But I didn't have time to stew in my feelings right now. I snatched the keyring and flew towards the door. The guard, in his eagerness to keep reading his book, had left it ajar. There was just enough space for a finch to squeeze through.
A couple other omegas noticed what I was doing. They were hovering in midflight, all staring at me.
I paused in the doorway. My desperate wish was to escape this place, but could I really leave all of these omegas behind? My gut twisted.
"Come with me," I urged.
They exchanged glances with each other, unsure. None of them made any motion to follow me. I should've known better. Most of them didn't know a life outside of these mesh walls and had been fed lies about how dangerous the outside world was. They needed a gentle hand to guide them out of the Society, not the abrupt push I was trying to give them.
Unfortunately, I didn't have time to change their minds. If I didn't take this opportunity now, I would lose my chance. Forever.
And there was no fucking way I was going to let freedom slip out of my grasp.
"Wait for me," I called. "I'll come back for you, I swear."
Just before I left, I looked at Emory. He was still engaged in conversation with the alpha guard. He met my eyes for a moment. I gave him a firm nod to saythank you.
I wanted him to come with me. But he didn't.
After Emory, I didn't look back. I flew through the aviary towards the main door. Adrenaline coursed through my veins. The keyring weighed me down, making my muscles burn as I beat my wings as hard as I could, but I didn't dare stop. I would get out of this place if it was the last damn thing I ever did.
My heart raced as I finally reached the main door, the one that led outside. I jammed the largest silver key into the hole. Getting it in wasn't the problem – turning it was. I barely weighed anything in my finch form, which made this stupidly simple task utterly infuriating. If I could just get the leg band off and shift, I wouldn't be having this problem.
Angry now, I bit down on the key’s head with my beak and flew hard in the opposite direction, putting all my strength into it. Miraculously, I managed to wrench it sideways. I heard the telltale click of the door unlocking.
My heart leapt into my throat. This was it. The only thing standing between me and freedom was to actually open the door.
A frantic voice echoed in the hall. "MyVampires & Werewolvescharm! Where did it go?"
I heard David's footsteps stomping around. He was running around aimlessly behind me.
Shit.
His stupid plastic charm was still attached to the keyring. Of course he cared more about that than the actual keys.
Had David run out and left the aviary door open? I could only hope, but I was doubtful that the other omegas would actually take the opportunity. I felt sad and frustrated for them, and angry at myself. If only I was stronger, I'd burn this place to the fucking ground.
The footsteps were getting louder. David was coming this way.
A string of curses ran through my head. I didn't get this far just to be caught by a bumbling fool of an alpha. I had to hide.
A breeze was coming from a narrow open window right above the door. An idea struck me.
I flew up. The slot was too skinny for me to squeeze through, but it was just big enough for the key ring. I pushed it through and watched it fall to the ground on the other side with a loud jingle.
Hearing it, David ran for the door. "How did my keys get outside?" he asked cluelessly.
He was in so much of a hurry to retrieve his precious charm to look up and see me. He threw the door wide open.
As he bent down to retrieve the keyring, I shot out into the open air. The Society was surrounded by trees, which provided the perfect hiding place for a tiny bird.
"Ah!" David cried, realizing what happened too late. "Wait, come back!"
A few heartbeats later, there was a loud, raucous snarl. It wasn't David's voice.
I had already disappeared into the nearby trees, so I risked a glance back. My chest tightened with fury. Santino stood there towering over David, who was bent over and shaking as if he'd been struck.
"What the fuck did you do?" Santino shouted. His eyes and veins bulged.
