I followed Aiden out of our cell and eased the door shut behind me.
Chapter 6
Aiden
I could still feelthe cold grasp of the shackles around my wrists.
It was a feeling that had haunted me for years. I hadn’t been lying to Kiera when I told her that the shackles were worse than the beating.
Strangely, I’d lied to her very little. I couldn’t say the same for her. The corner of my mouth twitched. Little thief.
I kept her shadowy figure in the corner of my eye as I gazed down the tunnel of cells. “Hand me the keys,” I told Maz.
He frowned. “Aiden... we can’t. It would take time we don’t have to hunt down the right key for each cell.” He jangled the ring of dozens of keys for emphasis.
Kiera added softly, “And they could be dangerous, Aiden.”
The back of my neck prickled. That was the first time she’d said my name. Another thing I probably should’ve lied about.
A low groan came from one of the cells as a thorny tendril of desperation snaked through my chest. Regardless of Maz and Kiera’s worries, if anyone was being held captive in these particular cells, they were most likely criminals in Weylin’s eyes alone. Otherwise, they would be held at the city prison.
A wet grunt jerked my attention to see the jailer in a dirty heap at the other end of the tunnel. He was stirring. My upper lip curled. Surprising that the lout was still alive after failing the way he did. The Wolves weren’t known for being forgiving.
I thrust my hand out to Maz. “Keys.”
Sighing, he dropped them into my palm then shoved his hand through his hair—a habit he’d picked up ever since he’d shorn his long hair. “I knocked on half the doors and they all had at least one person inside.”
That somewhat soothed my suspicion about why Kiera had been dragged intomycell. But that meant many more fates staked to my conscience.
The jailer grunted again. I snarled in frustration. If only Maz had gotten here sooner... but it wasn’t his fault.
I strode to the jailer. He was struggling to sit up, bracing one hand on the door of the room where Renwell had questioned me for hours. His broken nose still leaked blood. A swollen lump on his temple marked where Maz must’ve hit him. His blackened eyes widened when he spotted me.
I smirked and rammed my chain-covered fist into his other temple. He collapsed without a sound. But distant voices echoed down the tunnel on the other side of the gate.
Gods damn these Wolves and their relentless master.
I whipped around and nearly tripped over Kiera. She moved like a whisper. I hated that now both she and Maz had slipped past my notice.
“Please, Aiden, we have to go. If they catch us, death will be the least of what they’ll do to us.” The fear in her honeyed brown eyes cut through my anger like a cold knife.
Cursing Renwell and his minions to the depths of the wandering hell, I threw the key ring through the barred window of the closest cell door.
After a moment’s hesitation, Kiera also flung in the little key she’d stolen twice. A spark of warmth lit my chest, but I smothered it.
We raced down the passage and followed Maz around the bend. The roar of the waterfall on the other side of the rock wall drowned out our footsteps.
“How many guards?” I asked Maz as we fumbled through the dark tunnel. Sparks of light danced at the far end, marking our destination.
“Just two, thank the gods. I only had two dreamdew darts, which was why I had the pleasure of bashing that jailer’s skull.” A smile lifted his voice. “Although it looked like one of you got to share that delight.”
Kiera made a noise next to me, and I tensed.
When she’d arrived at my cell in a storm of violence, her bruised and bloodied face had ignited my rage like a spear of lightning. As had her torn clothes and desperate pleas. I’d acted on instinct, wanting to inflict every bit of pain he’d caused her on the jailer.
Neither of us answered Maz, and for once, he left it alone.
The tunnel spat us out into a small sea cave that Renwell had turned into a secret harbor. A handful of dinghies were tied to the short wooden dock that jutted out over the dark water. The soft creak of the boats and splash of the water echoed in the narrow cavern.
