I had always thought escape would taste like freedom.
But when the moment finally came, it tasted like iron and smoke.
The Plan
The key was warm in my palm, slick with the sweat of my clenched fist. Adrian waited below, silent now, conserving every ounce of strength for the moment I opened that lock.
The night was moonless, the house wrapped in shadows. Daniel was asleep—or at least, I prayed he was. Lately, he seemed to live half in dreams and half in surveillance, drifting from his study to the bedroom with eyes that never closed.
But tonight, the silence felt real.
I crept barefoot down the hallway, every board groaning like it wanted to betray me. My heart thundered so loud I thought it would rattle Daniel awake.
At the basement door, I knelt, slid the key into the lock, and tur
