Page 37 of These Divided Shores
“How are we going to—” Nayeli started, but she squinted. “Shit, what’s she doing?”
Kari stepped into the dead center of the road, a pistol in each hand and a murderous look on her face. Horror pinged off Vex’s chest with every bullet that narrowly missed her.
Kari was going to take out the soldiers beyond the gate on her own.
A bell woke Lu from the restless sleep she had managed while Ben kept watch. One of them was always awake, should Milo or Elazar decide to pay a visit.
Lu sat up, muddled. Her first thought went to her wounds, healed thanks to another application of Healica.
“Lu.” Ben was standing in the middle of their cell, his head cocked.
The bell tolled again. Distantly, defensors shouted: “Lockdown—we’re under attack—”
Lu rubbed her forehead. She had started drinking the water at the insistence of the defensors, but these delusions seemed determined to—
Ben looked down at her. “Tell me you hear that.”
She shot to her feet. “It’s not... it’s real?”
He grinned. Happiness was so foreign here that it sent Lu back a step.
“Gunnar,” Ben gasped, relief gushing out of him. “Gunnar, wake up!”
Gunnar, curled with his back to the hall, was on his feet before Ben finished saying his name. He blinked at the ceiling, confused.
“Alarm?” he asked. He flinched, eyes unfocused. “Thaid fuilor—well—all is well—”
His delirium made Lu waver. Maybe the prison wasn’t under attack.
But if something had happened that had the guards distracted, and Milo came by to see Lu tucked into her cell, not having taken advantage of the opportunity to run...
The thought of his smile, wicked and satisfied, filled Lu with determination.
No picks. Nothing delicate that would take time. They were leavingnow.
She dropped onto the table. The distance from there to the cell door would give her the leverage to kick at the lock.
“Lu!” Ben jumped away. “You could—”
One firm jab of her heel and the lock cracked, the door flying open.
Ben gaped. “The Powersage? It worked?”
Lu eased off the table, stretching her fingers experimentally. Had it? What about the Aerated Blossom that had been in the potion? She felt no lighter, even bouncing on the balls of her feet. Had only some of the potion worked?
Shouting came. Defensors, running toward them.
“We’re getting out of here,” Lu stated.
Ben’s eyes were drawn, his relief flickering at the reminder of the obstacles in their path. He nodded and yanked their cell door shut so it looked as though locked.
Seven defensors swarmed the hall, pistols out, swords flashing in the torchlight.
“Ben.” Jakes grabbed the bars of their cell—and the door opened. He looked up, startled.
“Gunnar,” Lu said in a tone like murder. “The lights.”
He curled his fingers and the torches along the stone walls snuffed out.
