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If that’s the case, then why didn’t he do the little one-two-three-step number with his buddy the guard? So what if I was sleeping? He didn’t seem so concerned with me possibly overhearing him then, did he?
Or… maybe I’m just being a sexually frustrated brat who should really get over herself and just be grateful that Rys is read to escape and take me with him.
So, yeah. I’ll go with that one.
With a scowl, I tell Rys, “And sometimes I just don’t understand you.”
His grin widens and, for a second, I really want to hate him.
“I know, Leannán. I know.”
14
The plan is pretty simple. Once Rys is targeted for a stint in the oubliette, it’s up to me to piss off one of the guards enough to get thrown in after him.
He assures me that that won’t be too difficult. As much as I hate admitting it, just being human is enough to trigger some of the guards. Add in the fact that I, um, I kind of torched one of their own and I let another prisoner touch me, and Rys is right, isn’t he? Without him to shield me from their lust and their cruelty, it won’t take much to earn myself a punishment. I just have to make it so that it’s the one I want. It’s not going to help our plan if they retaliate by moving my cell, sticking me in another wing of the prison, or by refusing to feed me.
That’s not too difficult. Being placed in the hole is supposed to be the worst of them all. So, when it comes down to it, I just have to make it count.
And I do. In the simplest way I can think of, I do.
The night before, two guards I don’t recognize escort Rys from our cell right before light’s out. He acts like it doesn’t bother him in the slightest, and even though the whole prison knows that he’s touched me—and probably suspect he fucked me, too—Rys is led from the cell without a backward glance at me.
I’m too keyed up to sleep. A big chunk of me is thinking about Rys in the oubliette, working toward breaking us out of here, while I can’t help but wonder if I’m some big honking target left behind alone in our cell. Dusk is proof that the guards can and will do anything to use prisoners for their pleasure.
He’s not the only one, either. Those few nights when I slept near Posey’s cell opened up my eyes to the danger of being a woman inside of this prison. It doesn’t matter that Rys touched me, or that I managed to fend Dusk off with the faerie fire. Lately, I’ve seen a few more guards’ wary stares turn from curious to speculating.
I can’t stay here much longer. I have to get out.
The night creeps by. I finally force myself to get a few hours down with the reminder that I’ll be useless during an escape if I don’t rest first. When the torches are snuffed, replaced by the fairy lights outside of my cell, I know it’s morning. After that, I wait.
It’s hours before I see another guard. That’s a good thing, though, since the plan calls for a good gap of time between Rys being taken from our cell and me pissing off a guard. It won’t work if the guards are bringing Rys back by the time I get myself in trouble, so I don’t want to wait too long, and when the first Seelie guard strolls past my cell, I decide to act now.
Reaching under the cot, I pick up my apple core. I made sure to save it from last night’s meal since I couldn’t be sure that the guards would bring me another one in time. When I told Rys what I planned on doing, he didn’t seem to like my idea but he agreed it was my best bet.
Here goes nothing.
When we were in high school, Jimmy was an all-star baseball player. Shortstop. I lost track of how many games of his I went to, or how many hours I painted in the bleachers while he practiced with the team. His aim was flawless, and I always thought he could make a career of it someday.
Unfortunately, dreams of playing college ball—then going pro—only brought in fantasy dollars. At least, that’s what he told me after the last time he hung up his cleats. Garage money was real. It was in his hand at the end of each week and, without it, we never would’ve afforded to move out on our own as soon as we did.
He sacrificed so much for us. I did, too. We were supposed to be forever… but forever came and went a long time ago. I knew that even before I walked into the fairy circle. I knew that before Rys—
My finger curls around the apple core, fingers digging into the browned pulp. I have to get out of Siúcra. I have to go home. I have to finally end things with Jim, no matter how much it’s gonna break my heart.
I owe him that much.
But first, I have to get past step one in Rys’s escape plan. And, as I rear back, I channel Jim’s cannon of
an arm and let the apple core fly.
My aim is off. I’m not really surprised. I was aiming for the guard’s back and, ah shit, I hit him in the back of his head instead. The apple hits with a splat, breaking in half before it falls in pieces to the floor.
The guard goes absolutely still. I have just enough time to fully regret agreeing to this crazy plan when he spins, his long golden hair fanning behind him as he stalks toward me.
It’s Saxon. I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad that it’s one of the regular guards for this wing, but I recognize his face—even if I’ve never seen him looked so ticked off before.
Uh-oh.
