Your Knife, My Heart (Dark Forces, #1)

by K.M. Moronova

This book is set ten years before Leave Me Behind, but it completely stands alone.

I can’t remember the last time I didn’t want to hurt someone.

“As a whole, you will have twenty-four hours to get the number on your wristband down to fifty. If that doesn’t happen by this time tomorrow night, the implants in your necks will detonate at random until we’re left with fifty cadets remaining. Same goes for anyone who tries to escape and goes out-of-bounds. You’ll get four warning beeps before you’re dead, but don’t fret, you have hundreds of wooded acres to hide and play in.”

“I’m going to fuck you until you’re weeping, but just in case I lose myself”—he places the knife in my hand—“I want you to feel safe with me, Em. I want…at least one person to feel safe with me,” he whispers, his eyes averted, anguished.

The sky is clear and birds have the audacity to chirp like it’s a cheerful morning.

Thought this was funny about the birds