Page 71 of Twisted Gift

I flip him off—with both hands.

“What’s the plan?” My hands clench into tight fists at the sight of at least five Experiment members turning the corner a couple hundred feet in front of us. One of them shouts when they spot us as if they think that’ll make us comply with their order to stay put.

“Get through these bastards. Find the self-destruct button, and bring this place down.”

“What?” I shriek, my heart slamming against my rib cage. “What shitty action movie has you thinking that could possibly be a good idea?”

He blinks. “I heard one of them mention the button when they thought they’d knocked me out.”

Son of a bitch. He’s serious.

“They have a plan in place in case their mission is compromised.” He’s talking so fast I can barely keep up. “They can’t have the general public finding out about their organization, so they have contingency plans in place.” He shoots me a dark grin, lowering his voice as the mob of white coats gets closer. “Bombs in the basement of the building. Enough to bring the entire place to the ground.”

I don’t have a chance to respond. I’ve never been in a real fight before, but somehow my survival instincts kick in, and my leg kicks out, catching the first woman in the gut. She doubles over, groaning.

Max makes quick work of snapping a few necks, leaving me shaking as I go head-to-head with another woman. The sound of their bones breaking so quickly and easily at Max’s hands echoes through the hall and around my head.

“Stop fighting us, Aurora. You’re safe now. You’re not like them.” She risks a glance at Max. That’s when I strike. My fist flies toward her face, and when it connects with her nose, I hear a satisfyingcrunchas it breaks. Blood gushes from her nostrils, and she cries out, stumbling back into the last guy.

Max and I exchange a look. I nod at him, and he advances. I close my eyes, unable to watch as he snaps their necks.

“Aurora.”

My eyes fly open at the sound of my actual name on Max’s lips. He’s standing in front of me. I blink a few times then glance down to see his hand held out to me.

I nod once, grabbing his hand. “Let’s bring this place down.”

We’ve been running through the building for what seems like forever. Anytime we run into more Experiment members, we fight through them, leaving more bodies piled on the floor in our wake. They must know we’re making our way through the floors. What they probably don’t know is what we’re planning.

Max is about to finish off another member, but I grab his arm. “Wait.” I pull the badge off the guy’s jacket. “He’s got a higher security clearance than the rest of them. He might know where it is.”

Max’s lips twist into a smile that would turn anyone’s stomach sour. “Wonderful.” He flicks his tongue over his bottom lip and jerks the guy’s face toward him, staring deep into his eyes. “Where’s your little self-destruct button?”

The man’s eyes widen as if he’s surprised we know about it. “It’s a mobile, handheld unit. It’s moved once every few days and only a few people know where it is.”

“Where is it?” I snap as Max digs his fingers into the man’s neck.

His face starts to go red. “It’s... in the... control room one... level below.”

“Good. And how does it work?”

“Once the button is pressed, the building locks down. The doors seal, keeping everything already inside here. Then the explosives detonate, ensuring the building and everything inside is completely destroyed.”

My entire body feels cold, and my voice trembles when I say, “Ask him if the room is guarded.”

Max repeats my words, using his manipulative influence over the man.

He nods. “Of course.”

“How?” Max snaps.

“By guards.”

Max looks as if he’s struggling to keep himself from killing this guy before we get the information we need. “How many?

“Th-three, sometimes four. The detonator device is locked in a cabinet. It’s heavily guarded. You can’t get in.”

Max’s responding smile is slow, wicked. It shoots goosebumps across my arms. “Thanks for your help,” he says. “We’ll take it from here.”

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