He pulled his hand away from me, looking up and meeting my gaze. It was only when I saw his molten eyes and throbbing veins in his neck did it occur to me I wasn’t the only one losing focus. For a moment, I was sure he was going to kiss me again, but he turned away and bellowed for help.
I jumped, the urgency of his cries startling me even though I knew they weren’t genuine. Then he shot me a pointed look,and I remembered I was supposed to be pretending to be seriously hurt.
I rolled my head back and let out a pained moan as I clutched my stomach. “Oooooooooooh! It hurts.”
“Guards!” Kolt shouted. “Help us!”
The door at the end of the hall slammed open and, as we’d hoped, only one guard rushed in. As we’d expected, they didn’t keep more than a single guard on duty when there would be no need to open the cell.
The Zagrath guard looked as if he’d been woken up, and he also looked considerably younger than the guards who’d been on watch before. He gaped at us on the floor, his eyes popping wide at the sight of the blood. “What…what happened to her?”
“She cut herself on yourtvekkingbench,” Kolt yelled, his voice vibrating with convincing outrage. “She is cut badly and needs medical attention.”
The guard turned toward the door. “I’ll get help…”
“No time,” Kolt barked. “She could die. Do you want to tell your superiors that a valuable prisoner—the most valuable prisoner—died on your watch?”
The soldier’s face paled, but he looked longingly toward the door again.
I let out a desperate gasp, gurgling as I extended an arm. “Please…”
Kolt held up his hands. “I’ll keep my hands in sight the entire time. Just save her. Please!”
The guard nodded and fumbled with the keys on his waist, his hand shaking as he opened the cell door and rushed inside. True to his word, Kolt kept his hands up and moved away as the guard knelt down.
“I’ll get you to the medic,” the Zagrath said as he looped an arm around my back and hoisted me up.
Then my hand slipped and exposed the bloody but unmarred skin on my stomach. The man’s jaw dropped, and his gaze went to my face, an almost pleading look in his eyes.
I shrugged. “Sorry.”
Then Kolt’s arm was circling his neck from behind and yanking him flush to him. I moved away as the Vandar held him until his feet stopped flailing, and he went limp in his arms. He lowered the guard to the floor and hooked his hands under the man’s armpits to drag him to the corner.
“He isn’t dead,” Kolt said once he’d taken the blaster off the guard, tucked it into his belt, and straightened. “But he will have a serious headache.”
“And you knew how to squeeze just hard enough to knock him unconscious but not kill him?”
He paused and cocked his head. “I guess I do.”
I hurried from the cell as the Vandar followed me, locking the cell door behind us and hooking the keys on his belt.
As we dashed down the corridor, I glanced at him. “I look forward to seeing more things you remember how to do.”
“So do I.”
I hesitated as I pulled open the door, bracing myself for guards that might be outside, but there was nothing. Kolt was right behind me, and he closed the door to the cells with a soft click.
Just as I was about to say that things were easier than I’d expected, heavy footsteps echoed from the stairwell at the far end of the hallway. Footsteps that were rapidly approaching.
Chapter
Fourteen
Kolt
So far, our plan had worked perfectly. We’d lucked out that only one guard had been on duty and that it had been an inexperienced one. He’d believed our ploy, which I’d only given even odds of working, and despite not remembering my past, I’d known enough to disable him as if it were second nature.
Although the leather binding had stopped the flow of blood, it had also slowed my circulation, so my leg was leaden as I followed Skye through the door and pulled it shut carefully. The corridor was empty—more good luck—although I didn’t remember being brought into the prison, so I wasn’t sure what was at the end of the dimly lit hallway.
