THIS PROBABLY WASN'T THE BEST PLAN NOW THAT I THOUGHT ABOUT IT.

"You'll never leave me, Lily. Never," Layla shrieked, still coming for me.

The hook swung at my face, and I dipped, falling onto my back. When my body hit the ground, I kicked my right foot at her, the blade heel sinking into her stomach a bit.

Layla let out a shocking gasp and hunched over. A hand went to her stomach, and blood leaked from the tiny, but deep incision. The redness mixed with the filth on her body, creating a deep garnet color.

Layla gave me a surprised expression. "Why, Lily? Why would you do this to me? I love you."

Her hurt expression actually made my heart hurt for a second. Betrayal was written all over her face. No—she was trying to kill you. Don't feel bad.

My hands went for the hook on the floor, but Layla took it away in time, slicing it across my palm. Severe agony swarmed throughout my hand and wrist, but I sighed, eating the pain.

A scream left her throat as Layla tried to hurl the hook at me again. I twirled out of reach. The hook smacked into the wooden floor so hard that it broke through the surface, becoming lodged.

As she tried to pull it out, I hopped to my feet and punched her on the side of her orbital bone with every ounce of emotion that I could muster. My fist connected hard, sending pain up my wrist again as she got flung back.

She let out a loud yell as her body tumbled back from my hit, falling into the candle altar on the left. The fiery candles shuffled everywhere. One lit the lacy tablecloth on fire while others tumbled onto the floor, igniting the clothes scattered around.

It took mere moments for bright blazes to form everywhere. Piercing screams tangled in the air as Layla's hair caught fire, the flames mingling in her wild curls.

Her dirty hands patted at the flame as she jumped around. That's when I took the time to yank the hook out of the ground and tossed it at her head.

The back of the metal hook clicked with her skull, and she fell flat on her face, not moving an inch. Was she dead? No, I didn't have time to look. Or should I do the right thing—

"Betinia, untie me!" Rucker's voice brought me out of my haze, and I hurried over, untying his hands before I did the same to Sebastian, Yaz, and Khan.

The fire began to spread from the altar to other parts of the room. Thick clouds of smoke coursed throughout the ceiling.

"Someone untie me!" Gmie stared at us before looking at the fire spreading around her.

Yaz chuckled, wiping some lint off her shirt. "Nah. You deserve to die in here."

"Untie me." Fee grunted, staring at me. "Please."

He never did anything bad to me. So, I hurried over and untied the rope and cut through the plastic ties. Once I did that, he let out a yell and broke out of the chains around his wrists before he tore the chains off his ankles.

Damn, he was strong. No wonder she used three different ties.

When I went to a standing position, Layla popped up off the floor and booked it out of the room, not even looking at any of us.

"No bitch, you're mine." Rucker chased after her, boots slapping on the hallway floors.

I was too busy thinking about what Rucker was going to do to Layla that I didn't see the fiery flames near me. Sebastian grabbed my hand and pulled me from the smoky room.

"Someone untie us," Gmie screamed from inside the room, but I ignored her. Her, Demo, Aries and Chi, her whole little dysfunctional clique, were all still tied up.

Yaz hurried out the room, sporting two middle fingers. "Fuck you, you, you and you," she said before waving to them and running down the hall.

I coughed, feeling some of the smoke in my lungs.

"You alright?" Sebastian asked, taking me further down the hall.

I wiped my mouth with my clean hand while cradling my bloody one against my shirt. "I'm okay. Just got some smoke in my lungs I think."

He suddenly brought me close, bringing me into a tight embrace. "You saved our asses. Thank you." The scent of his fruity shampoo tickled my nostrils.

"Umm no problem," I said, feeling awkward. I didn't do anything special. Just did what I needed to do, so that I could survive.

A loud bam went off, making us turn to the left. Looking toward the noise, we saw Gmie, Chi, Aries, and Demo walking out of the fiery room.

"Thanks for nothing, bitch," Gmie said, glaring at me. She coughed again, spitting up more dark liquid. Gosh, she looked a mess. Shit and vomit covered every part of her.

"Who untied you?" I asked.

"I did." Fee stepped out of the room next, smoke shifting over top of his head. "Fire is a tragic way to go," he said. "And they promised to forgive Layla." And then he walked away.

Once he was out of sight, several guards rushed toward the burning room, sporting fire extinguishers. They must not want the whole house to catch fire.

Gmie snapped her fingers, bringing my attention back to her. "I'll forgive her alright." Her lips formed into a snide formation. "I'm going to get my revenge on you at voting." Then she turned away. "Where's that bitch Layla? I want her now." She screamed that last word, making me cringe.

That scream must've taken too much out of her because she stumbled forward, almost face planting. Chi was close to her but moved away. Guess she didn't forget what Gmie said about her.

Demo dived forward, catching her. "I think you should clean up first and get some medicine. Come on." Holding Gmie up, she walked her down the hall while Gmie continued to scream at the top of her lungs.

Chi turned her nose up at them and walked the opposite way, pulling Aries with her.

I went to turn away, but I saw Khan walk out of the smoky room, calm as ever. He saw me with Sebastian and walked toward me.

"Thank you," I said once he approached us.

He paused and laughed. "For what? You're the one who saved everyone."

"But you're the one that told me to keep her talking," I said, nodding.

"Still, all you." Khan gave me a soft smile, the edges of his lips turning upward. "Pretending to be her sister was a good move. You could see that she was losing it."

"Yeah, blurring the lines of reality." Even though she was going to kill me, I still felt... bad. I could tell she was juggling with something inside. Something that ate at her like a bed bug, sucking at her blood and sanity until she snapped.

Before Khan could respond again, Yaz turned the corner and jogged up to our group and stopped. "Uh, I never said thanks for saving me —so um thanks for saving me again." She didn't seem like the type that apologized much.

"Again?" I asked, confused.

"The cannibalism challenge," she said. "For giving me the extra human meat and stuff." She scratched her head. "Never thought I would ever say that."

"Never thought I would cut up a body either," I said.

"Looked like you had fun though," she said, eyeing me.

Tini did. Not me — the soft sliver of pleasure that tickled up my spine told me that I enjoyed it too. "Not really. Just trying to make the best out of a sucky situation."

She narrowed her eyes at me, probably not believing me, but I saw no judgment in her gaze. "Still, you saved my ass again. And I owe you one."

Sebastian laughed, making all of us turn his way. "With all this saving you're doing, you'd think we weren't on a murderous tv show."

"I haven't saved that much..." I said, thinking.

Yaz held out her hand and counted off. "You saved me, Layla..."

"Layla a few times actually," Khan added.

"Don't forget Rucker during our first voting session," Sebastian said. "And all of us tonight."

"You could've let us all die, and won the game yourself," Yaz said, shrugging. Then she smiled. "Thanks for not doing that."

My heart paused, knowing that a part of me did think about doing that as I was untying myself, but something stopped me. "N—"

The hard stomps of footsteps stopped my statement. Soon after, Rucker trudged down the hall, panting like a savage beast. Dry shit still caked his head and face, the smell of sewage still lingering. "That crazy bitch got away! Ahh!" He punched a wall, leaving a dent. "Did she pass by here?"

Yaz pushed her glasses on her nose. "Nope. She's probably hiding out now since everyone wants her dead."

"Oh no, I'm not going to kill her," Rucker said before spitting on the ground. "I'm going to crack her entire world. She'll be begging for more than death when I'm done with her." He let out a slight roar, touching his face. "Who the hell cleans people with shit? That bitch has several screws missing from that psychotic brain of hers."

"Her daddy brainwashed her into believing those things," I said, almost in her defense. "Plus, she's losing touch with reality a bit, like she's getting stuck in her own memories."

"Still, what the fuck," he said, shaking his head before looking at me. "You've saved my ass twice now. We're definitely allies and partners. You and your brain are the keys to making it out of this hell hole."

Sebastian stared at him hard. "I'm her ally."

Rucker laughed in his face, full-on belly laughter. "You think your soft ass can protect her better than me? Ha. Shut up, marshmallow and go somewhere." Then, within a split second, he took out his knife and sliced my good hand.

Sebastian slammed Rucker into a wall. "What the fuck, dude?"

I clutched my hand to my stomach, feeling soft droplets dripping. Pain blazed up my hand to my elbow, while the other one thumped with a dull ache. Both my hands were sliced now. Fuck.

Rucker pushed Sebastian off. "I wasn't trying to hurt her. It's a pack thing for my gang."

"What the fuck does that mean?" Yaz said, looking at my bloody hand.

"We cut each other as a trust thing," Rucker said, wiping his shirt. "A bond thing. It's saying that we're equal partners." He eyed me. "You didn't even flinch when I did it."

Khan studied me. "He's right. You didn't."

I was about to tell them that I cut my own hand once on purpose when I was little, so I was used to it, but as I thought it over, there was no normal way to say that without sounding weird. "Umm, I just have slow reflexes."

"That's so sadistic," Sebastian said to Rucker, clenching his teeth.

"Whatever, snowflake," Rucker said handing the knife to me before holding out his palm. "Now do me."

My eyes shifted from Rucker to the knife with everyone else staring at me. I knew that if I didn't do it, he'd probably be offended. Plus, Rucker was strong, and he would make a good ally. I think. His strength and ruthlessness were a pro and a con.

But I needed a team to get out of here, and it was best to have him on my side, instead of against me.

I grabbed the knife from his hand, feeling the smooth edges against my fingers.

"You don't have to do this," Sebastian said, giving Rucker a deadly look. "You don't need to be his ally."

"Shut up, play dough," Rucker said, getting pissed. "You're not her keeper."

Before Sebastian could retort, I sliced the knife against his open hand, smooth and quick. Blood droplets dropped from the shallow cut, sealing my fate.

Rucker grinned. "Welcome to my team."

When he said that, I got the strangest feeling in my tummy. Oh, boy.

♟♙♟