Page 69 of The Forbidden Wolf King
Kailani stepped over to her as well and when we were only a few inches from her face she pointed to the metal bars between us. “When they first pulled me and my little sister in here, they didn’t have any more of the magic suppression cuffs like you have on.” She indicated to our hands that were bound in front of us.
I nodded but was wondering where she was going with this. She looked around at the center of the room where two guards were chatting happily and not paying attention to us.
“I was able to use my dragon-folk fire magic and winter fae ice magic to snap one of the bars off here.” She pointed between us and I looked down as she pulled the bar away to reveal a decent-sized gap. She then quickly replaced it in case a guard was looking. Now that I peered closer it was simply wedged between the top and bottom supports but not attached.
“And I did another at the window.” She tipped her head to the opening at the upper end of her cell, her cuffed hands hanging in front of her. “My little sister is the same size as your brother. She got free and they haven’t noticed.”
My breath hitched as I realized what she was saying. The gap wasn’t large enough for a full-grown man or woman, but a small child could fit through with some help.
“You’re half dragon, half fae?” Kailani asked her.
The woman nodded and that explained it. Fire and ice. Fire and ice enough times throughout the night and it would snap metal like the blacksmiths did.
“Thank you.” A lump formed in my throat as I was overcome with emotion.
“Your sister was in this cell?” Kailani asked.
The woman bobbed her head. “We did it at night when the guard was asleep but I fear you don’t have that long if the Nightfall queen wants your magic. They will torture him to get you to agree.”
She was right. And very smart.
“What do you suggest?” I asked her. She’d clearly been here longer than me and was quick-thinking.
She eyed the cell behind her. “I’ll ask the people locked up across the room to create a diversion in ten minutes’ time. The guards will rush to that side, and then your brother makes his move.”
I nodded, reaching for her fingers through the bars and grasping them. She had no idea what a gift this was. To not have to worry about Oslo being tortured if I didn’t comply with whatever the queen would want.
“Thank you,” I said again.
She gave me a weak smile. “We need to stick together.”
With that she turned away from me and went across her cell to speak to the fae man neighboring her. She whispered something to him and he nodded, walking across the length of his cell and passing a message to the next person. I could see now that this message would get all the way to the other side of the room and in ten minutes’ time, we would have our distraction.
Now I needed to prepare my soft-hearted little brother to break out of here and find his way to safety.Alone.
Walking over to Oslo, I watched him as he glanced at me with fear-filled eyes. I was always so easy on him, coddling him and snuggling him. I couldn’t do that anymore, I needed him to be strong for this.
Placing my cuffed hands on one side of his shoulder, I met his eyes and I saw so much of our beautiful mother in them.
I kept my voice low. “In ten minutes, there will be a distraction across the room that will take up the guards’ attention. Then we will open a space small enough between the bars for you to wiggle out of our cell and into the next—” He started to protest but I shut him down with a glare. “Then our new friend will hoist you up to her window where another bar will be removed and you will slip out of the window and into the outside. From there you will run to the storm drain at the east wall. It’s a metal cap in the ground near the community garden. Go inside, it goes under the wall and exits the city.”
“You’re coming right?” he asked with so much innocence it tore at my heart.
I shook my head. “I’m too big. But you’re twelve now. You need to start toughening up.”
His bottom lip quivered and I wanted to pull him to my chest and hold him but I kept us an arm’s length apart. “When you get out of the storm drain on the other side of the gates, I want you to shift into wolf form. Avoid the big areas of fighting. Make your way south-west to Thorngate but go farther if you have to in order to avoid the war, you can always circle back. Tell the fae king you are my brother and he will protect you.”
His chest heaved as he held my gaze and it was the first time he’d stared at me for so long. It was the one glimmer of hope I had that he might be strong enough to endure this.
“You’re a small wolf, you can hide in bushes and—” my voice broke as I swallowed a sob. I’d just remembered that Cyrus was dead and this was the only family I had left other than Axil and our unborn child.
I shook him a little. “I love you too damn much, Oz! You have to be strong for me and do this, okay?”
He growled then. A low and firm growl of dominance. “I can do this,” he assured me and then I did pull him to my chest. I crushed that kid against me and breathed him in as if it were the last time I might ever see him. Because it might be.
“You’re gonna get out too though, right? Eventually?” he mumbled against my ear.
I pulled back and gave him a knowing look. “This is me we’re talking about,” I said confidently, though I felt anything but. I noticed he wasn’t wearing cuffs. They probably weren’t worried about a scrawny kid shifting into a wolf and harming anyone. But I was cuffed, and that meant I was about as useless as a human. But I wouldn’t tell him that.
