Page 86 of No Escape

Shaw is every bit as sexy as I remember.

I only got to see him and Leo in action a handful of times over the years, and that feels like a real shame. Most of the memories consist of them shoving back an unruly crowd, and once, they had to restrain protestors outside of a fundraiser I was forced to attend.

Leo turns me toward the back of the cafeteria and the hallway that leads to the cells the alphas stay in. He uses his body at an angle behind mine to ensure I can’t look behind me, and a thumping sound fills the air.

I’m confused why that was so sexy.

I forgot they were in here for a second, or I wouldn’t have been worried at all when Max made a grab for my arm.

Maybe it’s an alpha and omega thing. I wouldn’t be shocked to learn omegas are coded to find alphas protecting them to be attractive.

Why the hell is my mouth so dry all of a sudden?

“Can you ask him to grab a bunch of bottles of water? They’ll lock us in soon, and the sink water is awful,” I say to Leo, stopping dead in my tracks before he can lead us down the hallway to the cell. “Actually, we need to go back the other way real quick. You and I need to find the laundry storage closet. It gets really cold at night.”

Leo’s hand tightens around my fingers. “Are you in shock?”

I scoff. “Because of that? Not a chance.”

What happened to me the first day with those Russian guys was way more traumatic. For those few minutes before Omen popped up, when there was no one else around, I truly thought Vlad and Sergei would rape me.

I was busy trying to remember what the safety courses said to do, but I was so frazzled that I couldn’t recall a single thing.

God, I miss Omen and Valor.

I just really need it to be tomorrow already.

ChapterTwenty-Six

Leo

An unpleasant alarm buzzes as Saylor and I make it back to the cell.

She drops the linens onto the couch and turns to me with wide eyes. “Shit, I hope that’s the five-minute warning and not the ninety-second one. That one is kinda scary.” She skirts around me as I unload her food and pillows on the table haphazardly.

I spin around and frown.

She peeks into the hallway with her foot blocking the door from closing. “Do you need anything from your room? How far away is it? I’m pretty sure that was the normalfive minutes to lockdownalarm, but you would need to be quick. Is it nearby?”

My mouth opens and closes, but no words come out.

Saylor pulls her head in and glances at me. “Where is your room? Do you guys want to grab anything before they lock us in for the night?”

I had a feeling she wasn’t paying any attention earlier when we dragged in the couch. She was completely emotionally shut down, and I never once saw her peek out of the loft.

“Leo?”

I toss a thumb toward the glass wall near the door to the bathroom. “We’ve been right next door since they dumped us in the cell block.”

Her big hazel-blue eyes bug as she glances between me and the piece of glass that separates the two rooms.

She falls against the door that she’s still holding open a few inches. I’d say it just clicked for her. We got quite the show when Valor rutted her into the glass like an animal.

Omen took a much more performative approach, at least until he got wrapped up in the moment with Saylor and seemed to forget we were even there.

My head was a mess. I knew I had no invitation to watch, and as such, should mind my own business, but at the same time, my head wouldn’t shut up. My instincts felt sure I should be supervising to ensure they didn’t hurt her or do anything she didn’t want. Even if they had, I was trapped behind the glass with no way to intercede.

“Oh my god,” she whispers.

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