“On my signal,” Braxton breathed. All of us lowered ourselves and prepared to move.
His flat palm came up, which meant wait. He held it there for about thirty seconds, and as we watched, the various prison workers started to move like clockwork, converging on a central point right at the main entrance of the huge structure. As soon as they were focused on their meeting, Braxton’s hand straightened and pointed to the right. Time to move. We hugged the rock wall of the cave surrounding the prison, as we slunk along, low to the ground and still out of the spotlights. Heading around the left side of the building, there was no cover anywhere, we would have to expose ourselves long enough to make it to the prison wall.
My heartbeat was reasonably steady, but I could feel the fine line of sweat forming on my brow. I was nervous, although hiding it reasonably well, I thought. I wasn’t sure what would happen if we were caught here. I guessed my father would be brought in and there would definitely be a punishment. Who knows, maybe they’d just shoot us on the spot; they were pretty protective of their secrets. Braxton paused for two heartbeats at the edge of the darkness, waiting for something I couldn’t see. Then when he moved he was swift, like a shadow as he dashed across to the side of the wall. We were right behind him. The entire time, I held my breath waiting for the call of detection, but there was nothing.
We plastered ourselves to the side of the massive stone wall. The true size of this prison was becoming apparent. It was freaking huge. And despite the amulet I wore, I could feel my wolf reacting to the silver, iron and other elements in the walls. It didn’t burn me, like it normally would, but it was uncomfortable, like the sensation of my skin cells attacking each other. I shivered. I did not like it. I heard a stifled sob from Mischa and knew she was struggling worse than the rest of us, but thankfully after that first hitch of breath there was no more. She was a Lebron, we were tough and she’d already pulled herself together.
We moved swiftly along the lines of the wall, but came to a sudden halt about halfway along. I forced my breathing into a shallower pace, silencing even the smallest noise, as my eyes flicked left and right. Were we made? I couldn’t see anything, so what was Brax–
My thoughts were cut off as all four of the Compasses leaned down again, and just like in the forest were performing an incantation.
“This is the weakness. See how all the lines join and form this gap?” Braxton’s voice was almost too low to hear, but I was pretty close to them. I could see what he was talking about. It was as if joins from all the stone pieces on this side of the wall converged into one central point.
This point looked a lot like a mini-inlet, and I remembered Braxton saying it was something to do with the water or sewage release. But it was far too tiny for any of us to fit through; the Compasses especially did not have a shot in hell. I had no idea what they thought was going to happen, but I trusted them enough to wait patiently. I scanned the zone so as not to miss the guards’ return. For the moment, this side was still minus any uniformed security.
Maximus reached out a hand and took Mischa’s arm. “The magical protections are weakened here to allow for the tunnels below. We’re going to create an entrance. Ty and Jake have been working on this since we got out.” His tone was soothing, probably to stop Mischa running out in a screaming mess. She looked like she was about to lose her shit.
“Let’s hope it works,” I heard Tyson mutter.
Braxton was stone-faced. I couldn’t tell if he was worried or not; he was the master at concealing his emotions. Despite the fact that the women of Stratford loved Braxton, they also feared him. Men, too. The hardass was the main side of him that he showed the world, but I knew him well enough to call him on his bullshit, so he tended to keep it to a minimum around me.
The boys stood, and all I could see was the same stone and small drain space. Had it not worked?
Jacob grinned. “Time to head inside,” he said as he shoved Tyson straight in. “Good of you to volunteer, Ty,” he murmured as the wizard disappeared into the prison wall.
Okay, so there was definitely an entrance. I grinned. Jacob was a dead man when Tyson got his hands on him. One by one we entered. I was second last, Braxton coming in behind me. With a deep breath – you have no idea how hard it was to throw myself into what looked like solid stone – I ducked my head and closed my eyes … before diving forward.
Chapter 11