Wrong move. This was it. My chance.
My hand shot from under the coat, the knife flashing in the dim light. Drawing on past experiences when I’d been in bad fights or chased into tight situations, I twisted, ramming my shoulder into his chest to knock him off balance as I surged to my feet. Before he could react, I looped my arm around his throat from behind, hauling him back against me. The momentum carried us a step toward the door.
He choked as his hands flew to my arm.
“Don’t.” I pressed the blade to the exposed strip of skin above his collar. The edge pressed against his throat with enough pressure to let him feel exactly how sharp it was. My hands shook, but I held on, bracing my feet against the stone as I used his body like a human shield.
Scar Jaw froze.
Eyes widening, Lilac Eyes still held his crossbow trained on us, but he wasn’t able to take the shot because Scar Jaw was shielding most of me.
“Put it down." My breath came faster in frosted puffs, and adrenaline rushed through my veins. “Or else.”
The icy air went razor-thin.
“Put the weapon down. Now.” I tightened my grip when Scar Jaw tried to drag in a breath. The knife pressed harder, causing a thin line of red to well under the edge.
Lilac Eyes clenched his teeth as his gaze darted from me back to Scar Jaw. “You don’t want to do this.”
I snorted in a way that sounded way more brittle than I wanted. “Buddy, I absolutely do. Crossbow. Floor. Now. Don’t make me ask a third time.”
He hesitated, fingers flexing. Sweat beaded at his temple despite the cold.
Scar Jaw tried to rasp something, but it came out as a choked wheeze against my forearm.
“Last chance.” I pitched my voice low and steady. “You shoot, your friend dies before the bolt leaves the slot. And if I’m going down, I am not going alone. So. Put. It. Down.”
A beat of silence. Then a second.
Blinking, Lilac Eyes lowered the crossbow. “He’s going to kill us,” he muttered. The crossbow creaked lightly as he eased the tension and set the weapon on the floor, then pushed it away with his boot.
“Good.” My heart pounded so hard I felt it through my whole body, and a bitter taste coated my tongue. “Now, your other weapons. All of them. And the keys.”
He glared but obeyed—dagger, short sword, another slim blade tucked at his back beneath his cloak. Each one thudded onto the stone and got kicked aside. Finally, with visiblereluctance, he unclipped the heavy ring of keys from his belt and let them drop beside the pile.
My chest loosened a fraction. “Back up. Hands where I can see them.” I wasn’t out of the woods yet, and I still had no clue how to get out of this hellhole.
He raised his hands and stepped away from the weapons. Scar Jaw shifted against me, testing my grip.
I dug my arm in tighter and pressed the knife just a little more. “A word of warning—unless you want me to slit your throat, stop wiggling.”
He stilled with a low, vicious sound.
“Good,” I said. “Now, you stay put. Scar Jaw, we’re just going to reposition here.”
I shuffled us forward, using his bulk as a shield. Every step felt like crossing a tightrope without a net. Lilac Eyes stayed where he was, muscles tensed, eyes locked on mine like he was trying to figure out the angle that ended with Scar Jaw not dead and me locked in the cell.
We reached the weapons. I nudged them farther away from Scar Jaw’s boot to create space and make it a little safer for me.
“Scarves and gloves.” I flicked my eyes toward the ground.
Lilac Eyes blinked. “What?”
“The blue things around your neck, keeping your throat from freezing, and the gray things on your hands,” I snapped. “Take them off. Slowly. And put them on the ground. Take this guy’s too.”
His mouth flattened. “You won’t get far. When we’re found?—”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll be punished, flayed, disemboweled, whatever fun thing is on today’s torture special.” I tipped my head. “Scarves. Now. Unless you want me to test jugular depth.”
