Page 157 of Rot In Knotty Pieces

Ilook up at the guns, my mind going through a million different scenarios, each one worse than the last.

“Tell them to shoot us, then,” I say with a shrug. “I die with my pack and my sister.”

The Sandersons in their terrifying masks don’t back down as they emerge from the shadows slowly, guns trained on them. The guy closest to us lifts his masked face and stares into the darkness.

His expression is strangely blank.

I wonder what he’s seeing, and then I see her. What the fuck?

Sariah steps out of the darkness, looking all kinds of sexy and dangerous. She has no mask on her face, but she simply walks up to the rails and leans on them, chuckling darkly.

She’s the fairy princess who painted Dove’s face. Holy shit.

The Flock don’t appear to see her. They don’t appear to be doing anything. It’s like someone pressed pause. They are just frozen.

“Drop the guns.”

They drop them.

What is happening here?

“Well, that went down easier than I expected,” she laughs again and pulls herself up on the rail, sitting there and crossing one leg over the other.

“What did you do?” Father screams.

“Drugged them,” Sariah says to Father without remorse. She turns to the closest man. “You…jump over the rail.”

The disciple closest to her climbs up on the rail and swan dives to the floor, breaking his neck with a sickening snap.

She just laughs.

I like her a lot.

“I’m strongly suggesting that everyone just takes a step back to cool off.”

Korax dives at Father, grabs something, and darts away. He gets up the top of the stairs and crouches there. I am curious about what he has in his hands, but then I decide I don’t care.

“If you are going to kill someone right, you have to do it yourself,” Father mutters and lunges at us.

I’m ready for him and shove Robin out of the way. I duck and dive, darting in and out. Every blow I throw at him cannot land. He is too fast and too well-trained.

My pack is closing in. I have mere seconds before I have backup, but he can see it, too. He pulls out a gun and aims it at me.

A gun? Coward.

It goes off, the sound louder than I would have thought possible. I stand there, prepared to die, wishing, having so many regrets, but then I’m shoved aside.

I whip my head in the direction that threw me off balance. I expect to see Rolly or Pix or someone who loves me.

Instead, it’s Robin.

“No!” I shriek, lunging for her.

She hits the ground hard and curls around herself, making a choking, gurgling noise. I throw myself at her, looking for the hole. It’s a chest wound, and it’s bleeding a lot.

She looks up at me, grabs me, and pulls me closer. I press my cheek to hers, my tears running across her ruined skin.

Everything stills. A door in my mind blows open. A thousand forgotten memories. In the light. In the dark. A million tears cried for a person I didn’t remember. I press on the wound, there’s a cut on my hand, and our blood mingles.