Starling (78 page)

clubbed a jailer. Seraphina’s words floated back to her:
Men, they
think we are weak.
Seraphina was right, and Cass could use that to her advantage.
“I don’t know,” she said. “But it’s not worth killing people for.”
As the guard straightened up, she tried to keep a neutral expression on her face, but beneath her skin her blood was rushing, her
heart pounding in her head and neck. Cass lifted her hands to the
sides of her throat, her fingertips feeling the strong, even pulsing of
her blood. If Seraphina’s little trick worked, and by all accounts it
did, Cass probably wouldn’t even need to fight the guard. She could
just surprise him, incapacitate him, and steal his keys. He’d wake up
later and probably not even know what had happened.
But then Piero’s voice echoed in the next room. Who was he talking to? Cass imagined having to come face-to-face with Cristian
again. She didn’t know if she could remain calm trapped in a cage
while Cristian walked free. She would die before she let him hurt
her.
But she might get only one chance to escape. As much as she
wanted to leap from the ground and press her hands to the guard’s
neck until he collapsed, now was not the time. She needed to wait
until the circumstances favored her.
The voices grew louder, and Cass thought she heard the sounds
of a scuffle. With one hand on the hilt of his sword, the guard ducked
low and hurried out of the room. He returned a moment later, dragging a man behind him.
The man’s hair hung low to obscure his face, but even in the dwindling candlelight Cass recognized him immediately.