body was tight with tension. “I need to know why Willow attacked.”

Jay didn’t have time for this interrogation. He needed Willow. He had to get to her. “The guy used some kind of trigger word. One minute, Willow was normal.” Well, that wasn’t exactly the truth. She’d seemed different, almost scared, when Jay first saw her in the study’s doorway. “He said something about needing her to bloom, and then she was attacking me.” His chin notched into the air. “But she stopped herself, you understand me? He was trying to control her, he wanted her to force my fears into my head and immobilize me, but she didn’t. She fought him. Fought whatever mind control shit he did to her.”

Sawyer shook his head. “Didn’t look like she was fighting him when I was there. The woman was in a killing rage.”

It hadn’t just been rage fueling her. When he’d looked at Willow in that moment, he’d seen grief in her eyes. Grief and…betrayal?

Because I’d nearly killed her father? Did Willow know the truth? Somewhere, deep inside? Was it possible? Or maybe just seeing Wyman Wright had stirred memories for her. It happened that way with some Lazarus subjects. They could connect with certain individuals from their pasts. The stronger the emotional tie, the more likely the subject was to pull forth memories.

Sawyer was the perfect example of that scenario. He’d remembered nothing about his past, not until Elizabeth had come back into his life. As soon as he’d seen her, a primitive awareness had flared to life within him. After that, the guy had been determined to claim Elizabeth, determined to reconnect with the one person who mattered to him.

“We don’t know how many men and women might be working for Wyman.” Those at the scene had fled as fast as they could when they realized Wyman had been taken out. Jay had let them go, because his priority had been Wyman. And it wasn’t like he could just lock up all those bastards. “We need to keep our guards up. Be ready for anything.”

“Always am,” Sawyer murmured.

“I’m going back to Willow.” He nodded once, curtly, “I can trust that you’ll make sure Wyman doesn’t leave? And that nobody from his team comes to save his sorry ass?”

“No one will be getting in,” Sawyer assured him. “Count on it.”

Right.

Jay headed forward, reached for the door.

“I know you think she needs saving.”

He stilled at Sawyer’s low words.

“I thought the same thing. Flynn did, too. She’s one of us, after all. She’s been hurt. Damaged. But, hell, at one point, I thought Bryce King was one of us, too.”

Jay swallowed.

“We all know how that turned out,” Sawyer added darkly.

Yes, they did. Bryce had been a sadistic killer, and he’d formed an obsession with Flynn’s lover, Dr. Cecelia Gregory. Cecelia had originally been hired by Wyman Wright. Her job had been to help the test subjects transition to their new realities. She hadn’t been told the full truth about Project Lazarus. Cecelia hadn’t realized that she was literally working with the dead, not until it was too late.

And Bryce King already had her in his sights.

“You should get Cecelia to talk with Willow.” Sawyer’s voice was low. “And, damn, I hate to say it, but you shouldn’t let Willow out of containment until we get Cecelia’s take on this shit.”

Jay turned on his heel, once more facing Sawyer. “You’re saying I should just keep Willow locked up? You are telling me this shit?” Sawyer had been locked away, too, once upon a time. He knew what hell it was.

But Sawyer nodded. “I don’t like it, but I also don’t like the fact that I couldn’t touch Willow’s mind. It was like she was gone, and someone else was in her place. Willow is very, very powerful. And when she wants to use her psychic strengths, she can completely disable anyone near her. She’s a threat that can’t be underestimated. We need Cecelia’s take on this, and we need it now.”