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Travis turned his back on the group and took out his phone, triple checking to make sure he still had bars of service. All looked fine, but?—

Darien was now eight minutes late.

“Come on, Darien,” he mouthed as his heart started to race. “Come on.”

106

Angelthene

STATE OF WITHEREDGE

Loren could scarcely breathe.She couldn’t stop staring at the clock, her heart and stomach pitching downward in tandem with every minute that ticked by, as Ivy sped through the streets of Angelthene, pushing the jeep as fast as it could go.

She had to trust that this would work. That she’d be able to follow the instructions Shay had given her and make a miracle happen. Asking Tanner to break into a maximum security prison, with time in such short supply…

It simply wasn’t possible.

It was up to her. She would have to trust—believein herself. She only hoped she would succeed at holding the illusion long enough to get not just herself through the entry point, but the others as well.

They would not be able to use it to get back out afterward. She wouldn’t have enough power to cast another illusion for that. So she would have to hope that they’d be able to navigate the prison, make it to Darien, and get back out on their own, without the aid of a new illusion.

By the time they made it onto the quiet road that led to only one destination—the prison—night had fallen, heavy and quiet.She had the sense that everyone was holding their breath as Ivy rolled the jeep down the road.

A police SUV was parked just ahead.

“Is that Finn?” Lace asked, tightening her grip on her gun.

As if he’d heard them, Detective Finn Solace stepped out of the SUV and waved them down. They’d asked for his help with this, since he’d been to the prison before and knew his way around. Loren hoped they could trust him.

Ivy pulled over on the side of the road, and everyone got out.

“Finn,” Ivy said by way of greeting, her tone taut with stress. “Thank you for doing this.”

He acknowledged her with a dip of his chin. “The guards do their perimeter checks every hour. They went by here just a few minutes ago, so we’ll have to be quick.”

Jack said, “We’ve got a Hob who can camouflage the jeep. It should hold for double that time.” Itzel may be young, but Kylar had assured them that she had a lot of practice with vehicles.

“Good,” Finn said, breathless with adrenaline. “Everyone, get in.”

They moved—piling into the five-seater SUV. There weren’t enough seats, so Jack opened the liftgate and climbed into the back. Kylar was on the phone with Tanner, letting him know it was time for Itzel to take control of the jeep. It was a tight fit in here, but, according to everything Loren had learned from Shay, having everyone so close together like this should help her cast and hold the illusion. Less space to have to cover—to stretch her magic across.

“Say a prayer, everyone,” Finn said as he buckled up. “If this doesn’t work, none of us will be coming out of these walls.”

He started driving.

In a cell on death row,Darien paced across the tiny space that had nothing in it but a steel bed, a steel toilet, a sink, and a writing desk. They’d unlocked the chains of his cuffs but left the cuff part on just long enough for him to change into an orange jumpsuit before reattaching the chains. They were taking no precautions, giving him zero chances.

With the brimstone on, he might as well be mortal. The longer he had them on, the weaker he felt. And it wasn’t just his power. Hephysicallyfelt weaker, too. Even the thought of throwing a punch while wearing these fucking things fatigued him.

Being in here reminded him of his father’s time in these walls. Never had he imagined he’d be the one in a cell, wearing these clothes and these cuffs. Randal had been let out before his execution, slipping through one of many cracks in the corrupt justice system, as so many pieces of shit like him often did. But Darien knew he wouldn’t be that lucky. Not when the MPU had already bypassed all the legal steps that technically should have been taken to get him in here. Not when it was the imperator himself who’d ordered him arrested. The man whose word was above all.

He would die in here. Would rot in these fucking walls. A part of him had already withered and died. The part that knew, in a matter of hours, Max and Travis would be blasted apart by missiles. The part that knew Loren only had until her twenty-first birthday to live, and there was nothing he could do now to change it.

He’d failed. Protecting her had become his calling. Loving her had become his purpose. She was his future, his everything, and now…

He’d fucked up. He’d fuckedeverythingup.

He paced faster. Breathed harder. His magic was rising up inside him, but he couldn’t let it bite. If he did, if he let it get out of control, he’d pay for it. It would backfire, and he’d be the one—theonlyone—getting bitten.