Hours passed. Aria's fingers ached. Her jaw hurt from using her teeth. But she had managed to create several feet of crude cord from the blanket threads.
She was working on reinforcing it, braiding strands together, when she heard something that made her freeze.
Distant sounds. Shouting. The clash of weapons.
Fighting.
Someone had found the facility.
Aria's heart leaped with hope. The pack. They found me.
But the sounds did not get closer. They stayed distant, muffled by stone and distance.
Then footsteps pounded down the stairs. Not Corvin's measured tread. These were panicked, rushed.
The woman from the wagon appeared, breathing hard. "We are moving you. Now. Your pack found us faster than expected."
She unlocked the cell and grabbed Aria roughly. "You are our insurance. If they want you back, they will let us leave."
