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“You finally calmed down, or do we need to shock you again?”

Takeshi gritted his teeth, fighting the urge to spit in the guard’s direction. But he held tightly to his thin control, thinking of only one person.

“You won’t have any problems from me.” Lies. They would face plenty of problems from him soon enough, but he needed to bide his time and wait for the perfect opportunity.

“Good.” The Dealer stepped forward and unlocked Takeshi’s chains.

He stood, stretching his tight shoulders and caught Jack’s sharp eye across the cavern.

Jack inclined his head, a signal.

Tingles spread across Takeshi’s body as he walked over, constantly swiveling his head toward the black building.

The logical part of him kept repeating the same reminder. As much as he wanted, he couldn’t just go barreling across the cavern and breaking down the door. The Dealers would simply shock him again.

But who knew what horrors they were inflicting on her right now?

How scared she must be.

“Hey.” Ryder snapped his fingers as he sat with them. “I know what you’re thinking, but you have a better chance of saving her once the Aces arrive.”

“And when is that exactly?” he seethed.

Jack took a deep breath and massaged the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know.”

The bowl of food they gave him nearly cracked in his hands.

“Tell me what we’re supposed to do again when your group arrives?” Elise asked, her whole body tense. She kept glancing at the black building too, the worry for Khalani evident in her eyes.

She could live.

“I’ve already informed some of the other prisoners here that I trust. Once the Aces arrive, most of the Dealers will head for the main tunnel. That should leave only a few guards keeping an eye on the prisoners, and they can’t shock everyone at once. That’s when we attack. We overwhelm them, deactivate the cuffs, grab their weapons, and help the Aces fight,” Jack stated, his voice strengthening with each word.

“What about the ones who can’t fight?” Elise’s gaze locked on her strange father, who kept muttering over his ring.

“They should stay the hell out of our way.” Ryder cracked his knuckles as he eyed the guards.

Takeshi sat calmly, but his mind was anything but. He scanned each Dealer, studying their vulnerabilities, looking for any way to exploit them in the most painful way possible. Ungodly pressure raced up his spine as his focus centered on the building across the cavern.

Takeshi used to believe that not kissing Khalani was the ultimate test of patience. Laughable. He’d go a thousand lifetimes without touching her if it meant she’d be free of torment.

“What’s important is that we all rush the guards at the same time,” Jack continued. “If we don’t get this right, we all d—”

A low rumble echoed throughout the cavern.

Everyone whipped their heads toward the tunnel on the opposite side of the camp. The only exit out of the prison.

An empty mine cart raced past the guards on the bumpy metal tracks and stopped in the center of the cavern.

The Dealers brandished their guns, their confused expressions turning lethal. A few brave guards slowly approached the cart, the lines in their forehead deepening.

Takeshi stood with the rest of the prisoners. Everyone arched their necks, trying to get a better look. Jack nodded to him, and he quietly shifted toward the remaining guards while their attention was riveted on the cart.

“What is it?” The head Dealer yelled as one of the larger guards peaked inside. Everyone held their breath as he reached inside and grabbed an oversized teddy bear.

“It’s just a stuffed toy,” he shouted back, holding it up.

The Dealer immediately went rigid, raising his hand in slow motion. “WAIT—”