~ JAYAH ~
Skhal had found her, approaching silently—without the bond she wouldn't have even known he was there—but he raced to her side and embraced her silently, then took the keys she held out on a wide ring, and darted to the prison door.
Jayah stayed kneeling over the guard, checking his pulse, and that of his friend next to him, both of them sprawled awkwardly in the dirt.
She begged their forgiveness, though they'd never know it.
At the first sound of footsteps, she was confused—they came from the opposite direction from the prison tree.
Her hand tightened on the arm of the guard and she instinctively crouched, ready to fly into combat as a shift commander walked into the clearing, then stopped dead, his eyes cutting between sprawled males and Jayah, shock and anger flashing in his eyes.
"What the hell—?"
