Page 148 of Wicked Nightmare

As the doctors droned on about test results and genetic markers, I felt that darkness rising. It was the same well of fury and pain I'd drawn from every time I'd put a knife to someone's throat or watched the light fade from their eyes. But this time, it wasn't just anger. It was purpose.

These memories weren't just nightmares anymore. They were blueprints for revenge. And I was going to paint this whole fucking world red.

Without warning, a new voice cut through the clinical chatter, deep and authoritative. I turned my head, my gaze landing on a man in an impeccably tailored suit. His presence commanded attention, and even the doctors fell silent.

"Gentlemen," he said, his eyes gleaming with pride and something darker, "what we have here is perfection."

His approval shouldn't have meant jack shit to me, but some small, twisted part of me preened under his gaze.

"Patient X is everything we've worked towards," he continued, circling me. "We must submit her DNA for future subjects. Along with Patient Y, who exhibits remarkable levels of intelligence, brutality, and strength. The things these two could do together..."

I wanted to spit in his face, to wrap my hands around his throat and squeeze until that smug look disappeared forever, but my body remained motionless, a puppet awaiting its master's command.

The scene shifted abruptly, and I found myself staring at a grainy ultrasound image. A doctor's voice filtered through my consciousness.

"The fetus is developing exactly as expected. Brain structure is showing early signs of enhanced amygdala and lowered pain responses. It is also showing remarkable intelligence markers. She might outpace her mother."

My stomach churned. This was my baby they were talking about. My daughter.

"Heart rate and growth are optimal. The Vessel is progressing perfectly."

A scream caught in my throat as I fought to release the violence, to tear the whole fucking place apart with my bare hands. But all I could do was lie there, paralyzed, as they discussed my child like she was a nobody, yet a somebody, all at the same time.

"With Patient X's genetic enhancements and the carefully selected paternal Y DNA, this child could be the key to the entire Chimera program," the suit said.

My mind reeled. Paternal DNA? Who the fuck was the father? And what sick game were they playing with my girl's life?

Wait... Y... Patient Y. Cam? They made Cam the father. The truth was there, in my memory. The swirling white liquid from months prior, the constant talk about our "perfection." It all clicked. Cam and I... we had a daughter. My heart clenched. The child we'd always wanted. And so much of her life already missed by us.

As the scene began to fade, I clung to the image of that tiny heartbeat on the screen. Whatever they had planned, whatever sick destiny they'd mapped out for her, I'd find her and make each one of these fuckers fade into oblivion.

Everything shifted, and suddenly I was staring into Cam's dark, piercing eyes. We were in a sterile room, the walls that sickening shade of white. My belly was swollen, stretching the thin hospital gown they'd forced me into.

Cam smiled down at me, his hand hovering above my stomach. "Looks like we've gone and made ourselves a little monster."

"Guess they figured our fucked-up genes would make one hell of a runt," I said, with a grin. "But she's ours... all ours, baby. We're gonna be a family."

Cam's eyes flickered to my belly, a possessiveness I'd never seen before sparking in their depths. "Our little hell spawn," his hand dropped to my stomach.

A guard's voice barked out, "No physical contact!"

Cam's hand dropped, his rage barely contained. But he pulled back, his trademark smirk sliding into place.

"Wouldn't want to taint the precious experiment, now, would we?" he said.

I wanted to reach for him, to feel his skin against mine, to lose myself in the chaos of us, but the guards watched our every move, their hands hovering near their weapons.

"How long?" I asked, hating the vulnerability in my voice.

Cam's eyes softened for a fraction of a second. "Not long enough, sweetheart. Never long enough. But at least we have this. I promise, when I'm done my time, I'll find you. We will be a family. I promise, baby, I promise."

As they led him away, I felt something inside me crack. Our child, growing inside me. Ours. A piece of me and Cam, tangled together in all our beautiful, broken glory.

I'd protect her. No matter what it took. No matter how many bodies I had to leave in my wake.

There was nothing left to reach for. The void finally had an answer for the question that I needed to know, and I felt myself being pulled back to the present. But my mind was still there, in that sterile room, with confirmation sitting in my gut like a victory.

My chest felt like it was caving in. A pressure I'd never experienced before. Someone had reached inside and started squeezing my heart, twisting it until I could barely breathe. What the fuck was this? I'd killed people without blinking, watched the light fade from their eyes with a smile, but this... this was different.