36. Thirty-Six Lakey
Thirty-Six: Lakey
A n hour later, there was a knock at the door. Cam's eyes met mine as my grip tightened around my knife. If this guy made one wrong move, I’d jump his bones like a banshee, and not in the fun way.
I crept to the peephole, my breath catching as I took in the hulking figure on the other side. Jesus, this guy was built like a brick shithouse. Tattoos snaked up his neck, disappearing into a close-cropped hairline. Next to him stood Sarah. She looked up at him in adoration, so much love visible on her face it made me want to puke.
"Pizza delivery," the guy rumbled, his voice a gravelly baritone that sent chills down my spine.
I glanced back at Cam, who gave a barely perceptible nod. Showtime .
I plastered on my sweetest smile and swung the door open. "Come on in."
Kyle shouldered his way inside, his presence filling the cramped apartment. My skin prickled as he sized up Cam, two predators eyeing each other across the savannah.
Sarah smiled. “We intercepted the guy on the way up. Nice young fellow. Gave him a tip, too.”
I rolled my eyes at her, watching as they walked into the kitchen.
"Nice place," Kyle grunted, his gaze sweeping over the peeling wallpaper and water-stained ceiling.
I bristled at the sarcasm in his tone. This dump might be a shithole, but it was our shithole.
Cam lounged against the wall, all casual menace. "Glad you approve. Don’t worry about your muddy ass shoes or anything. Just go ahead and make yourself at home."
The air crackled with tension as Kyle stepped further into the room. I edged closer to Cam, my hands twitching with the urge to stab a knife straight into his throat. One wrong move from this motherfucker...
Sarah broke the standoff, her voice artificially bright. "So! Who's hungry?"
I watched her carefully as she set the pizza down, noting how her eyes kept darting to Rose. There was something off about her eagerness, a desperation that set my teeth on edge. What was her angle?
"Quite the little Chimera family reunion we've got going on here," Cam drawled, his tone deceptively light. "Care to fill us in on why you've crashed our little party? We were just getting used to Sarah."
Kyle's massive arms folded across his chest. "I've got intel on Chimera. Thought you might be interested."
"Intel, huh?" I kept my voice casual, but my mind wouldn’t quiet. "That’s what Sarah said. But we were doing just fine without you."
Sarah stepped forward; her eyes locked on mine. "Lakey, you said you’d give Kyle a chance, so just… please. Give him a chance. If he disappoints, feel free to kill him with that knife." She looked pointedly at the knife in my palm.
I felt Cam tense beside me, his fingers brushing against mine and I sighed, sheathing my blade.
"Let's hear what he has to say," I murmured to Cam, my voice low. "Doesn't mean we have to trust it."
He gave a small nod, his eyes never leaving Kyle. "Alright then," Cam said, his hands clapping together as he walked, body angled, towards the couch. "Let's chat."
The smell of greasy pepperoni filled the air as we gathered around the coffee table, the cardboard pizza box a flimsy barrier between us and our unexpected guests. I watched Sarah carefully grabbed a slice before wrinkling her nose. Guess Cam hadn’t bothered ordering a half and half. There was something about her that set my teeth on edge — a kindness that seemed too genuine to be real.
"So," Cam drawled, taking a massive bite of pizza. "You mentioned intel?"
Kyle nodded, his eyes darting between us. "We've got locations, security details, the works. But first, let's just... eat. Talk. Get to know each other a bit."
I snorted, unable to help myself. "What is this, a fucking playdate?"
Sarah shot me a look that was half amusement, half exasperation. "More like a cease-fire. We're all on edge here. Might as well try to relax a little."
As much as I hated to admit it, she had a point. The tension in the room was thick enough to choke on. I took a bite of pizza, the flavors barely registering as I studied our new "allies." Kyle was unmoving apart from his fingers drumming against his thigh. But Sarah... she was calm. Too calm. It was fucking creepy.
"So, Sarah," I said. "What's your deal? What have you been up to all these years?"
She met my gaze steadily. "Little bit of this, little bit of that."
I felt my lips curl into a genuine smile. Maybe there was more to her than I'd thought. “Right, how are we supposed to get to know you ”, I air quoted before continuing, “If you won’t be a bit more specific.”
As we ate, the conversation flowed more freely. Sarah shared stories of their recent escapades, each one more outlandish than the last. Something about heading into a small outpost and barely escaping, but as they ran, her sweater got caught on an edge, causing it to unravel the further she walked. I found myself laughing despite my reservations, caught up in the camaraderie.
But as the pizza dwindled, I noticed Sarah's attention shifting to Rose. Our newest addition had been quiet throughout the meal, her shoulders hunching inward, trying to make herself appear as small as possible, so as to escape notice.
"Rose," Sarah said softly, setting down her plate. "I was hoping we could talk a bit. About what you've been through."
Rose stiffened, her knuckles turning white as she gripped her slice of pizza. "I... I don't know if I can."
I felt a surge of protectiveness, surprising myself. "Hey, lay off her, alright? She's been through enough. She doesn’t know you well enough to even start trusting you with the shit she went through."
Sarah held up her hands placatingly. "I understand. But I might be able to help. I've developed a technique for processing trauma. It's helped me, and others like us."
I narrowed my eyes, suspicion creeping back in. "What kind of technique?"
"It's a form of guided meditation and cognitive restructuring," Sarah explained. "It helps reframe traumatic memories, makes them easier to manage."
Rose looked up, a flicker of interest in her eyes. "Does... does it really work?"
Sarah nodded, her expression gentle. "It's not a magic fix, but it can make things more bearable. Would you like to try?"
I watched Rose closely, ready to intervene if she showed any sign of distress. But to my surprise, she gave a small nod.
"Okay," she whispered. "I'll try."
As Sarah began to guide Rose through the process, her voice low and soothing, I found myself caught between wariness and hope. Maybe we'd found some allies worth keeping around. Or maybe they were gonna activate some hidden words in Rose and turn her into a psychotic killing machine.
It was a toss-up, so all we could do is sit and wait.
Kyle moved silently; his hulking frame somehow graceful as he positioned himself behind Sarah. His presence radiated a quiet strength, like a goddamn mountain ready to shield her from whatever shit might come her way. I couldn't help but admire the way he operated — all business, no bullshit. He reminded me of a more polished Cam, actually.
Rose's eyes darted between Sarah and Kyle; her body coiled tight like a spring. But as Kyle gave her a subtle nod, I saw something shift in her expression. The fear didn't vanish, but it softened around the edges.
"It's okay, Rose," Sarah murmured, her voice gentle. "Kyle's here to make sure you're safe. We all are."
I snorted internally. Safe? We’d proven ourselves to her, but they hadn’t. Safe, my ass. But I kept my mouth shut, curiosity winning out over my urge to stir shit up.
Rose took a shaky breath, her shoulders dropping a fraction. "I... I don't know where to start," she whispered.
"Just close your eyes," Sarah instructed. "Take a deep breath. We're going to create a safe space in your mind."
I watched, fascinated, as Rose's eyes fluttered shut. Her chest rose and fell, each breath a little steadier than the last.
This is bullshit . No way some new-age crap is gonna fix what those Chimera fuckers did.
But as Sarah's words washed over us, I saw Rose's face change. The lines of tension smoothed out, replaced by something almost... peaceful.
What the hell? I glanced at Cam, but his eyes were fixed on Rose, his expression unreadable.
"Now," Sarah continued, "I want you to picture a place where you feel completely safe. Somewhere no one can hurt you."
Rose's lips parted slightly, and I swear I saw the ghost of a smile. "I'm... I'm in a garden," she whispered. "My grandmother's garden. The roses are blooming."
Something twisted in my chest. She’d had a grandmother. So, she wasn’t… born into it? I'd never had a safe place like that. Never even known what it felt like. I thought I had glimmers of memories involving a mother, but they were vague. Almost as if they weren’t my true memories, but something put inside me. A fake.
"Good," Sarah encouraged. "Now, I want you to remember that this place is always inside you. No matter what happens, you can come back here."
Rose nodded, her body relaxing further as her face softened, her shoulders dropping as she sunk deeper into her garden.
I couldn't tear my eyes away from Sarah. There was something about her that pulled at me. She had this... softness, but not the weak kind. The kind that could wrap around you and keep all the sharp edges at bay. It brought back a wave of memories. The first time Cam and I sat in her office, I was barely six and Cam was turning eight. Sarah had given us each a fuzzy blanket and some hot chocolate while she talked to someone in the background.
Who was she talking to? Why can’t I see their face?
I snuck a glance at Cam, half-expecting him to read my mind like he always did. But he was watching Kyle, his dark eyes narrowed. Sizing him up. Playing out scenarios, just in case he needed to subdue this mountain of a man.
"So," Cam murmured to Kyle quietly so as not to distract Rose. "You seem to know your way around trauma. Personal experience?"
Kyle's jaw tightened. "You could say that."
I leaned forward. "Oh, do tell. We're all friends here, right?"
Sarah met my gaze, and for a second, I saw a flash of annoyance, but it passed as she went back to talking to Rose in that hypnotic voice of hers.
No one said anything else until Sarah sighed and looked up at me.
"We've been through some shit," she said simply. "Figured out how to survive it. Now we help others do the same. Kyle, I told them what you used to do and how you’ve been decommissioned but still have access to things that could help them. I also let them know about untraining your mind and unlocking it."
Kyle nodded before stepping around and leaning against a wall, watching us with a hard scowl.
I felt a grudging respect blooming in my chest. These two weren't just some do-gooders stumbling into our mess. They had become adaptable.
"And how exactly did you stumble onto Sarah’s radar?" Cam asked, his tone casual but his eyes sharp.
Kyle's hand twitched before he shoved it in his pocket. "Let's just say we had chemistry and the rest is history."
Not much of an answer, now, was it?
As we watched each other warily, Sarah refocused on Rose, doing whatever voodoo shit she was doing. Rose was answering questions about what they’d done to her, but it was like she wasn’t present. She was inside her head. Maybe reliving it, maybe just remembering it, but it wasn’t like she was in pain, or terrified. She was just eerily calm.
Sarah gently started coaxing Rose back to the present, and I knew we'd be idiots to pass up this chance. I’d never let her fuck around in my head like that, but when Rose opened her eyes, they were different. Clear. Alert.
“I feel better. I’m ready to get going.” Rose was determined, that much was fucking clear, but the skepticism still sat in my gut. Theres no fucking way Sarah had cured her during this little session, but I didn’t care enough to point that out. If Rose said she was ready, then she was ready and who the fuck was I to say she wasn’t?
"Well then"--I grinned, slapping my knee=="Looks like we might have ourselves a little war party."
Kyle leaned forward, his tattooed forearms resting on his knees. "Alright, you trust us now? Rose is fine, everything is good, we’ve eaten and done the small talk, let's move on now. Chimera's main hub is a fucking fortress."
I cocked my head, studying him. His eyes were hard, focused. This wasn't some half-assed intel.
"We're talking state-of-the-art security systems, armed guards, the works," he continued. "But the real kicker? They've got a goddamn underground bunker. Everything else is small potatoes compared to what’s inside there."
Cam's eyebrow twitched - the only sign he was impressed. I felt a familiar thrill race down my spine. This was gonna be one hell of a bloodbath.
"How'd you get the layout?" I asked.
Kyle's gaze flicked to Sarah, then back to me. "Let's just say we have our ways. I don’t know you well enough to give you trade secrets."
I smirked. "Feelings mutual, sugar."
Sarah cleared her throat, drawing our attention. "The chip in Rose's neck? It's not just a tracking device. It's connected to Chimera's entire database of experiments."
“Yeah, we figured.”
"We're talking years of data," Sarah continued. "Every test subject, every 'procedure' they've ever done. When they move subjects to different labs, they’re scanned in and the doctors can see what’s been done, and what is left to do."
I glanced at Rose, who was staring at her hands. Poor little lamb. Part of me wanted to wrap her in a hug. The other part whispered how fun it'd be to make her captors scream.
"And let me guess," Cam said, "if we don't move soon, they'll realize what they've lost both her and Christian, and wipe her data?"
Kyle nodded grimly. "A week, tops. They have software constantly scanning for broken links, but they’ll try to find them first, try to reconnect. After that we won’t have access to her files anymore."
“Right, but why does it matter? We all know the shit they’ve done to people like us.” I asked, feeling an itch under my skin. They were far too invested in Rose and what happened to her, and it felt wrong. Invasive, almost.
He sighed. “Because, in order to fix her brain, we need to know what was done. Sarah can keep helping on the trauma side of it, but to really deprogram her, we need to know what she was even programmed for.”
“Every one of the kids they took through the system, was used for a purpose. The new gen all have neural chips, but they were all programmed for different purposes. Then there’s the ones that they bred in the lab, the first gen, the ones they didn’t track.”
There was that familiar rage boiling under my skin, the need to hurt, to destroy. But for once, it wasn't aimed at innocent bystanders. No, this time, that rage had a target. A name.
I caught Cam's eye again, saw the same fury reflected there. Guess we were trusting these strangers. We were in this now, no turning back.
Sarah leaned forward, her eyes burning with an intensity that made even me want to take a step back. "We have to do this," she insisted, her voice steel-edged. "Every second we wait, more people suffer. More lives are destroyed. They get closer and closer to their goal with each child they program."
I watched her carefully, noting the slight tremor in her hands, the tightness around her mouth. This wasn't just about saving the world for her. This was personal. But why? Because they used her? Or because of something — or someone?
Cam shifted beside me, his body language screaming suspicion. "And what exactly do you get out of this, sweetheart?" he asked, his tone deceptively light.
Sarah's gaze snapped to him, unflinching. "Justice," she spat. "And the satisfaction of burning their whole fucking operation to the ground."
I didn’t quite believe her, but even I could admit she had a stellar poker face.
The room fell silent, the weight of what we were considering settling over us. I glanced around, taking in Kyle's nonchalant stance, Cam's calculating stare, and Rose...
Rose looked like she was about to shatter into a million pieces.
Her eyes were wide, darting between all of us as if searching for an escape route. I recognized that look — it was the same one she had when she woke up in our apartment. The look of someone realizing they were in way over their head.
"I... I don't know if I can do this," she whispered, her voice barely audible.
“You just said you were ready, Rose, fucking pick a side.” But watching her, I couldn't help but remember what it felt like to be small with the whole world bearing down on you. Granted, the last time I felt that wayI’d been about seven. Not 20-something. “Do you wanna fucking kill them or not?”
Rose's eyes met mine, and I saw something shift behind them. A spark of... determination? Anger? Whatever it was, it made her sit up a little straighter.
"Yes," she said, her voice stronger now. "I need to do this. For everyone else they've hurt. For everyone they might hurt in the future."
I nodded, feeling an odd sense of pride. Maybe the little flower had some fight in her after all. It was strange, trying to reconcile the little hellcat from earlier with this meek version of herself. Maybe her programming was self-protective. Guess we’d find out.
"Well," Cam said, a dangerous smile playing at his lips. "Look at us. Just a fuckin’ merry band of misfits ready to take on the big bad cult."
I snorted. "Misfits is right. A couple of psychos, an ex-soldier of some kind, a make-shift trauma counselor, and a former lab rat. What could possibly go wrong?"
But despite my sarcasm, I felt it too — that electric current of shared purpose humming through the room. We were in this now, for better or worse.
And honestly? I couldn't fucking wait to watch Chimera burn.
Sarah cleared her throat, drawing everyone's attention. Her eyes darted between Cam and me, and I could practically see the wheels turning in her head.
"Listen," she said, her voice soft but firm. "I know we've all just started getting to know each other, and trust isn't exactly in abundant supply here. But Kyle and I have a safe house. It's completely off the grid, untraceable."
I raised an eyebrow, feeling Cam shifting on the couch beside me. Off the grid, huh? That could mean a lot of things — not all of them good.
"We could use it," Sarah continued, "to lay low, regroup. Come up with a solid plan of attack against them. We could use it to rest and train. Considering you don’t have much time before Chimera finds you, I’d say it’s your best bet."
I glanced over, trying to read Cam’s face. His expression was carefully neutral, but I could see the calculations happening behind those dark eyes of his.
"Sounds awful cozy," I kept my tone light. "What's the catch?"
Kyle stepped forward, his massive frame moving with grace that belied his size. "No catch," he rumbled. "Just a chance to do this right."
I couldn't help but laugh. "Right? I don't think any of us here are too concerned with doing things 'right.'"
But even as I said it, I felt a nagging pull. A safe place to plan, to catch our breath... it was tempting. Dangerous, maybe, but tempting. We were running out of time in this place. It was a fucking miracle we’d never been caught. There was only so much more screaming the neighbors would chalk up to fucked sex before the cops start being called. If Chimera didn’t come looking for our little mouse first.
I looked at Rose, sitting on the couch fiddling with her shirt, before watching Cam, his jaw clenched tight. We were in deep already, weren't we? How much deeper could we really go?
"What do you think, sugar?" I asked, my voice low. "Fancy a little field trip?"
"Could be useful," Cam said finally, his voice tight. But I knew him well enough to hear the curiosity beneath it.
I nodded, turning back to Sarah and Kyle. "Alright," I said, plastering on my sweetest smile. "Let's see this super-secret clubhouse of yours."
As we started gathering our things, it felt like we were stepping off a cliff into the unknown.
But hell, that's where Cam and I had always felt most at home, wasn't it? In the chaos, in the danger.
And this was nothing, if not completely fucked up. Right in line with where we shine.