Gray raises his fist, showcasing his massive bicep. “When we get out of here, you are all welcome in the pack I’m from. The world may have turned their backs on us, but we have each other!”
When a voice sweeter than honey chimes in from a few yards behind me, my heart lurches violently. “Gray and I will make room for you in our home. Each and every one of you.”
Cassia cries out and Charlotte rallies, perking up in my arms as I turn.
There she is—the most valiant woman I’ve ever known. Arlanna leaves the side of her escort and runs toward the circle, stepping between bodies so she can crash into Gray’s desperate arms.
His cry of relief jerks the tears out of many who are waiting for more words of hope. In front of the entire collection of inmates, Arlanna kisses Gray, who sobs into her mouth.
Charlotte stands and shouts with sudden ferocity. “It’s coming!” Then she bolts to the center of the scrum, accidentally kicking heads and stepping on hands.
Cassia and I follow after her, because we never know when we’re going to have to save Charlotte from her visions.
The other reason I run toward the center is because I cannot be parted from Arlanna a second longer.
Charlotte crashes into Arlanna first, and then Cassia, holding onto their friend with renewed strength.
When I reach her, Gray isn’t the least bit put out when I scoop her up in my arms, kissing her just as passionately and publicly as Gray did.
I don’t care what people think of the three of us. I care that the woman I love is in my arms, and that the animal inside of my brother is finally at peace.
The two of us hold her, keeping her in the center of our protection so that any glares that might arise will be aimed at us, and not at her.
Though, as I look around, I don’t see anyone snarling at us, except for the officers.
Maybe our speeches for unity really have been doing something. Maybe they’ll finally accept that Arlanna is not her father, and that she should be held accountable for only her own sins.
Arlanna pulls back with a smile on her face aimed at the four of us as she turns to address the murmuring crowd. “Enough has been taken from us. I think we’re owed a debt from society, don’t you? If the king can’t make up for how we’ve been treated by the Sins of the Father bill, then our ancestors will. They’ve heard our cries, and they are answering today.”
Then Arlanna stands up on her toes and whispers something in Gray’s ear that makes him gasp in shock.
Then to Cassia and me, she whispers. “It’s time to unlock everyone. I can’t enhance them all; that would be madness. But I can unlock their cuffs. It’s not everything, but it’s a start. I need you to keep everyone calm while I do this.”
Charlotte surprises us by finally saying something new. “Tap into my power. It won’t be as taxing on you if I hold your hand.”
“Are you sure?” Arlanna asks, as if it’s entirely acceptable to drain her own magic, but questionable to let Charlotte do the same. It speaks to Arlanna’s caring heart that she is willing to sacrifice so much for people who have treated her like rubbish.
Charlotte’s jaw clenches. “Absolutely. This is it, Arly. Everyone is about to be set free.”
My breath is unsteady, because it’s filled with too much earthshattering hope. Perhaps we’re on the cusp of actual change.
Maybe we’re closer to freedom than we realized.
We are the only ones who are offered an explanation as to what Arlanna is up to. No one else knows what their tossed-aside princess is doing as she starts out her mission of the impossible. Arlanna begins with the tightest circle at her feet, touching each person on the head and saying something quiet to them.
Excited murmurs splinter out, but no one moves from their spot.
It’s a weighty thing, watching her touch them tenderly atop their heads. These are the people who have hated her, attacked her, and laughed when she was taken down. Yet Arlanna’s always been above the pettiness, seeing the future that could be, instead of what others insisted she must settle for.
My darlyss is not one for settling.
I watch while each person she touches wriggles as if a chill has gone through them. Then they marvel up at her in confusion that looks mingled with unquenchable hope. I watch them stare at their hands as she moves to the next person, and then next. There are five hundred of us, but she never hurries or loses her focus.
Charlotte remains at her side, every now and then shivering as more magic flows out of her to bolster Arlanna.
How I long to hold Arlanna, to let her know that I love everything about her. It takes strength to unlock this many people, but the thing that impresses me beyond words is that she is determined to pay a kindness to those who have been imprisoned—whether they were good to her or not.
She has always been a cut above the rest.
Cassia darts to Charlotte’s side the second she trips. Though Charlotte catches herself before she falls, Cassia is done taking chances. The three of them form a chain, holding strong and presenting a united front.
The officers exchange wary looks and grumbles, but as it looks like nothing more than the largest game of duck-duck-goose in history, they don’t interfere.
When Arlanna finally reaches the outer ring, the wind whipping her hair out to the side, Gray and I move to stand with them. The nearer she is to the men with the batons and waning consciences, the more wary we become.
A chill spreads over the last inmate, and I can tell she’s saved Malrick for last. It’s a kindness he doesn’t deserve, and may not be able to handle, but still, she sets him free from the hold the prison has had on his magic.
It’s to him to decide what he’ll do with the power that’s been returned to him.
The five of us stand in a line, with Gray and I bookending the three women we love. Though I have much to say to the peers I’ve done time with, Arlanna’s earned the right to deliver the last of the good news.
“Now’s the time it’s really going to matter what kind of person you are. When I touched each of your heads, I unlocked your magic-muting cuffs. You can access your power again.” Surprised murmuring splinters out, but Arlanna’s not finished. Her voice carries as she raises her fist. “I can house all of you, and I’ve got transportation ready. If you want to stay in prison, I won’t rob you of your choice. But if you come with me, you will leave all prejudice behind you.”
That’s certainly news to me. She’s going to house every inmate? How? Where?
I love that all this time, she’s been planning, thinking of a way to make the world a better place.
True strength radiates from my princess, empowering every inmate who looks on the fierceness of her face. “If you’re ready to breathe free air again, come with me now!”
This part is not rehearsed. Does she really have transportation for five hundred inmates? Does she have an actual place for us all to stay?
Does she expect that the men with batons and tasers will simply lay down their weapons and open the iron gates for us?
Apparently, that’s exactly what she is planning on, because she takes a dangerous step outside the ring of protection, drawing the shouts of the officers who run for her, taking this boldness as an act of aggression that must be silenced.
But that’s the thing about a woman on a mission: she will not let the world tell her when to talk, when to step, and when to move.
She’s more composed than I am as she pivots so we can see her calm smile. Her composure never falters, even when she raises her arms as the officers close in on her.
“Rafe!” Arlanna shouts, her voice carrying across the yard. “Rafe, I need you to take me home!”
And just like that, Gray loses his hold on his animal.
32
Rafe’s Girl
Arlanna
Maybe I should have clued Gray in on my escape plan, but the element of surprise really was worth it. My sweet Gray cries out in a sound that’s sort of pained, and sort o
f like a man coming home. Then my boyfriend disappears, and in his stead is the enormous wolf that looks more monster than animal.
Rafe is enormous on four legs. His bark is more of a roar that sets everyone’s teeth on edge.
The inmates are frightened, but the officers are downright terrified.
“Rafe!” I shout above the din. “This way, pup. I’m getting you out of here. Can you clear the way?”
The officers form as pathetic a line as they can, tasers aimed and firing at the enormous wolf they weren’t counting on having to contain. The electric currents don’t slow Rafe down. Instead, they only make him more volatile.
Maybe they don’t work on shifters in the same way they attach to fae magic.
His roar should have been enough to clear the exit, but just when the line breaks, more officers come out into the encroaching night to add to the barricade between us and freedom.
I don’t want Rafe to have to attack the officers. Gray’s tender heart couldn’t handle something so aggressive.
“We are getting out,” I tell them, though I wasn’t counting on this many guards blocking our way, or my accomplice being late to the party.
I crane my neck toward the prison, but still, my partner in crime hasn’t arrived.
I point at the far wall to my right, directing Cass’ gaze. “Once we bust out of here, there are busses waiting on the other side of that wall, ready to take us to safety. I need you to take that wall out.”
Cass gapes at me, horrified. “What? That’s your plan? How do you expect me to do that?”
Charlotte seems to understand the next step before I can say it. She touches Cass’ shoulder—the only calm in the midst of chaos. We’ve got five hundred inmates behind us, shouting for their freedom, but Charlotte’s optimistic smile offers a peace I didn’t think we’d be able to find so soon.
“You’ve vanished thread,” Charlotte says to her girlfriend. “That was your practice. Now it’s time to vanish the wall.”
Cass looks truly scared at the idea. “I don’t know how to do that! That’s your plan?”
“We’re going to be free, and you’re going to help us get there.” Charlotte tugs on Cass’ hand, as if she’s understood this path all along. Then to me, she calls, “Stall them! Buy us as much time as you can!”
The two run toward the unattended far wall. It’s four stories high and topped with barbed wire.
Vanishing thread in underwear isn’t the same as dematerializing actual bricks in an impenetrable wall, but Charlotte doesn’t seem bogged down by details like that.
We need to make our exit quickly, before Rafe tears the heads off the men with the tasers. The currents zinging through my enormous pup don’t cause him any more bother than a troublesome bee sting, but as we march toward the prison, Rafe is growing more and more irate. The tasers stick in his fur, and with a jerk, he either severs the connectors from the guns, or he tears the guns from the guards’ hands altogether.
The officers are running out of tasers, wasting them all on a beast that is too fearsome to be taken down. Batons are all they have now, and I can tell by the worry in their wide eyes that this doomed fact is dawning on them, as well.
Nurse Jen jogs into the yard, meeting my eyes with a look that tells me the next phase of the plan is ready.
Thank goodness. I’m not sure we could stall much longer.
I’m to get us out, and Jen is to help clear the way. Sloan and Johnson are in charge of transportation. They’re waiting to take us all to safety—the Henley property.
I can’t imagine how many busses must be lined up just outside these walls. Jen was to give them the okay to pull into the parking lot when our escape was eminent.
Which I guess is right now.
Too many cogs are turning, and I wish for one second that we could have daylight on our side to make sense of how many officers stand against us.
But then I realize that it doesn’t matter how many tasers are aimed our way. This is our destiny. Charlotte has been telling us from the beginning that we only need to walk the path in front of us. It will unfold as it’s ready to be traveled.
One foot in front of the other, my boots move forward, closing the gap between us and them.
How I wish the officers realized that we’re not so different. Neither of us want to be here. None of us wants to fall to ruin over a bill that makes no sense. They’re fighting to defend a principle of passing the blame. If someone has enough money, they don’t have to be held accountable for their crimes.
Not anymore. The second we’re free, the rules will change.
The officers are afraid they’ve bet on the wrong horse; I can see it in their eyes, and in the belligerent way they hold tight to their batons. They want to be anywhere but here, staring down the largest shifter the world has ever seen, yet they’re determined to defend a way of life that should never have been.
They are relics, and they will fight to the death for their outdated ideals.
“More!” Charlotte cries from the far wall. “I need more fae who descend from shadowmelders!” Her meek voice carries sudden authority, drawing too many eyes. Charlotte’s shouting at the whole of us, begging for someone to help her girlfriend.
Cass has her hands on the sturdy brick. Even from this distance, I can see in the glow of moonlight that she’s shaking with the effort of doing the impossible.
How anyone is supposed to know which obscure strain of magic they’re spawned from is beyond me.
Charlotte seems to understand this conundrum. “If you’re doing time for theft, I need you over here now!”
That sets boots in motion.
And not just those of the inmates. A number of the officers are all too grateful to leave the approaching wall of inmates to run toward the few they might actually be able to get their hands on.
The officers are quick, but the inmates have desperation on their side. Several dozen leave our ranks and rush to Cass, pressing their palms to the brick just as Cass is doing. They may not be able to do what she can, but they’re lending her their strength, which is a feat most might always be too selfish to consider.
Charlotte touches an inmate with one hand and grips Cass’ shoulder with the other. I can see clearly the aura of the volunteer flowing into Cass by using Charlotte as a conduit, strengthening Cass to help her complete this giant task.
Nurse Jen looks to be on the side of the guards as she bolts toward the wall, but I know she’s on a mission to do damage control. Tripping the guards on their way to the shadowmelders is a tremendous help, but Jen doesn’t stop there.
I gasp when Jen’s touch causes several of them to fall. I don’t think she’s pushing them, but they topple forward all the same, and appear too overcome to get back up.
Then a few begin vomiting.
Is she… Is her touch making them sick?
She’s a healer. I saw it in her aura. Quite the gifted healer, in fact. Can rogue healers flip and inflict the opposite of good health? Can she take them down with sudden illness?
I’ve never heard of that before, but when I squint and seek out her aura, I see the brilliant turquoise is matted with a charcoal cloud.
I enhanced her by accident, and now her magic is far more focused, more powerful.
We’re going to get out. I can feel it in my bones.
But when the doors to Prigham’s open up and policemen and women rush out with the warden, I know our window of escape is getting smaller and smaller.
I recognize Sander, the chief of police, who eyes me with an expression I can’t decipher. He’s arrested Daddy numerous times with crimes that rarely stuck.
Sander came to the house so many times, he started keeping peppermints in his pockets for me. Even as a teenager and into adulthood, it was our thing. He would arrest Daddy, and then give me a peppermint and a firm jerk of his head. He understood how wrong it was for a little girl to see her father in handcuffs.
Now he’s here for me.
I don’t
have a plan for this. I didn’t realize how many more armed people they would have. Panic wells in my chest as we continue to march forward. I worry for a second that I’ve led my fellow inmates on a fool’s errand.
“I’ll hold them off!” Paxton shouts. “Everyone, turn and run to the wall!”
Worry for his safety tightens my stomach and pushes a wounded howl from Rafe. “I’m not leaving you behind!”
“You will.” Then, with a smile that is wildly out of place, he says, “Let me protect my people. Let me protect you. This is who I’m meant to be.”
A flash of madness flickers in his pupils, and it’s then I realize Paxton is the perfect person to fend off our assailants.
“To the wall!” I call to the inmates as a thrill of adrenaline rages through me.
And just like that, we stop progressing toward Prigham’s, and race as one toward the wall that Cass is working on.
Rafe and I keep to the rear, making sure no one falls behind. I shouldn’t look back, but when shouts of fear ripple out from in front of the building, I can’t help myself.
A wall of fire shoots out from Paxton, growing taller by the second. The orange lights up the night, consuming the stacks of bricks. It sticks easily to the ground in a line that divides us from them—officers from prisoners.
It’s a true testament to Paxton’s control that he doesn’t light any of the officers on fire, but sticks to making a barrier no one wants to cross.
He’s a good man, better than most.
Rafe and I run full-force the second Paxton joins us. The inmates are all starved, tired and without much energy, but even the most sluggish of prisoners rallies their last vestiges of gusto when the finish line is in sight.
Just when the taste of impending freedom hits me with a bolt of elation, something sharp bites at my back, felling my feet as madness rings through my body. I can feel the blade in my side as a scream hits my teeth.
As I fall, I see a huge section of the wall vanish into thin air. The inmates begin to stream out excitedly.
They’re going to escape, and I’ll be left behind—the only inmate inside the walls of Prigham’s.
Sins of the Mother: A Paranormal Prison Romance (Sinfully Sacrificed Book 2) Page 20
