The Maiden (The Cloister Trilogy 1)

“Now or never.” Sarah sticks her hand out.

I waver for a second, torn between everything I feel for my sister, my captor, and my freedom. With a shaking hand, I take hers.

“Smart girl. Let’s go.” She leads the way into the corridor.

I join the other three with her, falling into step as we creep across the dormitory floor. When she reaches the door to the rest of the Cloister, she pulls a keyring from her pocket.

“Where did—”

“Shh.” She gives me a deadly glare, then turns back to the door.

The toilet in the small antechamber flushes, and we all freeze, except for Sarah. She keeps trying keys. The Spinner’s footsteps are loud in my ear, one after the other as she walks across the bathroom floor.

Shit shit shit shit shit. We’re going to get caught before we’ve even left the dorms.

Click. Sarah turns the key and the door swings open on a low squeak. We hurry through and close it right as the bathroom door begins to open.

“Stay close.” Sarah takes the lead again down the long hallway that bisects the entire structure. We pause at intersections, looking both ways for something far worse than speeding cars. Sarah holds a hand out when we come close to the dining hall.

A faint snore vibrates through the air. Sarah points at her eyes and then down the hall. I’m guessing it means she sees someone. She eases across the open doorway that leads toward the Spinners’ rooms. I follow, and see Chastity slumping in her chair, the source of the light snores. A pang of guilt stabs through me when I think about what might happen to her when Grace realizes we snuck out on Chastity’s watch. But I can’t dwell on that. I have to keep moving. My decision has been irrevocably made.

The last girl creeps past, and we turn right toward the back doors. The ones that require a code to open.

I grab Sarah. “Do you have the code?”

“No.” She continues along the corridor.

I grab her again. “How are we going to get out?”

“We’ll figure it out.” She takes my hand and squeezes.

I stow the rest of my protests and follow, hoping that Sarah knows some sort of code magic to get us out of this prison. We have to have been caught on camera at this point, but no alarms ring. If someone is supposed to be watching, they’re asleep at the switch.

We reach the back doors, and Sarah stops and pulls what looks like a shiv from a prison movie out of her dress. “Susannah.” She hands it over, and Susannah pulls up her sleeve.

“Are you—” Susannah jabs the sharp end into her skin right where they implanted the tracker. Blood runs down her arm in a ribbon.

Sarah pulls another shiv, which looks like a sharpened toothbrush handle, from her pocket and stabs it under the cover on the keypad. Working it under the plastic, she digs in as far as she can, then yanks. The plastic splinters down the side.

“Here.” I reach over and pull at it, the plastic cutting into my fingers as I help her leverage the cover off. It pops free and falls to the ground.

We flinch at the hollow sound the plastic makes when it hits the wood floor, then don’t move for a few seconds. Running footsteps and angry yells—they never come. We all breathe again as Sarah pulls out the wires behind the panel.

“Do you know what you’re doing?”

“I took some electrical courses at community college.” She examines the wires. “So, no.”

Eve hands me the bloodied shiv. It’s my turn. I feel along my arm and find the implant. With as much courage as I can manage, I use the sharp end to cut into my flesh, leaving a hole that leaks blood. I’m used to pain now, but it still hurts.

“Let me.” Susannah places her fingers on either side of the hole and squeezes as if she’s popping an enormous pimple. I bite my lip to keep from crying out. A moment later, the implant is out and piled on the floor with the others.

“Sarah?”

“I already got mine out.” She lifts her arm to show the red stain and continues to fiddle with the wires.

“Can you get it?”

“I don’t …” She pulls out a yellow wire, then a blue one.

I examine the door, trying to find where the lock is. Leaning down, I can see a metal bar through the crack that spans between the two doors.

“Give me the toothbrush.” I hold my hand out, and someone slaps it into my palm. I try to shove it into the crack beneath the bar, but it’s too thick. Shit.

“What is it?” Eve peruses the area.

“I think that bar may fall from one side or the other to lock the door. If we can find something thin enough to fit in there and strong enough to lift the bar, that might be our way out.”