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Emotion gathered under my ribs. I stared at her in awe and lust, my gaze practically peeling away her clothes.
“What?” She peered at me as her finger glided over the walls.
“Nothing.” I shook my head with a smirk, overwhelmed by what I was feeling for her.
“Ugh. Get a room.” Amara sneered, moving to the other side of the chamber.
The five of us scoured the walls, searching for a break in the surface, the clock ticking over us like a bomb. At any moment, Killian’s guards could come from the tunnel or from above to capture us.
“Guys? I think I found something.” AB’s voice shot us to her, her long, thin fingers digging into a crevasse in the wall.
“Move, babe.” Cooper slid around her, his fingers wrapping around and pulling, tugging it enough to show a seam in the door.
“Holy shit.” I jumped in next to Cooper, helping him yank it open, while Kat moved in close, her gun primed, ready to shoot anything on the other side.
We let out a final grunt, and the opening finally gave way, releasing the smell of dank earth. Distant sounds of pounding metal, voices, and buzz saws filled the air from below.
Gun in hand, I stepped out onto a floating metal walkway, noticing we were all the way up at the top. The ground was so far below I had to grip the railing to stay steady. My mouth parted, my mind unable to fully understand what I was seeing.
I had been in many brigs and jails in my time, but nothing would have prepared me for this.
This place was immense, much bigger than I ever imagined. Twenty-plus floors of various-sized cells were stacked on each other, all facing each other on four sides. Every level had a floating catwalk going around it, with some having tunnels leading you to places deeper in the prison. Two cages hung from the ceiling, ready for that inmate to be left, starving, and forgotten.
My throat tightened, sweat dripping down my back. I already felt the agitated oppression, the deep claustrophobia, the need to get out or I’d lose my mind. I couldn’t image what it would be like when it was full. The relentless piercing noises. It would be a constant abuse and attack on your senses. This place would be pure hell.
“Hurry up. Lord Killian wants this finished up now.” A man’s nasal voice tugged my attention down to the workers at the bottom, putting on the last of the doors to the cells. “You need to complete the stairs and seal off any exits in the next few hours. He has someone coming to put on the protection spells tonight.”
Our time was running out; we needed to get to the nectar before they put the spells into place.
“Where do we go, Amara?” I gritted through my teeth, talking low.
She peered around, not looking at me.
“Amara,” I repeated her name in warning.
“What?” she hissed. “I don’t know. It’s not like he drew me a map. I mean, I barely got it out of him that it was somewhere in the prison.”
“Wait.” My spine straightened. “Somewhere? I thought you knewexactlywhere it was.”
Her eyes fluttered to the side in annoyance. It was her sign when I caught her in a fib.
“You don’t fucking know?” Twisting, my body vibrating with anger, I moved to her. Any sound we made was eaten up by the bangs down below. She treaded back, a muscle in her eye twitching.
“I knew it was in the prison.” Her tone reeked with attitude. “Did you? You wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for me.”
Fuck, she was a conniving liar.
You had to hand it to her—she was a survivor, no matter what she had to do. Betrayal, murder, deceit, fuck, lie, seduce. There wasn’t a line she wouldn’t cross to get what she wanted. And that was her power. To be the victor and hold all the cards.
“He said it was guarded, so find a door that’s being guarded,” she said, like she made any kind of contribution to the mission.
“Wow. Thanks. Would’ve never thought about that.” Dry as toast, my response parched the air between us.
“You’re welcome,” she replied with a coy shrug.
Huffing, I stared at this piece of work, wondering how I ever let myself follow her around. How I ever liked her.
Truth was, I neverlikedher. But I loved how awful and deceitful she was because I wanted to be the same. With her, I didn’t feel any pain or guilt. No conscience or moral ground. I could be my worst to escape what had happened.
