Page 64 of Forbidden

“Then what are you doing here?”

“Oh, that’s easy.” Isaac reached into his back pocket and withdrew a heavy iron key, dangling from one finger. “I came to help you escape.”

Ira’s heart leaped. “Youwhat?”

Isaac slid the key into the lock without looking away from him, smirking. “I just wanted to see what you’d say.”

“You asshole.”

Isaac opened the door with a laugh. He clearly didn’t share Ira’s sense of urgency. He was pressing at the door before Isaac even turned the key, desperate to be free.

Ira breathed a sigh of relief as he emerged from the cell. “Why are you helping me, then? If you have no intention of leaving the guild?”

Isaac shrugged. “I got bored of their circular arguments, like I said. They won’t execute you, because you’re a prophet. They won’t banish you, because you’re a prophet. They can’t keep you here forever, forcing you to tell them your visions, because that’s slavery. I’m just cutting out the middle men. Metaphorically. I’m told cutting people literally is wrong.”

Ira couldn’t tell if he was joking or not. “You had to be told that?”

If Isaac was using a poker face, it was a damn good one. “Didn’t you?”

Ira shook himself. “I don’t have time to debate with you. I need to get out of here before somebody comes to check on me.”

“Right. This way.”

Isaac hung the key at the top of the stairs where it normally rested and pulled the door open. There was no guard waiting outside when they emerged into the cool night air. No demons could enter the grounds, and they had no reason to distrust anyone here.

The dungeon was a lonely little building kept separate from the rest of the compound, huddled near the exterior wall a short distance behind the administrative building. The darkness around them was quiet, only the golden glowof the dormitory and administrative windows cutting through the black. Isaac gestured for him to follow and led him around the side of the squat building.

“Come on. You can’t go out the front gate, and all the side exits are locked at this hour.”

“How am I getting out, then?” Ira hissed.

“I’ll help you out. You’re on your own after that, though.”

Isaac braced his back against the imposing brick wall that circled the premises and laced his hands together between his spread legs, creating a step for Ira’s foot. Only…

He looked up doubtfully at the top of the wall. “Isaac, I still won’t be able to reach the top.”

“I know. I’m a big, strong guy. I’m going to help you. Get ready to grab the edge.”

Ira’s eyes blew wide. “Are you kidding me?”

“Nope. Hope you’ve got some muscles hidden under that shirt.”

The wall was probably twelve feet high. Isaac might’ve been six feet tall, but Ira wasn’t. It would be a stretch for him to reach the top.

“When you step in my hand, put your other foot on my shoulder,” Isaac instructed. “I’ll straighten, and then raise my hands higher for you to step into again. That should give you enough height to reach the top.”

“Isaac, you’renuts,” he hissed. He was going to fall and crack his skull open, and then the guild wouldn’t have to lock him up because he’d be too injured to runanywhere.

“We established that already. Do you want to get out of here, or do you want to go back in that cell for however long it takes Sloan to realize the foundation of this whole damn place was built on quicksand?Start climbing.”

Ira blinked in shock. He didn’t realize anyone else couldsee where things were headed with the guild. Isaac didn’t even have the benefit of visions on his side. He just saw things others didn’t.

Blowing out a breath, Ira planted his foot in Isaac’s grip. Scrabbling at the wall, he let Isaac lift him, placing his next step on Isaac’s shoulder as instructed. He rose into the air as Isaac pushed him up, standing tall and then raising his hands again, bracing them together, palms up, just above his head.

“Don’t lose your balance,” Isaac said.

“That’s a lot easier said than done,” Ira said, putting his sneaker in Isaac’s hands once again.

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