Page 62 of To Cage a Wild Bird (Divided Fates #1)
Vale made to step toward the main chamber, but I placed a hand on his arm, halting him. I said nothing, only signaled for
him to remain in place, pressing a finger to my lips.
If there was an intruder in the tunnels, I didn’t want him to give himself away. I needed him as backup in case things went
wrong.
Vale clicked off his flashlight as I rounded the bend in the tunnel.
I stepped farther into the blackness, my fingers trailing against the cool earth of the tunnel wall for guidance, bits of
dirt crumbling away.
I couldn’t see an inch in front of my face.
When the glow from the others’ flashlights came into view, I stopped, listening intently. I heard Vale’s light footsteps behind
me but nothing else.
I took a few more steps and saw the beginnings of the cavern. Yara, Jed, Kit, and Momo sat quietly, staring at the ground.
Why weren’t they packing?
I stepped into the cavern, and Jed’s head snapped up, his eyes widening. “Raven, wait—”
But then there was a dagger at my neck, and an arm around my torso and Larch’s voice whispering into my ear, “Did you think
I wouldn’t find out?”
His words sent a chill down my spine.
“Imagine my surprise,” Larch continued, amusement lacing his tone as he pulled me tighter against his chest and pressed his
blade into my throat, “when I started feeling drowsy in my office. It was the exact feeling I get every night when I smoke
ironroot to help me fall asleep. I’ve been smoking it for years, the stress from working here won’t let me fall asleep without
it, so I’ve built up quite the tolerance.”
I stared, wide-eyed, at the others.
“I went to check on the patrolling guards and found them all slumped on the ground,” Larch continued. “Now, I know most of
them can’t stay away from liquor, but this many? I knew it had to be more than a drunken stupor.”
My hand shook as I calculated whether I could reach for the dagger sheathed at my side before Larch sliced my throat.
“I searched the prison further,” he went on, “and could not find a single soul awake, save for Dr. Row, who was wearing a
respirator to keep from catching a bacterial infection from the patient she was treating. It stopped her from breathing in
the ironroot that you managed to pump through the ventilation system.”
My throat was dry as a bone, and swallowing felt like sandpaper running along my insides.
“I still haven’t figured out how you did it,” Larch continued. “Dr. Row and I were discussing the possibilities when the power
went out.”
Larch’s low chuckle raised the hair on my arms.
Vale had yet to show himself.
“A group of inmates couldn’t possibly orchestrate something like this alone,” Larch mused. “It got me thinking about how one
guard in particular has become close with this little group. How he brought you to the infirmary to visit your brother. How
Hyde and Perri came to me, insisting Vale played a part in Mort’s death.”
Fuck. We should’ve been more careful. Should’ve known Hyde was onto us after he unlocked the cells and allowed Perri to attack
Gus that night.
Think, Raven. Think. Is there a way to get out of this?
“So. I had my colleagues in Dividium review the tracking logs tonight,” Larch said, “and discovered that two inmates and a
guard spent a large amount of time in this area before testing the proposed wristband upgrades.”
I hadn’t contemplated the possibility that Larch or anyone else would bother examining the records until we were long gone.
It seemed Vale hadn’t, either.
Our mistakes were stacking up. Mocking us.
“Where does this leave us?” I finally spoke, breaking my silence, feeling the blade press closer with each word. “If any other
guards were awake, you would have brought them with you. But you’re here alone.”
“For now. Dr. Row is working on waking them up.”
There was a pause. “They can’t be woken up,” I said, though my words shook, lacking their usual confidence. “They have to
sleep the drug off.”
“Do you really think there isn’t a way to counteract a simple herb?” Larch chuckled. “Though to be fair, Dr. Row resisted
helping me at first. I had to threaten her child’s life to get her to agree. Not that I’ll let them live when this is all
over. If she were a loyal citizen of Dividium, I wouldn’t have had to threaten her at all.”
Fucking monster. I had to bite my lip to keep the words from slipping free.
“As you can see, even without the guards, I have the upper hand.”
“Let her go, and we won’t have to hurt you,” Vale said, his voice steady as he stepped out of the shadows.
“Let her go?” Larch repeated, ridiculing Vale. He laughed as if it were the most hysterical thing he’d ever heard. “You must
be joking. The moment I release her, you’ll be on me. No. I don’t think so.”
“If you let her go,” Vale persisted, “you have my word that we’ll let you walk away from this unharmed.”
“I don’t think so,” Larch repeated icily. “Here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to do exactly as I ask, or I will slit
this girl’s throat right here.”
“Larch, listen—” Vale started.
“Not another step! Your mother will hear of this! I’m warning you!”
Larch pressed his dagger harder into my throat, breaking my skin, and I felt a warm trickle slide down my neck.
Vale froze, eyes widening in panic. “Okay. Okay, please. I’ll do anything you want, just don’t hurt her.”
Larch smiled. “That’s more like it.”
“What do you want?”
“I want to keep my job.”
Vale paused, brow furrowing. “Larch, I have no control over that.”
“Bullshit.” Larch’s laugh was mirthless. Sinister. “For someone intelligent enough to devise a plan to escape this place,
I can’t believe you’re so foolish as to think I’d buy that.”
Vale’s mouth snapped shut, and he shook his head back and forth. “It’s the board’s decision. They said you’ve made too many
mistakes in recent weeks.”
“Recent weeks,” Larch spat. “As in when this bounty hunter arrived and began ruining my life?” He pushed the blade against me again, drawing a soft cry from my lips.
Vale took a step forward.
“Ah, ah, ah,” Larch sang. “Not another inch. It took until tonight for me to be sure that you were working with them. Working
against me. Destroying my reputation. And if you can destroy it, you can fix it.”
“How?” Vale asked, talking to Larch even as his eyes bored into mine.
“Simple, really,” Larch hissed, his breath hot against my ear, making my skin crawl. “Come with me. Convince your mother.
And I’ll let the rest of them leave.”
I opened my mouth to argue.
And then the alarms went off.