Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
Cell, ABO Facility
Terror shoots through me but not for myself.
My life has been threatened more times than I have threatened other people’s.
And that’s a lot.
Yet for the first time, my bonded Omega’s life is on the line. And that hits different. It both stabs my heart and makes my bloodied heart beat with a protective fury so intense that I shake.
My gaze is locked on the warden’s finger, which rests on the shock switch.
Don’t.
Don’t.
Despite myself, I whine.
Mr. Baskerville’s hard gaze meets mine.
He’s going to do it. I’ve seen that look in the mirror.
Mr. Baskerville is a killer who is about to follow through on a mission. He has no mercy for numbers.
“You know the drill,” Mr. Baskerville barks. “Step off the mattress.”
I shake my head.
“I could issue an Alpha Command. Then Omegas like you would have no option but to follow my order. You would have no control over yourself. Would you like that? Why are you trembling? Or how about this? I will call the Head Guard, then Mr. Greco will discipline Seventy-one, before he drags you both onto the floor. Sometimes, I prefer the simplest hands-on methods to execute Rogues.” Mr. Baskerville says it calmly like he’s not talking about murdering Bird and me.
“It is up to you how messy this becomes.”
I don’t know if huddling on the mattress will save Bird and me from the full effects of the shock, but at least we won’t die.
I’m not going to make this easy for the Alphahole.
I tip up my chin. I don’t move.
Bird wraps his arms around my neck. He’s trembling, and his sweet scent is sharp with fear.
“Switch,” Ro whispers. “Stop him.”
I jolt.
Bird trusts that I will save him.
He believes that I can.
No one has held faith in me like that before.
I straighten my shoulders, growling at Mr. Baskerville.
Dr. Gill rushes to step through the open cell door and off the metal floor. She stands at the warden’s shoulder.
Mr. Baskerville still doesn’t look away from me as he reaches into his pocket.
“I’m pressing the alarm on my phone to call Mr. Greco.
This is your choice. I suppose that it will be a useful experiment to see how well the electricity works through the mattress.
Then I may as well reward Mr. Greco for controlling his natural petty vengeance by allowing him to play with you for a while.
His style of brutality is not my taste. It will be a good motivator for his hard work, however, to grant him the opportunity to be the one to put you down. ”
I bare my teeth.
I will break every bone in Greco’s body, before I allow the asshole to hurt Bird.
My pulse is loud in my ears, as Mr. Baskerville’s gaze drops to the switch.
I suck in a breath.
“Wait.” Dr. Gill unexpectedly rests her hand over Mr. Baskerville’s to stop him.
Bird lets out a sob of relief, tightening his hold on me.
“You can’t be serious about this. What about the opportunities for science?
It’s fascinating that a Rogue Switch has not only saved Seventy-one from dying but has also pulled him out of his coma and stabilized his health.
More than that, she has locked and bonded him!
It is the first time that I have seen this happen between the two conditions. ”
Mr. Baskerville narrows his eyes. “So? It’s unnatural.”
Dr. Gill taps on her clipboard in frustration.
“Don’t you see? If Seventy becomes pregnant, then we would have an entire new study on our hands.
Just think about the experiments we could run on the pregnancy, let alone on the birth.
Who knows what the pheromones would be like in the child, Seventy-Two.
We have never studied a Rogue from the moment of their birth… ”
A fury rushes through me, which is like nothing I have experienced before.
She is talking about experimenting on my kid.
Bird and I leap to our feet at the same time. We’re snarling and growling in united protective distress and rage.
Instinctively, I switch into my Alpha dynamic.
I scream, as my body transforms. New pheromones flood through me. My scent shifts to a rich, buttery espresso caramel.
My rage burns deeper.
Rage against the threat to my Omega’s life.
Rage against the threat to my unborn baby.
Rage against these assholes who have trapped, hurt, and experimented on me.
My Rogue Power, combining both my Alpha and Omega sides, sweeps out of me in a protective wave.
I can’t hold it back and I don’t fucking want to.
I allow myself to ride the wave of fury and vengeance.
Mr. Baskerville chokes on the fog of pheromones, falling to his knees. He knocks his head on the bars, and his glasses crack. Drool seeps from his mouth.
He stares up at me in shock. His eyes are glassy.
He is paralyzed, as trapped as when Dr. Gill straps me onto the experimentation table.
Exultant, I snarl.
Adrenaline surges through me.
There is no going back now.
This is the escape.
Time to get out of here.
I turn hurriedly to Bird.
Please don’t let him be affected by my Rogue Power. He needs to be able to run with me.
Luckily, Bird is only staring at me in awe.
“You’re incredible.” He touches his bond mark. “I can feel your power in here.”
“Maybe the bonding is why my Rogue Power doesn’t work on you. You’re pack.”
“The Rogue Power isn’t a weapon.” Bird stares at Dr. Gill. She is huddled against the bars in terror, trying to hide underneath her clipboard. “It’s a shield.”
Something inside me settles at hearing that because it feels right.
My entire life, I have been taught to be ashamed and frightened of my own power.
Yet what if it’s something good? A way to protect your pack? To heal them? To trigger ruts or heats? But never to harm your bondeds?
Yet those who would harm the Rogue pack had better fucking watch out.
“Jump off the mattress,” I command.
As soon as Bird does, I flip the mattress, ripping open its bottom and pulling out the key that I hid ready for this escape.
Then I stand and turn to Bird. “Ready to fly to freedom?”
Bird’s breathing is ragged, but he bravely replies, “Since I was born.”
“Follow me.”
I prowl toward Mr. Baskerville. Then I crouch down in front of him.
He attempts to focus on me but can’t. It would be so easy to slash his throat.
Bird must feel my emotion through the bond because he rests his hand on my shoulder.
“Don’t,” Bird murmurs. “We’re better than them.”
I’m not.
Mr. Baskerville intends to kill us. If they live, no Rogue is safe.
I slide my hand to his throat. My hand flexes. I feel him swallow in fear.
But then, heavy footsteps thunder down the corridor.
“Shit,” Bird hisses. “Greco.”
Suddenly, the lights shut off to be replaced by bright crimson emergency lights and the blare of alarms.
It seems that we have triggered an escape protocol.
I growl.
“You’re lucky.” I slap Mr. Baskerville’s cheek.
Dr. Gill whimpers, trying to shelter even further under her clipboard like she can make herself invisible.
Revenge can wait. Escape is what matters now and saving my Omega.
I lean even further over Mr. Baskerville.
“You better send the Hunters after me, bitch. Because you may want to burn me, but I’m going to burn you and everything that you’ve built down in front of your fucking eyes.
” Then I right his broken glasses on his nose, before adding brightly, “Happy New Year.”
“If you’re done with your intimidation routine, let’s go, sweetie.” Bird’s voice is tight.
I wrinkle my nose. “As long as you never call me that again.”
I leap to my feet.
Bird salutes, before snatching my hand.
I prowl with my Omega down the narrow corridor, following the route that I have memorized.
Greco runs toward Bird and me.
His eyes widen almost comically wide when he sees me out of the cell.
“So, you’re the escapee, psycho. I should have known that it was you.” Greco scrambles for the Discipline Strap at his belt.
A vicious smile slips onto my lips at his panic. My pheromones wash over him.
Greco chokes. His fingers fall away from his belt.
He quakes, collapsing to his knees. “What…?”
“Just my weird pheromone shit.” I let go of Bird’s hand and swagger to Greco.
If Bird wasn’t watching me, I would break Greco’s neck for every time that he has hurt Colette and electrocuted me.
With Bird’s gaze heavy on my neck, however, I satisfy myself by punching Greco across the jaw.
Greco’s lip splits. Blood splatters down his chin. The back of his head slams into the corridor wall.
I stand over the guard, as he stares up at me, dazed.
I give a wicked grin. “That’s me saying hi to the Billionaires.”
Then I straighten and stroll back to Bird.
The Omega arches his brow. “Who needs romance, when their Alpha is as fucking hot as you are.”
“Shame we’re running for our lives,” I purr, “or I would push you against that wall and fuck you so hard you’d fall into a second heat.” Bird whines. His eyelashes flutter. “Unfortunately, we are.”
I’m a mean Alpha.
I grab Bird’s hand, forcing him to run with me again.
Three guards are normally on duty today, and I need to escape without meeting them before the exhaustion from using my Rogue Powers sets in.
It is hard to ignore the clanking of bars and cries from the other Rogues who are locked in the cells on either side of the corridor. They yell out in excitement at our escape but also hold out their arms desperately, calling for us to take them with us.
How can we?
It will be hard enough to evade capture with two of us on the run, rather than one.
A mass escape would either lead to immediate recapture or a massacre.
Bird cringes.
I can sense his guilt through the bond.
“We’ll come back for you,” I shout. “We won’t forget you.”
It’s the best that I can do for now.
“We promise,” Bird adds.
We’re almost at the side door.
I chose this door because it is less monitored than the main doors. I’ve worked out that it leads to the delivery side of the building with a path out to the high fence and then the vast Houndfall Forests.
It will be freezing outside. Bird and I may not survive simply because of the weather.
I know how to cope with such harsh conditions. But what about my Omega who has only known life inside a hotel?
Still, we will die free.
I never knew how much I cherished that.
I fucking do now.
Freedom is more valuable than anything in the world. Strange that people who have it take it for granted. They don’t realize how fragile it is and how easily it can be taken away from them.
Yet inside, I cringe too because we’re leaving Colette behind.
I remember how she whispered, “If you ever think about escaping, you will take me with you, right?”
I swore that I had no pack but the Rogues and that everyone who is locked in this facility is mine.
I meant it.
I still mean it.
How will Colette feel when she discovers that I have run, however, and left her behind?
My insides twist.
I have spent my life obeying others’ orders, dwelling in their darkness. I only held loyalty to myself and my brother.
Yet now, I owe it to Colette and the other Rogues.
This is a new emotion for me.
I am no hero. But I can be their shield.
Alarms are blaring. Crimson lights flare like hellfire.
“I can hear the guards behind us,” Bird whispers, urgently. “Do you know the passcode?”
I can hear the guards too.
Our escape is being covered by the din from the cells. The Rogues’ rioting is delaying the guards, who are confused about what’s going on.
Are the other Rogues deliberately helping us?
I pull out the key and slip it into the lock in the steel side door.
Then I take a deep breath, before I punch in the code.
Let it work.
Bird’s shoulder touches mine. “This is it. Please…”
The door swings open.