Page 90 of Knot Their Arrangement

Those stories never captured the true horror of being hunted. They couldn't convey how your lungs burn with each desperate breath, how your heart feels like it might explode from pure terror. How every shadow becomes a threat, every sound a harbinger of doom.

The scene replays in my mind: that lighter falling in slow motion, the explosion of flames, Maharaja's screams as his precious car became his coffin. The man who thought himself untouchable, who collected cars worth millions just to lord his wealth over others, reduced to ashes in his own symbol of status.

How quickly power turns to nothing.

My legs grow heavier with each step, muscles protesting the abuse I'm putting them through. The concussion makes it hard to run in a straight line – trees seem to move, the ground shifts beneath my feet like a living thing.

All those years I spent following rules. All that time wasted trying to be the perfect Omega, the obedient daughter, the acceptable bride.For what?To end up running through a dark forest, bleeding and terrified, while a masked killer stalks me through the rain?

What a waste it all was.

I think of Damon and Kieran, of how they showed me glimpses of what life could be. How it felt to be valued, desired, respected. One perfect taste of freedom before everything spiraled into this nightmare.

Is this my punishment?

Thunder booms overhead, making me scream despite myself. The sound feels like judgment from above like my Goddess expressing her displeasure at my defiance.

"If this is punishment for all the steamy books I've been reading," I gasp out between breaths, "you could just give me a sign?—"

The universe, it seems, has an immediate response.

“AHHHH!”

My foot catches on something –a root or vine– and suddenly I'm airborne. Time slows just enough for me to realize how close the trap came to taking my whole foot, before gravity reclaims me with brutal efficiency.

The ground rushes up to meet me, and all I can think is how stupid my last words to my goddess might be. All the profound things I could have said, all the apologies and prayers I could have offered, and instead I die complaining about romance novels.

At least I got to experience my own steamy scene before the end.

The thought surprises a hysterical laugh from me as I plummet toward the earth. Even facing death, my mind drifts back to those moments in Cardinal's VIP section. To hands that touched with reverence rather than ownership, to kisses that asked rather than demanded.

Rain continues to pour, turning the forest floor into treacherous mud. My soaked saree weighs me down like armor made of silk and shame. The expensive fabric that once marked me as high-status now drags me toward my doom.

How fitting that the very symbols of my cage –the traditional dress, the cultural expectations, the weight of propriety– would contribute to my downfall.

Even running for my life, I couldn't fully escape the trappings of my upbringing.

Fucking hell…all of this is madness.

In these last moments before impact, my life doesn't exactly flash before my eyes. Instead, I see all the moments that could have been. All the choices I might have made if I'd broken free sooner and trusted my instincts instead of bowing to tradition.

I could have been more than this.

I could have been free.

The ground rises to embrace me like a jealous lover, eager to claim what the flames couldn't. Behind me, somewhere in the rain-soaked darkness, a killer in a glowing mask follows with mechanical patience.

Knowing they don't have to rush.

Knowing their prey is already trapped.

The impact with the ground is surprisingly gentle – or maybe I'm just too broken to feel new pain.

A hysterical laugh bubbles up from my chest, echoing through the rain-soaked forest. The sound carries an edge of madness that should frighten me, but I'm beyond fear now.

Beyond everything, really.

My body protests as I try to stand, movements sluggish and uncoordinated. The world tilts and spins like a carnival ride designed by a sadist, but still I fight to rise.

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