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My heart ached. I wanted to believe he’d come for me. Rescue me. That he’d give up anything for me. Just recently, it’d felt like he would move the sun and stars for me if I asked him to. Maybe part of mestillbelieved that.

But my head knew better. I couldn’t count on Ace, and I didn’t know what the hell he had planned. All I knew was that I wantedoutof these dragons’ drama. I didn’t want to be a pawn in this stupid game anymore.

All I wanted was to be back with my son.

Sean was still ranting. “This is just more proof that I always should’ve been the alpha. I never would’ve gotten caught up in a relationship like this. I never would’ve let my alpha responsibilities slip and prioritized my own wants over the needs of the clan. Love is a waste of time.” Sean rolled his eyes. “But that’s no worry of mine now, is it? Looks like I finally won. Once I’m officially alpha, I’ll show the whole clan how wrong my father was to choose Ace over me.”

I didn’t say anything. Sean nodded, apparently pleased with how his little speech had gone. He didn’t need me to respond. He didn’t need me for anything but whatever little scheme he had planned.

“You hang tight,” he said. “This’ll be over before you know it.”

He locked me back in the room. I turned to the window. I ran my fingertip over the windowsill, where the nails were almost exposed, then looked out into the vast forest beyond the glass.

No matter what, I was getting out of this house. Steph’s plans weren’t my problem. If he and the other Lakeview dragons were coming here to do some kind of swap… That could be the diversion I needed. With Sean busy with the exchange, I could get to the road and flag down a car.

Even if this wasn’t some elaborate scheme, and Stephwaswilling to trade the clan for me… That wasn’t good, either. The clan was his life. Why would he choose me over the clan after cheating on me? Was this his way of showing me how sorry he was? Did he expect me to forgive all his transgressions after this?

There was no way this was going to end well for any of us. I just wanted to get out of here.I needed to get to Dylan. Right now, that was all that mattered to me.

I traced my fingertip over the windowsill. The door unlocked again, and I turned around just to see a goon push a bowl of oatmeal into the room before locking the door again.

No way I was eating that. I wasn’t taking any risks now that my freedom was on the horizon. As soon as the Lakeview clan showed up for this exchange, I’d be gone.

I bided my time throughout the day, ignoring my meals and dozing to try to conserve my energy. After what felt like a century, the sun finally went down, and I heard the dragons eating and arguing and doing what sounded a lot like breaking furniture. I guessed that was how dragons relaxed, since regular booze didn’t work on them, and I knew Sean probably didn’t allow any Night Shift booze in the compound. Eventually, the moon was high in the sky and the compound had finally gone quiet.

I climbed out of my sleeping bag, pulled the chisel from my waistband, and got to work.

It was tedious work, but I remained focused. After what felt like centuries, I’d finally chipped away enough of the wood to expose the flat heads of the nails. I wriggled the chisel beneath the first nail and pulled as hard as I could.

The wood groaned. I froze and held my breath.

The compound remained silent. No dragons had heard me.

I exhaled in relief. Then, slowly, I pulled the nail all the way out of the windowsill. I looked at the long, thin nail in my palm, then closed my hand around it. If these dragons thought they could use me as a pawn in their little power struggles… Well, they had another think coming.

I stashed the nail between the floorboards and got back to work.

As the sky began to turn gray with the oncoming dawn, I pried out the last nail. With all five nails hidden, I returned to the window, then slowly pushed it up. The wood complained—obviously it’d been a long time since this window was opened at all—but itmoved.

I was getting the fuck out of here.

I closed the window again. All I had to do was wait until Steph arrived for the trade, and while all those dragons were blowing smoke up each other’s asses (probably literally) I’d make a run for it.

I tucked the chisel back into my waistband and slipped into the thin sleeping bag. Heart racing with nerves, I stared up at the ceiling and tried to calm down. I was really going toescape.The thought of it made me anxious, but I had to try. I couldn’t let Steph go through with this trade. I didn’t know what the hell he was planning, but if Sean was the alpha of Lakeview, we’d all be screwed.

I needed to get to Dylan and get him out of here. Out of Lakeview. Even if it broke Steph’s heart.

Even if it broke my heart, too.

When the morning sun finally cast golden light into the room, I heard the door unlock. Again, I scrambled out of my sleeping bag and jumped to my feet, sweat on my forehead and heart racing.

“It’s just me.” The same kid who had brought me my meal yesterday stuck his head into the room, then slipped inside. He closed the door behind him. “Sean sent the address to Ace, so we’ll be doing the swap soon.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Guess you didn’t need my help after all.”

I glanced around the room. Were the other dragons awake and listening? They must not have been. This kid had to know that if Sean heard him, he’d tear his head off.

“Why try to help me in the first place? You’re in Sean’s clan. Aren’t you supposed to do whatever he wants?”

“This isn’t really a clan,” the kid grumbled. “Not like the kind of clan Ace runs, at least.”