Just a twitch of your fingers, Kiera. Nothing you haven’t done before. Get close. Steal them. Get out.
But first, we had to hide the bombs.
We split up like we planned. Aiden sauntered off in one direction. Ruru and I in another.
Ruru grabbed a bucket like mine. We quickly found the line of prisoners waiting to fill their buckets with sunstone. It snaked around the rim of the cavern under the scaffolding, which wasperfect because it protected us from the rocks that frequently tumbled down.
The other prisoners didn’t pay us any mind. Just hobbled forward with their empty buckets and emptier eyes.
I wanted to whisper that they would be free soon. That they needed to be ready. I wanted to see hope reignite in their souls.
But I didn’t want to cause a ruckus. I needed to wait, wait, wait. Gods-damned waiting.
I discreetly slipped Ruru a few of the explosives. Once he was close enough to a pillar, he casually shuffled toward it. He blended in with the other prisoners who picked over the rocky floor, looking for any bits of sunstone that might’ve fallen and adding it to their buckets.
When the next cry of “Rocks!” came and everyone ducked, he darted forward and nestled the canister in the rocky hole from which the pillar sprouted.
We did that three more times, alternating who slipped out of line. Always making sure the supervisor’s back was turned.
By the fourth time, we’d gotten several curious stares from other prisoners, but they said nothing.
I breathed a sigh of relief once all the canisters were hidden. I waited for the bucket of sunstone to be lowered from the top of the scaffolding, then transferred the sunstone into my bucket and stepped away.
I hesitated, wanting to wait for Ruru, but the supervisor prowling the wooden platform in the middle of the cavern noticed.
He leered down at me while grasping the handle of his sunstone club. “Haven’t seen you before, girl. Must be new if you haven’t turned ugly yet.”
Imprisonment in this abyss tends to do that, you sick bastard.
Stomach churning, I lowered my eyes and trudged past him.
He jumped down behind me with a heavy thud and grabbed my arm. “How about I come find you later?”
His keys jangled against my hip. Fucking Four, if only I had a hand free. But if I dropped my bucket...
“Did you hear me, girl?” he demanded, his rotten breath nearly making me gag. “Which cell?—”
“Supervisor!” a rough voice shouted.
I looked up to see Aiden striding toward us, murder in his gaze. He gripped the hilt of his sword.
I sent him a panicked look.Gods, no, Aiden! You’ll give us away!
He ignored me, halting almost too close to the leech of a man holding me. “Need I remind you we are behind schedule, and you harassing the prisoners will only make it worse. Get fucked on your own time, or I’ll report you to High General Dracles.”
The supervisor stiffened. His wide eyes traveled over the badges decorating Aiden’s chest. He took a step back and threw my arm away from him.
“Get back to work,” Aiden snarled at me. Then he turned and left as if I were nothing to him.
I stumbled back toward the main tunnel on shaky legs. Gods damn it, that was close. If only I’d gotten the fucking keys. Now I’d have to get close to one of them again. Me, not Ruru. I wasn’t letting him anywhere near a bastard like that.
I glanced over my shoulder. The supervisor was watching me go, dark, violent thoughts twisting in his gaze.
I’d earned an enemy. One who would be hard to hide from.
So be it. If he came after me, I’d take more than his gods-damned keys.
Ruru caught up to me as we plodded back to the forge. “Are you all right? What happened?”
