Page 34 of To Cage a Wild Bird (Divided Fates #1)
Dearest Gray,
It’s so difficult to be away from you—if you were near, I could remind you that my second redeeming quality is the ability
to give you a black eye without breaking a sweat. Then again, if you were near, I’d be subjected to your incessant lectures
on how to be a perfect pain in the ass.
How dull.
Here’s the deal. I need you to get me one of the guard’s tablets. Prove to me you’re more than just a pretty face and help
me, and I’ll escort your precious asset to where she needs to be.
Kisses,
Raven
W ith Kit and August finally speaking to me about their plans, we might reach the North Settlement sooner than I’d anticipated.
The next evening, Hyde walked around delivering letters to the Upper-level inmates and handed me one from Gray, written in
code. When I deciphered it, my face reddened at Gray’s words. It felt strange to be communicating with him in a way we hadn’t
in years. It felt like we were on the same side again when I’d never thought we could be.
Thorne,
My face isn’t even the prettiest part of me.
Unfortunately, what you’ve asked can’t be done. If any of our connections gave you their personal tablet, they’d be compromised.
And if they were caught taking someone else’s tablet to help you? They’d be compromised and tortured to the point of giving
up everything they know about the Collective and your plans.
You’ll have to find another way.
Ticktock.
—G
Fuck.
It’d have to wait.
My next task was to figure out how to get the wire cutters out on the hunting grounds and to cut an opening through the camouflaged
part of the fence—that way, it would be ready when Kit disabled the tracking on all our wristbands.
As it was, storing the cutters in my cell had kept me on edge.
I’d hidden them in the only spot I could think of—the tank of my toilet. I knew a guard could search my cell at any time and
find them, but I couldn’t get out on the hunting grounds right away.
Our cellblock was two days from being used to select targets in the rotation.
And while I was eager to use the time leading up to my next hunt to get more information out of Vale, I didn’t catch sight
of him once, not even during my shifts in the workshop, where Mort was supervising us in his stead.
I kept my head down, ignoring his lingering stares.
More visitors flowed through Endlock each day, but not just hunters—Kit recognized engineers she’d worked with before her arrest, and we guessed Larch had brought in specialists from Dividium to work on adding his features to our wristbands.
We’d heard whispers that the Council was at Endlock as well.
There was also a change in the movements of the guards. Many of them came and went throughout the prison, smeared with mud
and with twigs tangled in their hair.
Yara paid one of them off with extra cigarettes, and he told her that something had malfunctioned in the crematorium, and
they’d moved to burying the bodies of dead prisoners instead of incinerating them.
I shivered at the thought of being forever entombed within the hunting grounds.
But that wasn’t all.
We found Perri crying in the showers one night, and Yara immediately ran off to ply the guards for information—but cigarettes
weren’t enough. Only the promise of thousands of credits each, courtesy of Yara’s mother, had gotten them to tell her that
Perri had fallen out of favor with Larch.
He’d found out she was still running her operation at Endlock, right under his nose, putting him in jeopardy of losing his
job. He’d sworn he was done protecting her from the hunters.
Some of the best news I’d heard since arriving, really.
On the afternoon of our cellblock’s next hunt, a few days after my conversation with Kit and August, I returned to my cell
to find a tiny square of paper folded up on my bed, so small that I hardly noticed it.
I shot a quick glance at the camera to confirm it wasn’t recording and then snatched the paper up and stepped behind the privacy
wall, where my toilet was, to read the note without fear of another inmate or guard catching me.
There were only ten words, written in neat lettering.
Hide the cutters in your uniform. You won’t get caught.
The mystery guard again? Or had Kit or August written it?
My pulse kicked up in my chest, but I didn’t hesitate. As quietly as I could, I lifted the lid from the tank on the back of
the toilet and pulled the cutters free, shaking them lightly to remove some of the moisture.
I wrapped some toilet paper around my hand to get the rest of the water off, then slipped the cutters down the back of my uniform, my tight camisole and the cinched waistband of my jumpsuit keeping the tool pressed against my skin.
I flushed the toilet paper and scrubbed at my hands, then took the tie out of my long hair, shaking it out until it fanned
across my back, hopefully obscuring any odd shapes from view if anyone looked too closely.
Moments later, Hyde entered our cellblock, his polished boots slapping against the cement floor, and announced it was time
for another hunt.
A tall man in a business suit walked in behind him, flanked by five teenage girls who were whispering and laughing, their
eyes wide as they scanned the cellblock. They wore matching black T-shirts with bedazzled lettering that read Katarina’s Killer Fifteenth .
“ Dad ,” one of the girls addressed the man. She wore a sash that said Birthday Girl . “When Melissa came here last month, she got to have her target’s teeth shaved into a pearl bracelet.”
“Then you’ll leave with a bracelet and a necklace, my dear Katarina,” the man promised, eyes swaying between the targets.
“And Endlock shirts for all my friends?” Katarina asked, brow raised.
“Of course.”
She threw her arms around him for a moment before walking farther down the cellblock with her friends.
Verona Shields walked in next, wearing her stacks of rings and necklaces and bracelets, but this time, she also wore a thick
black headband studded with teeth. I didn’t let myself look too closely. Didn’t want to believe what I knew in my heart—they
were Torin’s.
I didn’t wait for her to show interest in another inmate.
Before she could make it past my cell, I baited her.
August seemed to have a similar plan, brazenly calling one of the hunters a coward when he walked past his cell.
We were selected immediately.
I watched as Katarina selected Perri, and one of her friends chose Cyril.
When August and I stepped into the prep room, my gaze went to Vale, who stood against the far wall, tapping at the screen of his tablet. He looked up at the sound of the opening door, and his face visibly drained of color when his eyes landed on us.
Hyde escorted us in, along with the other targets, and Vale motioned him over.
“Go inspect the stalls,” Vale said to the guard, who grunted in annoyance but obeyed, stalking toward the door to the hunting
grounds.
Vale jerked his head, signaling us closer.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he said, grabbing August’s arm and looking at his wristband, pretending to inspect it.
“Why?” August whispered.
With a groan, Vale raked a hand through his dark hair. I couldn’t help but notice the way the muscles in his arm flexed beneath
his uniform with the movement, and I forced myself to look away.
Focus, Raven. On the task, not on forearms and golden-eyed guards.
“The Council is too impatient to wait for the engineers to develop the new features they requested.” Vale finally let go of
August’s wrist. “They’ve made some adjustments to the hunting grounds in the meantime. Obstacles that are supposed to help
the hunters succeed and have a more enjoyable time.”
“Obstacles?” My pulse quickened, my heart thundering in my chest, and I nearly forgot the tool hidden beneath my uniform.
Vale reached out, grabbing my arm and making a show of checking my wristband.
“The obstacles aren’t meant to kill you,” he murmured, voice barely audible. His thumb stroked softly along my pulse point,
sending it skittering even further out of control. “They’re meant to incapacitate you long enough for the hunters to complete
their kill.”
Bitterness coated my throat as I struggled to hold back the questions running through my mind. I couldn’t risk drawing attention
to our conversation.
“You can’t tell anyone else,” Vale continued, his lips downturned at the edges. “If Larch notices targets being extra cautious, he’ll know one of us told you. He said he wants to see what happens if you all go in unprepared.”
Vale told us about the obstacles we could expect—leg snares and nets and spiked trenches. A hundred ways to die. I struggled
to control my nerves, my free hand fisting at my side.
I narrowed my eyes. “What about the hunters? The obstacles could hurt them.” Not that it would bother me, but I knew the warden
wanted to avoid more negative attention.
“Our team has updated their wristbands, so they’ll vibrate once the hunters start to approach an obstacle, like they do with
the force field. And since this is the first time and Larch doesn’t want any mishaps, he’s having a guard escort each hunter.”
Hyde’s approach interrupted us.
“Start patting down the inmates,” Vale ordered.
Hyde narrowed his eyes, looking back and forth between us, but did as Vale told him.
Another show of the authority that Vale’s dirt on Coates had granted him.
Pure panic shot through me when I saw the other inmates preparing for their mandatory pat downs. My palms began to sweat,
every nerve ending focused on the cool metal of the tool pressed against my skin.
But August caught my eye, holding my gaze for a moment and nodding as if he knew the exact thoughts flitting through my mind.
The note had been from him, then. But how could he ensure I wouldn’t be caught?
I faced the wall, and though I knew what was coming, I felt a shock run through me the moment Vale made contact with my body.
His hands glided over the fabric of my uniform, and I felt myself press, almost unconsciously, into his touch. He inhaled