I didn't choose to sit—my body simply stopped holding me upright. I collapsed onto the cot, my muscles trembling violently, shaking so hard my teeth chattered. The adrenaline that had kept me moving through the vents, through the alleys, through the wasteland—it drained out of me all at once, leaving nothing but exhaustion and terror in its wake.
Three days.
Three days alone in this shack with no way to know if Ahrick was alive or dead. Three days of waiting while Hewes might discover my escape, could have Ahrick killed, could send someone to find me and finish what Korroth would have started.
My hand found the Welati stone in my pocket—smooth and warm and solid against my palm.
I pulled it out, holding it up to catch the faint starlight filtering through the grimy window. Blue and gold swirled in the depths. Like Ahrick's eyes.
I closed my fist around it, feeling the edges press into my skin. Holding on to it like I held on to Ahrick's promise.
Three days.
But three days was an eternity.
I pressed the stone against my chest, right over my heart, and forced myself to breathe.
But the terror didn't ease. It coiled in my stomach like a living thing, whispering all the ways this could end badly. All the ways I could lose him.
I lay down on the cot, curling onto my side, clutching the stone so tightly it hurt.
"Three days," I whispered to the darkness, my voice cracking. "Please. Just come back to me in three days."
The stone warmed against my skin.
And I closed my eyes, holding onto that warmth like a lifeline, and waited for dawn.
Chapter 15
Ahrick
The prize room was dark—just the faint glow from the window casting long, skeletal shadows across the. I crossed to the bed and pulled the blanket back, arranging the pillows beneath it in a shape that might pass for a sleeping body if no one looked too closely. I adjusted the positioning, angling one pillow to suggest a head, another to mimic the curve of shoulders and hips.
It wouldn't fool anyone for long. Any guard who actually stepped into the room and looked would see through the deception immediately. But it didn't need to withstand close scrutiny.
It just needed to buy myself enough time to get it done.
I stood there for a moment, looking down at the makeshift form, and something twisted in my chest—sharp and painful, like a blade sliding between my ribs. The absence of her was physical. Wrong. Like a limb had been severed and my body hadn't caught up to the reality yet, still sending signals to something that was no longer there.
My mate was out there in the wasteland, hiding in a shack miles from the city, alone and vulnerable, waiting for me to come for her. Trusting me to keep my promise.
And I was about to do something that might get me killed.
Three days, I'd told her. Three days to finish this and come for her. Three days to end Hewes and make Fange City safe enough that we could disappear without looking over our shoulders for the rest of our lives.
I just had to survive that long.
I pulled the blanket up over the pillows, smoothing it down with my hands, making it look as natural as possible. Then I crossed to the door, my footsteps silent on the metal floor, and pressed my ear against the cold surface.
Silence.
The guards had moved on, their heavy footsteps fading down the corridor minutes ago. Probably assumed I was doing exactly what Persico expected me to do with my prize.
The thought made my stomach turn.
I opened the door slowly, checking the corridor through the narrow gap. Empty. Nothing but flickering emergency lights and shadows.
Good.
