“We won’t let them hurt you,” Lochlan said. “I made that promise before and I’ll make it again.” He stared at me, willing me to believe him. There was no lie in his eyes this time. Shoals, against my better judgment and despite my simmering anger, I still believed his sincerity. How was Lochlan able to undo me so easily?
Marta stood abruptly. “Not that this isn’t all very interesting, but I’ll excuse myself now and let you carry on with your emotions without me. Lochlan, take her back to her cell until we have an answer.” She strode briskly to the door. “Let me know if you’re interested, Jillian. Otherwise, you’re welcome to stay in prison for the rest of your life.”
“So that’s your mother,” I said after she closed the door. “Charming woman.”
“She’s a step up from what Roderick is now,” Lochlan said with a slight shrug. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier.”
“I understand why,” I admitted through gritted teeth. “I would’ve done the same thing.”
“So you’ll forgive me?”
“I didn’t say that.” I drummed my fingers on the table. “So now you’re supposed to put me and Ambrose together and have us break out, and you’ll turn a blind eye to our escaping as long as you get the Employer?”
“That’s the gist of the plan, yes.”
“What happens once the Employer finds me?”
“Then we replace him with one of our people and allow the Syndicate to continue operating. You can continue as well if you want, but I was telling you the truth when I said I’d help you find your family. And my mother wasn’t lying—we can offer a clean slate.”
I swiped Lochlan’s teacup and stared into its depths. “You never planned to run away with me, did you?”
Lochlan slowly seated himself next to me with the same sort of caution I’d expect from someone approaching a wild animal. For a moment, I thought he was about to reach out to touch me but seemed to think better of it. “I was telling you the truth about that. Between you and the Nightsworn, I’d pick you every time.”
“But you didn’t,” I whispered, looking up at him. “You let them take me.”
His expression became tortured. “It was the only way to keep you safe. Truly, Jillian, I never wanted to hurt you. These last few days, I’ve been working on convincing them to let you do this so you can get out.”
I nodded. “I hoped that was the case.” I drank his tea. “I don’t like feeling vulnerable,” I told the cup, which felt like a much easier target to talk to.
Lochlan carefully placed his hand beside mine, not quite touching but close enough that I could feel the heat from his body. “I’m sorry it had to be that way. I worried that if I told you, you’d run.”
I stared into the empty teacup. “You were right. I would have.”
This time, he reached his thumb over to brush against the back of my hand. “I couldn’t let you get away. You’re smart enough to stay hidden. I knew I’d never see you again.”
“Right again.” I didn’t pull away from Lochlan’s touch, but neither did I reciprocate. “So how will this escape plan work?”
Lochlan handed me a small set of lockpicking tools, all rolled together in a piece of leather, as well as my weapons and the vial of pixie blood. “You get yourself and Ambrose out. I’ll clear the path of guards and then follow at a distance.”
I took the tools. “How will I know where to go?”
Lochlan shook his head. “There, I can’t help you. But if the Employer was that interested in finding you, I have a feeling you won’t need to do a lot of searching, particularly if Ambrose has information he didn’t tell us. Win his allegiance by springing him from prison and he may tell you.”
Lochlan took me back to the block of prison cells and put me back in my original cell but didn’t lock it. “Once you go through those doors, Ambrose is being held in the second cell from the left, three rows down. Give me twenty minutes to distract the guards, then get going.”
I held my head high.
“And Jillian?”
“What?”
“I really do care about you. So much.”
Curse that sentimental man. I was going to fall right back into trusting him.
Lochlan paused, waiting, but I couldn’t bring myself to say what he was hoping to hear. Instead, I stiffened and blurted out, “I’ll see you later.”
His shoulders fell an inch, and he left.
