Chapter 81 - You’re coming with us

EMMA

Miles and Callum know exactly how to deftly avoid every guard in the palace. They know every schedule, every routine. I blindly put my trust in them as they bring me to the third floor.

I barely dare to breathe. I fear that someone will pick up my scent. I fear getting caught and I fear Miles and Callum getting punished for it.

We’re silent when we arrive at the rooms. I know Hadrian has a hearing that is unparalleled to others. If he’s in his office then he’ll hear us when we make a sound. Callum shakes his head and opens the door to the parlor.

I come face to face with the office door. I trace the grain of wood with my eyes. The metal of the door handle feels cold in my hand and I turn back to my guards.

Callum and Miles have risked their lives to save me. They have protected me and been there for me many times. I cannot drag them more into my situation. They don’t deserve to suffer.

“I need you to lock the door and walk away.”

I need them to take their hands off this rescue mission and leave me to fend for myself. If I get caught, then I don’t want them with me.

Miles looks at me with confusion and Callum scowls deeper. “We can’t do that.”

“Do you trust me?”

“No,” Callum says without a second of hesitation. I scowl back at him with matching intensity. Sometimes I just really wonder why he even bothers.

“Yes.” Miles counters.

“I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

“You’ll get caught,” Callum grumbles as he crosses his arms.

“Just trust me on this.” I plead.

The guards look at each other and I know that they are not convinced, but Miles nods. I give him a hug. I wrap my arms around his neck and I feel tears threaten to spill.

Miles freezes for a second but then encloses his arms around my back. “Take care of yourself, okay?”

“I will.” I feel the surge of emotion flows through my chest. I don’t know if I will ever see them again.

I repeat the motion when I move to Callum. Every muscle of his is tense. It’s like hugging a brick wall. No scratch that, a brick wall would be more receptive to a hug.

“Just, don’t get caught.” He grumbles, then pats one hand on my shoulder blade. I call it a win.

I slip into the office and close the door behind me. There is a quietness to the room. A few glass lanterns line the floor next to the windows, but they aren’t lit. I recognize them from the night on the roof.

The stack of paper on his desk has doubled since I came here last. Papers are scattered in a disarray. There is an empty whiskey glass on the table and a half-empty bottle standing next to it.

I quickly rummage through the drawers. In the bottom one, beneath a stack of other documents, lies what I’m looking for.

The map of the tunnels.

I unfold the thick paper and study the lines under the city. I analyze the tunnels running under the inner circle, then the second ring and finally the third ring. I need to get past the third ring. There are tunnels going out of the city, so directly escaping Sanguinem is an option. I just hope that I can make it before anyone realizes that I’m gone.

I clutch the map to my chest. Hadrian will eventually notice that I took the map. He will figure out that I wandered off in the tunnels alone.

I grab a piece of paper and find a pen scattered between the documents. My writing is messy and tears drip on the paper.

I place the note in the middle of his desk and move to the hidden entrance. I turn the lantern on the wall and the wood paneling moves to reveal the darkness of the tunnel.

I get one of the lanterns from the window sill and light it with the matches lying on top of his desk. The spark burns tall before it simmers down. The flame dances and burns bright behind the glass.

I move into the tunnel with the lantern and the map in my hand. I swallow when I can only see about six feet ahead of me and the rest is still black as night.

I miss Hadrian. I miss his presence, his warmth and the safety of his arms. I miss him guiding me through uncomfortable situations.

I move through the tunnels step by step. I walk down a stairs and turn corners. I doubt myself more times than I can count. I listen to the running of water in the distance when I come closer to the canals. I shiver when I hear small animals run through the tunnel and the cold starts to seep into my skin.

I walk for what feels like hours. My nerves build with every minute that passes. Every moment it takes for me to move through the tunnels is a minute closer to the guards finding out that I escaped. If they haven’t already.

Would Hadrian already know? Would he have figured out that I went into the tunnels? If he did, then he would find me in minutes.

Sometimes there are voices coming from above me. It is the bustle on the streets. I try to pinpoint the sounds of the market. I continue down the tunnel and the voices fade in the distance.

The tunnel ends and I come face to face with a wall. There is a rung ladder leading into the darkness above my head. I don’t recognize the spot on the map. The tunnel shouldn’t have ended yet. I fear that I took a wrong turn. Walking back is a risk. Just as much as taking the ladder, but staying here is just waiting for death.

I place the lantern on the ground and climb the rung ladder with the map between my teeth. My teeth sink into the paper as I try to hold on. I push the metal lever above my head when I reach the top. The metal is heavy and sunlight blinds my eyes when it opens. I climb out of the tunnel and my jeans are stained in dirt.

When I turn around, I face a new wall. All my hope is scattered and sinks down into the ground. I’m still within the borders of the city. I turn around and let myself sink to the ground as my back hits the wall.

I open the map to see where I went wrong. I lift my gaze when I feel a familiar face watching me. Deep edges line his features.

“Baccus,” I whisper. He’s standing outside his truck and seems to be waiting for something.

The tunnel brought me to a quiet street near the city wall. The cobblestones shine from the morning dew hanging in the air. The sun is rising and peers over the houses.

“So it’s true, your eyes are blue,” Baccus grumbles and I fear his reaction.

A woman exits the house behind him with a bag and hands it to him. She eyes him lovingly and doesn’t spot me sitting on the ground when she turns back to the house. I recognize her, she frequently visits the Golden Dawn.

“Are you running away?” Baccus grumbles when the woman is out of sight.

“Please, don’t tell anyone.” Tears rise and threaten to spill.

“Jump in before anyone sees you.” Baccus nods at the truck next to him. The truck is fire engine red, but the paint is old and fading.

I quickly do as he says and get into the passenger's seat. The old leather groans when I basically jump into the truck. I grip my hands around the edge of my seat.

“You have to hide until we pass the border of the city,” Baccus grumbles when he takes his place behind the wheel and shifts the gear. The truck roars to life with an attention-seeking rumble.

I sink down from the seat and wedge myself where my feet just were. Baccus throws his jacket over me and my vision is cast in darkness. I make myself as small as possible. My breathing is getting heavier with every minute that passes.

The truck stops and someone knocks on the window. It ignites my racketing heartbeat. “Anything to declare?” A deep voice asks.

“Nope,” Baccus says. His voice is even and doesn’t betray a thing. I cannot say the same for myself and I can feel myself start to tremble. I force myself to stay quiet and not make a sound.

“Are you making a run?” The voice asks and Baccus hums in agreement. "Your mate enjoys those chocolates, right?"

A minute ticks by and I’m sure that he knows. The sound of someone scribbling something on paper reaches me.

“You can pass.” The deep voice eventually says.

The roar of the engine vibrates through the floor. It matches my shakes. Baccus removes the jacket and I slowly sit back in my seat. The gateway to the city disappears in the mirrors.

I made it past the city border.

I look in the mirror at my blue eyes and I can’t help but be shocked by them. I can’t help but be cautious of the girl in the mirror. She is a dead woman on the run.

“Why are you helping me?”

Baccus hums. He turns the truck onto the main road. Large pine trees enclose the road on both sides. They pass by in a blur of green.

“You helped my mate with her aches, I owe you.”

I remember his mate now. She’s the woman who frequently visits the Golden Dawn. I made her an ointment for the joints that were hurting her.

“Thank you.”

——————

The sun descends behind the trees and the path of leaves starts to darken. The leaves rustle beneath my feet and tumble at a gust of wind. I follow the direction that Baccus pointed.

He said that it’s better if he did not know exactly where I was going. It would be safer that way.

Baccus dropped me off at 90 miles southwest of the south border. I already walked for two hours and nothing. No town, nothing that would indicate that someone lives here.

My legs are aching with the distance I walk. My muscles beg me to stop. I didn’t count on the possibility that I wouldn’t find them. I put my complete trust in their message.

A hand covers my mouth and another grips my wrists. They pull me back until my back collides with a male chest.

“You’re coming with us.” A deep unfamiliar voice says in my ear.

Darkness enters my vision when black cloth covers my head. I try to scream and kick, but rope tightens around my ankles and my wrists.