Run To Me (Lazarus Rising #4)(68)

“She doesn’t have scars,” Jay said, his voice thick. Little more than a growl. “If your story is true—”

“If? If?” And for just a moment, Wyman didn’t look so weak. His shoulders snapped up. His voice hardened. “I wasn’t going to have her seeing the mess he’d made of her body. You have no idea just how many government projects I controlled. Getting her to live was step one. Healing her skin was step two, and trust me, the surgeries were one hell of a lot easier than step one.” Red spots of color rose on his cheeks. “I made deals with every person I could find. When she got out of that lab, I worked with people I hated to find her. But she was my priority. Always has been. Nothing else can matter.”

Sawyer cleared his throat. “Yes, um, this is very interesting, but I think you’re all overlooking one important point.”

Jay’s gaze swung to him.

“The formula only works on the dead. Willow isn’t dead, so the grand plan won’t work. It won’t—”

“He’s going to kill her.” Jay’s voice was flat. Cold. Totally at odds with the hell-hot fury inside of him. “Then Lucas will give her the formula.”

“He can’t do that! For her to truly die, he’d need to put a bullet in her brain. Even with the serum, how does he know she’d come back from that? He doesn’t have the medical training necessary to bring her back. He doesn’t understand the preservation process!” Sawyer argued. “He can’t—”

“Then he’ll get someone who can.” Shit. Shit.

Sawyer’s eyes widened. “No.”

Yes. There was only one person in the area who knew how to administer the Lazarus formula. Only one person who could bring Willow back.

Elizabeth Parker.

“He’s not touching Elizabeth,” Sawyer vowed. His face was mean, dangerous. His whole body actually seemed to expand with his fury.

Elizabeth was in the hospital. She was close by.

“Don’t even think it.” Now Sawyer was standing toe-to-toe with Jay. “You aren’t using her as bait. That shit-show routine didn’t work with Willow. And I’m not risking the woman I love.”

They should be clear on one thing. “Elizabeth is my friend. I wouldn’t put her in jeopardy.” He held Sawyer’s glittering gaze. “But I will do everything possible to protect the woman that I love.”

Wyman sucked in a sharp breath. “Willow—”

His head turned. Jay inclined his head toward the man who’d been—still was—his enemy. “I’m getting her away from him.” No matter what he had to do or who had to die.





Chapter Seventeen


The needle shoved into Willow’s neck. A hard jab, and then she felt ice snaking through her veins.

“Just have to keep you under control.” Lucas leaned forward and brushed a kiss over her cheek. “But after you get the Lazarus formula, everything will be okay again. No more tranqs, no more road blocks. No more bastards in our way.” Another kiss. “Just you and me. The way it always should have been.”

Her legs gave way. But he caught her. Carried her to the bed. He put her down on the sagging mattress. Sat beside her. His hands caged her body, resting on either side of her as he leaned forward.

The ice had spread through her body. She wanted to punch him. Wanted to rage and attack, but she couldn’t.

“That tranq could take down five elephants.” He brushed her hair away from Willow’s forehead. “It can take you down, too.”

Her eyelids were trying to sag shut. She forced them open. Her cuffed hands were lodged behind her back.

He gazed at her tenderly. “I have missed you.” His head cocked. “And you missed me. You love me, Willow. Always have.”

No.

“Wyman introduced us, did you know that? He wanted someone strong for you. Someone who could protect you from all of the enemies that he had in the world.” His eyes crinkled at the corners, as if he were remembering. Enjoying the memory. “The first time I saw you, I knew you were going to be mine.”

Jay. She focused on him. Focused wildly and completely. Jay. Other Lazarus subjects could communicate telepathically, so maybe she could reach him. Maybe she could do more than just show fears to people. Maybe if she tried hard enough, she could get into Jay’s head.

“You wanted me, too. God, I loved fucking you.”

Jay. Jay, I need you.

“You don’t remember what it was like, but you will, you’ll remember—”

“Jay,” she gasped out his name, forcing it past a thick tongue and lips that felt numb.

Lucas’s smile slipped. The crinkles vanished near his eyes. “You fucked him.”

Jay!

He grabbed her jaw, clamping down with fingers that bruised. “You’ll forget him. Forget every second with him.”

She didn’t want to forget. She always wanted to remember him. He’d made her feel whole. Good. Special.

He’d made her…love.

I love you, Jay. I should have said something, but I was afraid. So afraid. She was tired of the fear, tired of—

“You bitch,” Lucas snarled. “You loved him?”

Had she spoken out loud? Had she—

He yanked her head to the side, and the last thing she heard was the snap of bones.