Page 130 of Death is Familiar

It was tomorrow, or approximately three meals away, if she kept on schedule, so I wasn’t leaving White a death sentence, just an uncomfortable stay where he could think about what he’d done. What he was a part of.

Plus, I’d left him some stew. Which all things considered was very considerate of me.

Who was I kidding? Chances were our escape would set off a series of events well before Madame arrived. Time was of the essence and Three and I had to get a move on.

Locking White inside my old cell, I turned, with key in hand, to Three. “Well, princess, are you ready to escape this castle?”

“I, uh…” Three looked to the cell beside her for guidance. To my surprise, White gave her an encouraging nod. “I’m ready to escape the castle, Two.”

“Good, once we’re out, we can play hide and seek.”

“I’ve always wanted to play hide and seek!” Oh, I was well aware.

But I had one more check I needed to conduct before letting Three loose. “You promise you’ll follow my lead?”

She frowned. “Will you make me kiss any frogs?”

“There will be no kissing frogs, I promise.”

Three flashed a grin so bright, I knew her answer before she jerked her head up and down. Her toddler-level excitement was all the confirmation I needed to unlock her cell, before raiding the cabinets for anything that would help with our survival. I chose my items carefully.

What we took with us needed to be light and useful, but wouldn’t do me any harm if they fell into Three’s hands should she have a change of heart. Because that was a very real possibility.

Buzz…

Light flickering, I swore the buzzing grew louder by the second, as I added a pair of blunt-edged bandage scissors, bandages, and anti-bacterial ointment to our sack.

“What do we need to know once we get out of this room?” I asked, tying the hospital gown pack over my shoulder. Warden White mulled the answer over, but I didn’t have time to waste, so I threatened him with the remote to the shock collar. “Tell me.”

Buzz…

His hands shot up beside his ears. “Take the keys with you, you’ll need them once you reach the top of the stairs.”

“What else?”

“There’s cameras.” He motioned to the corner behind the humming light. “But you already knew that.”

“How long do we have?” Jutting the remote in his direction, I took a threatening step forward. “How long, White?”

“An hour, maybe two, tops.”

Buzz…

About as much as I expected, though I’d hoped for more. Everything came down to this. How far we could get, how to lead the Seal off our trail as we traversed the wilds that surrounded this custom-made prison.

Buzz…

That was it. I gave into my intrusive thoughts. With a rush of adrenaline, I grabbed onto the nearest throwable object, which happened to be an ear scope, and threw it at the godforsaken flickering light.

Crash!

It made a magnificent smash, sparks and glass flying, before blinking out. And silence. No humming, no buzzing, no blinking, no flickering. Nothing.

It was perfect.

“I always hated that light,” Three giggled.

“Me too.” I reached the door I’d eyed for months. “Come on, let’s go.”