Page 51 of Into the Fire: After
“Am…” I cleared my throat. “Am I dead?”
Brea and Lin grinned at me, and Brooks threaded his fingers with the hand they weren’t holding. Caine brushed hair off my forehead. “No, sunshine, you’re not dead.”
“Yeah, see?” Brooks said with a grin as he reached over and—
“Ow!” I squealed. “You pinched me, you jerk!”
“Bad form, Beta,” Brea said, but a smile lightened her voice.
Caine whacked him on the back of the head, making his curls jump. “That’s foram I dreaming,shithead, not posttraumatic stress.”
Brooks draped himself across the bottom of the bed, over my shins, and propped his head on his fist. “I don’t know, couldn’t it be both? Pain is life, and life ain’t dead.”
Caine groaned, a hum that vibrated under my cheek, and Lin gave a low chuckle. “You are a beautiful, beautiful little dork,” he said.
The normalcy of the air around me—the teasing and smiles, the little touches of affection—hell, thelaughter—gave me vertigo.
Fuck,hadall that shit actually happened? Or was I waking up from the worst heat hallucination ever?
“But…but all that…” I looked between them, confusion and anxiety building pressure in my chest. “That happened?”
Brea smoothed her cool fingers down my temple, thumb stroking over my cheek. “Yeah, Teacup, all that happened.”
She sent me comfort and warmth down the bond, calming me.
For a moment, anyway, until I realized hers wasn’t the only bond I felt anymore.
“Oh, shit!” My eyes went wide, looking between Caine and Lin. At the still-fresh wound on Caine’s arm, on Lin’s shoulder. “I guess it did, huh.”
“I’m glad it did,” Brooks said, though his eyes were sad. Now he was the only one Ididn’tfeel under my skin. “The bites are the reason you’re out now. And while Brea and I did have a supersolid plan to save the day and be heralded as heroes, whatever got you all out fastest was the way to go.”
Slowly, gently, they filled in the gaps of my memory.
The rooftop rescue had been five days ago. When the guard guy—Sevrin, they told me—had knocked me out, we’d gotten into a helicopter (sent byHeath Fucking Torrington,in a plot twist for the ages) and met up with Brea and Brooks and Vikki in the northern portion of the park. Between the sedative and the induced heat—which I would spend the rest of my life actively repressing, thanks very much—I’d slept almost straight through to today. I’d woken a handful of times, none that I remembered, and they’d been here all the while.
A nervous whirlpool started in my gut as they finished their recap. “So…where do we go now? Where will we all be safe?”
Lin unlocked his phone and handed it to Caine to hold and show me. “Your rooftop shenanigans didn’t go unnoticed. Which works in our favor.”
UNNAMED PATIENT NEARLY FALLS FROM PHOENIX LAB ROOF.
“They’re claiming it’s one of their patients who had an adverse reaction to medication,” Caine explained as I skimmed through the article. “But it means they’re under increased scrutiny right now, especially considering the reports of gunfire at the same time. Wouldn’t be wise for them to pursue you right now.”
I nearly laughed.Wouldn’t be wise.“How reassuring.”
“Plus, there’s this.” Brea handed me a thumb drive. “A gift from a fellow survivor. This was her insurance against Phoenix. She now passes it to you.”
I scooted right on past thefellow survivorcomment with a mental note to circle back later. “What’s on it?”
Brea swallowed, a little line forming between her brows for just a second. “Proof of what they did to her.” She pulled another thumb drive out, and now none of them could stifle their furious growls. “And proof of what they did to you.”
Chills rose over my skin. To think of what all could be on that hard drive…
“Have…have you looked—”
“No, angel,” Lin said. “Vikki pulled what she thought would be best to have. We haven’t seen any of it.”
I nodded, swallowing down salty tears as best I could. “Good, good,” I muttered, not meeting anyone’s eyes.
