Page 106 of Sawyer

I’ve dealt with Roger squared and Tomi threatening to end me and even took their hits, and then I got back up again, but this moment imbeds itself into my head, searing into my memory.

And the fear? It leaks through the suppressors, and the scent of rotten limes fills the air before me.

It’s just us. The guys are tied together, and Bryn was still a third of the way out from the edge of the cliff. There’s no telling how long it will take him to reach the edge.

Static fills the air again, and the gun presses tighter against my temple. “Baron, check in.” The static dies, and a slight click sounds close to my ear.

“Yeah,” the man says beside me. “I’m here.”

“Location,” comes the steady reply.

“East ridge, by the bridge. Two alphas, a delta, and a gamma,” he says with a strained voice and a grunt.

He’s hurt. Bryn hit him.

“Twenty out.”

The man tosses the walkie-talkie to the side before he speaks to me. “I know I’ll be dead by the time my rescue shows up,” he whispers. “Now they all know about you.”

I clear my throat, working up my courage. “Who?”

His chuckle is strained, and the gun falls away.

I spin too fast, my head swimming as I throw myself backward, away from him and over the dead body.

The beta sits before me with his knees up and his hand pressed to his side. Dark circles deepen his eyes, and his dirty blond hair sticks to his sweaty forehead.

He’s dying, and he knows it. His last-ditch effort was to inform whoever he reports to about us.

“You do not know what you just walked into, sweetheart.” He scoots backward until he hits a tree. His cold eyes remain on me the whole time, and though his strength is leaving him, he still aims his gun at me.

“What did I walk into?” My voice shakes as I remember my camera is still running. All of this is being recorded.

“I know who you are,” he says instead of answering my question. “You think they’ll spare you because the city splashed your face across billboards and bus station terminals? They won’t spare you. They won’t even care. To them, all you are is an experiment.”

“Who?” I ask.

“I should thank you really.” His head thumps against the tree, and for a long second, his eyes close. “Answers require sacrifice.”

“What does that mean?” I inch closer because my curiosity drives me, the need to know pulling me taut like a rubber band.

His eyes open ever so slowly. “You’ll get a number.” He licks his lips. “A room, a cage.”

My mouth dries as he speaks. Is this what happened to all the gammas?

“They are all there,” he whispers. “And the doctor? He’s the worst of them all.”

“Who is the doctor?” I press.

He only shakes his head. “You’ll find out soon enough.” His words are a warning, a lethal promise. “And your men?” His voice drops even more. “They’ll die.”

Blood rushes to my ears, and a smile stretches across his face as he takes in my fear. “Why would you, a beta, work for someone who is experimenting on and killing gammas?” My voice shakes as I ask the question.

His chuckle is cold. “You only have a part of the puzzle.” He tries to sit up, but he can’t. Blood gushes from his side, spilling onto the dirt. He glances down at it and curses. “That’s the only way we can tell you.”

“What?” I pull my gaze away from the blood pooling beneath him.

“I know I’m dying. The magic keeping my secrets is dying too.” He lets go of his side, no longer bothering to staunch the flow of blood. “No one can tell you about a fucking thing until death hovers over their shoulder and the fates clip that string of life.”

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