I don’t care. I’m not giving up. If I can’t save Logan from inside Rowansmark, then I’ll just have to escape into the Wasteland and stop him from ever arriving at Rowansmark in the first place.
“I’m leaving,” I say to Marcus. “I’m going to find Logan and help him. He’s going to be okay.”
“You can’t get out of Rowansmark,” Ian says. “There are soldiers on every corner. And the moment the guards find the dungeon empty, every single soldier will be on the lookout for you.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’ve got a plan. Besides, I can’t stay here. You came down with orders to kill me. If you don’t do it, Rowan will just send someone else. You get your father to safety.” I meet Ian’s eyes. “And if you happen to see Quinn in the city, don’t kill him. Don’t report him. In fact, do your best to help him. You owe him that. You owe all of us that.”
“You’re leaving him?”
“Oh, we’ll be back for him.” And when we find a way to return for Quinn, we’ll finish wreaking the havoc he started. We’ll break the city’s power base and remove James Rowan from leadership. Permanently.
It makes me sick to think of leaving Quinn behind, but I don’t know what else to do. I can’t move freely throughout the city. I don’t have time to look for him. Logan, and anyone else with him, will die if I don’t meet them outside the city and tell them what they’re facing. Quinn would understand. In fact, he’d tell me to go. I just hope if Willow is with Logan, she understands my decision before she decides to put an arrow in me for abandoning her brother.
Turning, I hurry down the hall until I get to the sewage closet. Opening the door, I gag at the sharp stench. I don’t know when the dam floodgate attached to the main pipe is opened to allow a thorough rinsing of the system, but I need to be out of the pipe before the water hits.
“You’ll need this.” Ian walks toward me and holds out his cloak. I narrow my eyes, and he glares. “I owe you. Remember?”
I take the cloak and wrap it around myself. It smells of smoke and fried cinnamon cakes.
“This too. Unless you want to accidentally stab yourself in the foot.” He hands me the sheath to go with his dagger.
“Why are you doing this?” I ask. “And don’t say you owe me, because up until a few minutes ago, the only thing you thought you owed me was death.”
He clenches his jaw and glances back at Marcus, who leans heavily against the wall outside his cell. “I just want to be the son he thinks he has.”
I don’t have an answer to that, so I grab the edges of the pipe and try to lift my legs inside. My back spasms, and I gasp as pain sears me.
Ian wraps his hands around my waist, and I snap, “Don’t touch me. Don’t ever touch me.”
He lets go, and I bare my teeth against the pain and work to get my legs into position.
“It lets out in the swamp just south of the city. The water runs through at sunset. If you aren’t out of the pipe by then, you’ll drown.” Ian’s voice sounds distant, though he’s still right beside me. “There are alligators in the swamp, though they won’t be close to the pipe, since they can’t survive the toxic water there. The fastest way out of the swamp is to the east.”
I can’t make myself say thank you, so instead I look at Marcus and say, “I’ll keep my promise.”
“Logan? Love? Mine. Love?”
“Yes. I’ll tell him you love him.” I sit in the pipe and hold its sides tightly for one more second, and then I take a deep breath, release my grip, and slide feetfirst down the shaft.
CHAPTER FORTY
LOGAN
The morning we dock above the Rowansmark dam, I wake to find the Commander standing over me, his sword pointed at my chest, his dark eyes glaring. I jerk in surprise and swallow hard against the sudden fear that floods me.
“Get up.”
I obey. Orion and two other soldiers are in the room standing over Frankie, Adam, Smithson, and Connor. I imagine the same scenario is being played out in the room shared by Willow, Jodi, and Nola. The Commander has decided our usefulness to him has come to an end. I just hope the plan I put in place with Captain Burkes is enough to save us.
“Move.” The tip of his sword jerks toward the door.
I get up and put on my cloak, thankful that I hid the transmitters along with Melkin’s staff in the boat’s engine room two days ago.
The air is already warm—the damp, clinging warmth that Rowansmark is known for—as I step out of my room and find Willow, Jodi, and Nola waiting on the deck. Nola’s arms are crossed over her stomach, and she stares at the deck while Jodi wraps an arm around her shoulders, but Willow glares at everyone in the general vicinity. The Commander shoves me next to her, and she hisses, “They didn’t even bother threatening me. Just threatened Nola. What was I supposed to do? They’d have killed her if I attacked them. Look what happens when you have friends.”
I give her a tiny smile and nudge her boot with mine as Adam hurries to her side and gathers her close. “Yeah. Look what happens when you have friends.”
“Be quiet.” She rolls her eyes. “I’ve been taken captive at sword point twice in one trip. Quinn is never going to let me live that down.”
“He never has to know.” I scan the deck for Captain Burkes, and my stomach drops when I don’t see him. If he doesn’t show up now, we’re in trouble.
“I’m leaving,” I say to Marcus. “I’m going to find Logan and help him. He’s going to be okay.”
“You can’t get out of Rowansmark,” Ian says. “There are soldiers on every corner. And the moment the guards find the dungeon empty, every single soldier will be on the lookout for you.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’ve got a plan. Besides, I can’t stay here. You came down with orders to kill me. If you don’t do it, Rowan will just send someone else. You get your father to safety.” I meet Ian’s eyes. “And if you happen to see Quinn in the city, don’t kill him. Don’t report him. In fact, do your best to help him. You owe him that. You owe all of us that.”
“You’re leaving him?”
“Oh, we’ll be back for him.” And when we find a way to return for Quinn, we’ll finish wreaking the havoc he started. We’ll break the city’s power base and remove James Rowan from leadership. Permanently.
It makes me sick to think of leaving Quinn behind, but I don’t know what else to do. I can’t move freely throughout the city. I don’t have time to look for him. Logan, and anyone else with him, will die if I don’t meet them outside the city and tell them what they’re facing. Quinn would understand. In fact, he’d tell me to go. I just hope if Willow is with Logan, she understands my decision before she decides to put an arrow in me for abandoning her brother.
Turning, I hurry down the hall until I get to the sewage closet. Opening the door, I gag at the sharp stench. I don’t know when the dam floodgate attached to the main pipe is opened to allow a thorough rinsing of the system, but I need to be out of the pipe before the water hits.
“You’ll need this.” Ian walks toward me and holds out his cloak. I narrow my eyes, and he glares. “I owe you. Remember?”
I take the cloak and wrap it around myself. It smells of smoke and fried cinnamon cakes.
“This too. Unless you want to accidentally stab yourself in the foot.” He hands me the sheath to go with his dagger.
“Why are you doing this?” I ask. “And don’t say you owe me, because up until a few minutes ago, the only thing you thought you owed me was death.”
He clenches his jaw and glances back at Marcus, who leans heavily against the wall outside his cell. “I just want to be the son he thinks he has.”
I don’t have an answer to that, so I grab the edges of the pipe and try to lift my legs inside. My back spasms, and I gasp as pain sears me.
Ian wraps his hands around my waist, and I snap, “Don’t touch me. Don’t ever touch me.”
He lets go, and I bare my teeth against the pain and work to get my legs into position.
“It lets out in the swamp just south of the city. The water runs through at sunset. If you aren’t out of the pipe by then, you’ll drown.” Ian’s voice sounds distant, though he’s still right beside me. “There are alligators in the swamp, though they won’t be close to the pipe, since they can’t survive the toxic water there. The fastest way out of the swamp is to the east.”
I can’t make myself say thank you, so instead I look at Marcus and say, “I’ll keep my promise.”
“Logan? Love? Mine. Love?”
“Yes. I’ll tell him you love him.” I sit in the pipe and hold its sides tightly for one more second, and then I take a deep breath, release my grip, and slide feetfirst down the shaft.
CHAPTER FORTY
LOGAN
The morning we dock above the Rowansmark dam, I wake to find the Commander standing over me, his sword pointed at my chest, his dark eyes glaring. I jerk in surprise and swallow hard against the sudden fear that floods me.
“Get up.”
I obey. Orion and two other soldiers are in the room standing over Frankie, Adam, Smithson, and Connor. I imagine the same scenario is being played out in the room shared by Willow, Jodi, and Nola. The Commander has decided our usefulness to him has come to an end. I just hope the plan I put in place with Captain Burkes is enough to save us.
“Move.” The tip of his sword jerks toward the door.
I get up and put on my cloak, thankful that I hid the transmitters along with Melkin’s staff in the boat’s engine room two days ago.
The air is already warm—the damp, clinging warmth that Rowansmark is known for—as I step out of my room and find Willow, Jodi, and Nola waiting on the deck. Nola’s arms are crossed over her stomach, and she stares at the deck while Jodi wraps an arm around her shoulders, but Willow glares at everyone in the general vicinity. The Commander shoves me next to her, and she hisses, “They didn’t even bother threatening me. Just threatened Nola. What was I supposed to do? They’d have killed her if I attacked them. Look what happens when you have friends.”
I give her a tiny smile and nudge her boot with mine as Adam hurries to her side and gathers her close. “Yeah. Look what happens when you have friends.”
“Be quiet.” She rolls her eyes. “I’ve been taken captive at sword point twice in one trip. Quinn is never going to let me live that down.”
“He never has to know.” I scan the deck for Captain Burkes, and my stomach drops when I don’t see him. If he doesn’t show up now, we’re in trouble.
