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Somuch happened at once, it was difficult to pinpoint the epicenter of chaos. All of a sudden, the common room was packed, and no one was paying attention to me.
Tybalt had been pushed away from my chair and was now hidden behind a crowd of girls. Kingsnakes were appearing out of nowhere, a swarm of black hoodies and bone masks. And when I looked up to find Ray, I expected to see him using the bedlam to usher his sisters to safety. Instead I watched him snap Dogberry’s neck.
The sound startled everyone, and Dogberry dropped like a ton of bricks. Ray grabbed each of his sisters by the hand and pulled them to the front doors. But there were too many people, and too much commotion for them to reach the exit through the throng of people.
I shot up, shoving my way through girls and Snakes alike. Maybe if both of us pushed, we could get them through the door. Somewhere, Brutus was screaming for order.
Apparently he hadn’t learned the crowd mentality rule – the one rule still valid post-Collapse. He had lost control the moment Ray killed Dogberry, judging by the screams of the girls who had seen it.
Ray looked panicked but relieved when I finally made it across the room. “We have to get them out of here!” he yelled.
I looked around the crowded room. A herd of black hoodies blocked the exit, still attempting to abide by Brutus’s orders. There was no way we were getting out the door without some kind of distraction.
Abigdistraction. Ella brushed against my leg, reminding me of what was hidden there. My lucky lighter pressed against my thigh, and I immediately knew what I needed to do. Fire, the ultimate distraction.
I thought back to Brutus’s office, lined with books and filled with newspapers, those tacky curtains still hanging on the window. I just needed to find something to make it burnquicker. And a tool to break in. I looked up at Ray. “I need you to trust me! Stay here!”
His eyes widened. “Where are you going?”
“To get us out of here!” I turned before he could stop me, wading back into the fray of bodies. How were there this many people in this room? It hadn’t felt this crowded during my first Choosing. I focused on the kitchen door, my best hope for finding fuel and a tool, ignoring the people pushing and shoving all around me.
It wasn’t that much further. I was almost there. Someone snatched my elbow, pulling me back just before I reached the kitchen door. I turned to look at a pair of furious blue eyes. Maybe I wouldn’t have to break into his office after all.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Brutus roared in my ear. “You’ve been a fucking pain in my ass since day one.”
I smiled at him, twisting my arm to gain some space between us. “Funny, you’re just the person I wanted to see.” I yelled back. I hadn’t spent the last ten years twiddling my thumbs. Whenever I came to town, I grabbed old self-defense books from the decrepit library. I studied. Practiced.
Now that Brutus and I were one on one, I could do something about it. I looked back once more to check my aim, and elbowed him as hard as I could on the edge of his jaw. Maybe Olivia was with me at that moment, proud of the woman I had become.
Maybe she was why all of my strength propelled my upper body as I connected with his face. He dropped to his knees, looking up at me in surprise for a mere second before falling all the way to the floor.
“Asshole,” I muttered, grabbing the set of keys off his belt loop. I didn’t think I had hit him hard enough to kill him, but he wouldn’t be a problem for the foreseeable future. I darted into the kitchen before anyone could stop me. Racing for the sink, I fell to my knees and searched for something that would work for my purposes.
There had to be something.
My hands dug through mouse traps, an ancient bottle of dish soap, and what looked like a dead squirrel.
And then there, behind the squirrel and the pipes, was a dusty bottle of rubbing alcohol.Bingo.
“Mila? What the hell is going on?” I whirled around to see a barefoot Hannah, sleep still scrawled across her face.
I had no idea how to explain everything that had happened. I looked down at the keys in my hand, the largest key that had “East” carved into its flat head. There was only one thing this key could be for. The East Wing where they kept the pregnant women.
We had to get those girls out too.
I jumped up, and twisted the large key off the ring. “It’s a very long story, but I need you to take this key, and get the girls in the East Wing out of here. There shouldn’t be any brothers on guard duty, because it’s an absolute shit show in the common room right now.”
Hannah took the key with a nod, seemingly unsurprised with the chaos she had stepped into. “Okay. What exactly are you planning on doing?”
“I’m going to burn this place to the ground.” I embraced Hannah tightly, hugging the first friend I had known in a decade. “Be safe. Be quick. I’ll see you on the outside.”
“Thank you. For everything.” She hugged me back, and then ran across the kitchen holding tightly to the key.
I watched her leave out the kitchen’s back door. Then, bottle in hand, I raced for the common room again.
Lifting my elbows, I stuck to the walls to make it to Brutus’s office as quickly as I could.
I hoped my fight with him hadn’t lost me too much time, but I couldn’t afford the precious seconds to check on Ray and the girls. I had to trust they were still waiting for me at the front entrance.
