Page 19 of Knot All Is Ruined: Part 1

“No, I’m just—”

“Violet,” I snapped, cutting her off. “I promised you I would get us the fuck out of here. Now let me do that because leaving you behind isn’t an option. So, get the fuck on my back.”

Wordlessly she nodded and wrapped her good arm around my neck as Tori helped to boost her up so I could catch her legs. Holding onto her as tightly as I could, I started to jog even if it might cause Violet’s arm to hurt. She’d thank me once this was over and we were back safe and sound in Oscad. Better to live in the countryside of a place we wouldn’t have to sell our bodies to survive.

The shouting and footsteps didn’t stop coming after us as I thought they would. Could it be that others were running from the camp, or were they trying to ensure we were all dead? No witnesses to tell what happened that night. Probably didn’t matter that we had no idea or that we knew nothing about the Northern army. Okay, that wasn’t totally true in my case. I knew a lot more than I’d ever let Lucian realize. When I saw an outcropping of rocks, I switched directions and headed right for them. The three of us needed to get out of sight. If we couldn’t outrun them, then we needed to hide until they left and we’d be able to keep moving.

What looked like an outcropping was actually the edge of a cliff. The bottom wasn’t all that far down. The drop down was more angled than sheer, meaning we had a chance to slide our way down. It would be noisy and draw attention, yet below was far more cover for us, with lots of slopes and buttes to hide in. It looked like a giant had dug its fingers into the dirt and left it that way. It seemed like the perfect place to get lost and never be found— or that was the plan, anyway.

“No, no, Dani, we are not doing what I think you’re thinking,” Violet whispered harshly into my ear. “The plan is to live through this, right? How is this a good idea?”

“Because if we don’t find a way to get out of sight, then we’ll be shot or dragged back to the breeder house. All of us will be locked away forever, and I’ll be killed for trying to escape when I’m the property of the general's son,” I seethed. “For me, I’d rather die on my own terms, and fighting for freedom is one hell of a way to go.”

Before Violet could fight my hold, I stepped off the cliff and dug my heels in and settled our weight back so I landed once more on my ass. Violet swore in my ear as we started to skid, sending rock and loose soil down ahead of us. Another oomph and more swearing behind us told me that Tori had taken the leap as well.

“Over here,” someone shouted above us. “We’ve got three runners.”

Shit, shit, shit! Now we were sitting ducks until we reached the bottom.

“Don’t waste your bullets. If they make it to the bottom alive, we’ll find them easily enough in the badlands,” another voice that seemed cold as ice answered.

Peering over my shoulder, I caught sight of a hulking man with a face so cruel I prayed I’d never run into him again. If I did, I had no doubt he’d kill me without a second thought and spit on my body for causing him the trouble.

“Dani, watch out,” Violet shrieked.

Whipping my head forward, I saw the boulder ahead of us and had to make a split-second decision. Twisting, I grabbed Violet and rolled over and over again, but I hadn’t made it completely out of the way. My hip slammed into the boulder knocking loose my grasp on Violet, who screamed and tumbled away from me. The last thing I remember before blacking out was that at least I made it to the bottom and saw Violet and Tori there coughing, battered, and bruised—but they were alive.

Pain. I was in so much pain.

What the fuck had happened to me that I was hurting so bad? None of the soldiers would have dared to touch me for fear of what Lucian would do in return.

“Look, I think she’s waking up,” Tori whispered.

What was Tori doing here? Was I in the breeder house? Did something happen?

“That gash on her head must have happened when we got tossed out of the car. There’s no telling how much blood she’s lost,” Violet said, panic clear in her voice. “How could she not know her head was bleeding?”

“Shh, Vi, it’s going to be all right. Dani’s too stubborn to die, not when we’re so close to getting out of this whole mess.” Tori soothed.

“That man said they would hunt us here in the badlands. My arm’s fucked up, the bruise on her hip is massive, and we don’t know how badly she’s really hurt,” Violet sobbed. “What's the point of surviving if we don’t all make it out of this?”

Was I that bad for Violet to believe I was going to die?

“Hey, don’t write me off yet,” I croaked.

A hand quickly caught mine and hugged it to their chest. “Dani, I’m sorry. You know me always panicking and worrying about things I shouldn’t be.” Violet sniffled.

Taking a few deep breaths, I opened my eyes and found that we were in some sort of cave. Or at least that was my guess from seeing all the stones surrounding us. “Where are we?”

“The two of us managed to carry you away from the cliff and into the badlands. Both of us tried to go as far as we could, but we’re just not as strong as you right now. Then we found this overhang that would keep us out of the elements and keep us hidden from sight,” Tori explained, her round eyes observing me. “Did we do good?”

I managed a smile since nodding my head was out of the question. “You did great, exactly what I would have said to do.”

“You’ve been asleep a long time. We were worried you might not wake up. The sun’s already halfway up in the sky,” Violet added.

Fuck, we’d been here far too long, but with me unconscious, I get it. There’s not much to do when your leader is out for the count and left to make the best choice. Now the question was, do we stay here until dark or risk making a break for it when we could see better? Both had their drawbacks, and there was only one way to find out if I could even move at this point.

“Here, help me sit up,” I said, reaching out my other hand to Tori.