Chapter 34
Chapter Thirty-Four
G etting pulled out of the cocoon of Kingston and Landon’s arms later that morning to go back to prison felt like a perfect metaphor for my current situation, and I was not happy about it.
I’d slept again, too drained after everything with Landon and Kingston the night before to fight it. But as soon as I woke up, thoughts of Max and his mother, the rivalry between them, and everything they’d gone through hit me.
It helped me understand how deep the issues between the three of them ran. How they’d been pitted against each other as children, taught to mistrust and hate anyone who might rise, because it meant they fell.
Or lost something they loved.
Overcoming that…I had to believe it was possible.
But right now, the one thing tying them together was me. And for the first time, I wondered if it would be enough. If I would be enough for them to want to fight through all that.
Was it possible if they didn’t want each other, too? Maybe not even romantically. Hell, not even sexually. But as friends? Could rivals really stay on the same side for long, especially with so many secrets between them?
I hoped so.
Unfortunately, I had to push it from my mind.
I jumped back into the challenge ahead, because the only thing I could do to help was get through The Quest and win it. I didn’t know what that led to exactly, but it didn’t matter. I had faith I’d see what it had all been for in the end.
As terrible as Kingston’s truth had been, it had given me that faith.
Two hours into the day of brainstorming with my gang , our group had a plan to get to Silk .
His name still made me want to shudder each time I heard it.
But we found a way to avoid his gang and our rivals while we escaped from the prison.
We just couldn’t agree on what to ask him next to lead us to what he wanted.
And we had to figure it out, because our plan hinged on getting help from the last place we wanted it. Silk, himself.
I rifled through the lost and found box for about the hundredth time since I’d spotted it.
But the random assortment of useless items couldn’t contain what Silk wanted. There was nothing of obvious value, nothing that looked like it could be used to escape, and while he was a cold-blooded criminal, I even searched for something of sentimental value. Nothing appeared useful.
Vivian hadn’t shared one piece of information the other day, but since then, I’d learned that each of us had a chance to approach and ask Silk one question while he was in his cell without getting thrown to his gang.
I’d been searching for something he might want.
Convinced our escape hinged on it, and now supported by the rest of my group.
So far, we’d used three of our five questions.
From the looks of things across the prison, Izzy’s group wasn’t faring any better. One girl looked close to tears, and Vivian’s icy glare pinned on each of them while she said something that could only be heartfelt and encouraging.
It still sucked that if our group won, theirs lost.
When Izzy caught my stare, her frown told me she thought the same thing. My mind warred between thoughts of what the obstacle in our path wanted, thoughts of leaving without Izzy, and thoughts of my warring Knights, who stood stoically in the corners of the room.
Landon had given me a proper greeting this morning, but I’d barely been able to speak to Max. Other than to find out he was okay after I’d gone to see Landon, too. He’d been distracted, and I wanted a chance to be with him for longer before that time became limited again.
“Stop paying attention to them and focus on us, Quinn.”
Ignoring Elaine, I asked Morgan, “Don’t you think it’s weird that we have to do this with five questions from one inmate?”
“Well, I didn’t…but now, I do. What are you thinking?”
“Landon said something on our way in yesterday, after the whole you can leave them behind thing. We’re clearly not supposed to do that.” I skirted my gaze to Elaine. “Unfortunately.”
Morgan snorted. “It’s probably the collaboration aspect of this challenge. We need to show we can work as a team, right?”
“Yeah, but…Landon also said we’re here for crimes we didn’t commit. He said they’re our rivals, but the same applies to them. What’s more of a challenge? Working with people who are on your side or bridging a rivalry to succeed together?”
Her eyebrows rose, and she glanced at the other group. “You think we’re supposed to join forces, put our answers together, and get all of us out? But Landon made it sound like we weren’t supposed to do that.”
“Yeah, but I think it’d be a bigger test. I mean, most of you went to school together. Wouldn’t they assume working together might be easy on the same side?”
“Probably. You’re the drama.” She smiled as she said it, assuring me she was teasing.
“Exactly,” I laughed. “So, without getting into a fight, can we approach them?”
“It’s not like they could use it against us if we’re just throwing the idea out there,” Camille from my first group said. “I was on the cheer squad with V and Izzy. I could run it by them.”
A tall, beautiful girl with long brown hair and olive skin, Luna, spoke up, too. “I’ll get Claudia and Lynette on board.”
“Perfect. That just leaves Angela. I’ve only talked to her twice, but I think I could sell her on it.” I shrugged.
Morgan clamped a hand on my shoulder and smiled at me. “I’ll handle Angela. She’s a tougher nut to crack than she seems. But you can join me. Or maybe think on the clues a bit more?”
“Yeah, sure. I’ll do that.”
An hour later, and a few close calls over disagreements, both of our gangs approached Silk.
Vivian had voiced obvious distrust for my plan, but even her scoffs didn’t have the same bite behind them as they once did. Izzy had thrown her arms around me and declared her love for my brain.
That turned my cheeks an embarrassing shade of red, and it pissed off Elaine. But she couldn’t bother me anymore. Not after what Max had said. And not as we approached the big bad in the prison. Together.
I hadn’t seen him up close, but I gave props to whoever had done his costume. The tattoo on his neck, specifically, looked completely real. And I zoned out as one girl asked our next question, staring at the black snake.
It wrapped all the way around his neck, the head and the tail meeting at the side of his throat and looping around each other. Almost like a bow.
Tilting my head, I tried to figure out what it reminded me of, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
My attention to it drew his gaze to me. With his snakelike eyes, he leered at me. “Ahhh,” he breathed. “So, the rumors are true. The King’s Maiden ended up in my prison.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m a Lady now. And no one’s possession, thanks.”
“Mmm, but it would be tempting to possess you, wouldn’t it, Maiden? And I bet I could’ve swayed you to give in. If you’d been my Match in the last challenge.”
“Nope.” I popped the p for emphasis. “I also don’t put out .”
His lecherous grin made my skin crawl. “Perfect. I prefer when there’s a bit of a struggle.”
I narrowed my eyes on his, and Izzy chimed in before I responded. “Quit it, Ben. You’re being gross.”
He shrugged, and when Elaine questioned him about his favorite memory, he curled his lip before throwing his head back to reminisce.
“Ahhh, yes. I remember it well. A pretty Maiden who reminded me of all of you.”
We shared a look, most of us growing more creeped out the longer Ben talked, and it was getting harder to tell if he was playing his role or just dazzling us with his usual personality.
“She put up a fight, too. A good one. That’s how I ended up in here, after all. I got away with it for a while. I had the story laid out in front of me, so they made it easy for me. All I had to do was follow it. But lies catch up with you, eventually, I guess.”
One by one, he stared at each of us.
“Don’t they, pretty Ladies?”
“How’d you do it?” Vivian snapped.
“I trapped her. Gave her two choices. And she picked the wrong one, I’m afraid.
” He inspected his fingernails as he answered the question.
“Life often comes down to our choices, don’t you think?
One wrong move sends you down the wrong path.
That’s how it was for her.” He smiled cruelly at Vivian as he continued.
“You should’ve seen the blood on the sheets.
It was beautiful. That crimson staining the black silk. ”
Black silk .
My mind jolted with the memory, running through the possibility, and my eyes fixed back on his neck. It was part of his clue, but it was also the answer. Hidden right in front of us, if we knew how to find it.
“The item—Have any of us seen it, heard it, or worn it since we applied for The Quest?”
“What?” Elaine scoffed. “What the hell kind of question is that, Quinn? You just used our last one.”
But it didn’t matter.
Because as Ben’s lips curled into a smirk, and he nodded, I knew exactly what he wanted. I hurried back over to the lost and found box, pulling out the tattered and stained scrap of fabric I’d found earlier.
The one I’d assumed couldn’t be useful.
To anyone except a pretend serial killer with a black garter snake around his neck. Like the belt around the thighs of his victims. The one I’d worn the night of the Maiden Selection.
The third item hidden in invisible ink on our invitation.
I held it up, and I sighed in relief when he nodded again.
“You’ve escaped me this time, pretty Maiden. But I’ll get you in the end.”
I bristled, over him and this whole trial. “Just give us the answer, Ben. Tell us how we get out.”
“At the next break, I’ll create a distraction in the common area. Walk out the front doors, and you’re free.”
Nodding, I went to hand the garter to him.
But Vivian’s hand latched onto my wrist, holding it out of reach. “Don’t.” She took it from me, crumpling it into a ball in her tightly clenched fist. “You’ll get this when you actually hold up your end of the deal, Silk .”
He bared his teeth and winked at her. “Smart girl.”
She spun on her heel and walked away. The rest of the girls slowly filed after her. I hung back for a second, just to see what he’d do.
“Remember what I said, pretty Maiden,” he sneered. “Lies catch up with all of us, eventually.”
My stomach turned as his mouth twisted into a smirk.
“Secrets, too.”