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"You've saved my ass a time or two," he admitted. "But mostly it's because you're good at your job. That includes being sneaky."
"Thanks." I looked around the cell, taking in every slight crack, every place where mortar had come out of the spaces between the stones. The window was high in the wall and barred. Dex was right, there was no way out through there.
That left plan B. I really didn't like plan B, but at this point, it was all we had. Without it, we might as well skip to plan F—fucked; give up now and wait to be executed.
"Where is Calista?" I asked. I rose and assessed the integrity of the hinges on the door. They were screwed in tight, and in good condition. Kicking the door down was out then.
"They say she's alive," Dex said. "She's probably plotting a countercoup the minute we get out of here."
"Ah. We better not disappoint her then." I would like to think she was plotting a breakout, but a plan for afterward was good too.
"No one disappoints my aunt and gets away with it," Dex said. "She's prickly that way."
I nodded briefly. If I was ever going to be scared of a woman, it would be Calista. I was almost certain she could bend the cell bars with her glare. She didn't need to try to intimidate anyone, it just happened.
Viva would be just as hard at the same age, if she lived long enough. In spite of her apparently taking Seth's side, I still desperately wanted to be there to see it. I couldn't imagine the rest of my life without her. Or hers without me, for that matter. She acted all tough and badass, but she was vulnerable under all of that. She thought other people couldn't see it, but I did. I felt it too, when she left her emotions open enough for me to sense.
Those moments were rare, but like finding the mint filling in a box of chocolates. Unexpected, but to be cherished. Some people might prefer the almond filling, or the orange, but I liked what I liked.
Curiously, even as children, Dex and I would try to find the mint first. Sometimes he ate it, sometimes I did.
I bet Viva tasted better than mint.
"If Calista is plotting, then Zophia is helping," Kerina said softly.
I responded with the briefest of nods. If anyone was listening at the door, we didn't want to give them any ammunition against the two women.
I delved through the wood of the door. As far as I could sense, there was no one that close. Several guards stood a few metres away, but none near enough to hear.
I glanced up to the top of the walls, but it didn't seem that anyone added a microphone.
Sometimes embracing the old ways worked in our favour.
"How long until dinner?" I asked. We'd arrived back in the city a couple hours after dawn, so it must be a few hours at least. I already lost track of how many hours passed in this dimly lit cell. I guess that was the point of cells; to fuck with people's minds, so they'd break more easily. If I knew we'd end up in one, I might have suggested Dex make them more comfortable. A few throw cushions here and there. A private toilet. Maybe a bath with jets. An escape hatch or two wouldn't hurt either.
I'd make a list for Dex once we were out of here. He'd probably laugh and throw it on the fire. Maybe I wouldn't bother to make a list.
"It should be here soon," Devlin said. "We should get ready."
"Yes." I glanced toward Kerina.
"I've seen naked men before," she said dryly.
"You've never seen your Alpha naked," Devlin said.
She tilted her head. "Unless you've got the biggest cock in the history of ever, then you won't shock me."
"I might." He looked smug.
Dex snorted. "If you want to talk about big—"
"We don't," I said firmly. "But if we did, it would be mine."
"You men are all the same," Kerina said. "Just get naked and be ready." She stripped and stashed her clothes in the corner beside her.
Devlin stared until she shifted into her animal form; a fox with a bushy tail the exact colour of her hair.
"Careful." Dex barely held back a smile. "She bites."
