‘Anything? Ladies?’
‘No,’ I hissed, feeling the damp walls in case I’d missed anything. ‘And you won’t have a shoulder left if you carry on like that.’
My mouth dried as my trembling fingertips willed the keys into existence. The silence from his cell screamed through my mind. What had he endured at the hands of Romero?
‘We need to get him out, somehow,’ Asher hissed back.
‘Did you know,’ Glesni said, hobbling towards the door and pushing Asher aside, ‘that there have been only two instances of Deviants having a third gift?’
‘What?’ Asher asked as a ball of frustration welled in my chest.
‘This is no time for a fucking history lesson, woman.’
I spun around as the mentor placed one hand on the tiny bars and the other on the handle of the door. She chuckled.
‘Oh, I agree.’ She spread her feet wide, grunted, and pulled the door away from the wall, tossing it aside and clapping her hands together. ‘But I happen to be one.’
For a split moment, I stared, open-mouthed at the tiny woman who’d wrenched a heavy oak door from its frame, throwing it as though it were a feather.
‘How…how long have you been able to do that?’ Asher said in a voice higher than usual.
‘Oh, I’ve always had three powers, but with my condition, I know I’ll be bed bound tomorrow. I save it for special occasions.’
The sound of grunting and grinding chains drew me towards the cell.
‘Matthias!’
His bloodied wrists were chained to the walls, his hair stuck to chunks of dried blood on his temple. Tears shone in his eyes while his shoulders sagged as I entered. I grabbed his face, ripping the leather strap from his mouth and gently, reverently, kissed his cracked lips.
He grunted, tugging on the chains.
‘Did he hurt you?’
Gods, his voice cracked as though they’d denied him water. I shook my head, tears coursing down my face, and placed another kiss to his dry mouth.
‘I’ll kill them all for this.’ The veins in his neck bulged as he strained against the chains again. I jumped as the screws connecting him to the wall groaned, loosening slightly.
‘What the fuck?’ Asher cried.
Glesni hobbled up to us, glinting dark eyes locked on her king.
‘Seems I’m not the only one hiding a bit of strength,’ she said, snapping the iron bindings as if they were a paper chain.
I winced as they clanged against the damp ground. Matthias drew me in. I knew we didn’t have time for this but, closing my eyes and exhaling, I dug my hands into his back. He kissed the side of my head before holding me at arm’s length, scouring my body.
‘How – how did you manage to pull these out?’ Asher ran his fingers over the bent brackets.
‘I heard Sorrow,’ Matthias said, wrapping an arm over my shoulder while grasping a shaking Skye with the other hand. ‘I had to reach her.’
Glesni raised a sceptical brow. ‘I knew you were smitten, Matthias Elmswood, but that’s something else.’
He flashed her a wide grin and a wink. ‘Power of love, eh?’
Glesni opened her mouth, a retort ready, when we all spun around as shouts rent the air; boots pounded towards us.
Matthias stood before me, trembling, swaying. Pablo dropped his head. A snarl rumbling through him as a group of guards burst down the corridor, swords ready.
One took a few steps forward, her hands raised. An Anomaly, I realised, taking in her lack of weapons.
