Chapter 226: Leon
The chatter among the prisoners was what was going to get us caught. I knew that they were all excited for at least getting a chance to escape, but we were not going to get very far if they didn’t shut up.
“Zip it!” Caleb hissed angrily as he stared down at the end of the hall at where two guards usually stood, yet, surprisingly, there was no one there. I hadn’t even seen them exit, but we weren’t going to wait around for them to come back.
“Do you know where you’re going? I asked Caleb. We had been over it a thousand times, but I needed him to confirm it again.
He nodded somberly. At the other end of the hall there was a hidden door according to one of the prisoners. She had said that no one ever uses that passage anymore. Grace had also mentioned it. It’s where she had escaped through one time. Caleb moved that way, and him and Laura, the woman who could summon began to search for it. I didn’t wait to find out if they found it though. I went the other way. I was going straight into the Lion’s den to find Grace. I didn’t know if the passage would take me to her, and we didn’t have a lot of time. If I got caught, I would put all of them in danger, and that couldn’t happen.
I took the steps two at a time, but I could hear anxious chatter at the top of the stairs. I stuck to the shadows and listened to what they said.
“Do you think they’re here to attack?” One whispered.
“I don’t know, but you would think we would fortify the guard around the prison, not weaken it. They’re goal is probably to come for Grace.”
“But Grace isn’t even in the prison.” The one guard whispered.
“But they don’t know that. If I was them, that would be the first place I looked.”
“Is she safer in the infirmary?”
“No. There’s only 8 guards left in the whole packhouse,” The older guard with all the answers told him.
“That’s not good.” The younger one whined.
And I took it as my opportunity to attack.
“No, it’s not good at all.” I told him, and knocked him out without giving him a chance to respond.
The older guard looked at me tiredly but shrugged his shoulders. “Well, come on then, I’ll take you to her.”
I froze. I had been prepared for a fight, but he didn’t seem to want to engage.
“Unlike some of the others around here, I value my life. So come on, I’ll take you to her. You are in search of Grace now, aren’t you?”
This was not a part of the plan. Every part of me was screaming that this was a trap. The older man looked so calm and cool and collected. Like he had been expecting me, and maybe he had been, but it couldn’t be for any good reason...
“Well come on now, we’re wasting time.” He growled angrily. “I won’t risk my neck to help you if you are going to be that slow, and there’s probably only a small window of time before your distraction wears off.”
I followed the man. A million questions ran through my head, but I held my tongue. Hopefully, he really would take me to Grace, and I wasn’t walking into a trap, but my gut was screaming at me. Did he know about the prisoners downstairs? Was he somehow a part of their escape plan? They hadn’t mentioned him, but I had been told that some people were soft to their cause. There was nearly no one outside the prison now that didn’t have family who had been imprisoned or sent to the program. It just depended on who needed kept in line....
“Why should I trust you?” I asked, when we stopped outside of a door labeled infirmary.
“You shouldn’t,” He answered. “I’m just trying to save my own neck. You’re Leon, right? The Alpha King’s beta? Your reputation proceeds you. I know how ruthless you can be. My fellow guard was lucky you only knocked him out, and didn’t kill him.” He dipped into one of the rooms across the hall from the door I think Grace was behind and came back with a uniform. “Put this on. Quickly.”
I shrugged the button up shirt on, and quickly buttoned them. Everyone always thought I was ruthless. I mean, best friends and beta of the Alpha King, but I wasn’t cold like him. I couldn’t just shut off my heart when I wanted to. Unless necessary, I almost always chose to wound, not kill. Not that I would ever tell anyone that.
“Sir,” The guard I had been following called out as he shoved me into one of the rooms across from the infirmary.
“What?!” Adrian called out from inside the infirmary, and my stomach sunk. “Didn’t I tell you not to bother me, Lewis?”
“You did, sir, but you are needed on the frontlines.” The Guard, Lewis answered.
“Can’t they handle those stupid imbeciles themselves?” He growled.
“Apparently not, Sir.” Lewis responded tiredly and motioned for me to join him now that I was fully in uniform.
Lewis opened the door, and Adrian spun around to face us looking flustered and irate. I tried my best not to show any reaction, but it was clear he had been leaning over Grace. I didn’t dare look at her though. I didn’t want to give any reason for Adrian to be suspicious of me. I knew I could take him, if I had too. But now wasn’t the time. I had to get Grace out, and then we could work on revenge. I squeezed my fist tight to keep my feeling inside.
“I told you not to come in here!” Adrian raged.
“Sir, you are needed. Samuel here can guard Grace, but we are needed.” Lewis pushed.
Adrian immediately started muttering obscenities under his breath but followed Lewis out of the room without hesitation. It wasn’t until the door shut did, and I knew that we were alone that I rushed over to Grace to access the damage.