Not to mention I flunked English, my favorite subject, and ended up in In School Suspension for skipping classes.
“She should be in one of these rooms.” I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to remove the fog lingering in my vision, then I drag him back down the hall. He doesn’t protest. He would if he realized that the tech making his edarratae vibrate so strongly is the building’s security cameras. There are at least two recording me. I might have no more than a minute or two to find Paige and get out of here.
She’s three doors down from where I was imprisoned. It’s locked from the outside with a simple dead bolt.
“Paige,” I whisper as I slip inside.
She doesn’t respond, just lies there strapped down to the hospital bed. They’re giving her drugs, too.
“Paige, wake up.” I carefully remove the tape holding her IV in place.
Her eyes flutter open. “McKenzie?”
“We’re getting out of here.” I yank at the Velcro securing her wrists. It’s freaking hard to get off, but I do it, then help her sit up. “Can you walk?”
More of the sedating drugs made it into her system than mine. She blinks. Then grins. “A breakout? Seriously? McKenzie, you fucking rock.”
She stands. Wobbles. Yeah, she’s definitely worse off than I am. I try to help her balance, but I’m not entirely steady, especially when I reach out to open the door. I miss the knob.
Kyol opens it for us. Paige doesn’t even notice the door moving seemingly on its own.
The hallway is still clear, but the door at the other end seems to stretch farther and farther away as we hurry toward it. When we’re finally only a few paces away, it opens. Security. Shit.
Paige and I stop. Kyol doesn’t. He grabs the edge of the door, then slams it back at the guard, hitting him in the face.
“Go!” Kyol orders.
I pull Paige past the guard, who’s clutching his nose. He grabs at my leg, but Kyol kicks his hand away.
“That was lucky,” Paige slurs, turning to look back.
“Come on.” I pull her after me, try to make her run, but her legs are so uncoordinated, I’m just throwing her balance off. I settle for a really quick walk, then turn left when an EXIT sign points the way to our freedom.
The door is right there. Kyol’s in front of us. Before I can warn him, he presses the bar to open it.
The building’s alarm is deafening. It’s not exactly a lot of tech—it’s just a lot of noise—but Kyol flinches. A frown creases his forehead, and he’s squinting as if he has a headache. He recovers quickly, though, checks outside, then motions us through.
Kyol heads to the left. I follow with Paige, hugging the side of the building until he leads us away from it. The edge of the property is lit by bright floodlights. A tall wrought-iron fence keeps Bedfont House residents inside. It has two entrances: a gate up front for visitors and clients, and a gate in the back for personnel and deliveries. Kyol isn’t leading us to either of those. I’m about to ask where he’s going when he turns, stiffening.
I follow his line of sight and look behind me. Three of the night guard are exiting the building with flashlights in hand. They haven’t seen us yet, but they’re moving this way. Right before their flashlight beams reach us, I grab Paige and yank her to the ground.
“Ick,” she says, staring at the dew-covered grass an inch from her nose.
“Shh!”
The ground is cold and wet, but I don’t let her get up. We’re in a shallow ditch. If they don’t walk all the way over here, they might not see us.
I hold my breath until they turn away.
“Jesus, McKenzie,” Paige whispers. “Have you had Special Forces training or something? You’re a little too good at this.”
“Paintball,” I say, though I’ve only done that once.
“Next time I need to run from the cops, I’m totally calling you.”
She’s sounding more coherent now. Good.
“Hurry,” Kyol says.
We almost make it. I see the bent bars in the fence. Kyol must have planned ahead, using his magic to heat and bend the metal. They’re just wide enough for Paige and me to slip through, but just when I’m about to increase our pace, I skid to a stop instead. Two guards shine their flashlights directly on us.
“Damn,” Paige whispers.
They must have been walking the perimeter. They move away from the fence now that they’ve spotted us.
“Girls,” the guard on the left says. “Don’t move.”
Kyol steps to my side, but he looks agitated, uncertain.
“McKenzie, I shouldn’t…” He doesn’t finish his thought. He just goes quiet, his jaw tightening.
He shouldn’t take down a human when another human is watching. The fae king doesn’t want anyone to become suspicious that they might be in this world. I don’t think that’s likely to happen just from Kyol knocking someone out. They’ll blame it on me, somehow.
Kyol steps forward. He’s going to ignore that rule. He’s going to ignore it to save me.
My stomach tightens. I swear, he loves me—me, not just the feel of the edarratae—but he refuses to admit it.
Beside me, Paige straightens. “Go. I’ll distract them.”
I shake my head. “We can both make it.”
She laughs. “No, we can’t. I can barely see straight.”
She doesn’t know about Kyol. He’ll make sure we make it.
“Seriously, go,” Paige says. “My eighteenth birthday is in a few months. They have to let me out then. I’ll look you up. We can be roommates or something.”
“I’m not letting you take the fall for this.” She’ll be in twice as much trouble because of this escape attempt.
“It’s my fault we were caught sneaking out in the first place,” she says. Then, before I can come back with another argument, she rolls her eyes, shoves me forward, then takes off across the field. Both guards take off after her.
“Paige!” I yell, when they tackle her.
“We have to hurry, McKenzie,” Kyol says at my side. He ushers me toward the fence. I look over my shoulder, watching as she kicks and flails at the two men holding her down. God, I’m the shittiest friend ever, leaving her behind like this. I owe her, not only for distracting the guards but for keeping me sane while I was here.
Kyol grabs one of the bent bars on the wrought-iron fence. “You can repay her later.”
I meet his eyes. He’s right. Staying behind accomplishes nothing.
I slip through the gap in the fence and run. Kyol stays at my side, directs me to veer left before we reach a road. Bedfont House is out in the country—the rural setting is supposed to be relaxing—but even though there’s a serene little stream to the south of the institute, I don’t think there’s a gate on it. I wish there were because I can’t run any longer. My side hurts, and it’s too hard to focus.
I have to stop. I bend over, intending to rest my hands on my knees, but my legs are like jelly. I sit. Kyol lowers to the ground beside me.
“Are you okay?” he asks quietly, not even winded.
No, I’m not—I feel like crap for leaving Paige behind—but I just nod. I’m going to owe Paige for the rest of my life for this.