Page 61 of Guardian

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Flanked by two guards, Logan was walking down the long corridor that led to the lead cells. In less than thirty seconds, he’d be locked in there, and the game would be over. He had to come up with something, and do it fast.

He weighed his options. Option one was to let them lock him up and hope he could sway the council at his trial. But that would leave Winter exposed, and with Manus knowing where he was hiding her, they would find her quickly.

Strike option one.

Option two was to let himself be locked up and hope for a prison break. But who would break him out? By refusing the council’s order, he’d most likely also gotten Manus in trouble, since his friend had kept the secret that Winter wasn’t dead. For that he would be punished too. Not as severely as Logan, but punished nevertheless. Therefore he couldn’t hope for help from Manus or his compound mates.

Scrap option two.

It only left option three. Logan calculated his chances: slightly better than fifty-fifty. Though it was two against one, the two guards weren’t out in the field fighting demons on a daily basis. They were most likely rusty, serving at the council compound where nothing ever happened. They wouldn’t even see it coming.

When they arrived at the cell, both guards stopped.

“This is the end of the road for you,” one said and reached into his pocket for the key.

Logan waited patiently for the guard to retrieve the key and unlock the cell. When he swung it open, stepping aside to do so, Logan gripped the edge of the door and swung it all the way open, hitting the guard with it and slamming him against the wall. While he tumbled to the ground, Logan spun around and swung his fist into the second guard’s face. The guy had already reached for his dagger, but Logan managed to kick it out of his hand. Stunned, the guard took a second too long to throw a punch at Logan. By the time it was meant to connect, Logan had already sidestepped the blow and gotten behind him. Now in the superior position, he kicked him in the back of his knees, sending him to the ground.

From the corner of his eye, Logan saw movement. The guard he’d hit with the door had scrambled to his feet and lunged for Logan, dagger in hand, but Logan dove away, gripped the door and hit the guard with it, this time from behind.

A grunt of pain echoed through the hallway. Soon, somebody would come running and it would all be over. He had to silence the guard now. Logan jumped him from behind and wrestled him to the ground. But the guy was strong, though not as agile as Logan, and managed to land a few hits. Luckily Logan was able to avoid the dagger and roll to the side in time to jump up again.

Just then, the other guard staggered to his feet and Logan saw an opportunity and took it. Gripping the door again, he used it to jump up and kick both legs into the guy’s stomach, sending him flying deep into the cell. One down, one to go.

The second guard proved a bit harder to fell. It took several blows and punches and a good number of kicks to drive the guard toward the open door of the cell. Logan felt his strength waning, but he couldn’t give up. Winter’s life depended on it. That thought charged him with new energy and he kicked the guard as hard as he could until the man tumbled backwards. One more kick, and he was inside the cell, crashing against the other guard, who’d just managed to get up. Perfect timing.

Logan slammed the door to the cell shut and turned the key to lock it. From inside he heard the two guards’ screams. Eventually somebody would come to free them, but if he was lucky, he had a few minutes to get out of the council compound.

Not even stopping to catch his breath, Logan raced down the hallway, back to the stairs that would take him down to the level on which the portal was located. He charged around the corner, only to stop dead in his tracks.

“Shit!”

There, casually leaning against the wall, was Manus. Judging by his expression, Manus wasn’t surprised to see him.

“So impatient,” Manus said calmly. “Couldn’t wait for me to break you out, could you? Had to beat up the guards, didn’t you?”

“What the—”

“When will you ever learn to trust me?” Manus rolled his eyes. “Did you really think we were gonna let you rot in here?”

Stunned at Manus’s words, Logan asked, “How did you know they were gonna lock me up the moment I showed up here?”

“I didn’t. But I figured we should be prepared for everything.”

“They’ll know it was you who helped me escape. You should leave, before somebody sees us together.”

Manus smiled. “They don’t even know I’m here. Pearce switched off the cameras on the portal level. And he hacked into the surveillance system so we would know if they locked you up.” He motioned to the stairs. “Let’s go. We don’t have much time. Pearce has to switch the cameras back on before the guards in the command room realize that they’re not on a live feed and come down here to check what’s wrong.”

Together they rushed down the stairs, but Manus put a hand on his forearm as soon as they’d reached the lower level. “Easy. Don’t run, in case we bump into somebody. We don’t want to look suspicious.”

“Got it.”

It was a long corridor to the portal, and it felt like a walk on a plank, but they encountered nobody on the way.

Logan let out a breath, as Manus placed his hand on the carved dagger that identified the portal. It opened within a second. They both entered, and Manus gripped Logan’s arm.

“Hold on,” Manus said and everything went dark around them.