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As I did, a woman turned the corner, her hand pulling a small girl along the street toward me.
I dropped down and slid the grate abruptly into place, crouching back into the darkness, my hands shaking from the near encounter.
“Mother!” said the young girl’s voice from just out of sight. “There’s someone down there!”
I ducked lower into the tunnel, making sure I was out of sight.
The grate darkened, completely blocking the light into the tunnel.
“Get up, dear! You’re certain to soil your skirts.”
“But Mother—“ Her voice cut off and the sunlight filtered through again as if the poor girl had been yanked away. “I saw someone. I know it!”
“Nonsense,” said her mother. “Hurry along now.”
The girl continued to call out in protest as her voice faded.
I started to breathe again.
But before I could move, another shadow loomed over the grate, stealing my hope as rapidly as I’d regained it.
“Who’s down there?” called a deep voice, the tone dripping with the nauseating authority of an Enforcer. “Show yourself. That’s an order!”
I took a few careful steps back into the depths of the tunnel.
The grate lifted with a scrape, light spilling through the opening, threatening to reveal my hiding place. A man’s leg appeared, then another. I didn’t want to make a sound and confirm that the most wanted criminal in Cambria was hiding in Class A’s aqueducts, but I was guaranteed to be seen if I didn’t run.
So I darted back the way I’d come, stumbling into total darkness.
“Stop!” He shouted.
I ran at a crouch, the tunnel too low to allow me to stand up straight. I hoped the Enforcer would soon tire of following me, unwilling to brave the slippery stone in the darkness.
But the sounds of his splashes came closer.
I gripped a knife in my bag, pausing.If I could just kill him—No, I wouldn’t become that person. I forced myself to stop the thought and run faster instead.
My feet faltered repeatedly, and I was forced into more of a fast-paced stumble. I figured the Enforcer wouldn’t have much more luck—until his footfalls grew disturbingly loud and my own shadow appeared in front of me.
An odd light unlike anything I’d ever seen filled the tunnel, and I turned, blinded by a pinpoint of light. One hand flew up to cover my eyes and the other clung to my knife.
“Halt! Drop your weapon!”
I couldn’t see the man’s face from behind the blinding light.
“Drop it or I will shoot,” he said.
There was no hesitation in his voice. And without being able to read his face, I had no way of detecting signs of bluffing. I had to believe him.
I let the knife fall with a splash and a clatter, my mind racing through possible escapes. Running in the dark when he had a light and I didn’t wouldn’t be a viable solution.
The beam of light shifted, casting its ray at the knife where it sat in the shallow flow. The Enforcer became visible now that the light wasn’t in my eyes. The pistol in his hands was visible too. His expression looked cold and unsympathetic. He definitely would’ve shot me. Maybe still would.
He kept the pistol up while he stepped forward and collected my knife. Then he pulled out a pair of handcuffs. “Turn around.”
I obeyed, my body tensed and ready.
When his hands touched my wrists, I threw my head back as hard as I could, red flashing before my eyes as the back of my skull collided with his forehead.
