Page 54 of Maddie

Noah held his breath and plastered himself to the wall as the duo’s footfalls brought them near his door. They continued speaking but he couldn’t make out the words over the fear humming through him. Once they continued past the cell he was hiding in, he waited until their voices were too far to be heard before slipping back into the hall.

His hands shook slightly as he took the map from his back pocket and doubled checked his route. This was too important a mission to fail—Mouse’s life was in his hands. With a steadying breath, he continued through the dungeon. A right, a left, straight, then another right. This hallway was different than the others. The walls were seamless black stone for at least three meters with a single door straight ahead. Soft, gentle singing carried through it.

Mouse. It had to be, judging by the door the sound came from.

He rushed forward and wasted no time pressing his face to the mesh, his gaze landing on a female with a long, pink plait. Mouse sat crossed-legged in the center of a thin mattress, the worn skirt of her black dress stretched tight over her knees. On the taut fabric, a bright blue and yellow caterpillar swayed side-to-side with her song.

“Hello,” she said, ending the song abruptly, her violet gaze flicking up to meet his. The resemblance to Maddie was uncanny. “You’re new.”

Noah smiled.He’d found her. “Your sister sent me.” He moved back and examined the door for the handle. Three large bolts slid through metal bars and into another set attached to the walls on either side. All he had to do was slide them the opposite way.

“Maddie sent you?” she asked, her chin tilted up as she glared at him. “Where is Ferris?”

There would be time for questions later. He quickly shoved each bolt free, leaving him with only a lock to pick. He pulled out the paperclip Ferris had given him while they’d planned this and got to work.

“He’s waiting for us,” Noah answered. The lock clicked and he released a breath. He stood and wrenched the door open just as Mouse screamed, “Wait!”

But it was too late—it was wide open.

“Oh, bollocks,” Mouse said with a wince. Then, to the caterpillar sitting in her palm. “He’s really done it now, hasn’t he, Des?”

Noah’s brows rose. “Done what?”

“Triggered the silent alarm,” she said as if it were obvious. She raced to the flat mattress on the floor and yanked out a stack of papers tied together with twine. Noah easily recognized the artwork as Ferris’s after staring at the map for days. “They installed them only last week after Ferris helped a girl escape.”

“Fuck!” He leaned into the room and grabbed Mouse’s hand.

She ripped herself free. “How do I know I can trust you?”

Maybe because he was breaking her out of prison? He pulled the map out and unfolded it for her to see. “Ferris really sent me. Now, we have torun.”

Mouse offered no resistance after that as he took her hand and they bolted back the way he’d come, taking the same staircase up two flights. The secret escape Ferris had told them about was nearby—only one turn away after they emerged from the tapestry depicting the mortal woman. He’d been hoping they wouldn’t need it—the ten-meter drop into a garden of thorny rose bushes didn’t sound like a pleasant experience. He’d take it over death though.

“Come on,” he urged, practically dragging Mouse around the corner when she stumbled.

Mouse glared at him suspiciously and repeated, “Where’s Ferris?”

Before he could answer, shouts and racing footsteps echoed behind them. The guards would catch up in no time at this rate, but Mouse was gasping for breath. He spun and scooped her up, her body nearly weightless in his arms, before doubling his speed. The steel, industrial refrigerators looked exactly like the ones Ferris drew with double doors and padlocks. Behind the third one rested the tunnel they needed.

Quickly setting Mouse down, he yanked the refrigerator away from the wall, but it was stuck on something. “Shit,” he hissed, giving it a hard yank. It didn’t budge. He scanned the machine and an idea formed. “Climb over,” he told Mouse, cupping his hands in front of him, knowing she was too short to reach without a boost. “There’s a tunnel on the other side.”

“How are they running these without electricity?” she mused. “The guards mentioned generators—is that true? It seems like a lot of energy to run these.”

“Seriously?Now?” He couldn’t give two fucks about how the refrigerators worked in this place. The boots were close enough that the guards were probably at Mouse’s cell now. His heart pounded painfully against his sternum.

Mouse set her foot in his hands and leapt up, then slid behind the steel machine. Noah followed, but the space wasn’t wide enough for him, trapping him between the coils of the refrigerator and the wall.No! Mouse’s hands wrapped around his ankle and pulled hard.

He felt his ribs crack from the pressure, but there wasn’t time to completely register the pain before gravity took hold. He slid down a tunnel at an alarming speed.

Mouse squealed in fear as the faint moonlight glowed at the end. Stomach in his throat, Noah closed his eyes and hoped he wouldn’t land on top of Mouse, crushing her. He could only tell they’d exited the tunnel from the distinct lack of stone digging into his back. Wind whistled in his ears as he dropped.

And dropped.

And dropped.

Athunksounded—what he assumed was Mouse hitting the ground—only seconds before his hip smacked into something solid. It sent him careening sideways and his eyes flew open to find a blur of red roses. “Fuck!” He brought his arm up just in time to shield his face from the thorns as he slammed into the bushes.

He sucked in one breath. Two.

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