Page 30 of Burning Love

Silence.

A shudder ran down her spine.

She barely had time to steady herself before there was a soft knock at her door.

She barely had the strength to answer, her voice a strange, weak murmur. “Alex?”

“It’s me,” came the low, firm reply.

Sophia opened the door just enough to see her, her heart stuttering at the sight of the woman who had come to mean so much to her. Alex’s expression was tight, her eyes sharp with determination. There was something different about her tonight. A weight in her stance, a finality in her gaze.

“Where have you been, Alex? How long have I been here? What are they doing with me?”

“A couple of days. I’m so sorry, Soph. I had to make my way here on foot. They drugged me. I had to find my way on foot.”

“Oh my God. Are you okay?” Sophia’s crackled voice mumbled.

“Yes. Just about. I’m happy I’ve found you. I’m going to get you out of here.”

“No. I don’t think they’re going to let me leave. Like ever,” Sophia whispered, the words barely escaping her lips. “I’m not sure this is real life anymore.”

Alex’s jaw clenched. “I know. That’s why I’m here.”

Sophia blinked. “What?”

Alex stepped closer, lowering her voice, as if the very walls might betray them. “I’ve seen this before. In the forces. When someone is too valuable to let go, they just don’t let them go. They won’t stop. Whatever it is they’ve been doing here. The tests, the experiments—they’ll keep pushing until there’s nothing left of you. Jesus. What have they done to you?”

Sophia swallowed hard, looking away.

A gentle touch on her arm brought her back to reality. Alex’s hand was warm, grounding. “We need to leave. Not now. It’s too risky. Tomorrow night. I’ve got to make it seem normal for now.”

“Will they let you stay here?”

“Yes. They’ll let me stay. That’s been negotiated. They need me back at the compound. Shit’s gotten out of hand, and I bargained with them when I arrived, that if I couldn’t stay with you, I’d try to end them all. And that I would never enter the compound, and they will need me there. We’re valuable to them. So, nothing will happen to me here. I had to go along with it to see you; I had to tell them I agree with their choice to experiment with you. It was the only way. They think I’m on their side, but I promise, I’m not.”

Despite Alex’s words, fear curled in Sophia’s stomach, but beneath it, something else flickered.

Hope. A way out. She met Alex’s gaze, something unspoken passing between them. It seemed too good to be possible.

She nodded. “Okay. I’m just relieved you’re here.”

That night, the weight of their plans pressed on them. There was an unspoken tension hanging in the air, thick with fear and need as they lay together.

In the stillness, Alex kissed her.

It wasn’t soft. It wasn’t slow. It was urgent and desperate—a collision of lips and breath that carried with it so much longing, fear, and an unyielding desire to remind themselves they were alive.

Alex’s hands traced the bruises on Sophia’s arms. She could see the anger bubbling up in her eyes. They had taken too much from Sophia already. But she knew Alex was here and wouldn’t let it happen anymore.

Alex was going to take Sophia back.

* * *

The next night, they moved through the empty corridors in silence, their movements fluid and synchronized, as if they had been doing this their whole lives. Alex explained to Sophia that she had studied everything—the security routines, the guards’ shift pattern, the weak spots in the perimeter just outside the building. Sophia trusted that Alex knew exactly where to go and exactly how to move.

But at the same time… nothing ever went as planned.

The building was eerily quiet as they slipped through the exit, their footsteps muffled by the concrete floor. Sophia’s hand felt so cold; her fingers gripped Alex’s tightly as they neared the outer fence. The faint scent of woodsmoke filled Sophia’s lungs as she inhaled deeply, her eyes scanning the darkness beyond. The promise of freedom was now so close, so tangible, that she could almost taste it.

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