Page 22 of Bound By Thorns
Then she left without a single word.
Fuck.
Before the guilt set in, I closed my eyes and willed myself to find another way to escape. I couldn’t afford to be distracted. Not by Kaylan Bennett.
NINE
Kaylan
Not here. Not now. Not yet.
When I woke up, there was this calming feeling I couldn’t shake off. Despite it, I knew I couldn’t afford to let my guard down, not today. Tonight was the night Logan and I were escaping.
The day passed with an unusual quietness. Martha chatted about a new recipe she’d come up with, but I barely listened. My mind was occupied, tallying up the risks, turning over every possibility of what could go wrong. After breakfast, I took a stroll across the front lawn, making my way towards the storage building with a calculated casualness.
From my previous recon, I knew there was about a hundred feet of open stretch that Logan and I would need to dash across to reach the car. The possibility of getting caught during that sprint was alarmingly high.
God, I just hope Logan has recovered enough to run.
While keeping my expression indifferent, I surveyed our escape route. The car would be parked behind the storage building, and I was aware that guards were usually scattered across the lawn to the north, possibly within sight under the three lamps that lit up the hundred feet stretch from the main door to the car.
My plan was to get Logan and then cut the power to the external lights through the switchboard located in the level one basement. Once that happened, it would trigger an alert, and everyone would be on high alert—that would give us less than five minutes to make it to the car.
Noel had given me the key to the basement door earlier today. During my visit to the infirmary, day before yesterday, I had grabbed potassium chloride that was locked in an old safe. I didn’t have the key so I had broken the lock the old fashioned way. I just hoped nobody saw it between then and now.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, its last rays cast an orange glow that oddly soothed me. Tonight would be the last time I’d watch the sunset confined within these dreary walls.
Dressed for dinner with Garret, I descended to the east wing where he usually entertained. Tyka and Noel were already there, lounging around the table, waiting. I managed a quick, tight smile at them before taking my seat beside Noel, my stomach twisting with nerves.
Garret swept in moments later, his usual smug expression plastered across his face. As he settled at the head of the table, he snapped his fingers, summoning the chef to start serving. He liked to have the chef present, ready to criticize or compliment the dish directly.
The entrees were served, and despite my usual lack of appetite, tonight I found myself hungry. There was a sense of finality, of needing strength for what was to come, and I ate with purpose.
Dinner proceeded in a quiet rhythm, only the soft clinks of cutlery punctuating the silence.
I looked at Tyka, eating like an animal starved for months. He had no poise. Noel, however, was better at being a bit civilized when he needed to be. The loud sounds of chewing and food smacking in Tyka’s mouth had my face twist in disgust.
Garret smacked his steak knife and lodged it into the wooden table, clearly frustrated.
“Eat like a human, will you?” He sneered at Tyka.
Tyka choked his food down and smirked, “Yes, boss.”
The chewing sound faded a bit, and Garret turned his attention to me, “I hear you have been quite attentive with 424. You suck his cock yet, darling?”
The question had me reeling with anger.
“No,” I kept my voice steady, “I wouldn’t do that to you.”
Garret nodded at his plate and pressed his rare steak so the red liquid oozed out of it. He dipped his finger in it and smiled at the liquid’s resemblance with blood.
“You know, I knew you were good at your job,” his voice was a low rumble as he sucked his finger off the red, “but you do it so well that I can’t tell if you’re saving 424 for me or for yourself.”
“It’s all for you, Garret,” I said cautiously, “he’s an asset to you. I intend to save him until he can tell you what you need.”
He smiled with a satisfied grunt.
“I was just jealous, darling,” he said, his tone vicious, “but you shouldn’t have made me jealous. Everything has consequences.”
