Perceive by K E Osborn

 

 

AXEL

TWO MONTHS LATER

 

Six years ago, I lost her.

Kenzi was a part of my club, The Malice MC, where we both grew up together. We formed a bond so tight I thought nothing could tear us apart, until she vanished into thin air one day without a trace.

I was a brother, a valued member of the MC, but I had to find her. It was my mission moving forward. So, I joined an elite team, a section of the government so deeply hidden that even the highest officials don’t know of its existence.

I joined The Agency to find her.

My team, the SO7, did just that.

We failed the first time I tried to rescue her.

When I laid eyes on her, I was so fucking shocked, I let her walk with the asshole who took her from me. Ever since we left the desert to regroup, I can’t get my head straight.

Dammit! I was so goddamn close.

All this time.

So many fucking years searching for her, and she was right there, writhing in my grasp, but I failed to bring her back with me.

My stomach swirls at the thought, almost making me puke all over the goddamn ground. But we’re going at it again, and this time, I won’t come back without her.

No. Matter. What.

My team leader, Kace, grunts out the words, “We go in. Extract Kenzi. Then leave,” Kace snaps sharply, succinctly, his eyes holding mine with each enunciation.

I suck in a deep breath, thankful for my team who is willing to give this shit one last fucking shot before we give up. We’re too close now. So close, I can’t let her be snatched away again.

“None of this trying to get Rix or Gibbs shit. We’re there for Kenzi. Simple extraction only. Got it?”

The group of us take a collective breath.

Every single one of this team has my back. Even the SO9, whose asses we just fucking saved from a slaughter because someone didn’t do their damn job properly. Kace points and we all move forward, our bodies aching and sore. But we’ve learned how to block it out. Pain is a mindset—you give in, it will destroy you. So, you learn to push past it, deal with it later when there isn’t an army trying to murder you and the people you care about.

My focus as we stomp through the forest toward the mansion on the hill is Kenzi. How will it be to feel her, to touch her, to hold her, to simply breathe knowing she’s alive and back with me.

Losing her felt like losing an important part of my body. Like a part I couldn’t survive without, but that merely made life hard, more complicated, and constantly painful.

As we approach the mansion, I use one hand to pat myself down, checking where I have my ammo stashed, which weapons are still available and how many. It’s an important part of the preparation, and I spot the team beside me following suit before moving their fingers back to the trigger of their guns.

With wide-open eyes, I watch for Kace’s direction as we reach the mansion. He orders a couple of the guys from the SO9 around the sides to deal with the guards, and we barely have time to pause when the gunfire comes quick and hard, encouraging us forward.

The adrenaline whooshes through my veins. It almost feels like my skin is tingling, like it’s been hit by a wave of cold air. But it is good—it calms me, cools me down, and stops my body from getting too hot. It’s too easy to overheat and sweat your brains out at times of stress like this, where you end up with sweat in your eyes cutting your vision or clammy palms that mean your trigger finger slips at the wrong time.

I move into autopilot, letting my instincts take over, knowing I rely on my aim and my skills—and my team—to get us through. I rattle off a few rounds as we make our way up the staircase and into the building, avoiding the tumbling bodies as they fall to my left and right.

That’s one thing you don’t want to think too much about.

You’re killing people.

Taking their lives.

If you let that really sink into your veins, it will poison you.

So, you pretend…

… you pretend you’re in The Agency running through drills, shooting at dummies, so you don’t have to consider you’ve just killed someone’s father, brother, son.

Right now, I must focus on Kenzi.

One task—I have to get her the fuck out of here, out of this fucking toxic environment. My head is telling me things are going to be fine, but my gut is telling me this is just the first fucking day of many days in a strange fucking hell.

The steady bang of guns drowns out any other senses as we move down a long hall. One after another, men run at us with automatic weapons, protecting the door at the end of the hall with their lives.

Too bad they’re too slow.

Before most of them can even lift their weapons, we move forward like a steady wall of gunfire, dropping them to the ground and stepping carefully over their bodies as we leave a sea of blood in our wake.

Kace preps us before we move forward, letting us know to expect anything before we throw these doors open, one by one, and storm in like an army going to war.

Luca taps the doorhandle and shoves hard, sending the double doors flying open.

We move through quickly, my eyes scanning every inch of the room for anything or anyone that might pop out or looks out of place.

But there’s nothing.

It’s a simple room.

Nowhere to hide.

There’s a lab set up in the middle with some burners and test tubes.

And her.

My stomach drops to the floor as I lower my weapon.

Kenzi’s eyes meet mine, holding my gaze for what seems like fucking forever. My fingertips start to itch. They want to touch her, to reach out and sweep softly over her cheek just to check she’s real.

I lift my foot, ready to give in to temptation, but before I can, an eerie grin creeps up onto her face. It twists something inside me, and I grit my teeth, steeling my spine like I’m suddenly not looking at the girl I fell in love with when I was a kid, but simply looking at the enemy.

“You took your time,” Kenzi says with that sickening smile.

A growl rumbles in my chest.

I don’t like this.

I don’t know who the hell this is.

“Sorry,” I snap. “We were busy being fucking shot at.”

Her smile grows bigger as she leaps to her feet, her eyes searching the room.

Kace moves quickly though, leveling his gun at her. “I’ll shoot you. I swear to fucking God, I will. You ran last time, and I ain’t putting my team’s asses on the line one more fucking time to save you.”

Her tense gaze sweeps right past Kace like he didn’t even fucking speak, her soft green eyes falling on me. I remember them so well, the way they remind me of spring, when the grass is new and full of life. That was her, always so bright and full of life. They are like evergreen trees, never letting the darkness or the cold of winter destroy their beauty. They’re so perfect, so distinct, and I instantly thought I would feel that coming off her in waves even after all this time.

But I don’t.

The green in her eyes isn’t as bright.

And it’s framed by these dark circles and hollowed-out cheekbones that makes it look like she hasn’t been fed in months.

There’s no life there anymore, and my ears start pounding, my fingers rolling into clenched fists as my pulse elevates in rage.

“I don’t need saving,” she spits, holding my gaze. “I need you to leave me the hell alone. I need you to let me do my job, so more people don’t die.”

A wave of confusion rushes over the room as everyone looks at each other, wondering if Kenzi is lying or just completely delusional. She’s been working for a biochemical warfare agent. She is the bad guy in all this, but she doesn’t know what she’s been doing.

At least that’s what I am hoping.

Maybe I have her all wrong?

Maybe she knows exactly who she’s working for, what she’s been doing, and the weapons she’s been mass creating?

“We need to grab her and get the hell out before more of Rix’s men come after her,” Noah warns loudly.

Kenzi stands a little taller, the smile ever-present as she shakes her head. “You can’t take me. They won’t let you. I’m too important!”

Everyone is waiting for me to say something, but all I can do is stare at her. This broken figure. This shell of a woman who I simply don’t recognize. “Kenzi,” I finally try something. An attempt to keep my voice stern and loud and not let it break. “You can be free of all of this. I can help you… whatever’s going on. You know I will!”

She sighs heavily and shakes her head like she’s disappointed. “Axel, you just don’t get it. I have to stay. I won’t let you take me.” She crosses her arms and lifts her chin.

While trying to keep from exploding, I clench my jaw. Always so damn stubborn!

“Sorry to break up this reunion, Axel, but we don’t have time for this,” Reid states sternly, his brow pinches together, looking just as impressed with Kenzi’s little attitude as I am. “If you want an extraction, we have to do this now. Otherwise, you know what the alternative is… and I have fucking awesome aim.”

I don’t bother to respond, I couldn’t even if I wanted to. Instead, I allow Kace to do what he does best, take charge, get the job done, and fuck everything else.

At this point, I can’t let my emotions get involved, not now, so I need to take a step back, let my team do the work for me before I fuck it all up.

Again.

“Don’t you come near me!” Kenzi screams as Eli and Blair grab her on either side. My body moves on its own, pulling to her desperation, to that pleading look in her eyes that for a second, I feel like I know.

With every fucking instinct inside me, I struggle, fighting to hold myself back as Kenzi fights my friends, throwing her body around, breaking shit and sending liquids of who knows fucking what flying from different tubes and burners. Eli wraps himself around her, trying to keep her contained. But she’s found this strength inside to fight, despite her frail body looks like it could break at any moment.

Kace heaves in a deep breath and turns to me. “We have to sedate her, Axel.”

I’m not happy about that, and the idea of it instantly makes me feel so fucking helpless.

Tanner helps Noah pull the syringe from his backpack.

All I can do is fall back, attempt to keep myself and my emotions somehow separated from the screaming in my head that is telling me to help her.

To fight for her.

Tanner holds her arm down. Kenzi’s desperate screams that I will hear echoing in my head for days after this, begin to soften, her body falling almost instantly limp in Eli’s arms as Noah injects the solution into her arm.

I feel sick, my body slumps as I fight to keep my legs sturdy.

Luca sweeps an arm around me, helping to hold me up as we collect ourselves and make a plan to move out.

There aren’t words for the way my chest aches, watching Eli carry this weird, tiny carbon copy of Kenzi.

Is it her?

How can it be her?

It just doesn’t make any fucking sense.

All I know is, I’m determined to find out what the fuck happened to her, and how the hell I am going to get her back.

Whether it completely destroys me in the process or not.