If it was gone… Well, we were screwed.
It should be there, though. I’d hidden it well.
I kept close to Karma. Stalking the halls as a duo was a risk even ifno onewanted to kill us, but it was practically begging for death as Anarchy target number one.
But bringing Crescent would have made us too conspicuous, and we sure as fuck weren’t leavingheralone with anyone else.
I always kept my gun on me, but today I was far more aware of the cool metal that I was keeping tucked against my waist right now. I usually kept it here, or in my ankle holster, but it was always on me.
Hopefully I wouldn’t need it. Most of the alphas here knew I had it now, but the feral ones—all they saw waspreywandering these halls with only one alpha at his side for protection.
We walked quickly, but tried to look leisurely at the same time. No one passed us in the hall, but you never knew who could be watching from their cell.
I was about to steer us down a side hallway to avoid going out into the main square when footsteps padded closer.
I listened intently.
One set of footsteps. They sounded uneven, as if the person had a limp, but not urgent or shuffling, like some of the truly feral alphas that skulked down lonely hallways.
And it was only one person.
Someone confident enough to walk around alone… That was a very limited subset of people. None of whom we wanted to see right now.
Fuck me.
Karma stepped in front of me, puffing out his chest and letting his aura out a little in threat.
When the person turned the corner, he relaxed.
Huh?
Ozias strode down the wide hallway toward us, his hands stuffed into his pockets. I noticed he was limping. I grabbed Karma’s arm and tried to steer him away from his rut fight rival, but he shook me off.
Reaching into his pocket, he grabbed a bottle of pills and tossed them to Ozias when he got close. Ozias caught it midair, giving it a quick shake and then popping the top to check the inside.
“Better not have kept any for yourself,” he commented.
I expected Karma to prickle and maybe lunge for the bastard, but he only scoffed. “When I got ‘em, that’s what was in there. Haven’t touched it.”
Ozias put the bottle in his pocket, the bulge of it barely visible in his oversized sweats. “Deal’s done, then.” He gave me a once over glance, then scanned Karma the same way. “Good luck out there. You’ll need it.”
As Karma’s growl echoed down the hall, Ozias veered off into a side hallway with a final, faint smirk.
I stepped into my packmate’s path to stop him from going after him, and herding him forward. We had to get the key, preferably before we ran into someone who wanted us dead.
“The fuck was that about?” I asked.
I took us down a side hallway and the walls closed in, becoming narrow enough that Karma and I couldn’t walk side-by-side anymore.
He fell into step behind me, grumbling. “Ran into him last night in the cafeteria. Figured we didn’t need the pills, so I traded.”
“For what?”
Ozias wouldn’t be a bad person to have on our side. His aura was one of the most formidable here. But Karma wasn’t a good enough negotiator to con anyone into trading protection for painkillers. Even I would struggle to do that.
“Coloured pencils and a sketchbook.”
I looked over my shoulder with a raised eyebrow. “Seriously?”