The walls of the prison were black, and while I could just make them out with the binoculars, I couldn’t see much else.
“There is a thick glamor over it,” Ash said. “Keeping it hidden from human eyes. And amazingly keeping boats from crashing into it.”
“We have to get across the water without them knowing we’re coming. Can you carry us both?” I lowered the binoculars and did a quick check over my shoulder at the two men.
Ash shook his head. “I can only carry one at a time.”
My uncle spoke up.
“Them? Which them? These ones or the ones on the other side? Both would kill me if they could, you know?” Nicholas came to stand next to me. That same warning tripped through me, but it was quieter now. Was I getting used to him, like I’d gotten used to Orin? Or maybe I’d realized a deeper truth about him.
He was giving me a glimpse of what my future could be if I wasn’t careful. Gah, I did not like the sound of that. Better to focus on the current issue. One problem at a time, no need to go borrowing trouble, as my dad would have said.
“Them as in Frost and her crew. Ruby, Helix, whoever else she has there. Whoever they have guarding my friends,” I said. “Regular guards, too, I would guess.”
“If I fly Nicholas in, the warnings will trip,” Ash said, his voice gravelly and smooth at the same time. “It would be best if we arrive at the same time. Nicholas and I can keep the attention of the guards while you get your friends out.”
Which meant I needed a ride into that black place. I lifted the binoculars again, staring out at the prison, at the birds that flew in between us. What I wouldn’t give for a set of wings right then. But none of the shifters I knew were of the avian variety.
“We should try to hit the prison before the sun is up,” Nicholas said, his voice . . . more like before. I looked at him.
“What’s this? The good Nicholas?”
His smile was tired. “The sane side of me. I am here less and less. We need to get your friends out so you can come with me. You are the key to our world’s problems. Whether you like it or not. That is part of the issue with Frost. She knows that given the right set of tools, you could put her out of business.”
“Fabulous. Just what I wanted for my birthday this year,” I said, not bothering to hide the sarcasm.
“You aren’t afraid of me any longer?” He seemed surprised. Damn, he was right. I wasn’t afraid of him anymore. Or at least not petrified. Then again, he also wasn’t trying to tie me in knots and kidnap me like he had in the House of Wonder.
“Not like before.” I sighed as I tried to figure out just how in the devil’s britches I was going to get out to that prison. “Ask me later. The fear status might change.”
The Sandman could help maybe? No, I couldn’t call on him for this. No doubt, people were watching him now. Frost’s spies would know once he brought Rory back.
But the director from the House of Claw, he’d been with the Sandman. The same director who owed me and my crew a favor for our performance in the House of Claw challenge in the Culling Trials. “I’ve got an idea. It could be a long shot but . . .”
I pulled the walkie-talkie out and flicked it on, scrolling until I found the station the Sandman had been busy yelling at me over. I pressed the button. “You there, Sunshine?”
There was static and white noise for a moment and then, “Wild.”
“Rory okay?” I asked.
“He has a good chance,” the Sandman growled through the radio.
Sweet relief flowed through me. A good chance was better than a kick in the ass any day. “I need to speak to the director of the House of Claw. He owes me a favor. And I assume since he was with you, he’s about as safe as I am going to get when it comes to help.”
There was a long stretch of the white static silence. Either the Sandman was ignoring me or he was going to get the director.
“Brutus here,” an impossibly deep voice rumbled over the radio.
“I want to cash in that favor,” I said. “I need a ride for me and my friends.”
He rumbled a deep laugh. “They won’t come to you.” Yeah, he knew exactly who and what I was hoping to get help from. “Not in the human world. They don’t do that for nobody.”
“Then I will owe them a little something if they do, and I am good for my word,” I said. “Amalthea will come at the very least. I’m sure of it.”
In the Culling Trials we’d passed the last test from the House of Claw in nothing short of a spectacular fashion, riding the winged unicorns—alicorns—to our victory. It had been a heady win and, quite possibly, one of the memories that I would always hold on my top ten list. Maybe even top five.
Okay, top two.
A grunt. “You think I keep alicorns inside New York City? You think I could even get them to you before next week?”
“Try,” I said. “At least ask them. I’m . . . I’m at Pier 36,” I dared to tell him, seeing as we’d be gone in a short matter of time.
Brutus grunted again. “I will ask her. If I can find her.”
The line went to static again.
“Someone is coming.” Ash tugged on me, and I let him lead me away from the edge of the pier. Nicholas followed more slowly. Of course, he wasn’t particularly worried, seeing as he’d just kill anyone in his way.
I reached out and grabbed the edge of his trench coat and bodily dragged him closer to the rubble. “You could pretend to hide at least,” I threw at him.
Nicholas raised an eyebrow at me. “Niece, he is not here for me. But you.”
He.
My radio squawked, and I turned it down, but too late. The figure in the dark coat, jeans, and ballcap turned our way.
“Rory.” I breathed his name, kind of hating myself for the way it sounded in my ears. Like a girl hankering for her guy. Damn it. But it couldn’t be him, he was with the Sandman.
“Wild?”
I had to take another look because I did know him, but he was no Rory. “Ethan? What the hell are you doing here?”
Behind me, Ash and Nicholas faded into the shadows. Reaching Ethan, I grabbed him by the arm, barely restraining myself from shaking him. “Get out of here.” Then I remembered he’d killed Colt and trussed up the rest of our friends for Frost, and my hand tightened.
“I came to help,” he said. Stupid, stupid boy.
I let him go and swung a hard uppercut, smashing it into his jaw. He stumbled backward, and I stalked after him.
“Your father is working with Frost! You killed Colt, and if I had the time, I’d return the favor! You got my friends taken by Frost!” I yelled at him. “What on God’s green earth made you think I’d let you get close to me? What makes you think I won’t just cut your balls off right here and throw you in the water to bleed out?”
He tried to take my hand, and I twisted his arm around, yanking it up behind his back, and drove him to the ground. “You forget that I am a hell of a lot meaner than any other girl—and a good number of guys—you’ve ever dealt with.”
A grunt slid out of him, but he gave no other indication he was in pain. “Wild, I took the tracking spells off me. My father can’t find me again.” He tried to look over his shoulder at me. “I swear it. And I didn’t . . . I did kill him, you’re right—” a short sob rippled out of him, “but it wasn’t my idea. I couldn’t stop from doing it. Any more than I could stop him from making me spell our friends.”