Caged Kitten (All the Queen's Men #2) - Rhea Watson Page 0,82
Rafe managed an awkward wave, boxed out of my cell by the other two. From the slight arch of his brow, I knew precisely what tonight’s chat would be about.
And I couldn’t wait.
Just as I was about to beckon them in—we occasionally hung out in each other’s cells if Deimos’s crew was being especially obnoxious, so it wouldn’t be too suspicious—an alarm screamed through the cellblock. Light strobed around the common area, and the footsteps of additional guards implied a bunk raid.
Oh no.
Not now.
No.
Damn it.
I clutched a puffed-up Tully to me, hurriedly scanning the cell for a shadow to stuff him into—and finding nothing. Darkness was limited with late-afternoon sunlight beaming into the space and illuminating every corner, and the guards tended to obliterate your cell when they came through on these random inspections, tossing cots and using their wands like flashlights.
Tully couldn’t—
He…
“Give him to me,” Rafe ordered from just outside my cell, motioning for me to hand Tully over with a wave of his hand—his pinky catching the sunlight and sparking, then smoking. He yanked his hand out with a hiss, but I still managed to barely hear him add, “There are always shadows in my cell. Hurry.”
With a permanently blocked window, he wasn’t wrong. Those assholes would need to blast a floodlight or two in the vampire’s domain to shoo away every speck of darkness. Frantic, the alarm screeching and guards shouting for us to take our positions, I leapt off the cot and stuffed Tully into Elijah’s huge hands, who then passed him over to Rafe—who shoved the cat into his jumpsuit without an ounce of his dignity intact. My familiar went in yowling, and, from Rafe’s wince, claws out. But the vampire said nothing, holding his jumpsuit shut as he zipped into his cell.
Without a word shared between them, Elijah blocked Rafe’s retreat and Fintan conjured a distraction, roughly bodychecking Blake on the way over to his cell. True to form, the rat shifter retaliated, all bared teeth and crazy eyes, forcing the guards to intervene.
Shaking, I padded to the spot just outside of my cell, loitering between mine and Rafe’s, feet glued in place. As soon as the rest of the block did the same, someone finally—mercifully—cut the alarm, and the raid began, half the guards on Fintan and Elijah’s side of the block, half on mine and Rafe’s. I risked a glance in the vampire’s direction at my left and found his jumpsuit misbuttoned, but otherwise flat and Tully-less.
A trio of guards blitzed by into my cell, Thompson among them, and I listened, fighting to keep my breath even, as they tore everything apart. My metal cot clanged when someone flipped it over, and my pathetic excuse for a pillow landed in the doorway when someone else flung it aside. The toiletries I’d spent my hard-earned wages on clattered to the ground. Book spines split noisily as some dick cracked them open, searching for contraband.
Less than sixty seconds later, they were gone, filing by me and into Rafe’s cell, leaving the usual chaos in their wake, but none of that mattered today. I caught Rafe’s eye as they tore his cell apart, papers rustling and shredded, a few balled-up notes bouncing across the floor and out his door. Artificial light danced around inside from wands capable of inflicting unspeakable cruelty. The vampire shook his head ever so slightly, a reminder not to react. I managed a subtle nod, then quirked my eyebrow, shooting the unspoken words right back to him. Fury contorted his dark, brooding features, his cheeks sunken and his gaze murderous; Rafe absolutely despised cell raids.
Suddenly, the madness stilled. Silence exploded inside, and once again my nails sliced into my palms—
Out they came a few painful beats of my heart later, leaving Rafe’s living quarters just as destroyed as mine. I slumped against the wall and exhaled a stuttering breath, my knees weak and my stomach in vicious knots. Grateful tears blurred the cellblock, and I sniffled softly as I glanced at Rafe, another bob of my head communicating all I couldn’t say.
Thank you.
He blinked back, purposeful and reassuring, and then busied himself with his jumpsuit, correcting the buttons casually like he hadn’t been hiding a fugitive.
My fugitive.
I owed Rafe so much.
I owed all of them so much.
I had no idea how to repay them, but it would come to me eventually. If Xargi Penitentiary gave its prisoners one thing, it was ample time to think.