Free Iron Dominance by Cari Silverwood

maneuvering the tine inside each lock, while listening for telltale clicks, and she was free. The lock at the end of the long chain proved even faster to pick.
    She’d meant to leave June out of this; only, as often happened to plans, it went wrong. The skinny woman fell ill, and June had to do double duty. From the snoring, the long hours had taken a toll. It occurred to Claire to wonder how uncomfortable it must be to have to sleep in that chair, especially for someone as bulky as June. The moon hadn’t risen yet. She studied the room. The outer door—closed and locked. June, sleeping in the chair. She rolled over and looked at the balcony doors. Black outside, for the moment. Nothing stirred bar an owl hunting and a few crickets down below in the gardens.
    Pillowcase in hand, the cuffs muffled by the cloth, she crept over to June and swiftly gagged her by stuffing the pillowcase in her mouth. She had it fastened in place and the cuffs and chain holding her in the chair before June properly awoke. The sheet tied her feet to the chair. June’s eyes stared accusingly over the top of the gag.
    Sorry , Claire mouthed.
    Clothes were a problem. In the drawers were only underwear and nightclothes. The cupboard held dresses. Until she could steal something better, the aqua silk pajamas she had on would do.
    She crept to the balcony doors, snicked them open, and folded them back. The dew-wet tiles on the small balcony chilled her bare feet. To her dismay, the Final Rebuttal squatted there before her. The outside searchlights came on, throwing stark shadows and blazing yellow light against the house. She took a slow step back and shrank into the blackness of the door opening.
    Give them time. They’ll turn the lights off eventually.
    Theo and Dankyo might have returned. Doesn’t matter . Her plan was unchanged. Once past the house defenses, she’d head west, and if this place was where she thought, she’d hit the border within a day.
    A sucking noise drew her attention to the room. June . Something fell with a bang . The side table, she guessed. The outer door rattled. “Key!” someone yelled. The noise stopped. June wasn’t breathing.
    Run? Go over the railing and hope to get away in the confusion, and let June be? It’d kill her. How to strangle effectively —the facts from the training session flashed to her. Doesn’t take long to die without air . To her own surprise, she didn’t hesitate, and sprinted for June, hurtling the bed in a stride and ripping away the gag.
    Nothing. No breathing.
    With June tied in the chair, it was difficult to get her breathing again. She took in a lungful, put her lips over June’s, and blew. Once, twice . The door rattled; the key must’ve jammed. June breathed, took in two long breaths, then opened her eyes and muttered a black curse at Claire. The door thudded open and rammed into the wall with a crack.
    She smiled weakly. “Good. You’re alive.”
    Then the light came on, and chaos rained down upon her.
    Harry wasn’t on duty, and these men had never had dealings with her. All they knew was she’d gotten loose and that she’d tied up and maybe hurt June. The first of them came at her with a knife.
    Sharp time kicked in. Time slowed, though her muscles did their usual and obeyed her commands with a speed that bewildered the guards. She curved stiffened fingers past the knife, whacked the first guard in the Adam’s apple. The second went over her planted ankle as she pulled him off balance using his own momentum. He went headfirst into the timber side of the bed. The third came in with gun drawn. Training took over. The knife and a knitting needle lay on the floor. She snatched them up, lunged, and nailed the needle through the flesh of the man’s hand, between the long bones of the palm into June’s chair. With him shrieking and the gun falling, she turned to the door.
    By then there were three more guards surging into the room. She cocked her hand back to throw and sink