“A key,” I finished for her.
Right there, lying in front of us, was the key to getting out of here.
The guard that was supposed to be stationed at the end of the walkway near the guard tower had disappeared, likely Erasmus’s doing. Maybe that guy wasn’t so bad after all.
An image popped into my mind, one of him sweeping Poppy around the dance floor. Nope, I still hated him.
Driscoll reached for the key and fumbled with it before finally unlocking our cage. “What do I do with this?” he asked. “Maybe we should keep it just in case.”
Leoni grabbed it from him and flung it into the air. “Are you planning on being trapped in the sky prisons again sometime soon?”
We all stared as the key dropped right onto the spiked platform below.
A gust of wind rammed into us, and we all stumbled backward.
“How are we going to get down from here without getting impaled?” Driscoll asked, then he waved his hand. “Keep your dirty thoughts to yourself. I am not talking about that kind of impaling.”
“I don’t think anyone thought you were,” I said.
“Shouldn’t we have had this conversation inside the cage instead of outside of it?” Leoni yelled, clutching onto the bar to keep from falling.
All of us followed suit, gripping the bars of the cage tight.
Prisoners from other cages began to notice and yelled out, rattling their bars and clanging against them.
“I don’t know,” I said, “but we have to figure this out. And soon. Erasmus is buying us time to escape.”
Leoni peeked down over the edge of the glass walkway. “I can create a wave,” she said.
“Well, that sounds terrifying.” Driscoll shuddered.
“Let us out!” someone shouted from the cage next to ours.
Leoni nodded. “I’ll create a wave, like a big slide, and we’ll ride it down to the castle grounds.”
It could work. It could also kill all of us. But we were running out of time.
“Maybe I can summon the wind to carry us?” Poppy offered.
From the horrified expression on Driscoll’s face, I could tell he’d rather jump right here and now than rely on her magic.
The prisoners were growing louder, creating more commotion. My gaze darted to the guard station. He’d be back any minute, and then we’d never leave this place. Or, at least, Poppy wouldn’t. Driscoll, Leoni, and I would be fine, but Poppy...
“Do it.” I nodded at Leoni. “Create the wave.”
The wind barreled into us.
“Won’t the wind blow it away?” Poppy asked, eyes wide with fear that I wished I could soothe. All of a sudden, the wind died down.
“Saestra,” Poppy breathed.
The king’s niece, whom my mother had been trying to convince me to marry before I went to the shadow court. The mousy woman stood on a glass bridge far below us, holding out her hands, doing what she could to control the wind.
“We have to go now,” I said.
Leoni didn’t hesitate, flinging out her hands. Water unfurled, rolling out like a carpet, sweeping all the way to the castle grounds down below.
“It will hold us,” Leoni said. “I’ll make sure of it as long as she continues to control the wind.”
