Kildare paced back and forth in the room, struggling to keep his fear and panic from rising to the top of his mind.

How long had it been? Two hours? Three? Proper casing jobs could take multiple days. Why was he so nervous?

He tugged at the collar. The stakes had never been so high. How foolish they’d all been, riding high on their successes. How foolish he’d been to not take better care of his team.

Mockingbird.

It hurt him to the core to know that she, whom he had once considered a sister, had betrayed him in that manner. It hurt so terribly much.

Why had she done it? Surely it couldn’t have been merely preemptive, like Snitch had claimed. Maybe Snitch would clarify, provided he actually agreed to cooperate with them.

What would they need to free him? Kildare tried to start making a mental list. All of their supplies had been taken once they’d been captured. Granted, he wouldn’t specifically know what they needed until Serene and Fir got back, but there were always basics it was good to have.

Money. He slumped on the couch. Who would provide the funds for their equipment? Maybe Basalt? He should’ve thought to ask.

He got up and started rummaging through the room, trying to find sheets of paper and a pen. He finally found some in the desk’s only drawer and sat down, quickly scribbling out a note to Basalt, then starting a list of equipment they’d need. Writing everything out was the only way he was going to focus on anything for long.

He was about halfway through the list when a knock sounded on the door. Kildare jumped, nearly falling from his chair. He crossed the room and cracked the door to see Serene, her hand pressed against the wooden surface. As he opened the door further, he could see that Fir stood at the end of the hallway, watching the lower floor of the tavern over the balcony railing.

“Fir,” Serene said softly as she stepped into the room.

Fir turned and followed her. Once Kildare closed the door behind them, Fir sighed and handed a dagger back to Serene.

“Was there trouble?” Kildare asked, taking in their worried faces and tense body posture.

Fir shrugged. “Not as much as there could have been, I guess. A couple of city guard started getting a bit too curious about us right before we left the area of the prison.”

Serene put her hand on Kildare’s arm. “It’s all right. They followed us for a bit, but we lost sight of them about five minutes from here. We were just being extra careful.”

Kildare glanced between the two of them. Was it his imagination, or did Fir and Serene act more at ease with each other now?

“Before we forget—” Fir held up a rolled leather pouch. “Serene showed me where to go. Want me to try to pick that lock?”

Kildare nodded. He moved around the couch and sat down in front of it on the floor.

“Do you think you’ll be able to get it off?” Serene asked.

Fir flopped onto the couch behind Kildare and folded his legs. “I dunno. I’ve heard that they’re pretty much impossible to pick, but...” He wiggled his fingers. “Alfaren limbs are more flexible than humans, so sometimes lock-picking is easier for us.” He pushed gently on the back of Kildare’s head.

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Kildare bent his neck forward, hunching his shoulders and resting his arms on his knees, to allow Fir a better view of the lock. “So, what’d you guys find at the prison?”

Serene sat on the rug in front of him and grinned. “It’s about two stories tall, but there were some windows set at ground level, so we’re pretty sure the cells are underground. It’s built of solid bedrock, a ways from the harbor, so it makes sense. And they made a critical error—there’s ivy growing all over the building.”

Kildare grinned back. “So, Fir, it should be pretty easy for you to work your magic there and break into the building, yeah?”

“I already started a bit.” Fir made a humming noise.

Kildare heard a scraping sound. The collar jerked a little on his neck.

Fir continued, “I found a tendril growing close to a cell window, and the cell looked unused, so I started encouraging it to dig its roots into the stone around the window. By tonight, it should have made decent progress. The unfortunate thing is that there are torches and lanterns all over the outside of the building, and lamp posts every five feet on the entire street. It’s not going to be easy to get to that window and spend enough time there to break through with the vine.”

“Is the damage evident?”

“They won’t be able to tell anything’s going on at this rate,” Fir said. “All right, hold still.”

“Can we wait a day or two, let the vine do its work without you?”

“It’d take a good week for the vine to break through all on its own,” Fir said. “And it’ll be evident within a couple of days, anyway.”

“Besides,” Serene cut in, “we need to move quickly, before whoever Mock is working for moves.”

Kildare sighed and shifted his weight a little.

“No, no, I said sit still!” Fir said sharply.

“Sorry, sorry.”

“Blighted lock. I’ve got three picks in here already and I need a fourth. Serene, could you—”

“On it.” Serene walked to the couch. “This one?”

“Yes, put it right there... Thanks. All right, now hold onto it.” Fir tapped the side of Kildare’s head. “I mean it this time, hold really still.”

“You got it, boss.”

Fir snorted.

Kildare cringed as the sound of the picks scraping and scratching at the inside of the lock filled the room. Something clicked, and then there was a quiet ka-chunk. Fir swore in Alfaren.

“What?” Serene asked.

“The tumblers slipped. Hang on, let me try again.” The scraping started again.

“All right, so we need to move quickly,” Kildare said, more to drown out the sound of the scraping picks. “Depending on when Basalt can get us some equipment—”

“What?” Fir said.

Serene glanced at the desk. “I suppose that’s what those lists are for.”

Kildare started to nod and stopped himself. He tensed. His back was already starting to ache from the uncomfortable position. “I’m sorry, guys. I should’ve negotiated that with him at first. Hopefully we can get some basics before—”

Serene shook her head. “I don’t want to be beholden to Basalt any more than we already are. We’ll use my savings.”

“You mean the money to break your contract,” Kildare said. “No.”

Her eyes flashed. “What possible good would it do for us to be even further in debt to Basalt?”

“We can’t do the job without it,” Kildare protested. “I’m surprised he never brought it up, or had stuff waiting for us.”

“Even if he had, I wouldn’t accept it. A man like that will squeeze every drop of life from you before letting you go. He may very well think we need to pay him back for it.” Serene shook her head again. “We’ll use the contract money.”

Kildare swallowed down a lump in his throat. Her words made sense—to much sense—but he hated the idea of her using their hard-earned savings to replenish lost equipment. He clenched his fists into the rug.

Serene’s hands touched the sides of his face. “I know, my love. But this is more important than my contract. I still have plenty of freedom. We’ll figure out another way.”

Kildare frowned. “Fir? What do you think?”

The Alfaren nodded. “She makes sense.”

Kildare snorted. “Little did I figure that within hours of introducing my best friend and my wife, they’d be conspiring against me.”

Fir grinned. “Aw, c’mon. The mighty Kildare, with his powers of foresight, didn’t prophesy this?”

“I will hit you with another pillow, Fir.”

“Please don’t, those things hurt.”

Something snapped in the lock.

“Ow!”

Kildare spun around.

Fir sucked on the side of his index finger. “The pick broke.”

Kildare sighed. “So that’s it?”

“I can try later, maybe, but...” Fir shrugged. “The lock is twisted, and the tumblers are set on all sides like a spiral. I think it would take more picks than I could fit into the keyhole to pick this lock. Sorry, Kil.”

“No, it’s all right.” Kildare tugged at the collar. Still as tight and unyielding as ever. “I’ll just deal with it.”

Fir jammed the lock picks back into the leather casing. “So I guess we’ll finish up the list, and I’ll go buy some equipment. Tonight, then?”

Kildare nodded. “Tonight, we’ll free Snitch. We’ll see what tomorrow brings, and then we’ll go after Mock.”