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At least with the cold, the fleas and ticks couldn’t survive.
“You’re escaping, and you’re taking me with you.”
She’d opened her eyes, and Vikka stood in front of her, her eyes red, her voice low. Naked.
“You speak English.”
“Yes.” Her voice cut low. “And I heard you and Twenty-Four talking. I know what you are doing. And I want to go with you.”
Shae had turned off the water, grabbed the tiny towel they’d given her, and held it in front of herself. “Maybe we do this with clothes on.”
Vikka’s eyes narrowed. Shae pushed past her to her hanging, clean jumpsuit. She pulled it on, then dried her hair.
Vikka did the same, pushing her dark hair back away from her face. Then, “I know he steals blasting powder. And if you do not take me, I tell the guards.”
Oh, Shae didn’t like her. “I don’t know when he’s leaving.”
“How is he leaving?” Most of the other prisoners had finished, moving to their containers. Shae had refused to shower with men, so she’d waited until the last of them had moved out.
The room was nearly empty, which meant the guards would be back soon.
“Tell me.” Vikka glanced at the lone woman leaving the shower area, her voice low.
Shae shook her head. “You betrayed Sasha and Ned and—”
“They were going to kill Zurab.”
“Twenty-Seven. Who is he—your lover?”
Her mouth tightened. “My brother. He is…not well. And he needs me.”
“So you’re just going to leave him?”
She closed her eyes. “They are going to sell me.” Her gaze met Shae’s. “And you.”
“No, Ned is coming back for me—”
“You are a fool. The moment he comes back, he is a dead man. Even more than that, if your man is military, then he is worth something. Maybe even more than you. But you are both going to be sold. The Petrovs do not just set people free.” Vikka’s eyes brimmed, and she looked away. “They kill who you love.”
Shae nearly cared. Footsteps sounded outside.
“What is his plan?”
His plan. The one she’d finally wheedled out from Judah as she lay under her bed last night. She stared at Vikka, the dark eyes, a desperation in her expression, and then…. “Okay. I’ll tell you. But only if you promise to pick a fight with me.”
Vikka frowned.
“Judah will put the blasting powder into the oven after dinner. Then, while the prisoners are assembled on the deck, the guards will light the stove for tea and…” She made a gesture with her hands. “Boom.”
Vikka’s eyes widened. “Boom.”
“Yes, but he needs a distraction.”
Vikka smiled slowly. “A distraction.”
“In the chaos, and before the stairs go up, we escape. With so many running, we’ll have time to get away. Everyone for himself.”
“And then what will you do?”
