It took nearly an hour of frantic, coordinated effort before Vale's remaining guards, working from the opposite side of the collapsed corridor, finally cleared enough rubble to open a narrow passage through. Wren had spent every minute of that hour pressed close to the barrier, trading quiet, steadying conversation with Kane through gaps in the debris, both of them refusing to let the enforced silence stretch too long between words.
Garrick had found his way to her side partway through the wait, his wounded arm freshly bound, and had contributed, with visible and increasingly unwelcome enthusiasm, a steady stream of commentary on the romantic declaration he'd apparently overheard through the rubble.
"Considerably more articulate, he said." Garrick's voice carried a teasing warmth that fe
