Page 145 of Sawyer

“Right now?” I question, knowing this is going to go minute by minute. “We take him out.”

“Oh, hell yeah.” She pauses. “How?”

Everything is anchored in place. I can’t break the bed to grab a leg and bop him over the head with it, nor can I pull the toilet off the floor—I tried.

“Do they have guns?” I nibble my bottom lip.

“Yeah, they do.” Her eyes get wider. “Don’t play hero, Sawyer. Don’t you dare!”

“What’s your favorite drink?”

She doesn’t hesitate. “Mai tais.”

In the hall, I can hear the guard knocking on doors and shouting to the women to stay in their rooms.

“Then I’ll owe you a mai tai.” I drag her in for one more hug because he’s almost at our door, and then I shove her to the side.

I’m about to be reckless as hell. Logically, I know it’s because, in the back of my head, I’ve already given up on fighting for the guys, and right now, I’m going to fight for Violet. Fighting for gammas is what I’ve been doing for years, so this comes naturally to me.

I can just make out his footsteps outside the door. He taps his flashlight three times on the door. “Stay in your rooms.”

I fling open the door and launch myself at him. Grabbing the flashlight out of his hand, which he releases because he doesn’t expect me, I slam it over his head. We fall to the opposite wall and slide down to the floor, and I hit him again. As we land on the floor, I hit him a third time.

My knees crack on the tile, and my thighs tighten around him. I don’t feel a damn thing as adrenaline keeps me moving and my goal becomes clear in my mind.

My heart beats erratically in my chest, and I flip the flashlight around, shining it on his face. Blood drips from the side of his head and onto the floor, but his chest’s steady rise and fall sends relief through me.

I didn’t want to kill him, but I also didn’t want him to kill me.

For several minutes, I just sit on top of him, memorizing his face, from the sharp swoop of his nose to the mole on his chin—he really should get that looked at. Inhaling, I taste blood in the air and the sharp tang of the iron pouring from him.

“Damn, bitch,” Violet drawls, startling me. I swing around to shine the light on her. “Get that thing off me. I don’t want to be blind here.” She swats the flashlight out of my hand and then grabs it. “Get his gun.”

My glasses sit askew on my face, and I adjust them before turning to Vee. “I draw the line at guns.” I slowly get off him and glance down the hall. Nothing but shadows greet us.

“I sure as fuck don’t.” She disarms him, handing me the flashlight before she drags him into her room and shuts the door. “There are usually two guards.”

She might be okay disarming him, but her hands shake as she holds the gun in front of her.

“Stick to the wall.” I press myself against the wall and rush down to the guard door, my heart beating overtime. I will need a ton of wine and pastries when this is over.

Together, we pause at the guard door across the hall from mine. I grip the knob, shove it open, and rush to the doorway. Behind me, Violet shines the flashlight into the room, swinging it from side to side.

“Empty,” she says.

“That can’t be good.” Feeling the urge to run, I swing back to Violet. “Get the other girls.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Find a safe way out.”

Not really wanting to leave me, she nods and rushes into the hall. I hear her yelling at the girls to get the hell up. One of them must have slept through the locks disengaging.

The door slowly shuts, casting me in darkness, but I’ve already memorized the room. The guards had computers and surveillance set up on the left, and I spotted another flashlight left haphazardly on the desk, which I grip and flip on.

I don’t remember coming in here, and I suspect they did that on purpose. Only four doors on this level don’t lead to cells—the bath, the cafeteria, the lab, and then this room.

Earlier, when I was in for evaluation, I didn’t see another door, which means it is in here, except I see nothing—nothing but the desk, computers, a chair, and a blank wall. It has to be that, but the power is out. “Tell me they weren’t that stupid,” I mutter to myself. “Tell me they didn’t make everything electronic.” If so, they fucked us and themselves over, unless they never planned for anyone to ever escape.

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