She shakes her head, still in shock, and I wonder if she can even comprehend my question, but it turns out, I don’t really care. “Come on,” I spit, reaching for her wrist. “Time to go.”
“Oh, hell no,” she sputters, backing up until she’s flat against the concrete wall. It takes her a minute to remember there’s a gun in her hand, but when she does, her arm snaps back up, immediately aiming it directly at my chest. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
There’s a recklessness to her tone, and a haunted fear in her eyes, but I don’t doubt that she’ll pull that trigger if she feels the need to. I step closer, and her hands begin to shake again.
“DON’T. Don’t come any closer.”
I grin. “Or what?”
BANG!
A bullet whizzes past my face, and I pause for just a moment as she gapes at me in horror. “I . . . I . . . I didn’t mean to. It just happened. I . . . please. I swear. I—”
I snap toward her like lightning, snatching the trembling gun from her fingers. “Let me make this very clear,” I growl. “It’s time to go. So you have two options. You either come with me now, or I leave you here to fend for yourself.”
I glance toward the door of the conference room and silently point out the other prisoners who are starting to crowd around, every last one of them more than happy to take my place in this room. “Take your pick, Menace.”
Aria doesn’t respond, just stands there shaking like a cold, wet dog, and I scoff at her performance. “Have it your way.” I pick up my bloodied shiv and wipe it on my pants before starting toward the door, and she quickly snaps into motion.
“WAIT!” she cries, scrambling after me. “I don’t want to die.”
I hold her stare. Let’s be honest, I wasn’t planning on leaving this room without her. I have a plan, and I’ll be sticking with it, but it would be a shitload easier to pull it off if she weren’t fighting with me the whole way.
“You listen to me. You want to get out of this prison still breathing, then you move when I say you move. You shut up when I say to shut up. And you run like your fucking life depends on it when I tell you to. No questions asked. Is that clear?”
“I . . . I thought you wanted to kill me. Why are you helping me?”
I grin. “Oh, baby. I’m not doing this for your benefit. The sooner I get you alone. The sooner I make you pay for what you did.”
She shakes her head, her brows furrowed. “What are you talking about? I didn’t do anything. I don’t know what—”
“Move.” I shove her in front of me toward the door. The other inmates track her every move, hoping for their chance to get a closer look at the pretty woman strutting through the prison.
I hold the gun up, resting it over her shoulder, ready to take a shot at anyone who even attempts to take my prize, but I’ve already taken out the heavy hitters. The rest of them should have enough common sense to leave us the fuck alone. In theory.
“Well, shit,” Leads, one of the newer prisoners, calls out from across the hall as wolf whistles surround us. “Give us a crack at her once you’re finished, big man.”
Someone else laughs. “Ha. You seen the size of this fucker? There won’t be anything left once he’s through with her. He’ll split the bitch in two.”
I ignore every last comment, keeping my focus on getting out of here. From the sound of it, the majority of the prisoners are in the canteen, probably keeping themselves distracted with whichever guards were caught in here when the gates malfunctioned.
“You,” I say, looking at one of the older prisoners who generally keeps to himself if he can help it. He’s been here for well over twenty years and knows every in and out of this place, much better than any of the guards. “What’s the deal?”
“Doors malfunctioned. Only C-block. Cells, canteen, and first aid rooms are free for all. Fucking riot. You don’t wanna take that pretty thing out there. Not even the likes of you could fend off all of those assholes.”
I nod. “This happened before?”
“Fifteen or so years ago, over in D-block.”
“How long?”
“Riot squad was making headway within two hours, but times have changed. Doubt you’ll get that long to enjoy that pretty thing.”
I nod and give Aria another shove. “Keep moving.”
She clenches her jaw but does as she’s asked, every step full of hesitation, not knowing what lies ahead. Screams, roars, grunts, and cries fill every corner of C-block, the sounds echoing like an eerie haunt through the long corridors.
There’s not a guard in sight, and judging from the random gunshots coming from deeper in the prison, it’s clear more than just the two guards I took out have lost their lives today, their guns now in the hands of desperate inmates.
