“Is he alive?”
Ahnna gave a tight nod. “Yes. He’s better. Thank you.”
The warden’s response was to dump Ahnna’s water rations on her face. They moved on to James, who spoke words assuring that he was going to live.
The wardens circled the furnace grounds, endless snarls ofPrisoner, approach!filling the air until they were finished.
“You ready?” James whispered. “It won’t be long now.”
“Yes.” She picked up her oil candle, her throat constricting because it had burned down to almost nothing, the flame a tiny glow. They had only minutes until it went out.
If that.
Come on!
The flame guttered and flickered, and Ahnna’s eyes stung with panic and tears.
Bong!
The first of the cathedral bells tolled, the others swiftly following suit. It was the sixth hour, which meant six bells.
Bong!
She had to hurry.
“Stay back,” she whispered to James. “This may not work. Or it might be bigger than I expected.”
Bong!
Holding the flame to the dried piece of vine that served as a fuse, Ahnna stepped back the moment it caught. Going to the far side of the cell, she crouched down, closed her eyes, and plugged her ears.
Bong!
Please work.
Bong!
It wasn’t going to work. The ingredients weren’t pure enough. She hadn’t gotten the mixture right.
Boom!
Her whole body twitched as the small explosion went off at the same time as the bells tolled, and she twisted in time to watch a small puff of smoke rise. Stones clacked and clattered, then all fell silent, and Ahnna clenched her teeth, waiting for the guards to take notice even as her elation grew.
Because above the small pile of rubble was a much larger opening.
She waited and waited, but when no boots sounded overhead, she determined that the guards had not noticed the small bang over the noise of the bells. Or if they had, they’d thought it something that had come from the city itself. Ahnna dropped to her knees and looked through. To find James looking back at her.
“Think you’ll fit?”
She eyed the small opening. “For the first time in my life, I’m glad I wasn’t graced with memorable breasts.”
“I beg to differ,” he replied. “That sort of perfection isn’t easily forgotten.”
Her cheeks warmed, the thrum of fear mixing with the thrum of something else entirely.
“Tonight, we escape.” James reached through the opening to grip her hands. “For now, we need to cover the evidence.”
They swiftly moved to push the rubble into the gap, and Ahnna had tucked in the last piece of rock when the warden called out, “Water!”
