Page 48 of Wicked Nightmare

I nodded. "Oh yeah, baby. It's time to go hunting."

As I thumbed through the pages, visions of vengeance danced in my head. We'd make them pay, every last one of them. Slowly, painfully, creatively. The thought alone was enough to almost get over what they’d done to her.

Almost.

"You're thinking violent thoughts again," her tone was almost dreamy. "I can tell by that look in your eyes."

I grinned, pulling her close. "You know me so well, sweetheart. Wanna hear what I've got planned for these bastards?"

She nodded eagerly, and I began to outline our revenge, starting with figuring out what these cards meant.

Her fingers danced over the cards, her touch almost reverent. "So many names," she mused. "So many people who thought they could break us."

A shiver ran through her, and it wasn't from fear. This was excitement, pure and primal.

“Good thing we didn’t kill Skeeter. We’re gonna need him to track these names.”

“Yeah, don’t forget we got the Almines’ to deal with too.” She was bouncing on her toes as I spoke, “Though, maybe we should do them last. Kind of like a dessert?”

“Oh, I love that idea.” Her gaze suddenly looked far-away. “Skeets said they have a foster child… if I can’t have my own…”

"If you wanna bring her into our family, we will make that happen. I promise, Lakey," I vowed, sealing it with a kiss that sucked the oxygen from my lungs. "Together, we'll bring them all to their knees to kneel before my Queen."

Chapter Sixteen: Lakey

I clicked the security box shut with a satisfying snap, my fingers tracing the cool metal as I slid the key in, locking it. Perfect. Couldn't have those envelopes falling into the wrong hands. Technically, I guess we were the wrong hands, but no one else needed to see these. I pushed the key into Cam’s pocket and handed him the box and the rolodex.

"Wanna grab some pics or nah?" Cam's low voice rumbled behind me.

I nodded, already whipping out my phone. "Yeah. I do." My thumb flew across the screen, slowly videotaping the office before walking out into the main lab. I grabbed shots of the jars before taking a video of the whole room.

Once I was satisfied with my photoshoot, I pocketed the phone and met Cam's gaze.

“Let’s make like a sportscar and zoom,” he said, chuckling when I rolled my eyes. He always had the absolute worst puns.

I took point, and led us out into the hall. Every nerve in my body was on high alert, adrenaline coursing through my veins. My ears strained for any hint of danger—a footstep, a whisper, hell, even a mouse fart. Do mice even fart? I think I read somewhere that they don’t…

"You're enjoying this way too much.”

I shot him a wicked grin over my shoulder. "What can I say? Learning that I was made infertile and seeing the absolute atrocities committed to Lydia gets my pussy pumping. Nothing quite like some extra trauma sprinkled on top of a lifetime of sordid deeds."

What if we ran into some of those sick fucks who ran this place? The thought sent a delicious shiver down my spine. My fingers twitched, itching to inflict some well-deserved pain. I traced the outline of the knives strapped to my legs. I never left home without them, and it had been a hot minute since I fed them.

"Easy, tiger," Cam whispered, his hand ghosting over my lower back as he noticed the tension radiating off my body. His thumb gently pushed and prodded into my muscles to ease the tension that had built. "We got what we needed. Take a deep breath and relax."

I pouted but nodded. He was right, of course. Didn't mean I had to like it.

The corridor seemed endless, each step heightening the swirl that had coiled in my gut. I could practically taste freedom, but at any point, someone could come down… one wrong move and we'd be royally fucked.

"Almost there," I breathed, more to steady myself than anything else.

As we rounded the final corner, I allowed myself a small smile. We’d made it back to where the corridor split into three. Just a bit further and we could climb up and get the fuck back home. Mission accomplished, bitches.

Suddenly, a sharp scuffling sound from upstairs shattered the silence. I froze mid-step, my body going rigid as a corpse. Cam's hand clamped down on my shoulder, steadying me.

My head snapped around, locking eyes with him. The adrenaline surged through me like liquid fire, and I could feel my lips curling into a feral grin. Oh, how I wanted to charge up there and unleash hell.

"Cam," I whispered, my voice dripping with barely contained excitement. "Did you hear that? We could—"