Page 6 of Beyond Hate (Beyond #3)

Otto

T his wasn’t going the way I thought it would. I’d been so sure that as soon as I got Nikki, it would feel good to watch him writhe in pain, good to watch him slowly break apart while he had to see our brother being tortured to death.

It felt… unsatisfying… because when I went to Marco, I did it because he’d insulted London . When I started torturing him, I wasn’t even thinking about Nikki.

It was that soft face, those sweet blue eyes. A boy I didn’t know.

A lost little rabbit.

I’d pretty much killed my oldest brother, and I did it going completely against the grain, in complete contrast to the reason I should have.

Because he’d insulted London.

Fuck me.

I paced in front of the room, my eyes watching the man behind the glass.

Days had passed since I’d nearly killed Marco, and London still shook when I came into the room during the day to start Warren on his injections.

He still clung to me every night when I snuck between his sheets and pulled him against my chest to protect him from the sound of our brother whimpering and screaming while he had nightmares.

He was… confusing. The rigid line of his shoulders told me he could tell I was here, even if he hadn’t said anything.

Even though he couldn’t see me, it was like he could feel me.

And even though I had no reason to go into the room until later today, when they would give Warren his final injection to bring him fully into awareness of his past life, I’d been drawn to the glass. To the room.

To London.

The knowledge made me back away… sent me to my room.

It left me carefully digging through my bag.

I’d demanded they give me the serum that brought people back from their past lives so I could bring Nikki to the forefront on my own timeline, and Nathaniel had been more than happy to oblige.

I think he was enjoying it—watching me slowly tear people apart and documenting the way their minds were twisted by seeing the others in the room being tortured.

The man who would soon be Warren had already broken.

He barely spoke. He barely ate. He’d watched me break Marco and slowly lost his mind with each flayed piece.

It was no wonder a scientist like Nathaniel was more than happy to give in to my demands.

And now…

Well… now I held the solution to my problems between my fingers.

It was the final vial that would bring Nikki back to me.

The other four vials in the case were just precursors.

Still full. Still waiting for me to even start.

London was a distraction—a pretty, scared distraction.

I’d never really meant to bring him here.

For some reason, I’d been so sure that if I showed him who I was, if I told him what he’d done to me, some part of him would remember.

But he didn’t.

The only thing that seemed aware of me was his body, and that body leaned in instead of away like it should have.

He moved into me like he had when we were younger, when I’d still trusted him.

When I’d loved him.

Before…

My hands clenched, fingers tightening around the vial until I worried I was going to shatter it.

I couldn’t do that, though.

Nikki was… as always… making me feel out of control. It warred with the almost dull sensation of psychopathy still bouncing around in my mind from the man this body had belonged to… and it made my head hurt.

I had to figure out how to fix this.

I had to—

“Ah, Otto. I’m glad to see you aren’t busy.” Nathaniel West’s voice interrupted my thoughts, bringing me up short as I flipped the vial into my palm to hide it. “I wanted to let you know we have a new guest. I’ll probably need your… services… in the next few days.”

I didn’t have to be smart to realize he probably wanted me to hurt something, and I’d heard the commotion of them bringing someone in earlier.

They’d been on the trail of an escaped scientist for a while now, so it wasn’t a surprise that they’d finally caught the wayward Marshall Lister.

He apparently had company secrets hidden away…

I wondered exactly how much it would take to make Nathaniel West realize I wasn’t going to be his personal little torture pet. Not when London was here.

Not when I had my own concerns.

I pocketed the vial with a sigh and stood up, smoothing my hands carefully through my long curls, brushing them away from my face and straightening my suit jacket.

“Get your little scientist settled while I deal with a few things, then I’ll be at your service… sir.”

Like he knew what I was talking about, Nathaniel laughed.

“Oh, no. It’s better. We captured his lover.

There’s nothing more interesting than live bait, now, is there?

” His eyes flicked to me, one brow arching.

“When it comes down to it, a man in love will always come for the person who holds his heart, even if he knows it’s a trap. ”

I could tell things in the building were shifting. There was a tension in the air that wasn’t there before, and it made me hasty. Maybe I was conflicted about what was going on with London, but I wasn’t confused about Warren. He’d been worse than Marco.

He’d tortured me before I’d been captured. He was half the reason I ran to begin with. Things were changing, and a part of me was positive this little experiment was going to come to an end soon… and I still wasn’t sure if London believed me.

When I came into the room this time, I had an entourage of scientists at my back.

My eyes were all for London as his head jerked up, even though his were all for what was happening behind us.

That was fine… the show was all for him anyway.

He hadn’t seen the truth in my words before. I’d make him see.

The first needle made the man’s body jerk.

I’d made it clear that both of my brothers were dangerous, that there was no reason for them not to be secured when they were brought back.

It wasn’t because I was concerned they’d hurt me.

I just didn’t want them offing themselves before I had an opportunity to get my fill of revenge, and there was every chance they’d do it just to spite me.

His eyes flared wide for the briefest flash—bright hazel and full of broken accusations—and then he went limp.

Another assistant came into the room, and they were efficient when they took Marco from the wall and placed him back on his bed.

I wasn’t even sure if it was necessary to restrain him at this point, but they still strapped his limp body to the frame.

They didn’t even bother cleaning the blood from the metal when they chained the second man to the wall where he’d been.

“What are they doing?” London’s voice was soft when he finally spoke, and I leaned toward him like we were just two school kids watching an experiment.

“They’re bringing our brother back.” My eyes searched his face, catching sight of the slight disbelief still lingering in the back of his gaze. For some reason, it infuriated me. I needed him to believe me. “You want to see that I’m telling the truth? Watch.”

He seemed incapable of doing anything else as the man strapped to the wall woke. He fixed the two women with his confused expression.

“Don’t… don’t, don’t, don’t.” He muttered the same word over and over again in desperation. Watching me torture Marco really had broken him, but that was fine. I wasn’t interested in him .

And that terrified expression slowly faded as one of the women stepped forward and slid a needle into his throat. The final injection.

The others had just dazed him for a while, given him nightmares of a life he’d lived before…

But this…

This was going to change everything, and all I could do was watch London as it happened.