The guard gave him a look that stopped him in his tracks. “I am not a fair maiden who needs a man to do something I can do myself.”
He returned to the couch without arguing. “She is terrifying,” he whispered, making the girls laugh.
“You haven’t seen the half of it, puppy,” Lauren called from the stairs, making Keith pale and the girls laugh harder.
“She’s anAn-” Rory began, but Lauren’s voice carried down the stairs, cutting her off.
“Don’t finish that sentence.”
Rory smirked. “I was going to say you were an angry beast,” she called back.
Lauren’s snort could be heard from the second floor. “Liar.”
“Does she have super hearing or something?” Kordie asked, glancing at the stairs.
Lauren reappeared and sat in the chair next to Rory’s. “Don’t worry about me.”
Battling another smile, Rory turned back to her friends. “I need to get out of this house.”
Kordie glanced at her skeptically. “Is that a good idea?”
“I’m going,” Rory replied. “Besides, this one won’t leave my side.” She tipped her head toward Lauren.
“Fuck, yeah,” Keith agreed. “We’ll go to Night Potions.”
Night Potions was a bar near the edge of the warehouse district, a seedy part of town where Rory had a storage unit. The others avoided it at all costs. “Why there?”
Keith gave her a wry smile. “Because no one there will care who you are, and those that do will want to hire you.”
“I wonder how much they’d pay?” she joked without thinking.
Her breath caught in her throat, unsure how her friends would respond, but her lungs loosened when Kordie’s eyes twinkled. “Make sure it’s enough to buy us a round of drinks.”
The three laughed, Lauren smirked, and after an hour of catching up, they stood as the couple readied to leave. Lauren sauntered outside and brought in more boxes of Rory’s things from Keith’s truck.
Kordie’s arms banded around her middle and squeezed with impressive strength. “Never leave us again,” she commanded with a hitch to her voice. All Rory could do was pat her back reassuringly.
Keith gave her a quick hug, and after the two left, Rory stood motionless, staring at the door.
“Your friends love you,” Lauren said as she locked the deadbolt.
“Did I have friends in Vincula?” she asked theAngelquietly.
Lauren had Rory follow her upstairs, and when they stepped into Rory’s room, she opened both suitcases and began unloading one.
“You did.” She pushed the other suitcase toward Rory. “They aren’t much different from your friends here.” She paused. “Well, they’re criminals, but they didn’t bat an eye at your crimes. Your friends here don’t hold them against you either.”
A hollowness settled in Rory’s chest at the mention of friends she didn’t remember. The thought of forgetting Dume, Kordie, or Keith devastated her, and she wondered if she’d feel the same about the others if she remembered them.
As casually as she could, Rory asked, “Was there an inmate named Bane?”
Lauren’s movements ceased, a shirt dangling from her fingers, and Rory already knew the answer.
“Tell me. Please.” She couldn’t be bothered to be embarrassed about the desperation in her voice.
“There was no one named Bane,” Lauren said carefully. “But there was someone you thought was Bane.”
Rory sat on the bed. Half of her hoped Lauren would say no, but she never expected this. Shethoughtthey were Bane? “What does that mean?”
