I rushed forward and found myself at that damn window staring out across the compound. From the parts of the city I could see, there seemed to be a lot of activity out there. Everyone was tightening security and patrolling the perimeter. This new development would be keeping them busy, so I... I could go out there and see if I could find my princes.
If they were looking outward, maybe they'd not notice what was happening inside.
Turning from the view, I was in my wardrobe in a second, rifling through until I found exactly what I needed. Black long-sleeved shirt and pants, both with stretch and flexibility so I could climb. But also tight-fitted so they wouldn't catch on anything. There were gloves that I turned inside out because they were red on the outside, but the interior was black. Same with a knitted cap.
In truth, there had been very little in the way of dark clothing provided to me; Uriel had probably discouraged it so I wouldn't go out on stealth missions. But there was enough here that I could get most of myself covered. With some dark makeup across any still visible parts of my skin, I would blend in. Even better, I’d be basically unrecognizable.
When I was done, I silently opened my front door, letting it swing out before I stepped through. If anyone was waiting out there, guarding me, they would come and inspect my open door. I gave it a few minutes, standing just on the inside so I was out of sight. But no one checked, and I finally stepped out into a deserted hallway.
There were low lights, but I'd already memorized exactly where to step to stay in the shadows. It was almost too easy, and it had only taken a few days of playing my part to get them to loosen their watchful eye on me.
A few months here and I'd probably have Uriel's job. Apparently that was what I'd been born for anyway, and they must expect that sooner rather than later I'd embrace it.
Images flashed across my mind from the videos I'd been forced to endure. Images I knew would be burned into my brain for eternity. The violence hadn’t just come from royals though. The resistance had killed dozens of people in their blast, and a lot of those people were innocents. No one had clean hands in this world. Not to mention I knew—and loved—more than one royal. They weren't all painted with the same brush, and some of them were so far from evil.
Like, fuck, the royals of Switzerland were about the nicest people I'd ever met. Was I supposed to believe they had a secret torture city where they killed people? Women and children? Babies with their tiny bodies cut up and burned?
I couldn't see it.
No fucking way.
Then again, I had the impression Rafe’s grandfather had been a nasty piece of shit, so maybe there was something there.
I had to stop for a second and squeeze my eyes tightly closed to banish the images, otherwise I would probably give myself away with the sobbing and vomiting that those videos brought me to.
Focus, Violet.I had to compartmentalize this shit, or I was never going to make it through their conditioning.
When I got myself together, my focus back on track, I continued my journey out of the building and into the resistance city. It was quite dark; it was late and the general population here had gone to bed. This gave me free run of the facility, and the first place I decided to investigate was the “prison” building Caine had inadvertently let slip during my first tour.
I remembered where it was because I'd been keeping a mental map of this shithole since the minute I’d arrived from Red East camp. Every time I'd gone anywhere, seen anything, I'd added it to the grid in my head. So while I didn't know every part of the city, I had a good idea where most things lay, and the large building was only about a five minute run from my apartment—made sense, Uriel would want to keep his leverage close.
My breathing was even for the first few minutes, but after that it got a little more labored. I wasn't exactly unfit, but neglecting my running over the past few months had done me no favors. By the time I made it to the large, non-descript building, I had to take a minute in the shadows to get my breath back. It had been a little farther than I’d thought, mostly caused by the fact that I needed to stay off the main path, taking the back roads instead.
But I was here now, and I needed to search for the princes before someone found me and hauled my ass back to my room. Not to mention, it was going to set me back in my "fake out these fuckers" plan if they thought I was trying to escape.
Hurry.
I had to be back in my room before morning, so no time to fuck around.
I noticed a back entrance, and hurried forward, hoping to find the door unlocked. That would be too easy of course, but right now, I really needed easy. When I reached for the handle, I noted the absence of any alarms on this side. No cameras either.
It almost looked like one of those doors they used just to take the trash out, especially since the large dumpsters were on this side of the building. Reaching forward, I jiggled the lock, only to hear the familiar click of a bolt.
Fuck's sake.
I wasn't surprised, but seriously, could I not just catch one fucking break?
Not bothering to waste time on the door any longer, I turned away and started to search the ground for objects that would help me pick the lock. I had a lot of skills, thanks to my sensei, some of which he'd really regret giving me.
He was going to regret a lot of his actions soon enough. A girl only had the ability to take so much, and when she snapped, it was the stuff of fucking poems. The murder-y kind.
The closer I got to the dumpsters, the more little bits and pieces of junk were on the ground. I managed to find a pin, one that I could straighten enough to work, so I just had to find something else.
Just as I got down on my stomach to reach under the dumpster, there was a clicking sound from behind me, and the door opened.
Fuck.
I was already halfway under, so I scooted the rest of the way into whatever disgusting shit was under here, holding my breath the whole time. Footsteps sounded just as I got out of sight, and I wondered if they'd seen my legs. It was dark and I was all in black, so if anything saved me, it was going to be that.
