Page 25 of Unhinged Omega

"Holy shit! Tits!"

I blink rapidly, trying to clear my vision, and find myself face-to-face with Lex again. Her scarred face splits into a delighted grin as she openly ogles me. Looking down, I realize my robe has fallen completely open in my mad dash for freedom.

I lash out at Lex, getting a good swipe in across her face before charging past her, clutching my robe together at the same time. Shapes I know have to be soldiers are surrounding me, chasing me, but I'm faster.

"Don't just stand there gawking, you useless fucks!" Nikolai's voice booms from the stairwell, thick with rage and what sounds like a broken nose. "Grab her!"

Panic surges through me. I don't stop to think. I just run. My bare feet skid on loose gravel as I dart between two of the shadowy figures that try to block my escape. They're too shocked to react quickly enough, and I hear their curses fade behind me as I sprint across what feels like a massive open space.

My vision is still blurry, but my instincts scream at me to keep moving. The sound of boots on gravel tells me they're in pursuit. My lungs burn as I push myself harder, not daring to look back.

Then the ground disappears beneath my bare feet.

I somehow catch myself with a skidding halt at the edge of what appears to be a massive pit, my toes curling over the lip as loose stones cascade down into the darkness below. My heart leaps into my throat as I teeter on the edge, arms windmilling for balance.

That's when I see him.

At first, I think I must be hallucinating. That the stress and the bright light and the adrenaline have finally broken my mind completely.

Because there, standing in the center of the pit and staring up at me with glowing blue eyes, is an impossible figure.

He's even more terrifying in the flesh.

The iron mask fused to his face gleams in the sunlight, but it's damaged on the edge, revealing razor-sharp teeth and torn, scarred flesh. Those haunting blue eyes lock with mine, and time seems to stop.

This is it.

This is what I've been dreaming about my whole life.

The monster who's been hunting me. This creature of endless hunger and agony that claimed me in my last dream, reaching up to me, the blade claws on his iron hand glinting as light catches them over the edge of the pit. As I fall forward toward him.

But I can't look away from those eyes.

Something passes between us in that moment.

Recognition.

Understanding.

A connection that feels as inevitable as gravity.

Then rough hands grab the back of my robe, yanking me back from the edge of the pit, and the moment shatters like glass.

Chapter

Six

GEO

"Oh, fuck. Nothimagain."

The familiar woman's voice cuts through the chaos of the cramped underground passageways of my little empire. Candy. One of my best "waitresses."

And judging from the pissed tone in her voice, I'm gonna have to break a few bones. Almost noon, so it's about time.

Been a slow morning.

I duck under a low-hanging bundle of contraband electronics beneath the flickering neon signs flashing over the shortcut to the bar. The ground here is tacky with spilled synth-booze and old blood.

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