The others hurried on their way. I saw Coalbelcher practically twitch, seeing them leave without a goodbye. He was the boss of the men’s side, and he’d been ignored.

I could afford to stay. I had to think about the future, consider options. If we pissed this guy off, we could win today and see Rain suffer for it tomorrow. “They have to run. Time’s critical, and the guards are coming. We don’t know which of them we can trust.”

“Hm. I could be useful there. What do ya think about getting me some of that special dispensation?” Coalbelcher asked. He licked his fingers, then smudged the black spit around one eye. It looked more like grainy black paint than anything.

“I have trouble believing you were a hero,” I said.

His fingers dragged slowly down one cheek, smearing black there. Between the black eye socket and the cheek, it was the initial steps toward a skull face.

“A lot of trouble,” I said. “If you try to leave, they’ll take your leg. Sorry.”

“You sure? I said I can be useful, and I see fires over there,” he said. He pointed in the direction of the prison entrance. There was a diffuse orange glow. “I love fire. Maybe I save lives if that gets out of control.”

With guys like this, it was all about respect. It was hard, though, when nothing about his appearance merited it, and his vaguely lecherous approach shattered what little I was able to sum up. Still… “Our old teammate talked you up. He said you were the guy in charge, and we could use some of that to keep the prisoners under control if things get hairy. Would if I could, Coalbelcher.”

“Find a way, yeh?”

That kind of order felt vaguely like a threat. I wasn’t sure how to respond, so I simply nodded, then flew after the others.

A part of me had hoped for reasonable from the guy. I wasn’t sure if I’d made anything better, but I wasn’t sure I’d made it any worse either. Rain and Crystalclear running without saying goodbye had put the guy in a worse mood, but I wasn’t sure anything short of being part of the action would have put him in a good mood. I’d tried, I’d left a door open.

It would have to do.

Rain had used his blades to cut through the fence and the wall separating the two halves of the prison, and the group was through. Halogen lights were on and being manually operated, and the lights roved across the prison complex. I saw one start to move in the direction of the group and the hole in the wall, and I flew in that direction to intercept. If they had rifles—