Page 54 of Knot Shattered
Chapter Fourteen
Odette
does it really
matter at this point?
Fallon stood over the twitching body like a war goddess; her boot braced casually against his back as she lifted the giant ring of keys with a smirk that could cut steel.
“Time to go door-to-door,” she declared, voice sweet and venom-laced. Triumph burned behind her eyes, and I swore I saw the ghost of a flame flicker in her grin.
Beside me, Violet twirled her little knife between two fingers, calm as ever, like she hadn’t just turned a man’s eye into a weapon’s sheath. “I call dibs on the next idiot who gets within arm’s reach.”
“That's not the bet! No dibs!” I joke as I pat the guard down, finding a large knife in his boot and a gun on his hip. I pull both out.
I pushed to my feet, heart still pounding in my ears. My voice came out lighter than I felt, almost contemplative. “How mad do you think they’d be if we, I don’t know… turned this into a sort of murder-themed version of hide and seek?”
Fallon barked a laugh as she moved to Riven’s cell, testing keys like she was unlocking a treasure chest. “Depends. Are we playing to win?”
“Aren’t we always?” I said, just as the lock clicked and the door creaked open.
She handed the keys to Riven, giving her a wink. “Free the rest of the girls, would you? Or… you know, join the carnage. Dealer’s choice.”
Riven raised an eyebrow but was already sliding out of her cell, gaze sharp, jaw tight. Her voice held that low rasp of someone who’d been quiet too long and was now fully done playing nice. “Tempting. I really would love to see what chaos you three leave in your wake.”
I stepped forward, fingers still sticky with adrenaline, blood drying in tacky streaks down my arm. “You don’t have to come. But if you do, we’re not slowing down. You sure?” I hand her the gun from the guard. I’m a terrible shot. I have better chances with the knife.
She paused. Her eyes flicked toward the cages filled with dirty, bruised omegas, some dazed, some pissed, all of them scared.
She exhaled sharply through her nose and shook her head. “No. I’ll stay. These girls need someone steady to get them the hell out of here.”
Fallon clapped her on the shoulder with surprising gentleness. “That’s brave. But if you change your mind, just follow the trail of bodies.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Riven replied, already moving toward the next cage.
Violet’s voice drifted behind us as we turned toward the corridor beyond the cell room. “How mad do you think they’d be if we come back covered in blood and smiles?”
Fallon didn’t even pause. “Mad enough to bend us over the nearest flat surface.”
Violet grinned, making the most obscene gesture I’d ever seen. “Gods, I hope so.”
I rolled my eyes and smiled despite the tension wrapping itself tightly in my chest. Whatever hell waited for us beyond that door, it wouldn’t be enough to stop us.
They took the wrong omegas.
And we were just getting started.
The hallway reeked of blood, sweat, and fear. It clung to my skin like oil, thick and choking. My boots thudded quietly against the concrete as I moved forward, knife in hand, heart pounding a steady war drum against my ribs.
This wasn’t just an escape.
This was a reckoning.
A guard rounded the corner too fast, his eyes widening as he caught sight of us. Before he could shout, I was on him. My blade slashed upward in a clean, vicious arc. The edge bit into his thigh, and he stumbled, screaming. I didn’t hesitate. I spun, planted my foot, and drove the knife into his gut. His breath caught with a wet wheeze.
Fallon slammed another guard into the wall nearby, yanking the knife she’d found earlier from his belt and jamming it beneath his ribs with a satisfied grunt. Blood sprayed the wall. She didn’t flinch.
Behind us, I heard a crack—Violet’s tiny knife met flesh a moment before she ripped a nightstick off another guard’s belt and brought it down on his skull. Once. Twice. He crumpled like wet paper.
