Chapter twelve
Escape
Bash
Newgate keeps its prisoners the way the Deep keeps its dead: none escape by will alone. Freedom comes only to the fortunate, the wealthy, or the doomed.
— The Mysterious Deep: A Comprehensive Understanding
These four walls were closing in every day I stayed in this hellhole, knowing Edmonds was set on Rose.
“If you don’t stop pacing, I’m actually going to lose my mind,” Oscar whispered, from where he was propped up on his refurbished bed with a leather-bound book in his hands. The candlelight from the nightstand cast shadows around our cell, which laughed at my helplessness.
“It’s been days, and I haven’t seen him once. That means she’s at risk,” I snapped.
Oscar sat up and snapped his fingers, bringing one finger to his mouth in warning. “You will wake up Kit,” he whispered.
Fuck if I cared.
The gentle sound of breathing next to our cell was all I needed to know that the boy was sleeping soundly. Two days and he’d already gained more color in his cheeks. The paleness from lack of sunlight and nutrition faded slightly under decent nutrition and actual sleep.
“Do you not understand the gravity of the situation?” I snapped, though truth be told, it was more of a whisper this time.
It wasn’t the boy’s fault I’d fucked up.
Oscar sighed, setting down the book.
“You know I understand. She’s my fucking sister, Bash. I just know that there is nothing we can do from here and that Oliver is working on it,” he said.
I blew out a frustrated breath, continuing my pacing.
“Oliver Bailey is a politician. He is the least helpful human being at the moment,” I said.
“Then we have to trust that Rose can handle herself.” He coughed as the statement ended.
Oscar loved Rose, but he didn’t see her as capable as I did. The problem was that she was new to this game, and Edmund was always three steps ahead.
“I’d say she’s more than capable,” a voice that shouldn’t have been said.
Oscar stood, his book thumping to the ground loud enough to wake the rats sleeping nearby. His face was slack, all color leached from it, like he’d seen a ghost.
I turned and there, against all odds, stood a tall woman in a wide-brimmed hat that shielded half her face. A face I knew well.
“Inu,” Oscar said her name like a prayer.
Her lips pulled up a fraction, but the real tell was how her hand shook just slightly as she turned the key in our cell door.
Oscar didn’t wait for the click of freedom; he braced his hands around the cell bars, and the moment they gave way, he pushed them only to envelop Inu in a hug that probably stole her breath away.
Everything in me said this was a trap. Even if it wasn’t my imagination playing tricks on me, there was no way Inu, despite how clever she was, could free them from Newgate. Which meant this was a trap, but to what end?
“You are a fucking idiot, Oscar Bailey,” Inu said with her head buried in his neck.
“Don’t I know it,” Oscar said, voice shaking. “I’ll even let you tell me in great detail, but first we need to get out of here.”
She lifted her head, nodding once before Oscar captured her lips with his in a brief kiss.
“This is a trap,” I said, as they broke apart.
