Page 77

It was a keycard. Obviously not the guard’s main one, as he’d used that to get out of my cell a moment ago, but it could be some sort of spare.
Only one way to find out, I guess.
I stepped over to the door and slid the card in. There was a short beep and then a light on the electronic lock went green. My eyes widened. Holy shit… it actually worked.
My pulse doubled with excitement, and I reached for the handle before deciding against it. Even with all the commotion on the second floor, there would still be a lot of mansion guards around the place. I couldn’t just step out into the hall, get on the elevator and walk out of here without being seen.
Luckily, I knew another way out. One which would be far less obvious.
I crossed over to the stone wall on the far side of the cell and hurriedly found the trick stone I’d discovered a few weeks ago. After opening it and pulling on the lever, I stood back and nervously stepped from side to side as I waited for the secret doorway to swing open.
Even though the Crown and Dagger architects had installed an electronic lock on the tunnel door in case anyone like me discovered the underground tunnel system, I was willing to bet there wasn’t anyone manning the exterior of the door. I hadn’t seen anyone standing outside it last time, anyway.
I dashed through the dark passage, exhilaration and anticipation surging through my veins. Finally, escape was within my grasp, all because of a distracted guard. It was the exact opportunity I’d been waiting for, and it might be the only one I ever got.
I reached the door at the end of the tunnel and slid the keycard in. The lock beeped and the light went green again. I carefully opened the door.
I was immediately blasted in the face by a frigid gust of wind, but there was no one standing outside. I almost squealed with joy as I gulped down the fresh air. As long as I was careful, I could actually be free of this place in just a few hours.
All I had to do was run down to the forest on the left of the estate and make my way through it to the other side. It might take a while, but it had to end somewhere, and eventually I would hit the edge of the property and then hopefully a road. I couldn’t actually walk up the road, just in case anyone at the mansion realized I was missing and sent a car after me, but I could creep along the edge of it and hide behind trees whenever I heard a car approaching.
Sooner or later, I would make it to a town, and then I would go straight to the police and tell them what happened to me.
It was freezing out here—winter was approaching fast—and sharp sticks and stones dug into my feet as I ran down the path that led into the woods and toward the amphitheater. I barely felt it, though. I was too excited at the thought of getting the hell out of this place, and that excitement seemed to numb the pain. I could almost taste the looming freedom, could almost feel the warmth of my friends’ arms when I finally made it back home and explained the whole ordeal to them.
I made it to the amphitheater clearing and crept through it to the other side before continuing on my way through the dark forest. The thick canopy of tree branches blocked out most of the sky, but a few fragments of light gray remained, like scattered pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. The air was rich with the fragrance of damp soil and leaves, and I gulped down one deep breath after another, desperate to fill my lungs with anything other than the scent of my cell and dried blood.
I knew I still wasn’t that far from the Finishing School, but it was already beginning to feel like a distant memory. Something that happened to someone else. My struggles wouldn’t be entirely over when I finally made it to a town, because the police would have a lot of questions for me, the process of getting everyone to believe me and investigate Crown and Dagger would take a while, and it would be a long time before I felt safe again, but the thought of being in a proper house with a proper bed and home-cooked meals made me ache desperately with hope and fervor.
Just keep going.
I picked up my pace, darting through the trees and bushes as quickly as I could. Finally, a brilliant white shaft of cascading light pierced the dim forest ahead of me. I was about to reach the edge of the woods. Spurred on, I ran even faster, and I gasped with happiness as I dashed out of the forest and into the open air.
Then I slowly sank to my knees as disbelief and terror clawed at my mind again, scrabbling around in my brain like the dark skittering feet of a million cockroaches.
I was near the edge of a steep cliff, jagged gray stones zigzagging in a long, hostile stretch of coastline. Ahead of me, there was nothing but ocean. The unwelcoming expanse of cold blue-black water stretched before me as far as the eye could see.
Just like it did on the other side of the mansion.
“No! No!” I screamed, my hands curling into anguished fists.
I was on an island.
A fucking island.
Even if I found a safe way down the rocky cliffs and made it to the water, I’d never get away from this place. Not alive, anyway. The ocean would be freezing, and I didn’t know which way I would need to swim to make it to land. Even if I did, I’d drown or die of hypothermia before I made it.
I heard footsteps crunching over stones from somewhere on my left, and I turned to see the guard from earlier grinning sadistically as he slowly stepped toward me. Three other guards stood behind him, watching with undisguised amusement.
“You get it yet, little whore?” the first guard said, eyes glittering with malice as he stared down at me. “There’s no escape for you. Not from here. Not from him.”
Tears rolled down my cheeks as I gasped for breath, trying my best not to hyperventilate. The whole thing was a cruel setup. They gave me something to cling to, just so they could tear it away. Gave me hope, just so they could watch it fade from my eyes as I discovered the dire truth of my situation. They knew all along that I would try and go through the tunnel if I ever had the opportunity, and I played right into their hands, allowing them to demonstrate the futility of any escape attempts at my expense.
Elias had probably been keeping the dastardly little scheme tucked up his sleeve the whole time I’d been here, ready to use against me when he felt I deserved it the most. He’d very likely planned it with the guards months ago, poised to drop it on my head when he wanted me to truly suffer.
Really, I should’ve known better. Crown and Dagger would never hire someone stupid enough to drop a damn keycard in my cell. They were always one step ahead, always plotting ways in which to break me.
Now, they’d finally succeeded.
I crumpled to the cold ground in wretched defeat, bawling my eyes out. The guard was right.
I was never getting away from the heartless men of Crown and Dagger…
To be continued…