Page 90 of Into the Fire: After
Taryn laughed, turning to meet him with a happy, sweaty kiss. “What, not a fan of lifting things up and putting them down?”
He scoffed. “Listen, I am very secure in my physical abilities, okay? I do not need to prove them by carrying literally five million pounds of boxes to and fro."
"Literallyfive million pounds?" Taryn asked as she looped her arms around his neck.
"Yep. At least half of that being your blankies and jammies."
Smiling, I walked by—dropping a quick peck on his cheek, then hers—and grabbed a box. Maybe I purposefully grabbed one labeledDishes,just to be a dick. “C’mon, Doc, gotta keep those muscles toned somehow.”
“Gahhhhhhh,” he moaned into Taryn’s hair, hands on her hips as he pulled her close. Right before I passed through the doorway, he dropped a kiss on her head and turned toward a stack of boxes, starting in on some flirty joke or another. Both their bonds alight with excitement.
We loaded the elevator with a dozen boxes, Taryn breathing heavy by the time we ran out of space. Her scent felt a little too sharp, and sweat droplets trailed down her chest. Brooks and I shared a look. “Why don’t you go get some fresh air on the patio,” I suggested gently.
“No way,” Taryn said, brushing sweaty strands of hair from her face. “There’s work to do.”
“Sweetnessssss,” Brooks cooed in her ear. “Water and fresh air. Doctor’s orders.”
She huffed, rolling her eyes, but followed him. I smiled at their backs as the elevator doors closed me in with the Stonehenge of boxes surrounding me.
Her first heat since the cabin was nearly upon us, and I treasured the irritability that came with it. Brooks had been confident her cycle would re-regulate eventually, but the rest of us had been worried. Sure, she’d escaped the labs before they could do too much damage, but really, wasn’tanydamage too much?
I took a deep breath, giving myself the quiet space of the elevator ride to acknowledge the pain, the fear, the anger of all we’d been through.
The instability of uncertainty, not knowing what the future would hold for all of us. For Taryn, her body, her health. Her peace.
How easily all five of us could’ve been lost. Even if only one had been, the rest of us would’ve shattered.
Two months after Caine’s arrest, an anonymous tip came in to Gail’s colleague handling his case. Someone letting slip that Caine had not been read his rights upon arrest, thus invalidating said arrest and jeopardizing the entire case against him. The DA hadn’t been interested in pursuing corrected charges, so they were dropped in full.
Vikki left the force and the city soon after that. Before any of us could thank her.
Then, of course, there was the lawsuit.
Gail hadn’t believed we could win a case against Wainwright. Against Phoenix Lab, on the other hand, we had a slam dunk. Within hours of filing the suit, Phoenix offered a massivesettlement. More money than we could’ve spent. More money than every tenant in the building could’ve spent.
Taryn told them to shove it up their own asses.
News broke of her suit, and Wainwright Corp. put out a statement disavowing theirformer partner in progress.
Another settlement offer. Another middle finger from our omega.
Prentiss Hilt—who, unknown to us, had survived Sevrin’s gunshot on the roof of the lab—was arrested and awaited trial, currently set for next year. Sevrin, technically, was also wanted for questioning and potential prosecution, though no one had seen or heard from him since our grand escape.
In the end, justice deferred in the name of perfection had only been hurting our omega. Someday, maybe someone would take on the bigger, badder monster that was Wainwright Corp. Maybe the battles we’d fought and won would make their path easier.
The darkness we’d been living in for months was real, and it was thick, and it wasn’t completely gone yet. But we were together here, and we had a candle. Our light. Our omega.
We’d come through it.
A gentle ding told me I’d reached the bottom floor, and I opened my eyes. Caine and Lin stood on the other side of the opening doors, ready to haul boxes out to the truck.
“How’s it looking?” I asked as the three of us picked up boxes and made our way out to the truck.
Caine grinned ear to ear, a sight that was becoming more common but would never not melt me inside. “Perfect,” he said. “Just need something with your scent for it to be complete.”
“Double-checked everything myself yesterday,” Lin added as we set the boxes into the truck and turned for more. “We should still have a little buffer time if she wants to change or add anything, though.”
“Anything that’s hers will send her over the moon. That’s all she’s wanted the whole time we’ve been on the move.”
