The Second Jackson- Piper McLean book 1

Jail Break

Lani

The Amazon jail was at the top of a storage aisle sixty feet in the air.

Kinzie led me and Hazel up three different ladders to a metal catwalk, then tied Hazel's hand loosely behind her back, doing the same to me as she pushed us along past crates.

A hundred feet ahead, under the harsh glow of fluorescent lights, a row of chain-link cages hung suspended from cables. Percy and Frank were talking in hushed tones. Next to them on the catwalk, the bored-looking Amazon guards leaned against their spears and gazed at little black tablets in their hands like they were reading.

"Get moving girls" Kinzie ordered, loud enough for the guards to hear. She prodded Hazel in the back with her sword.

Hazel was walking as slowly as she could. I wasn't sure what she was thinking about, but I was trying to come up with a plan. Kinzie had made sure we could break our bonds easily, but Hazel would still be empty handed against highly trained warriors, and I would be too if my clip didn't return to my hair. We also had to make sure we acted before we were put in cages.

Hazel froze and I gave her a worried look.

"What is it?" Kinzie hissed. "Keep moving! They'll get suspicious"

"Make them come here," Hazel muttered over her shoulder.

"Why—"

"Please"

The guards frowned in our direction.

"What are you staring at?" Kinzie yelled at them. "Here's the other prisoners. Come get them"

The nearest guard set down her reading tablet. "Why can't you walk another thirty paces, Kinzie?"

"Um, because—"

"Ooof!" Hazel fell to her knees and looked seasick. "I'm feeling nauseous! Can't... walk. Amazons... too... scary"

"There you go" Kinzie told the guards. "Now are you going to come take the prisoners or should I tell Queen Hylla you're not doing your duty?"

The nearest guard rolled her eyes and trudged over, grabbing Hazel's arm. "Fine. I'll take custody of the prisoners. But if I were you Kinzie, I wouldn't worry about Hylla. She won't be queen much longer"

"We'll see Doris" Kinzie turned to leave and I listened carefully to the sound of her footsteps receding down the catwalk.

The guard pushed me forward and I stumbled. She pulled on Hazel's arm. "Well? Come on"

Hazel narrowed her eyes slightly like she was concentrating. "Not... feeling so good"

"You are not throwing up on me" Doris growled. She tried to yank Hazel to her feet, but Hazel went limp. Next to her the boxes began to tremble.

"Lulu!" Doris yelled to one of her comrades. "Help me with this lame little girl"

"You did not just call my friend lame!" I snarled at her, about to charge when a pair of arms wrapped around me, dragging me towards a cell.

The second guard jogged over to Hazel who flattened herself against the catwalk.

Doris started to say, "Oh, give me a—"

The entire pallet of jewelry exploded with a sound like a thousand slot machines hitting the jackpot. The thought caused a pain behind my eyes as I saw a flash of a casino, but it went away as quickly as it had come. Doris and Lulu went right over the railing.

They would have fallen to their deaths, but Hazel, at least I think it was Hazel, summoned a few hundred bracelets, which wrapped around the guard's ankles, leaving them handing upside down from the bottom of the catwalk, screaming like lame little girls.