Starling (92 page)

“Ready for anything,” Falco said. He went to the side of his cell
and grasped Cass’s hair through the bars. He tugged gently.
Cass let her head fall back against the bars. “A little harder,” she
whispered, “so it looks like I’m actually in pain.”
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Given all we’ve been through, I wouldn’t worry about a bit of
pulled hair,” Cass said. Falco yanked a bit harder. Cass embraced
the pain and started screaming. “Let me go, you bastard!” She pretended to struggle against Falco’s hold on her. She kicked at her cell
door, flailing her body and making as much racket as possible.
“This is all your fault,” Falco yelled back. “You had to get involved in matters that do not concern you. And now you think you
can strike a bargain with them and leave me to die.” Falco grabbed
the fabric of her soiled collar in his other hand and pulled it snug
against her flesh so that it would look like he was trying to strangle
her. “I’ll kill you myself before I let that happen.”
The room brightened as the guard came racing in, his lantern extended out in front of him. “You. Unhand her,” he said.
Falco pretended to pull even harder. Cass gagged as if she were
being suffocated. “Please help,” she choked out. She let her body
collapse backward against the bars.
The guard dropped his lantern and fumbled through his set of
keys while Cass feigned struggling and Falco shouted obscenities.
Finally, the guard located the key to Falco’s cell. Swinging open the
door with a clatter, he grabbed Falco by both shoulders and pulled
him away from Cass.
“You’re lucky the mistress wants you alive,” he said to Falco. “Or
I’d break your skull this instant.”
“All of you will die,” Falco said, continuing his insane rant. “I
will kill you all.” He slouched down in the corner of his cell, hissing
and muttering.
Cass did her best to squeeze out a few tears, wrapping one of her
hands around her neck. “I can’t breathe,” she whispered feebly.
The guard locked Falco’s cell and then found the key for Cass’s.
This was it. Anticipation coursed through her veins as she pretended
to be frail and breathless.
“Are you all right, Signorina?” the guard asked.
Cass leaned against the back wall of her cell. Still clutching at her
throat, she made a few gagging sounds. “Please help me,” she said.
The guard bent low to examine her, one hand gently pushing her
hair back over her shoulders. Cass lunged for his throat, clamping
down on both sides with her palms. He tried to step back and break
her hold, but Cass had laced her fingers together behind his neck,
and she wasn’t going to let go. He clawed at his belt for his club. Cass
pressed harder, praying Seraphina had been right.
The guard’s muscles went slack all at once. He slumped to the
ground, his face pale.
Hurriedly, Cass grabbed the keys from his pocket. She slammed
the door of her own cell and clicked the padlock shut. It took her four
tries to find the key that fit Falco’s cell door. She glanced nervously
at the guard as she unlocked Falco’s cell. He appeared to be sleeping.
Cass hoped she hadn’t killed him.
“Let’s go,” Falco said.
Cass grabbed the guard’s lantern, but paused in front of the
wooden table just long enough to consider the page of notes Piero had
left behind. Words like
lustrous, metallic,
and
salty
blurred before