AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I want to smash every single bit of furniture here.
I haven’t realized that my hands are fists at my sides, my nails making half-moon marks in my palms. I tell myself not to cry.
Spies don’t cry over marks.
And I’m not here for men. I’m here for my friend. I can’t believe I let myself get this sidetracked when my main mission had always been to extract Layla and bring her back to Earth. Maybe Keon put something in my drink, or their pheromones have been drugging me or something. I’ve never been careless.
And this wasn’t just careless. It was dumb. I’m not dumb.
I can’t stay here. As pretty as this prison is, it’s a fucking prison, and I’m not going to hang around for one second longer than I need to.
I take off the robe one of the guards handed me and slide into a silky legging and a breathable, practically sheer tank top. I probably look like a fucking mess. My make-up is all smeared, my hair is messy, and my cheeks are a dark pink from both arousal and embarrassment. I walk into the bathroom to wash my face off with cold water, my eyes red when I look at my reflection.
The mirror fogs up with the steam from the water. I’m not going to stick around and stay here and cry again. I only need to be in this prison for as long as necessary.
I put my shoes on. They’re nice hiking shoes, the night is relatively well lit, and the city feels far away. The whole villa—and the property around it—has to be well-guarded, and I don’t doubt someone will know I’m leaving.
But I’m going, whether they like it or not.
After I get to the window, I take a cursory glance below. There are few people here, and I think this villa is considerably less guarded than the compound at Solis, but there might still be some guards I need to maneuver around.
It’s going to be a big jump. I take a deep breath and make sure to brace myself as I swing my legs out toward the courtyard. I look down toward the courtyard and breathe in. It’s never easy to jump off a ledge, especially when it’s dark enough that I won’t be able to see solid ground.
Fuck it. I know how to fall.
I slide down close to the wall and make sure to bend my knees as I’m about to land. It makes a loud sound, but I don’t think it’s enough to disturb anyone. And I’ll be out of here before anyone can say anything to me, in any case. I glance behind myself, wondering if there are any guards, but I think they must all still be outside my room.
Right in front of me, a couple of Aelyds walk past, neither one of them paying attention. They’re laughing about something, and they don’t seem to register my presence as I sink back into the shadows of the wall. I place my hands on the wall and feel the cool brick against my hands for a second.
The weather is beautiful, but I don’t have much time to stay here before Atlas finds me.Ifhe’s looking for me at all.
When the pair of Aelyds has walked past me, I take off. I ran as fast as I can toward the clearing, near the lake, where I know there’s a path to the mountains. The air is crisp and cool against my skin, the path moonlit and flanked by bioluminescent water. Blue fish glow under the surface, swimming in large schools into the depths.
If I wasn’t a prisoner, I might stop to think about how beautiful my surroundings are.
But I’m not a guest.
And I’m ready to escape—so I can regroup, so I can think about how to get my friend back. The boardwalk goes into a winding path and toward a cliffside, where the carved walkway is considerably darker than the villa.
I can’t see in the dark that well, probably not well at all compared to an Aelyd, so I’m going to have to be careful.
I slow down, chasing the shadows, until I’m walking uphill. My legs are screaming, my calves are tired, I’m incredibly thirsty. I’m not prepared for this hike at all.
But what else can I do?
I can’t stay here anymore. This might be an alien world, but I’ve always been able to survive.
And it doesn’t matter what Atlas did to me. That sure as fuck isn’t going to change now.
I get into the groove quickly, picking my way through the dark. Boot camp was way worse than this, and I’ve climbed in all kinds of circumstances. A balmy night at what equates to an alien resort shouldn’t be bad at all. I’m still on Ganivet Family property, so I have to assume there aren’t any dangerous animals out here or anything.
My muscles burn as I haul myself up a cliff, then turn to find Joya spread out far below me, glittering on the shores of the green ocean. My eyes have adjusted to the light now, and I take a seat on the cliff and let the wind ruffle my hair, my feet hanging over the edge.
“Where are you, Layla?” I whisper.
There’s no response, of course; just the wind whistling over the mountains, and the distant sound of breaking waves. I take a deep breath and exhale loudly, looking up at the stars.
I guess this wouldn’t be quite so unsettling if I didn’t have outdoorsman training, but I do—so I know the starscape is all wrong. Earth is somewhere out there, a tiny, twinkling dot in a faraway galaxy. I don’t even know how to spot my sun from this far away, and it makes me feel impossibly alone.
