Page 84 of Desperate Omega

“Cut off my hands. It’s the only way to get me out of these shackles.”

He’s serious.

A cold feeling tightens my guts.

I don’t want to cut Brik’s hands off. I also don’t think I would be able to. Not with Delphine’s stiletto, anyway. The blade is thin and straight, designed for stabbing, not sawing through bone. It would take me several hours to cut through one of Brik’s wrists, but we don’t have hours.

And even if we did…

From behind me, there comes a clang of metal, followed by the rumble of gears. I whirl around to see the bars at the front of the cell slowly moving to one side. Already, there’s a gap of several inches. A few more seconds, and there will be enough space for Anton to step into the cell with me.

“Syra,” Brik growls. “Get behind me.”

I would like to do that. I would like to cower behind my courageous mate, but I know it wouldn’t work. Even a powerful alpha such as Brik has his limitations. With his arms bound and chained, he will not be able to fend off our attacker for long. Anton will kill him. Then he’ll kill me.

I’m not going to let that happen.

Brik has saved me more than once. First he saved me from the Farlanders in the cemetery. Then he saved me from my own heat in the cave.

Now it’s my turn to save him.

Or die trying.

The bars at the front of the cell are more than halfway open. There is plenty of room for Anton to get in, but he waits, glowering at me with hate-filled eyes. Only when the door is fully open does he finally move forward.

“I’m going to kill you,” he says. “I’m going to kill you for what you did to Delphine.”

I hold the stiletto in front of me with both hands. My arms are trembling, a combination of heat and fear.

Anton steps into the cell. The blade of his knife glints in the sunlight streaming in through the window behind me.

“Syra!” Brik says behind me.

“Kill you…” Anton growls.

He takes another step into the cell. His eyes are totally focused on me. He doesn’t notice the large puddle of slick I left on the smooth concrete floor.

He steps right in the middle of the oily fluid.

His foot shoots out from under him.

He falls back onto the floor with a heavy thud, his body lying half in and half out of the cell.

I should probably pounce on him, but I don’t. At this point, I don’t have the strength for pouncing. Instead, I just rush forward and sort of fall on top of him with the stiletto still clutched tightly in both hands. The tip of the blade enters beneath his chin. I put all of my weight behind it, and it slides deep, all the way to the hilt. Anton lets out a surprised gasp, and I can see the gleam of the blade inside his open mouth. His body twitches for a moment, then his eyes roll back in his head and he goes still beneath me.

“Anton!”

I turn my head in the direction of the shout. Delphine’s third alpha, the one who went to open the door to my cell, is returning down the central corridor of the prison. He can see me and Anton hanging halfway out of the cell, and he can see what I just did to his companion. His expression shifts from shock to rage.

He charges.

I tug at the stiletto buried in Anton’s skull, but it won’t budge. The blade is too deep, and my muscles are too weak from my heat. I don’t even have enough energy to push myself off his corpse.

The charging alpha is now only a few strides away from me. He bellows with rage and prepares to lunge.

Something whispers through the air above me.

Followed by a wet thunk.