Page 82 of Son of a Witch

“I’ve got to go before the watchers report me and anyone catches on that I’m here.” The warden extended his hand. “Good luck, Knoxe and Miss Nomical. Watch your backs. I hope this information serves you well.”

I took his palm, my grip firm, him squeezing me as we shook hands. “You’ve been good to my team and me. Taken care of us. Looked out for us. Kept us alive. Without you, we might be dead.”

“You’re a good bunch of soldiers.” He threw his hood deeper over his face. “I hate to see prison politics ruin key members of the Guardians. I left my number on the file with Gloria. It’s a burner phone. Call me if you get out. I’ll see what else I can do for you. Until then.”

I was content to shake the warden’s hand again and be done with it. To my surprise, he dragged me in for an embrace, clapping me on the shoulder.

“Don’t let me down, you two.” With a final nod, he crossed to the second last laundry dryer, and pressed the high then the low button, activating a secret door to open, revealing a corridor beyond. He stepped through it and the door scraped closed.

Fuck. All this time we worked in the laundry and there was a secret exit right there. For a few seconds, I contemplated following behind the warden. Love for my brothers forced me to stay behind.

I stuffed the USB down the chest of my uniform under the rib of my zipper.

Sentry Ben returned to our sides. “Let’s get out of here.”

Eight minutes later, we were back in Astra’s cell, door closed, huddled on the bed—except for Tor— for a private discussion. I explained what went down with the warden and the information given to us.

Then I threw out orders. “Tor, I want you on this while we’re out on tomorrow’s mission to investigate the distortions in the vale.”

“I’m not a hacker nerd,” Tor started.

“Yes,you are.” Astra got up, massaging his shoulder, coaxing him into agreement.

He let out a long groan. “I’m your hacker bitch.”

“That’s better.” She leaned down and kissed his cheek.

He huffed and shook his head. “Call me Carys from the Golden Vigilante.”

“Who?” I rubbed at my temples. They always started to ache when those two talked comic books and superheroes.

“Who’s Carys?” Astra mock blinked at me. “Nerd. Tech savant. Hacker extraordinaire. Saver of the day. Get with it, Knoxe.”

I groaned and rubbed my face from forehead cheeks to jaw. “You three and your nerdy talk.” I felt alone without Raze to back me up.

Astra hit me and laughed.

“Seriously,” I pulled them back into line. “Tor, I need you to get a drop on this while we’re gone. We can’t afford to lose this lead and let the fugitives get further away.”

Tor groaned and saluted me like the smartass he was.

Pascal swiped at the back of his neck. “Selena’s our leader now, Knoxe. You can’t make that decision anymore."

I gritted my teeth at hearing her name. This was my key to catching the fugitives. Avenging us against the assholes sabotaging us. Earning us the bounty and getting us out of here. To get my damn role as leader back.

Astra shifted from Tor’s side, back onto the bed to play with the tips of Pascal’s hair. “Hey, White Lightning?”

“Yeah, Songbird?” Their eyes met and he stared into them for a solid five seconds before looking away.

She curled his hair around her finger, and he only twitched once. Amazing progress from the man who wouldn’t let anyone near him.

“We still respect the chain of command,” she worked her magick on him. “Selena is our leader. But we can’t tell her or Loco about this, okay? This must remain top secret. There are forces working against us. For all we know, she might be the enemy.”

Pascal nodded, brows drawn, pondering her words. He took things literally. To the letter.

I was glad I had Sunset to explain the reasoning behind it. “What if Selena destroys the evidence, and we lose our chance to get out of here?”

He looked up at her question.

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