Chapter 8
Chapter
Eight
KIER
The prison is quiet, the guards having settled into their night routine. We still haven’t been fed, but the hunger in my belly can wait. I need to keep breaking down this godforsaken wall.
Lithia has until tomorrow morning, which means our opportunity of getting out of here is narrowing. Getting to her is the first priority. We can figure everything out from there.
There’s a scuff of a shoe on concrete, and Lithia and I freeze.
“Was that—” she starts, falling silent.
I strain to hear.
There’s a quiet jingle of keys then the faint scrape of the lock turning on my door.
I shift fast, throwing my body against the hole we’ve been working on, shielding it with my bulk.
The door creaks open, light spilling in—and I’m shocked.
I expected guards coming to execute me. Instead, it’s the bucket woman. And she’s alone.
Small, hunched, hair tied back under a stained scarf. Tonight, there’s no waste bucket in her hands.
She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a single key, the worn metal glinting dully in the dim light. It’s not the rusted key she uses for the waste cart.
“You need to leave,” she whispers, her voice barely audible as she glances nervously over her shoulder. “Tonight.”
I stare at her, my mind racing. Is this a trap? Some cruel test the guards have concocted to see if I’ll try to escape?
“Why?” I ask, my voice hoarse.
“They’re planning to kill you tomorrow.” Her eyes dart to the door again. “Any of you without a gift.”
Lithia.
My wolf rises with a snarl. No. Not happening.
“Why help me?” I press, still not moving from my position against the wall.
She looks down, her fingers twisting nervously around the key. “Consider it my one good deed to atone for all the others.” A bitter smile crosses her face. “Not that it makes up for anything I’ve allowed to happen here.”
I study her face, searching for deception. All I find is exhaustion and regret.
“What about the guards?” I ask.
“Skeleton crew tonight. Most left after what happened with Thaddeus.” She swallows hard. “Three guards on this level. One at the main door, two patrolling.”
“And my silver restraints?”
“The key only opens the doors and removes the chains, not the cuffs. Those are welded on. You’ll have to find another way to remove them.” She presses the key into my palm. “There’s a service tunnel at the end of the east corridor. It leads to the old mining shafts. Follow them up and out.”
The silver around my wrists, ankles, and neck continues to burn, but the promise of freedom makes the pain secondary. “What about you?”
She shakes her head. “My fate was written a long time ago.”
I hesitate, studying her. “You should come with us.”
“No, I’ve been complicit for too long. There’s no redemption for me.” She glances nervously over her shoulder. “You need to hurry.”
“Thank you,” I say, though the words feel inadequate.
She nods once, then slips out the door, leaving it ajar. I hear her quick footsteps fading down the corridor.
The moment she’s gone, I unlock my chains and move to the door and peer out. The corridor is empty, dimly lit by emergency lights spaced along the ceiling.
My wolf stretches, baring his teeth. Freedom.
“Lithia?”
“I’m here.” Her voice is immediate, tense. “What’s happening?”
“I don’t really get it, but Bucket Woman just gave me a key to the doors.” I palm the key. “We’re getting out of here.”
“It’s not a trap?”
I glance back down the hall. “Apparently not.”
“Thank the gods.”
I slip into the corridor, moving quickly despite the weakness from the silver poisoning. My wolf strains against the metal, giving me just enough strength to function. I reach Lithia’s door and try the key in the lock.
It doesn’t fit.
I try again, angling it differently, but the key won’t even enter the mechanism. “Fuck,” I mutter, examining the lock more closely. It’s a different model than mine—newer, with a different keyhole entirely.
“What’s wrong?” Lithia asks from inside.
“The key doesn’t fit your door,” I reply, frustration building in my chest. “It’s a different lock.”
There’s a moment of silence. “You need to go,” she says finally, her voice flat. “Get out while you can.”
“No.” The word comes out as a growl. “I’m not leaving you.”
“Don’t be stupid, Kier. This might be your only chance.”
I rest my forehead against her door, mind racing. I could try to find another key, but that would mean confronting guards—dangerous with the silver still weakening me. I could search for tools to break the lock, but that would take time we don’t have.
Or I could leave—which would mean sentencing her to death.
The thought makes my wolf snarl in rejection. Never.
“Kier,” Lithia says again, her voice gentler now. “Go. Find my pack. Tell them what Zella is doing. That’s how you help me.”
“No.”
“What?”
“I said no.” I turn back toward my cell. “I’m not leaving you.”
I hear her frustrated growl through the door. “Dammit, Kier! This is no time for heroics.”
“It’s not heroics,” I reply, already moving back to my cell. “We both go, or neither of us does.”
“That’s ridiculous! You need to leave!”
I slip back into my cell, closing the door until it’s just slightly ajar—enough that it won’t lock, but not enough to be noticeable to a passing guard.
I return to the hole in our wall, finding Lithia’s arm reaching through. She’s giving me the bird.
I chuckle.
“You had a chance to escape!”
“And I’ll have another one,” I say calmly, settling back against the wall. “A better one, when we can both take it.”
I hear the slap of her palm against stone. “This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. You’ve been here for three years, and you’re throwing away your freedom for what? Some wolf you’ve known for a few days?”
“For you,” I say simply.
She’s silent for a beat. “You’re a fool,” she says quietly, but there’s no heat in the words.
“So I’ve been told.” I reach through the hole, extending my hand. After a moment, she takes it, her fingers warm against mine.
“We’ll find another way,” I tell her. “When they come for us tomorrow, we’ll be ready.”
“Ready to die, you mean.” But she doesn’t let go of my hand.
“Ready to fight. Together.” I squeeze her fingers gently. “Get some rest. We’ll need our strength.”
She sighs, a sound of exasperation and resignation. “If we get out of this alive, I’m never letting you forget how stupid this decision is.”
“I’d expect nothing less.” I smile, settling more comfortably against the wall, her hand still in mine. “You can tell me all about it on our first date.”
She makes a sound. “You’re impossible.”
“You didn’t say no to that date,” I murmur, my grin stretching slow and wicked in the dark. “I’m taking that as a yes.”
“Kier—”
“I can picture it already,” I go on, thumb lazily tracing her knuckles. “You, me, and a bed somewhere that doesn’t have chains, silver, or sadists lurking outside the door.”
“Seriously, Kier? All you want is sex?”
I chuckle, low and amused. “Sweetheart… I meant to sleep. Gods, your mind went there fast, huh? Filthy girl.”
She makes a strangled noise but doesn’t withdraw her hand.
I grin wider, settling back against the wall. “Good night, sweet Lithia. Tomorrow we’re getting out of here.”