Page 117 of Wicked Nightmare

"Come for me, baby," I said, and she did. Her whole body locked up, her back bowing off the wall, her nails raking down my chest hard enough to draw blood, and she clamped down on me so tight it bordered on pain. The sound she made was half scream, half sob, raw and ragged, and it ripped through me, pulling my own orgasm out of me with a force that buckled my knees. I spilled into her with a groan that echoed off the bathroom walls, my hips jerking, riding out every last pulse inside her.

We stayed like that for a minute, breathing hard, the water turning lukewarm against my back. Her forehead rested against mine, her eyes closed, her body limp in my arms. I held her up because that's what I did. That's what I'd always do.

"We needed that," she whispered.

"Yeah. We did."

I set her down carefully, held her steady until her legs stopped shaking. We washed each other off in the cooling water, quick and efficient, the post-sex tenderness giving way to the reality that Sarah was sitting in our living room waiting.

I stepped out first, wrapping a towel around my waist. Lakey followed, her wet hair clinging to her shoulders. We dressed quickly in sweats and shirts, both too wrecked for anything else.

As we headed back to the living room, I caught Lakey's eye. The dark circles under hers were worse now. We looked rough, but her lips quirked up in that little smirk I loved, the one that said we made it through another shit show, babe.

The living room was dim, early morning light barely filtering through the newly boarded-up windows. Sarah and Rose sat on the couch, sipping tea. All the blood had been cleaned and the room reeked of bleach.

"Well, isn't this nice," Lakey said, dropping onto the armchair. "Nice handiwork with the windows. Very post-apocalyptic chic."

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well, it's all we could find. I see your charm hasn't improved with age."

Lakey grinned. "Aw, you know you missed me, Sarah."

She perched on the arm of my chair, her fingers playing with my hair. I leaned into her touch, letting some of the tension drain. We were safe. For now. But how long would that last?

Rose cleared her throat, gesturing to a plate of sandwiches on the coffee table. "I made these for you both. Figured you'd be hungry after... well, you know."

"Fuck yes," I said, grabbing a sandwich and taking a massive bite. Ham and cheese had never tasted so goddamn heavenly. I nudged Lakey. "Babe, you gotta try these. Rose, you're a fucking angel."

Lakey snagged her own, practically inhaling it. Between bites, she mumbled, "This is amazing, Rose. Thank you."

I watched her eat and took a moment to enjoy the silence just existing. Not running or fighting or killing. That's why when Rose came, we'd taken the time to play house. We were so used to living in our own chaos that there wasn't room for much else, but this felt... normal. Which was its own kind of terrifying. Now that I'd had a taste, I craved more. More peace, more fun, more time to just exist outside the bloodlust that always seemed to follow me.

Sarah set down her mug, her expression shifting. "Now that you're both settled, I think it's time I filled you in on what's been happening."

I swallowed my last bite, leaning forward. "Yeah, about that. How the hell did you get away from Chimera? From what we pieced together, they don't let go easily."

Sarah's eyes hardened. "It wasn't easy. They had me for years, running foster homes, placing kids. You weren't the only ones who went through extensive testing. No, I can't answer where you first came from. I just don't know. They never told me. Just handed you both to me and saw to it I placed you wherever they told me to. I wear the scars of my own. It took years to build up their trust in me. It started simply. Just monitor kids in and out. Then they piled more on. Then the testing started, and it was too late to back out. They knew everything about me."

"Sounds like a real fucking picnic," Lakey muttered.

Sarah nodded. "Oh, it was, but they underestimated me. I played along, let them think they were succeeding. All the while, I was watching, learning, planning."

Grudging respect. She had always been tough, but this was next level.

"One night, during a power outage, I made my move," Sarah continued. "They'd moved me into this 'housing unit,' which was really just a way to monitor us. I'd memorized the guard rotations, hence how I knew Christian. I knew exactly where the blind spots in their security were."

"Damn," I said. "How many did you have to kill?"

Sarah's eyes met mine. "I had help, but three. It wasn't pretty, but it was necessary."

I nodded. Sometimes you did what you had to do to survive. No judgment from people who enjoyed tasting blood on their tongues.

"After that, it was staying off the grid, gathering resources, tracking down allies. I had a friend in a morgue fake my death," Sarah said. "It took months of careful planning, but here I am."

Lakey leaned forward. "And how exactly did you find us? We're not exactly listed in the phone book."

I tensed, waiting. It was the question that had been nagging at me since she showed up.

Her eyes flickered between us. "That's where Kyle comes in," she said, her voice dropping a notch.