Page 25 of To Cage a Wild Bird (Divided Fates #1)

Kit made to stand, but August reached across the table and clamped a hand around her wrist. “What are you doing?”

Kit shook her head. “They didn’t even have proof. He didn’t do anything.”

Yara touched Kit’s free hand. “There’s nothing you can do to help him.”

“I can’t just sit here,” Kit said through her teeth.

“You can,” August insisted. “Remember what’s at stake.”

I snapped my head up, looking between them, but as I did, my eyes caught on the green light glowing from Kit’s wristband.

“My wristband,” I whispered, horrified. “What about the tracking device in my wristband?”

August’s brow creased, and he turned to me. “What about it?”

“Even if I get lucky and the hunter doesn’t remember me when he wakes up, won’t Larch be able to see that I was near him?”

I asked. “He’ll know that I was behind the attack.”

August frowned, seeming to think over my question for a few moments. “Momo told him he was the one to knock the hunter unconscious,

and there’s no reason for Larch to think otherwise. And besides, they hardly ever check the tracking.”

“Why not?”

August shrugged. “The prison’s overcrowded. They had to move the servers off-site to make room for another cellblock, and

they don’t have much use for the tracking data outside of when someone goes missing.”

I exhaled, the information loosening some of the tension in my shoulders. But... I tilted my head, staring at him. “How

do you know that?”

He blinked and turned back to Kit. They exchanged a long look, some unspoken question passing between them, and then she nodded.

“We should tell her.”

My eyes narrowed. “Tell me what?”

“You’re sure?” August asked Kit, ignoring my question. It was impossible to miss the apprehension in his voice.

I gripped the edge of the table to keep from grabbing his uniform and shaking him.

Kit cast a meaningful look in Momo’s direction before she nodded at August again.

My heart galloped in my chest, beating against my rib cage.

August sighed and leaned over Momo, lowering his voice. “I know about the Collective. And that you’re here to help Kit escape.”

My mouth dropped open, and my hands clenched into fists. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Even though August had whispered the words, it felt like he’d shouted them.

Jed narrowed his eyes, and I fought the urge to cover his ears. I wanted to keep him as far from our escape plans as I could.

I glanced around at the others; Momo and Yara were both still eating their food, utterly unfazed.

“It’s okay, Raven,” Kit whispered. “They know. They’re helping, and they’re coming with us to the North Settlement.”

The last part came out firm, leaving no room for argument, at least not while we were sitting at a table with the subjects

of the argument I wanted to have.

My mission was to get into Endlock and avoid drawing attention to myself while I figured out a way to leave with Jed and Kit, and now Kit wanted to add three more people to the deal?

It was impossible. More than that, she’d revealed herself to them, revealed me to them.

Effectively putting Jed in more danger than he already was.

Jed’s gaze was still boring a hole in the side of my head, so I faced him.

“Maybe working with a group is a good thing,” he whispered so only I could hear. “We can all look out for each other on the

journey.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. Jed’s heart was part of the reason I didn’t want to bring him in on detailed planning. I

was used to making cold, calculated decisions behind his back to keep him alive in Dividium, but he already seemed determined

not to let that happen here.

“We’ll talk about it later. Not here.” And hopefully he would understand that I only wanted to keep him safe.

“I know about Endlock’s servers because of Kit.” August spoke up after a few moments of silence, answering my earlier question.

“That’s why the Collective is working so hard to save her. She was an engineer in Dividium and helped develop Endlock’s recent

tech before she was arrested. The security system, wristbands, the force field... you name it.”

My eyes widened. Kit’s position as an engineer was what made her valuable to the Collective. And if the Collective needed information about Endlock’s tech badly enough to risk

an escape mission, it could only mean they were planning something huge—maybe even a strike against Endlock.

“And you?” I asked, turning to August. “My Collective contact told me the North Settlement doesn’t like outsiders. Why would

they take you in?”

He frowned. “The North Settlement will have no issue taking me in. I’m a doctor. Their medical care is rudimentary at best.”

Aggie had told me a bit about the lack of modern medicine in the North Settlement the morning after Jed was arrested.

I dropped my fork as something else dawned on me. Aggie had said the Collective had other people at Endlock. I’d thought she’d

tell me if anyone else was involved in our escape, but maybe not. She’d said I was on a need-to-know basis, and perhaps it

was too dangerous for her to reveal anyone else’s identity.

“Did the Collective ask you to get yourself arrested on purpose?” I asked. “Like—”

“Like you?” August smiled, but then his mouth pulled down at the edges. “No. One of the officials on the Middle Sector board

suffered a severe heart attack. They brought him into the medical center I worked at and...” He gritted his teeth. “I tried

my best, but I couldn’t save him.”

I reared back. “They arrested you because someone died in a way that was completely out of your control?”

August sighed. “I think we’ve established it’s not a fair system, Thorne. But what I was getting at is that no one asked me

to help Kit. I’m helping her because she’s my friend. And because I want to get out of this place alive, with Yara and Momo.”

“You might be a doctor, but how will you get the leaders of the settlement to let Yara and Momo in with you?”

“Simple,” Kit piped up from across the table, standing up as the alarm sounded to signal the end of dinner. “We’re a package

deal. They take all of us or none of us.”

I had a feeling it wouldn’t be that easy, but that argument would have to wait until more pressing matters were dealt with—namely,

figuring out an escape route.

The inmates began gathering their trays, and I stepped up next to Kit, leaning close to her ear as the others walked toward

the front of the room.

“I think I may have a way out,” I whispered. “There’s a section of fence that’s covered in foliage. I think I can start digging

a hole under the fence, and the shrubs should keep it hidden until it’s finished.”

I watched her face, expecting her to grin, but instead she gave me a sad smile. “August and I thought of that, too, a few

months ago. When we started digging, we realized they had buried several feet of fence beneath the ground to keep us from

digging out.”

I closed my eyes. Of course they had. Of course it couldn’t be that easy. I didn’t know how I’d let myself think I’d found a solution so quickly.

“Okay,” I said eventually. “We’ll think of something else. But what about the wristbands?”

“Yeah. They’re a problem. Leave it to me, though—once we have a way out of here, I’ll work toward disabling the wristband tracking.”

My mouth dropped open. “You can do that?”

“Raven,” Kit laughed. “I was on the team that created the wristbands, remember? As long as I have the right tools, I’ll make it happen. But there’s no use disabling the tracking

until we have a definite way out of here. How about you work on the escape route, and I’ll focus on the tech?”

So they hadn’t had any leads on a way out of here yet.

That, or she didn’t trust me enough to give away the details.

“Deal,” I said. It wasn’t as if I had a choice.

I cleared my tray and was heading back to my cellblock when a foot shot out, nearly tripping me. I caught myself, managing

to regain my balance.

Unsurprisingly, the owner of the leg was Perri. A man sat beside her, his mousy brown hair slicked back and a smirk curling

his lips cruelly to one side—Cyril, Perri’s sidekick whom Kit had pointed out to me that morning at breakfast.

Of course.

“I heard what you did,” Perri spat. It was the first time she’d spoken to me since the bathroom incident.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I drawled, picking a speck of lint off my jumpsuit as I spoke. I didn’t want the

truth of today’s events getting back to Larch. “Unless you’re referring to my record as a bounty hunter? In which case, you’re

right. I did bring in more fugitives than anyone else in Dividium.”

“You know that’s not what I meant,” Perri said, standing up and getting close enough to me that we were chest to chest, though

not touching. She had to lean down to look me in the eyes.

“Go ahead, hit me,” I said, stretching to my full height and not backing down. “Or are you afraid I’ll beat you if I’m not

outnumbered?”

But she knew better than to lay hands on me in front of witnesses.

Cyril came to Perri’s side, her constant shadow. “You’re still scum, bounty hunter,” he spat. “Saving one life doesn’t make

up for the hundreds you’ve ended.”

I put a hand to my chest. “Your mathematical prowess is unmatched, Cyril.”

“This doesn’t change anything,” Perri said, ignoring my words entirely. “You did one thing that anyone would have done, and

now you want to act like you’re better than the rest of us? I don’t think so, Thorne. Watch yourself.” With that, she turned

on her heel and strutted away.

We’d only been back in our cells for a moment when the guards came around to usher us to the showers.

This time, I didn’t hesitate to strip my uniform off and jump beneath the hot stream of water, even though the camera pointed

almost directly at me. I scrubbed myself and dressed quickly. I was among the first inmates to finish and head back to Block

H.

Only when I got back, Jed had beaten me and was standing just inside my cell.

“Hi,” I said, sticking my head back into the corridor and noting the guards were far enough away that they shouldn’t hear

us. “Are you okay?”

Jed snorted.

I bit my lip. “Stupid question, I know.”

“If we make it out of here, ask me again,” Jed murmured. “For now, I’m glad to be alive.”

“You know I’d never let anything happen to you.”

“But you’d risk your own life.”

I didn’t need to respond to that. We both knew it was true.

“It’s my fault you’re in here, Jed. Even if it wasn’t, would you really expect me to let you go through this alone?”

He blew out a harsh breath, then leaned against the wall and looked down at his feet. “No. And I never thanked you.”

“I—what?” My brows knitted together at the conversation’s abrupt change in direction.

“I didn’t even know how,” Jed continued, wrapping his arms around himself. “One moment, Mom and Dad were there, and then they

were gone, and you took that strike for me without even hesitating.”

“Jed,” I began, stepping toward him. Taking that strike wasn’t something he had to thank me for.

I had deserved it—it was my fault the guards had found out about the fugitives our parents were hiding.

My fault our parents had been arrested and killed.

If only I’d known then not to give my trust so easily.

Jed finally looked up, meeting my eyes. “No, Raven. I need to say this.”

I stopped, reading the emotion alongside the urgency in his eyes, and then nodded, stepping back and sitting on the edge of

my cot.

“You’ve always been willing to do anything for me. Whether I wanted you to or not. You being here at Endlock proves that more than anything I could say. And don’t get

me wrong, I’m grateful for it. For you .”

He ran a hand roughly through his hair and blew out a breath. “But when Mom and Dad were alive, you and I... We were friends,

you know? You used to know how to laugh and joke and have fun. And then we lost them, and it was almost like I lost you, too.

Or at least the version of you I’d always known.”

The backs of my eyes pricked, and I blinked furiously to keep tears from welling up and spilling onto my cheeks.

“The way you changed. The things you did for me—” He coughed, the words seeming to stick in his throat. “The guilt of it is

eating me alive. And not just because you’re here. It’s been eating me alive for years . Before everything happened, I grew up in awe of you and the dreams you were working toward. You were going to be a doctor.

And then I watched you quit school, watched you sacrifice your wants and your needs and your fucking humanity when you became a bounty hunter. All of it, just to keep me safe and fed.”

A few tears slipped free against my will, my throat so tight I couldn’t speak. Being a bounty hunter was the only thing Jed

and I had ever gotten into true fights over. He’d begged me to find another job. Anything else. But with my strikes, there were no other jobs available in the Lower Sector that would’ve kept us afloat.

He rubbed furiously at his eyes. “You never would’ve had to do any of it if it weren’t for me.”

“No. I made that decision, not you,” I choked out. I couldn’t take any more gratitude for the blood on my hands. “You’re my brother. You had no one else left but me.”

Jed stepped toward me. “I was a child when Mom and Dad were taken. I get why you thought you had to become a parent to me

overnight. I wish it hadn’t happened, and I’m so fucking sorry about everything you gave up for me. I can’t change any of

that.”

“I wouldn’t want you to.”

“I can’t change any of that,” he repeated. “But I’m not a child anymore. You’re not in this alone. You’re not responsible

for taking care of me. We’re here together, Raven. We can take care of each other now.”

His eyes flicked up to the camera on my wall. He was being careful with his words, but I understood his meaning well enough.

He wanted in on planning our escape.

It was like I’d watched him grow up before my eyes, from a small, fragile child to the brave man standing in front of me now.

I nodded, using all my will to hold back a sob. “That sounds nice.”

It meant opening up. Asking Jed for help. Something I would struggle with.

My first thought coming into Endlock had been to keep Jed as far from the escape planning as I could, not wanting to risk

him getting caught sneaking around with me.

But now that he’d opened up to me—now that I knew how he felt , I knew Jed was right. He wasn’t a child anymore, and I had to stop treating him like one. I needed to stop acting like I

was solely responsible for what came next. We were in this together.

A guard hollered at an inmate down the corridor, and we both jumped, brought back to the present.

“You should go,” I whispered as more inmates returned from the showers and rushed through the cellblock.

“I love you,” Jed said before he stepped out of my cell and down the corridor, headed for his new cell.

“I love you,” I whispered back.