Page 18 of To Cage a Wild Bird (Divided Fates #1)

“Good morning, inmates. Glad to see you’re all looking well,” Warden Larch said as he strolled into our cellblock the next

morning. He was escorting a woman decked out in tactical gear.

She wore cargo pants and heavy-duty boots, and a pair of custom pink pistols were holstered on her hips. Her wrists were stacked

with bracelets of beaded teeth, and matching necklaces adorned her neck. Rings, embedded with teeth or diamonds or a combination

of both, twinkled from each of her fingers.

Her glacial blue eyes landed on me, and her lips spread into a small smile at what she saw. Besides a black eye, a split lip,

and a cut above one eyebrow, the rest of my injuries were hidden beneath my uniform—a blessing, as that’s where the real damage

was.

“Today’s hunt brings in a fine group of hunters, most returning guests.” Larch paused, seeming to savor the nervous shifting

of our feet and the dread that seeped into the air. Then he frowned. “Only nine of you will have the honor of participating.”

His words sent a shiver down my spine. Nine of us might die today.

“Now, I don’t take part in every selection, but I have a very special guest with me today.” Larch motioned to the woman at

his side. “Verona Shields holds the record for the most kills at Endlock, so I’d say she’s worthy of an escort.”

Verona preened at his words, tossing a flame-red braid over her shoulder.

“The rest of our esteemed guests will be entering the cellblock momentarily. You will keep all your limbs inside of your cell.

Any attempt to harm our guests will have severe consequences.” His eyes narrowed, his words a promise.

What kind of punishment could Endlock offer that was worse than death ?

A low buzz droned as the secure door at the end of the corridor unlocked.

Vale strolled in, a group of guests on his heels, their animated conversations at odds with our silence. Armed guards formed

a protective ring around them as if we were the threat.

“Welcome, honored guests,” Larch boomed, a smile stretching his ruddy cheeks, though I noted it didn’t reach his eyes. He

spread his arms wide, gesturing to the inmates as if showcasing prized cattle. “We’re so pleased to have you with us today.”

One of the hunters cut in, “How does this work?”

My eyes darted to the speaker, and my stomach dropped when I saw it was a young boy, no older than Momo.

He stood next to a man, whom I assumed to be his father—all sharp angles and silver-blond hair.

“Ah, a newcomer. Your first hunt is something you’ll always remember!” Larch’s false enthusiasm grated on me. “Each of you

gets the pleasure of selecting one target—either from this section of the cellblock or one of our more challenging inmates farther down. Once out on the grounds, all targets are fair game, but we often find that hunters try to go after

their own selected target.”

The boy pushed past Larch, and his eyes sparkled as they flicked between each cell, scanning his options. He bounced on the

balls of his feet, and his fingers twitched at his sides as if he were envisioning the feel of a rifle in his hands.

The man in the cell next to me was the first to be selected, chosen by a hunter about my age who was swathed in a black jacket

and pants and had a wickedly curved knife at their side.

But nothing could prepare me for the moment when the young boy who’d spoken to Larch came to rest in front of the cell of

a girl about Jed’s age. The boy tilted his chin, inspecting her.

I leaned against my bars, sticking my head through as far as the metal allowed. The cool rods pressed at my temples as I fought

to see what was happening.

“I think she might be the one,” the boy said softly to his dad, pointing his bony finger toward the girl’s chest. If I had been in the corridor with him, I would have ripped the finger clean off his hand.

The girl, to her credit, stood her ground. But I saw the way she chewed at her lip and hunched ever so slightly as if she

could disappear.

I cracked my neck and rolled my shoulders back.

“So you’re one of those hunters who goes after easy targets?” I drawled. I needed to be selected for a hunt to get my ranking

up and gain the privilege of a looser leash to explore the prison—there was no use in waiting.

The space fell into a weighted silence.

The boy and his father snapped their faces in my direction.

“He’s never been on a hunt before,” the boy’s father spluttered, striding toward me, crimson-faced. “And who do you think

you are, speaking to my son like that?”

“If you want me to stop speaking, you’re going to have to put a bullet in me,” I retorted, stepping back from the bars. I

didn’t want to break any of Larch’s rules this close to a hunt. “It’s fitting that you would allow your son to choose a weak

target for his first hunt, since I’m sure you’ve never taken down anyone higher ranked yourself.”

My rank sat at a three, the highest possible for a Lower-level inmate. If I could make the hunters angry enough, I knew they

would choose me.

I felt the weight of Vale’s glare from down the hall but ignored him. If he didn’t like how I spoke to Endlock’s esteemed guests , he was welcome to try to stop me.

“I’ll have you know I’m one of the top-ranked hunters in the Middle Sector,” the man hissed, taking my bait. He reached a

hand down to his belt, clenching a silver chain adorned with a dozen polished teeth.

I lifted my hand and inspected my fingernails. “I bet,” I said, my smile sugary sweet. “I’m sure none of those teeth were

purchased on the black market.”

“Her,” the man said to Larch, drops of spit flying from his mouth. He jabbed a finger in my direction. “We want her.”

Larch clasped his hands together with a smug smile. “Excellent choice.” He turned to address the rest of the guests. “If you’ll all follow me to the prep room, our guards will have your targets ready for you momentarily.”

They streamed out of the cellblock, chattering excitedly.

“You didn’t have to do that.”

I looked up to see the girl staring at me, her hands clamped around the bars of her cell so tightly that her knuckles were

white.

“I know.”

“I’m going to die, anyway,” she insisted, voice sharp. “Now, it will just be another day.”

“Best get to enjoying breathing while you can, then,” I grumbled. It came out harsh, my nerves getting the better of me as

the guards came around, unlocking our cells and shepherding me toward the barrier door along with the other chosen targets.

“I’ll be fine,” I whispered. To myself. To Jed—wherever he was.

My hands trembled, and I balled them into fists to hide the shaking.

“Not really what I would call keeping a low profile, bounty hunter,” Vale murmured, breaking me from the cloud of fear as

I brushed past him.

His jaw clenched, and some unnamed emotion flitted through his eyes faster than I could decipher it.

I batted my eyelashes at him. “I can hardly help that I’m noticeable.”

The guards corralled us into a cramped room, and I turned, taking in all nine targets. I’d seen the Lower-level inmates that

had been selected, as well as Torin in the Middle level, who’d had the misfortune of attracting Verona’s attention, but I’d

been too far from the Upper level of the cellblock to see which inmates had been chosen from there. Now I noted August and

Momo were among them.

Someone had selected a child .

I looked away, taking in the details around me to keep from screaming.

The room we stood in was nearly empty except for a handful of guards standing against one side of the space and a pair of

cameras on the walls.

At the far end of the room was a metal door. My thundering heart told me it led to the hunting grounds.

Vale ordered us to line up against the wall, and Hyde approached to pat each of us down in search of unsanctioned items—anything we could use to defend ourselves.

I gritted my teeth, struggling to ignore the feeling of Hyde’s meaty hands on me, but with Vale nearby, the repulsive guard

didn’t linger.

“Endlock’s weapons are programmed so that they’ll only fire at someone wearing a wristband with a green light,” August whispered,

leaning against the wall beside me and holding up his own wristband printed with the number 412. “It’s a safety precaution.

There were incidents in the past where hunters wound up on the wrong side of their guns.”

I nodded toward Vale and the wristband he wore above his identity wristband, noting that there was no number printed on it.

“Then why is he wearing one?”

“Everyone on the grounds wears a wristband for tracking purposes,” August explained. “The guards and guests wear them in case

of emergency, but their bands glow red—Endlock’s guns won’t fire when pointed at them.”

Ingenious. And terrible news for me. I’d have to figure out how to get mine off if I had any hope of escaping without being tracked

and dragged back to Endlock.

“Targets. Listen up.” Vale’s voice commanded the attention in the room, and we all stood straighter, craning to hear his words.

Vale looked at me pointedly. “Most of you know this, but for the benefit of our first timers, let’s go over what you should

expect.”

I attempted a glare, but the trembling was back, and I was sure I came off more defeated than defiant.

His gaze lingered on me longer than was necessary, roaming over my face as his fists clenched at his sides.

He seemed to shake himself before continuing his speech. “We’ll release you onto the hunting grounds. You’ll have a two-minute

head start, and I suggest you use that time wisely if you want to survive. Some of you are fast runners, some are good climbers,

and some are skilled at melting into your surroundings. The targets that will stand out to the hunters are those who don’t

possess these skills. If that sounds like you, you better have a backup plan.”

It was possible, then, that none of us would die today. If we were quick and clever, maybe the hunters wouldn’t find any of us. But the odds of that seemed low.