Page 383 of Rage

I know the words are insane even as they pass my lips, but I can't find it in me to care. Or rather, I do care, entirely too much for us to spend another second in this house.

My eyes roam over the bruises on Lita’s skin again, twisted thoughts of what she had to endure blooming to life in my mind. I taste bile, but the urge to succumb to nausea is overshadowed by an all-consuming feeling threatening to burn me from the inside out.

Rage.

"W-what do you mean?" Her voice shakes, and she doesn't move. She just stares at me like I've just asked her to do something crazy… like walk out in front of a firing squad. Maybe I have.

But the intuition urging me on, coupled with the white-hot fury pounding through my veins, doesn’t give me an option. Something is screaming for me to go, to run. I can't describe it other than an invisible power forcing my movements, directing me even as my brain threatens to shut down.

If we stall, we may miss our chance.

We have to go.

Our best chance to escape isnow, in the dead of night. A single guard stands watch outside each house; normally, there are many more guards and watchful eyes looking after us. If we can sneak past them, we can make a run for the woods. I'm too angry to work out an actual plan, moving on instinct rather than logic.

I’ll fight if I have to. I'll do whatever it takes.

Even if I get killed in the process, it'll be the chance Lita needs to escape. I won’t let her endure any more pain.

I’ve never considered myself a martyr—I’ve always followed orders and done my best to slip under the radar—but seeing Lita battered and bruised at the hands of the High Majesty… it’s the final straw that breaks my resolve to bend to their orders.

I won’t be complacent in our mistreatment any longer.

"Grab what you can carry," I urge, not bothering to keep my voice down.

The girls in the hall will find out what we’re up to sooner or later. If they decide to follow us, that’s their choice. There’s a very real chance that leaving the gatherer house is a death sentence, but it pales in comparison to what awaits us if we stay.

Still, knowing our chances of escape are slim to none, the power dancing through my limbs forbids me to stay put. I’ve never had such a compulsion to trust my gut, but this feels too powerful to ignore. Like my body knows something I don’t, and it’s trying to warn me, guide me.

I reach for Lita’s hand and drag her off the bed and into my arms. "We're leaving."

“You’re insane,” she says, shaking her head. Clearly, she doesn’t understand how serious I am. “You know we can’t leave.”

“But wecan,” I say, brushing a stray lock of blonde hair away from her face. What I wouldn’t give to drag her into thebathroom and bathe her, to wash away the awful memories clinging to her skin, but there isn’t time. “Just trust me.”

She blinks up at me, her jaw slack as she tries to form an argument. I know everything she’s thinking because I’ve thought it all before. The danger, the guards, the punishments… I’ve considered all of them, but right now none of that matters.

The ache in my bones grows, transforming into a throbbing pain that beats through my system in time with my heartbeat. If I don’t get out of this tiny room soon, I’ll combust. I don’t know how I know, but I do.

“You know I trust you, Torri, but you’ve lost your mind.” Lita’s eyes glimmer with tears as she fists her hands in the front of my pajama shirt. “They’ll kill us.”

Something inside me snaps—probably my last shred of sanity—and a well of hot fire churns through my stomach. It hurts, aching all the way down to my bones, and I can feel it seeping into my muscles. Deep, ancient strength that I can hardly wrap my mind around.

Words can’t describe it, but I know this feeling, this deep-seated fury, is going to be our ticket out of here.

“They will never lay another finger on you,” I assure her. I’m sure it sounds like an empty promise, but I don’t know what I can do to prove it to her right now. We’re wasting precious seconds standing here while the rest of her roommates eavesdrop from the hallway, and we need to go. “I will protect you. We will escape, do you understand?”

She swallows hard, and her eyes twinkle as she stares up into mine.

I will save you.The words don’t come, but she must sense them from the look in my eyes because she finally nods.

“Okay,” is all she says before she slips out of my hold and jumps into action. She rips off the silk dress and fumbles for herpajamas, pulling them on just as the door to the room cracks open again.

Sara’s curious gaze turns inquisitive as Lita grabs her work dress and stuffs it into the burlap satchel she uses to gather every morning. She tosses the strap over her head and ties her tangled hair into a knot at the nape of her neck.

"You aren't serious, are you?" Sara's voice is soft but critical as she slips into the room, followed closely by Lita’s other two roommates.

I know she thinks we don’t have a shot in hell at escaping. Walking out of the house is a death sentence, and everyone in the room knows it.

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