Cole’s heart skipped. He rolled onto his side. Just a moment, Your Highness. Someone is coming.
Let’s hope it’s Lady Viola to set you free. I’ll leave you to it, then. The king ended their connection.
Kurtz was already on his feet, gripping the bars, staring into the dark corridor. “You hear that?”
Cole sat up and nodded, his pulse beating hard.
Seconds, then minutes passed without another sound. Kurtz stepped back. “Nothing.”
Cole stared through the bars, willing them to open. He felt like they were no longer alone, yet there was no evidence to prove it. “Must have been the guards.” He finally lay back on his cot.
“Cole?” came a whisper.
His head snapped up, and he glanced across the dark cell at Kurtz. “What?”
Kurtz frowned back at him. “I didn’t say anything.”
“Cole?” The voice came again.
Cole leaped to his feet. “Mistel?”
At the end of the corridor, a faint light swelled, revealing a shadowy, feminine figure with a lantern.
“Who else?” she said.
How in all Er’Rets? Cole kept his voice low. “We’re over here.”
Kurtz’s scowl melted into a grin. “About time. Figured Zanna was hoping I’d been killed.”
“She might be,” Mistel said. “Lucky for you both, you have me.”
She appeared then, a goddess of light, lifting a set of keys. The soft jingle was the sweetest sound Cole had heard all day. “Ready to leave, my knightling?”
Cole stepped to the door, only the bars between them. “What about the guards?”
“Zanna took care of them,” Mistel said. “But we need to hurry.”
Cole’s stomach knotted at the thought of Lady Viola finding more violence in Lytton Hall. “You shouldn’t have come. It’s too dangerous.”
“Don’t be so dramatic,” Mistel said, working the lock.
From behind Cole, Kurtz let out a laugh. “Remind me to buy you a drink at the tavern.”
“Make it two.” Mistel glanced at him while she worked. “One for freeing you, the other for getting us a gig at the Ice House.”
“Where?” Cole asked.
“Thusk’s alehouse,” Mistel said. “I went over there and got us hired for tomorrow night.”
Cole went cold all over. “How could you put yourself in harm’s way like that?”
She rolled her eyes, lips twisted to one side. “I’m not a child, Cole, and I don’t need your permission to take risks. Now hush and let me concentrate.”
Three more seconds, and when the lock clicked, Cole felt a shift. Mistel had freed them and secured a performance at Thusk’s alehouse. She was part of the Mârad now, not just a tagalong needing protection, but a valuable contributor.
The realization hit harder than he expected. If she belonged with them, he had to stop worrying about her. But how could he do that when his heart was so deeply tangled with hers?
The next morning, a knock at Cole and Kurtz’s door in the Ivory Spit revealed Jol Quimby and Lovell Dunn.
