Thicker than Blood by Madeline Sheehan Read Free Book Online Page B

he knew the full extent of her pain.
    Leisel’s pain, I surmised, and the threat of
losing her for good, must have been his turning point. The reason
why he was willing to risk his life to get us out of here. Knowing
what I knew, having seen what I’d seen, Alex’s behavior didn’t
really come as a surprise to me.
    It was Jami who shocked me. Never
in a million years would
I have expected him to aid in an escape plan, let alone already
have a plan of his own. He’d liked his job, this life, or I’d
always assumed so, and I’d never thought that I was more than a
passing distraction for him. But his willingness to help us, to
leave with us, was evidence of much more caring than he’d ever
admitted to me.
    “I’m going across,” Jami announced, his face
hidden by shadows. “You wait here until you see my signal.”
    The three of us watched as Jami took off
quickly across the street. Reaching the other side, he slipped
between two closely erected buildings and disappeared from sight.
Moments later, he reappeared and waved us across.
    Shooting Leisel one last glance, I mouthed
the words, I
promise , right before
bolting out into the street. It was dark in this part of town, the
darkness our ally, but without the shadows of the buildings to hide
us, I felt overly exposed and vulnerable to anything or anyone that
might be lurking. Rattling in my own ears, my breath sounded overly
noisy, a neon sign to our whereabouts. But I stayed the path, never
faltering, not daring to look right or left. My footsteps were
quick, surefooted, until I’d reached the other side of the street,
slamming into Jami as he pulled me into the dark safety of another
shadowed alley.
    Not bothering to catch my breath, I peered
around the corner, checking to be sure no one had spotted my mad
dash for safety. Flashing lights snagged my attention, a flickering
light from the lanterns that our guards carried, and though they
were off in the distance, they were headed in our direction.
    When Jami waved Leisel and Alex across, she
hesitated. Thank God for Alex, because suddenly he pulled her
across the street, nearly carrying her since she suddenly couldn’t
seem to run without slipping and nearly falling.
    Checking back up the street, I noticed the
lights were growing closer, the footfalls and quiet shouts sounding
nearer. As Alex and Leisel finally reached us, I pulled her to me
once again, noting that she was breathless and shaking with
fear.
    “This way,” Jami said, already walking off.
We followed him, Leisel and me in the center, while Alex covered us
from behind.
    We found the end of the alleyway heavily
barricaded, secured by rusty corrugated metal and reinforced by
wooden pallets and chicken wire. Seeing this, I started to panic,
thinking that we were trapped, until Alex pushed past me and Jami
bent down, slipping his backpack off his shoulders and pulling free
a thick blanket. After handing the blanket to Alex, Jami bent down
to give him a boost. Using Jami for support, Alex tossed the
blanket over the top of the barricade and hoisted himself over.
    It was too noisy, metal scraping on metal,
and the sound echoed loudly in the dark. My heartbeat headed into
overdrive, but my will to survive—for us to survive—was firm. Even
as the voices grew louder, the heavy footsteps came closer, even
with the hopelessness of this entire situation, I refused to give
up. In fact, I damn well demanded that we would get through this
night.
    The soft fall of Alex’s body thumping against
the ground signaled to us that he was on the other side. We waited,
the three of us, with bated breath, for what would come next.
“Clear,” he finally called out softly.
    Jami gestured for me to go next. Shaking my
head, I pulled Leisel forward. “I’ll go once she’s over.”
    Glancing up at the fence, her eyes as big and
wide as a doe’s, she swallowed hard and looked back at me. “I
can’t,” she whispered, and shook her head.
    “You can do this, Lei,” I