Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
Ryker
I kept the second key in hand, placed the first between my teeth, set the tray aside, and rose. With care, I shuffled back to the bars.
My fingers skimmed the cool, unyielding metal until I discovered the flat plate with the keyhole. The bars dug into my flesh when I pressed my shoulder and cheek against them to stretch my arm through.
The tip of the key scraped metal as I tried to find the hole. It caught the edge of the hole and made a scratching sound different from that of the rats’ claws.
“What is that?” Tucker asked from his cell.
I didn’t answer. If this worked, he would soon know what it was. Plus, I couldn’t shake the suspicion the duke could somehow hear us.
“Ryker?”
At Tucker’s question, the key slid into the hole. My fingers froze as my heart hammered; the key fit, but it could refuse to turn. If that happened, I might lose my fucking mind.
Determined to remain restrained if this didn’t work, I turned the key.
The click was so faint and unexpected that, at first, I was afraid I’d imagined it. Then I pulled the key free, slid it in my pocket, and placed my hand against the bars.
The door’s hinges didn’t creak as it swung open with relative ease. I remained where I was, convinced that if I stepped outside, something would strike me down.
I didn’t have an option; I couldn’t stay here.
I removed the first key from between my teeth and shoved it into my other pocket. It was difficult to get it past the dried blood caking the opening… my blood from the beatings I’d taken at the hands of Gaius.
Eventually, I managed to tuck it away. Taking a deep breath in preparation for being thrown back by some spell, I stepped out of the cell.
The second I stepped free, power surged around me. The rush filled my cells, crackled through my veins, and flickered at my fingertips.
Within me, Ellery’s power stirred again from when it joined with mine, but I didn’t draw on it; if I could keep her from learning I was free, I would. She wouldn’t stay away if she felt me drawing from her.
Sparks of light crackled along my fingertips and pierced the darkness. They brightened the ground and walls closest to me.
I blinked against the influx of light but didn’t douse it. We had to get out of here, and I required illumination to guide me through this gloom.
“Ryker?” Tucker whispered.
“I’m free,” I said.
Gasps accompanied my words before Tucker blurted, “How?”
“That’s a very good question.”
The lightning intensified around my fingers and rose to my shoulders. It lit up enough of the dungeon to guide me to Tucker’s cell.
I still wasn’t convinced Veni wasn’t playing more games, but games could go wrong, and if this was one, I’d make sure it did. When I made it to Tucker’s cell, he held up his arm to shield his eyes as he cringed away from the light.
My eyes burned less as they adjusted to the glow. I removed the key for the cell from my pocket and slid it into the hole. I was half convinced it wouldn’t work for Tucker’s, but it turned and clicked again.
“What the fuck?” I muttered.
“How?” Tucker asked again as I entered his cell.
“Someone placed two keys in my porridge.”
“You’re shitting me.”
“No.”
“What does that mean?”
The incredulous tone of his voice more than matched the way I felt. “I have no idea.”
But I fully expected to walk into a trap.
“Do you think your father put them there?” Tucker asked.
“If he did, it’s because he intends to torture us and not set us free.”
“I don’t doubt that.”
My lightning slid up to my elbows before extinguishing on my fingers so I could unlock Tucker’s chains. After I set them on the ground, he slapped me on the shoulder before we embraced. “It’s good to see you.”
“You too, but exiting this cell may be the worst decision you make,” I told him.
“I’m not staying here. If I’m to die, then it will be outside of chains and bars.”
I hadn’t expected anything less.
Tucker rubbed his wrists together as his ocean blue eyes studied the dungeon beyond me. Dirt and blood matted his dark blond hair.
“What do you think he has planned?” Tucker asked.
“I have no idea. We have to move.” I handed him the key to the chains. “I’ll unlock their doors; you undo their chains.”
Tucker took the key and followed me from the cell. Callan was in the cell beside him; we set the minstrel free before moving on to the other two amsirah.
The one who wasn’t crying stood near his cell door. He recoiled from my light, and when his head swiveled back toward us, he blinked rapidly as he squinted.
When we arrived at the last cell, the crying man knelt near the bars. Tears had created clear pathways through his dirty face. My light glinted off the white gleam of his ribs beneath the muscle and blood of his flayed flesh.
During his last flogging, the man spilled every intimate detail of his life, including the first time he touched a breast, lost his virginity, and his preference for bondage. However, it wasn’t enough to stop Veni and his cronies from slicing this man to the bone.
I wasn’t sure he could walk well enough to come with us or stop crying for long enough to do so.
“Shit,” I muttered.
If we left him here, they’d torture him more to find out what happened, but if we took him with us, he’d slow us down. I was still debating what to do when Tucker arrived with the key for the chains.
The man tried to hold up his chains for Tucker, but the movement made him sway and fall forward. Before Tucker could catch him, he landed flat on his face and let out a muffled grunt followed by a whimper.
Sympathy tugged at me, but I couldn’t let this man ruin our chance to escape. I had to return to Ellery, and I wouldn’t let anyone stop me from doing so.
Tucker gripped the man’s elbow and helped him back to his knees. Grasping his shoulder, I kept the man propped up as Tucker undid the manacles around his wrists and ankles.
“What do we do with him?” Tucker asked.