Freedom tasted like cold air and iron. I hadn’t realized how loud a corridor could be until it was the only thing between me and the sky. My legs shook, but I ran anyway. Thorne’s arm locked around my waist, Owen keeping pace a step ahead with the skeleton key clenched in his fist. We were so close I could feel the draft of the storm drain on my face. Then the torches flared. Boots thundered. Steel rasped from sheaths in a single, sick harmony. The corridor filled, dark coats, bright blades, eyes that didn’t blink. And at the center, unhurried, came Thomas. I stopped because there was nowhere left to go. Thorne pivoted with me, putting his body between mine and the wall of guards like a shield carved from bone and stubbornness. Owen swore under his breath, low and furious, then went very s
