Clay looked up from his bunk and found Shawna standing at the bars, and his face did something complicated — surprise first, then a particular kind of calculation that dressed itself up as joy.
"Darling — how did you get back here? Are you breaking me out?"
"I found a way to get you out properly, Clay." Shawna hesitated. "Here — watch."
She stepped back from the bars, and then she was inside the cell. No door, no sound, no transition — just gone from one side and present on the other.
"I have abilities now too."
Clay stared at her. Then the stare became something brighter, more focused, and he very carefully lowered his voice so the guard down the hall wouldn't hear the excitement in it.
"Can you do that carrying something? Like — could you carry me out the same way?"
"Yes." Shawna watched his face while she said it. "Anywhere I can see, I can go. I can take someone with me."
"Shawna." He grabbed her hands. "You are incredible. Let's go — right now, get me out of here. I am done with this place."
"No." She pulled back slightly. "Clay, if we run, we're wanted. There's a better way. I've been talking to a police officer — a real one, someone who wants to help. He's been building a case on Marcus for a long time. If you tell him what you know about the operation, he takes Marcus down. The whole crew goes in. Your debt disappears with them."
Clay's expression shifted. "Marcus? What does Marcus have to do with me getting out?"
"You borrowed from him, Clay. To gamble." She kept her voice level. "This is the way out. You cooperate, the officer keeps you protected — your name stays out of it — and Marcus goes away. We stay in Central City. We live normally. I also have a friend with a patent — a real business, legitimate income. We wouldn't have to steal anymore. We could buy a house here."
She watched his face while she said all of it.
The joy she'd been hoping to see didn't come.
"Honey." Clay's voice shifted into the measured, reasonable register he used when he wanted to seem like the smart one. "It's not that simple. A man like Marcus doesn't stop operating because he's behind bars. He runs things from inside — people do it all the time. And that cop? He'll use what I give him and then cut me loose. The moment Marcus hears even a rumor that I talked, he'll have people waiting for us. We can't trust a stranger with something like that."
"We could leave the city."
"And go where?" He grabbed his hair. "Marcus has reach, Shawna. We can't outrun it. The only way out is to pay him back. All of it."
"What about going abroad?"
"They'll find us abroad."
No they won't, she thought, with sudden clarity. A mid-level Central City loan shark doesn't have international reach. That's not how any of this works. He knows that.
He knew it too. He just needed her to believe otherwise.
She tried once more. "My friend could lend us the money. Not a loan shark — real terms, and we'd be working with him anyway. It's a way out that doesn't require—"
"Untrustworthy." Clay shook his head, certain and final. "All strangers are untrustworthy, Shawna. I've seen these setups before. They promise everything and then they own you."
He hadn't asked a single question about the officer. Hadn't asked what the friend's name was, what the patent was for, what the terms would look like. He'd decided they were frauds because it was more convenient for them to be frauds.
He pulled her close. His voice went soft, the way it did when he wanted something.
"I know how hard you worked to get here. I know you're trying. And I love you for it." He looked at her directly. "I would do anything for you, Shawna. Would you do anything for me?"
She looked at him for a long moment.
Then she nodded.
"Help me," he said. "Just use your ability — one job. We get enough to pay Marcus back, and then we're free. We can go anywhere. Anywhere you want."
There it is.
She'd known it was coming. She'd known from the moment Jude had described it, patient and precise, outside the bar. The debt that couldn't be escaped. The stranger who couldn't be trusted. The final pivot to would you do anything for me? Like a door he'd been waiting to open since she'd walked in.
Shawna looked at Clay — his face bright with relief, with the specific happiness of a person who has gotten what they came for — and felt something go quiet inside her.
"Alright," she said softly. Tears had found their way to her eyes, and she let them stay there, let them do the work of covering whatever else was on her face. "Alright, Clay. How?"
"I heard the guys in the next cell talking." He was already moving, already energized, the plan apparently having been ready and waiting. "An armored truck is running a route today. You get me out first, then we find a car — with that money, we're done. We can go wherever we want. We're free."
Shawna watched him lay it out — the gestures, the momentum, the absolute confidence of a man who had just solved every problem by outsourcing all the risk — and thought, distantly, of Jude's bet.
If I win, you go back to a life that's actually yours.
"Clay." She kept her voice even. "Once we get the money — we stop. No more after this. Promise me."
"Yes, yes, of course." He waved it off without breaking stride. "Whatever you say, darling."
He didn't even need to think about it.
He had no intention of keeping it.
And somewhere underneath the tears, behind the expression she'd chosen carefully for this exact moment, Shawna already knew that too.
So be it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Writing takes time, coffee, and a lot of love.If you'd like to support my work, join me at [email protected]/GoldenGaruda
You'll get early access to over 50 chapters, selection on new series, and the satisfaction of knowing your support directly fuels more stories.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~