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But neither of us pushed through, too scared of what that invitation meant. How in doing so, everything would alter, crossing the line and solidifying the very thing we claimed to not want.

My soul barely rubbed up against the thin wall, the erotic sensation just a whisper of what was behind, what might be. Croygen jerked, sucking in sharply like he felt it. My entire body trembled with the sensation, the pleasure beyond.

“Come. On.” Cooper’s voice cut through, waving us on from the cell door. Croygen stepped back, his throat bobbing. He turned away from me and jogged out, not daring to look back, leaving me slightly dizzy.

Get it together, Kat. I bade myself, angry for my moment of vulnerability. The only important thing was getting out of here, healing AB, and saving my crew and ship so I could go on my merry way.

Quietly, we snuck the opposite way everyone was going, heading up the many levels, back to the tunnel out.

“Search everywhere! They must still be here!” The order belted through the prison, dancing off the cages like a tambourine.

“Fuck. Fuck.” Croygen pushed me to go faster. Cooper picked up Annabeth, urging her to cling to his back, her body not physically able to go as fast as we needed.

Sweat trickled down my back, my thighs burning when we finally reached the top level. My heart pounded in my ears, my lungs pumping for air.

We darted through the room without the stairs, but I stopped, turning back for the door.

“Kat? Come on!” Croygen glanced back, skidding to a stop. “What are you doing?”

“Closing it,” I grunted, trying to push the heavy door back with very little success. “If they see it open, they’ll know exactly where we went. Have someone waiting at the end.”

The logic of my theory blinked Croygen’s eyes. “Right.”

“Croygen!” Cooper yelled from the passage.

“You go ahead. We’ll catch up!” Croygen vocalized, running back over to me and putting his weight against the door. The voices of the guards were filling the prison, some getting very close.

A strangled cry broke from my lips as we pushed it closed, heaving and shaking with exhaustion.

“I need a fucking drink.” Croygen wiped at his brow, taking just a second to catch his breath.

“Me too. A nice whiskey, maybe tequila.”

“Rum.”

“So stereotypical.”

A naughty smile twitched his cheek. “Yo ho,” he muttered close to my ear, causing my body to shiver. “Come on, Kitten.” He yanked me with him, rushing us toward the tunnel.

We were so close I could taste it; with every step, freedom rang louder, beckoning like a siren, pulling us deeper into the mountain. Twisting and turning, we headed back for the old church, where I hoped Cooper and AB were already out.

A feeling crept over me, slowing me down, my stomach twisting with awareness, though I couldn’t pinpoint what it was.

“What?” Croygen glanced back at me, taking in my expression.

“I don’t know…” But it was there. My intuition clawed at the back of my neck, telling me something I couldn’t quite hear.

“Come on. We have to get out of here.”

My nose picked up a scent, so light it blended in with others, slipping through my fingers before I fully identified it. Though I felt it in my bones. Taking another breath, it sunk into my chest like a knife.

Oh gods.

“This way.” Croygen veered around a bend, my mouth not able to open, not able to tell him before it was too late.

He was waiting for us.

He was here…