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Blood immediately wells around the steel, bright against his skin, then spills down the sides of his hand in thin, uneven streams. His fingers jerk around the handle on instinct, but the blade holds them awkwardly apart, making his hand look almost grotesquely pinned in place. Blood gathers along his wrist before dripping from his fingertips, pattering onto the floor beneath us.

For half a second, Mason just stares at it.

Then he wraps his other hand around the hilt and yanks.

The blade tears free with a wet jerk, and a fresh surge of blood spills from the wound as he snarls through clenched teeth. He barely looks at the damage before twisting his arm and hurling the knife over the railing.

I watch it disappear into the darkness below.

Shit. There goes my weapon… and the asshole still isn’t dead.

Mason grunts, swallowing down the pain as his gaze lands on a length of steel pipe bolted loosely against the wall.

He tears it free with the uninjured hand. The brackets snap and the pipe screeches against metal before coming loose in his hands. He swings immediately, and I duck just in time.

The pipe slices through the air above my head with a deafening whoosh before smashing into a rusted support beam hard enough to send flakes of oxidized metal raining onto the floor.

He recovers faster than I expect, and by the time the second swing comes, I’m too late.

The end of the pipe slams into my upper arm. Pain explodes through my shoulder, sending a sharp jolt down to my fingertips, and my arm instantly goes numb.

I grit my teeth as the steel hurtles toward me again. This time I catch it with both hands. The impact rattles through my bones, but I don’t let go, and for a heartbeat we stand locked together, each trying to overpower the other.

He falters first; his injured hand clutched against his chest as crimson continues to pulse from the ragged hole in his palm.

Mason growls and yanks backward, trying to wrench it free from my grip, but his own momentum betrays him as I pull hard enough for him to lose his footing.

My hand shoots to the back of his head, fingers burying themselves in his hair before I drive him toward the railing and slam his face into it.

The impact rings through the factory like a hammer striking steel. His body goes limp for a fraction of a second before collapsing onto the floor.

The steel pipe clatters from his grip as he rolls onto his side, curling in on himself and clutching his face. A raw scream tears from him, choking on groans and ragged breaths.

I’m about to kneel and finish the job when a gut-wrenching scream pulls my attention.

My eyes find Amani immediately. She’s standing beside the second staircase leading to the floor below.

She’s motionless, arms hanging limply at her sides as her body trembles. Her head is bowed, eyes locked onto the scene below, and I follow her gaze straight down to a body contorted and spread out on the bottom steps.

“Amber!” Mason’s other friend yells as he jumps up from Lucas, where he has the guy in a chokehold. He slams chest first into the side of the railing as he peers down for a better look.

“I…” Amani starts, taking a single step back. “I-I didn’t mean to…”

Her breathing becomes shallow as her shaking increases. “S-She was going to kill me. I didn’t mean to push her that hard.”

The horror on her face says everything as she turns around to look at me, searching my eyes for any form of recollection, or even confirmation. Of which none follows suit as a deafening siren erupts throughout the building and a mechanical voice crackles from hidden speakers.

“Blackout commencing.”

My watch vibrates violently against my wrist as the screen flickers to life.

00:15

00:14

00:13

The guy who had Leo pinned to a wall instantly lets go, but not before uttering, “This isn’t over,” before he fucks right off.