The exception ° Six of crows

Chapter twelve

Adelaine stumbled as she tried to keep up with Kaz and Nina as the climbed the stairs. Why they were deviating from the original plan she had no idea but she was far to exhausted to question Kaz about it. Her foot got caught on the edge of the step again, toes brushing against the surface. She threw an angry glare at Kaz's back, hoping that he could feel it. Why had he insisted on being the one to make this climb? It couldn't be a question of time, so maybe it was what Kaz always intended. Maybe he'd meant to keep some bit of information from Matthias. Or he was just determined to keep them all guessing.

They paused at every landing, listening for patrols. The prison was full of sounds, and it was hard not to jump at every one of them – voices floating down the stairwell, the metallic clang of doors opening and closing. Adelain could feel every sound go through her body, causing her to flinch, holding her breath until she was certain that the voices did not belong to guards that would catch them.

On their way up the fourth flight, voices and bootsteps suddenly burst into the stairwell. Hurriedly, they backtracked to the third floor landing and slipped through the door leading to the cells.

The prisoner in the cell nearest to them started to shout. Nina quickly raised a hand and squeezed his airway shut. He stared at her, eyes bulging, clawing at his neck. She dropped his pulse, sending him into unconsciousness as she released the pressure on his larynx, allowing him to breathe. They needed him quiet, not dead.

The noises grew as the guards clambered down the stairs, loud Fjerdan reverberating off the walls.

Nina held her breath, watching the door, hands ready. Adelaine bit her lip until a metallic taste filled her mouth, ready to do what was needed to protect them. Kaz had no weapon, but he'd dropped into a fighting stance, waiting to see if the door would crash open. Instead, the guards continued on past the landing, down to the next floor.

When the sounds had faded, Adelaine felt like she could breathe again. Kaz signalled to her, and they slipped back out the door, closing it as silently as possible behind them, and continued their ascent.

Seven bells struck as they reached the top floor. One hour had passed since they'd knocked out the prisoners in the holding area. They had forty-five minutes to search the high-security cells, meet back at the landing, and get to the basement. Kaz gestured for Nina to take the corridor on the left while he took the right. He stopped before turning to Adelaine.

"I need you to go with Nina," he whispered, voice so low that Adelaine could barely hear him despite being just inches away.

For a few seconds Adelaine was frozen, eyes wide and eyebrows raised as she tried to process his words.

"I'm not leaving you." She didn't let him reply, continuing to talk the moment she heard the sigh pass his lips. "I did not go through all of this just for us to get separated. I did not climb all those stairs for you to tell me to go with Nina. I'm coming with you."

Kaz rubbed the nape of his neck, long fingers adjusting his collar. "Fine."

The two nodded at Nina before they disappeared into the right corridor.

═══════════ ⋆★⋆ ═══════════

The couple sped through the upper cells. Adelaine had figured out Kaz's plan, Yul-Bayur would not be here and Kaz was well aware of it. She could only hope that his need for vengeance would not be the cause of their deaths.

Kaz felt partly unhinged. He had no cane. His feet were bare. He was in strange clothes, his hands pale and ungloved. He didn't feel like himself at all. No, that wasn't quite true. He felt like the Kaz he'd been in the weeks after Jordie had died, like a wild animal, fighting to survive.