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I need to get to Xander.

I need to tell him I love him. I need him to know that. And how sorry I am for putting him in danger.

I say a silent prayer in my head that he’s still alive. That he might even be on his way to me.

Luke curls into himself, and I bend my knee, kicking it into his dick again. He howls and rolls off me and onto the floor.

“I’m not fucking dying to you,” I huff as I roll onto my side, watching as his freckled face scrunches with more of the morning light slipping in.

I have nothing to defend myself with, but if I can get to his belt, maybe I can—

A foot collides with my stomach, making me slump into myself.

“Fucking whore,” Luke pants. I hear him shuffling on the floor, then his hand is around my throat, squeezing hard.

I rake at his arm with my only good hand, but it’s no use. My chest is tight, my eyes feeling like they’re bulging out of my face. I attempt to shove my foot under him, but I can’t fully control my movement. I can feel myself slipping.

Not. Right. Now.

Running out of options, I close my eyes and stop the struggle to breathe, going slack on the floor. He lets go immediately—and with everything I have in me, I will my body to stay still.

He sighs, coming off me.

“Fuck. You fucking whore. You’re better off dead anyway. Just like your cunt of a mother,” he mumbles to himself, hissing between each word. “Fuck!”

I finally let myself pull in a breath, and I swing my leg, connecting with the side of his neck. The movement catches him off guard, and he falls to the floor.

The door to the container opens, and I’m up on my feet again, rushing at whoever might’ve walked through the door.

“Woah, woah, woah, little Angel, slow down,” a female voice taunts. I’m assuming Jenny, as two guards grab me under the shoulders and lift me so I’m floating in the air.

I let out a tormenting scream. “My arm!”

“Shit. Put her down.”

I’m swiftly placed on the floor, the two guards stepping away as I scream in pain.

The woman approaches and kneels in front of me. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know about your arm.”

I breathe through my teeth, tears spilling down my face from the pain.

“Nova?” I pant.

“Tie him up,” she orders one of the men.

I drag my eyes to the woman in front of me, wearing an all-black catsuit showing off all her curves, with a black jean jacket, armed for dear life. “Where’s Xander?”

“He’s at DL. I’ll take you to him, but we need to deal with that”—she jerks her chin towards a struggling Luke—“first.”

“Is he alive?”

She pauses. “There’s a lot of them. I lost comms. I don’t know, Camila.”

Adrenaline quickly starts taking over my body, and the pain seems to subside. Sweat beads down my forehead and my spine.

She tilts her lips up in a small smile as she stands.

She pulls something out of her leg pocket and holds it out towards me. I flinch on instinct, but I realise it’s a knife, and she’s holding it by the blade, handing it to me. She nods pointedly towards Luke.