Page 57 of To Cage a Wild Bird (Divided Fates #1)

Gray,

We’ve done it. We’ve found a way to leave, at last. Add that to my tally of redeemable qualities, will you? Though I’m loath

to admit it, I’ve already added resourcefulness to yours.

We’ll escape in five days, on the night of the full moon. We’ll head north and plan to meet you at sunrise at the top of the

last mountain before the Wastes.

Don’t be late.

Xoxo,

Raven

“Y ara would be mortified,” Kit mused, spinning in a circle as she took in Vale’s room.

I nodded in agreement. “She’d take the lack of decor as a personal attack.”

Vale’s bed was meticulously made, with a navy-blue duvet and a single pillow. A side table held a lamp and a dog-eared book,

and a small dresser occupied the room’s far corner, next to the door that led to an attached bathroom. The only other pieces

of furniture were a wooden desk and a chair. Mort’s tablet sat on the desk next to a notebook and pencil.

“I have decor,” Vale huffed out.

I arched a brow, and he pointed to the book on his nightstand.

Kit shut her eyes, blowing out a long breath. “There is no world where that is considered a decoration, Vale.”

I hid my laughter behind my hand, plopping down on Vale’s bed, effectively wrinkling his perfectly smoothed duvet.

“All right, you two, this isn’t a fair fight,” Vale complained. “I need to get back to the workshop—one of the inmates was

coughing and acting off, and I need to get them to Dr. Row in case they have that bacterial infection that’s going around.

I’ll be back in an hour.”

Kit pulled out the chair and sat at the desk. “I’ll only need thirty minutes.”

Vale rolled his eyes. “I’m sure you can find a way to entertain yourselves for the rest of the time. Just stay quiet.”

He slipped out the door, shutting it carefully behind him. I stretched my arm out, turning the lock on the doorknob.

“Need anything?” I asked Kit. I was there as the muscle in case someone who wasn’t Vale tried to come into the room.

Kit was already tapping away at the tablet. “Nope. I’m in. Disabling the tracking will be the easy part.”

“Right. The easy part.”

“Reverse engineering the wristbands will take longer. But for both pieces, I’m essentially setting a timer that ends the night

we leave. The tracking will stop working then, and the guards won’t be able to shoot at us.”

“Have I told you how brilliant you are?”

“No.”

I laughed. “Right. I’ll have to say it more often.”

She went back to tapping.

“And there’s nothing I can help with?”

She stopped but didn’t turn to face me. “Raven?”

“Yes?” I leaned forward.

“You can stop talking.”

I bit my lip to keep from laughing. “Noted.” I flopped back on the bed.

We were really doing this.

I tried to imagine Larch’s face if he even lasted long enough as warden to be blamed for our escape. I hoped he would. I hoped it was the thing that would push him over the edge.

I hoped we were the thing that would give the other inmates hope. And everyone in the Lower Sector. They had to know that

Endlock was survivable. That the Council and Pharil Coates weren’t infallible.

I stared at the ceiling, letting the minutes tick by with each tap of Kit’s fingers on the tablet.

“Gus told me about Vale as soon as we agreed to work together to escape.”

I sat bolt upright, blood rushing to my head from the sudden movement. I’d been so lost in thought I hadn’t even noticed when

Kit had stopped tapping the tablet, but now it was sitting at the back of the desk, screen black, and Kit had turned the chair

around to face me. She watched me, waiting for my reaction.

I frowned. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because when Gus told me... I completely backed out of our escape plans.”

“When was this?”

Kit nodded. “It was months ago. Before Yara got here. Gus was insistent on getting Momo out, and I wanted to help, but I quit

on them when I found out about Vale. My mother is dead because of the Council—she found out the food shortages in the Lower

Sector were a lie and tried to organize a protest. They sent her to Endlock before she could. She was the only family I had

left. When I found out who Vale was, I couldn’t fathom working with him.”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, somehow still able to feel shocked at how every one of us had experienced a tragedy at the hands

of the Council.

“If I’d been able to think about it rationally, we probably would’ve escaped by now. Long before Yara or you ever got here.”

And I’d be nowhere without them. Jed and I would’ve died at Endlock.

“What changed your mind about Vale?” I whispered.

“Seeing Gus and Momo trust him, for one. He saved them over and over during hunts—saved me, too, when he could. Then Yara got here, and our relationship grew so quickly. Everything’s intensified in here.

But loving her... I couldn’t let her die in here.

And despite my distrust, Vale has never done anything other than help us. ”

“It would take anyone time to adjust after learning that. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I know I didn’t,” Kit said, looking intently into my eyes. “But you have to see why Gus asked Vale not to tell you. Every

moment in here is a moment closer to death, and after what happened with me... how could he let Vale tell you who he was

and risk another setback?”

“I...” I didn’t have an answer.

“Think about all the times you kept things from Jed, even in here, because you thought it was what was best to keep him safe.”

I cringed.

Of course, she was right. Of course, I understood why they didn’t tell me, but that didn’t change the fact that it hurt. It

hurt that I’d been falling for someone without ever really knowing them.

Although maybe I did know Vale. I knew his history. I knew his father was a rebel. And I knew that he believed in what was right.

I knew that from the moment I’d met him, I hadn’t been able to get him out of my head. Even now. Even with everything that

had happened, I still wanted him.

“Isn’t it possible for me to understand why Vale didn’t tell me while still feeling hurt by it?”

“Of course it is. But is him not telling you really so unforgivable? Or is it more of a self-inflicted punishment because

you blame yourself for what happened to Gus and don’t think you deserve to have anything good?”

My mouth dropped open. I hadn’t been consciously aware of what I’d been doing, but Kit was right. The idea of doing anything

that would bring me happiness had kernels of guilt blooming deep in my stomach.

“How did you know that?” I asked her.

She touched her chin. “What was it you called me again?”

“I—” I frowned, thinking. “You mean when I said you were brilliant?”

“Your words, not mine, bounty hunter.”

I rolled my eyes.

There was a sound at the door, and we both froze.

Tap.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Tap.

“Just Vale,” I breathed, my muscles relaxing. He’d used the series of knocks we’d agreed on.

I stood, unlocking the door and stepping back to allow him in.

“Is it done?” he asked, eyes flitting between Kit and me, though I noticed he lingered on me.

“Of course, it’s done,” Kit said. “I told you I could do it. The timer will set off the changes in the wristbands the night

we leave.”

Vale grinned. “Never doubted you.” He grabbed the tablet from the desk and slipped it beneath his mattress. “Workshop shift’s

over. I can make sure you get into the main corridor, and then I’ll send you off to dinner on your own.”

Kit stepped toward the door, and I made to follow her, then stopped. “Vale.”

He stared at me, head tilted slightly to one side.

“Can I talk to you?” I whispered. “Alone.”

Kit didn’t even try to hide her smile as Vale’s eyes widened.

He nodded. “Stay here. Let me get Kit back into the main hall, and I’ll be right back, okay? Lock the door.”

I did as he said, locking the door and sitting at the desk as I waited, tapping my fingers against the wooden surface.

Tap.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Tap.

I blew out a long breath and let Vale back in, his body sliding just barely against mine as he brushed past me and sat on

his bed.

I sat back in the chair, turning it to face him.

“I’ve been thinking,” I blurted before I could lose my nerve.

“About Gus and how he only surrounded himself with the best people. He only lied or kept things from me to keep the people he loved safe until he knew he could trust me. If I’d had a bad reaction to something, it could’ve compromised everything you’ve been working toward. ”

I’d tried my best to place myself in Gus’s shoes, and it was so easy to see my love for Jed reflected in how he’d felt about

Momo. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt I would’ve lied to Gus if our roles had been reversed.

“Still,” Vale whispered, watching me intently. “From the moment things... changed between us, I should have told you the

truth.”

“You should’ve,” I agreed. “It also wasn’t fair for me to assume that you’re like your mother just because you’re family.

For the better part of the last ten years, I’ve been nothing like my own parents, and you’ve done nothing but show me that you’re more like your father than anyone else. But it hurts

that you lied to me, Vale. We need to be able to trust each other if we’re going to make it through this. Not just to escape,

but through the trip across the Wastes.”

“You can trust me,” he said, reaching forward and grabbing my hands, his eyes staring into mine.

“Promise me,” I implored, squeezing his hands back. “Promise me that there are no more lies. That you won’t keep anything

from me again.”

He swallowed, hesitating for only a moment. “I promise.”

“Then I forgive you.”

A river of relief seemed to course through him, his rigid shoulders lowering and the creases smoothing from his forehead.

“I thought you’d hate me forever.”

I reared back. “Why would I hate you?”

“Because it’s my fault Gus died.”

“It’s not your fault.” I enunciated each word. He must have been trying to take the blame off me. To make me feel better.

“It’s mine. I should have warned him about the trenches.”