Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 106292 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106292 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
My eyes widen in fear. “Is . . . is he—”
“No,” Easton says with a grunt as he pulls against the bars, bending them bit by bit. “Just knocked out, but he won’t be down for long. We need to get you out of here.”
Shit.
Zade returns, his gaze sailing over me before glancing at the bars. “That should be enough,” he says, indicating for me to try to squeeze through. The boys step away, removing the Jaws of Life, and as I step up to the slight bend in the bar, Sawyer glances back down the corridor toward his father’s cell, then back to Harrison, knowing our time is quickly running out.
I don’t doubt the boys have left a trail of destruction on their way down here, and it won’t be long until someone calls for help.
Gripping the bars, I duck down to the widest part and take a shaky breath before craning my neck to try and find the right angle. I slowly push, feeling the bars at both sides of my head, but it’s just wide enough to squeeze through.
“Twist your shoulders,” Easton says, reaching out and gripping my hand to help me through. “You’re gonna have to go sideways.”
My first shoulder slips through the bars, and I have to squeeze through one tit at a time before I’m able to get the second shoulder out. In order to create just a little bit of stability, I have no choice but to shove a leg through next. My ass gets stuck, and Easton curls his arm around my waist to pull me the rest of the way out. The second I have both feet on the ground, I let out a shaky breath.
“Good?” Easton mutters.
I nod, my gaze shifting to my father as a pang of guilt tears through my chest. “Love you, kid,” he mouths, making my eyes well with tears.
“Love you,” I mouth right back.
“Come on,” Zade says, abandoning the tools on the ground by my cell. “We gotta bounce.”
I turn on my heel, ready to haul ass out of here when Sawyer shakes his head and doubles back to his father’s cell. “I’m not leaving without him,” he says. “The trial is a fucking death sentence.”
“Sawyer,” Zade warns.
“No,” Sawyer spits, spinning back around to fix Zade with a hard stare. “I’m doing this with or without you.”
“The hell you are, boy,” Nikolai’s voice rumbles through the cells, forcing Sawyer to whip back around to face his father.
“The fuck are you talking about?” Sawyer demands. “Don’t be such an old fucking fool. The Circle won’t forgive your crimes, Dad. You’ll be executed.”
“I deserve to be,” Nikolai says. “I betrayed the blood in a moment of weakness. I am right where I deserve to be. There is nowhere out there where I will be free. I need to pay for what I have done. Now get out of here before it’s too late. If you’re caught down here, we lose it all. Nothing is more important than ensuring your position in The Circle. Without that, we have nothing.”
“But Mom and—”
“GO,” Nikolai roars. “Look after our family and be the change Empire needs. Now, son.”
Sawyer swallows hard, indecision flashing in his eyes.
“Come on, man,” Dalton says just as Nikolai steps back into the darkness of his cell. “Your father has made his decision. It’s time to go.”
My gut clenches, and I turn back to face my father as Sawyer catches up with us, pain deep in his eyes. “I’m coming back for you,” I tell my father, my voice low, though I feel curious stares on my back.
Anger settles in his features. “Don’t you dare,” he tells me. “I told you to run. You promised me that you’d run.”
I shake my head. “No,” I tell him, just as Zade’s hand closes around my arm and pulls me away. “I promised nothing.”
Chapter 8
OAKLEY
We race through the eerie corridors of Empire’s prison, passing plenty of dead bodies along the way. Blood pools at the bottom of the rickety stairs, and as I race for the exit, it splashes up against my legs. I try not to think about it. My only focus is on putting one foot in front of the other.
I don’t look down, don’t look at the faces of the men who were brutally murdered in order for Zade to get me out of Empire’s prison. These men might have had families, wives, and children. A life, hopes, and dreams, and in a matter of seconds, they were slaughtered like cattle.
The boys are much faster than me, and Zade clutches onto me like his only lifeline, all but dragging me along. I feel one of the guys behind me, his hand against my lower back, forcing me to move quicker, but we’re running so fast that I can’t risk looking back to see who it is. My guess would be Dalton. He’s always been the one to show he cares for me, to have my back, despite being the one who likes to stab a knife right through it.