Chapter Thirty-One
I DIDN’T WAIT for the fear to settle, because I knew if I did it would root me in place, and this wasn’t somewhere you stayed still and survived, not with the walls closing in the way they felt like they were, not with the air sitting heavy and damp in my lungs every time I breathed.
“Help me,” I said, already moving toward the far side where the wall looked rougher, uneven in a way the rest of it wasn’t, like whoever dug this hadn’t cared about smoothing it out, just about making it deep enough.
Ruby didn’t answer right away, but I heard her shift behind me, heard the scrape of her shoes against the dirt as she pushed herself up and followed, her breathing sharper now, less controlled.
“What are you doing?” she asked, her voice tight.
“Getting us out,” I said, because I needed that to be true, even if I didn’t know how yet.
I pressed my hands against the wall, feeling along it slowly, searching for anything that gave even slightly under pressure, any weak point, any edge or break that didn’t belong, the dirt cool and packed hard beneath my palms except in small places where it crumbled just enough to catch my attention.
“Start checking,” I added, glancing back at her. “Don’t just stand there.”
That got her moving.
I could hear it in the way she started working the opposite side, faster than I was, more frantic, her hands scraping harder against the surface, pulling loose dirt that fell uselessly at her feet.
“There’s nothing,” she said after a few seconds, her voice rising. “It’s just dirt—”
“Then we make something,” I cut in, harsher, because she needed to stop panicking and think.
I kept moving, inch by inch, fingers dragging along every uneven patch, every shift in texture, until I found something that wasn’t right, not loose, not soft, but different.
Hard. Stone. Buried just under the packed dirt.
“Here,” I said, dropping lower, digging at it with my fingers, pushing past the sting as the dirt packed under my nails. “There’s something here—help me.”
Ruby was beside me a second later, her movements rough but focused now, both of us working at the same spot, pulling dirt away piece by piece until the edge of the stone showed clearer, flat on one side, angled slightly like it hadn’t settled all the way in.
“Think it moves?” she asked, her voice quieter now, hope creeping in whether she wanted it to or not.
“It has to,” I said, even though I didn’t know that.
We dug faster after that, clearing enough around it to get our fingers under the edge, the dirt shifting just enough to give us space.
“On three,” I said, adjusting my grip. “One—two—”
We pushed.
Nothing.
The stone didn’t budge.
“Again,” I said immediately, repositioning, forcing my fingers deeper under the edge, ignoring the way the pressure bit into my skin.
We pushed harder this time, both of us putting everything into it, shoulders straining, dirt shifting beneath our knees as the stone resisted—until it finally gave, just a fraction, just enough to make both of us freeze as we felt it move beneath our hands.
“Again,” Ruby said, breathless now, something desperate slipping into her voice.
We shoved into it a third time, harder, the stone grinding faintly against whatever held it in place before shifting enough to open a narrow gap behind it, barely wide enough to see through, but enough for a thin slip of cold air to reach us, faint and fragile and real.
I stilled, my breath catching as I leaned closer, trying to see into the darkness beyond, searching for anything, anything at all, that told me where it led. “I think—”
A sound cut through from above, not distant or imagined but heavy, close, real.
Ruby’s head snapped up, her entire body going rigid. “Did you hear that?”
Yeah—I heard it, boots moving slow and deliberate across something solid, each step measured and unhurried, like whoever it was already knew exactly where we were.
My grip tightened on the edge of the stone as it hit me all at once that it wasn’t rescue, wasn’t help, wasn’t anything we wanted.
It was them.
“Leave it,” Ruby whispered, panic rising fast. “Evie, leave it—”
I hesitated for half a second, because that gap mattered, because it was something—but it wasn’t enough, not yet, and if they saw it, if they knew we were trying—
“Now,” she hissed, grabbing my arm and yanking me back.
The footsteps didn’t stop as they slowed directly above us, and then everything went still, no voices, no movement, just a silence that pressed in too tight and stretched too long, until my lungs started to burn from holding my breath and my mind began filling the space with things I couldn’t see, someone standing there, listening, waiting.
A subtle shift followed, like a boot turning in place, like weight settling with intention, and my heart slammed harder as panic clawed up my throat, every instinct screaming at me to move even as I forced myself to stay perfectly still.
Because they knew.
They had to know.
The scrape came next, slow and drawn out, something heavy dragging across the opening above us until a thin line of light cut down into the hole, bright, slicing through the dark and leaving nowhere to hide.
Too close. Too exposed.
I forced myself to move anyway, breaking just enough to kick dirt back over the stone as fast as I could, covering what we’d exposed, flattening it with shaking hands until it looked untouched, until it might pass if no one looked too closely.
The light shifted again, pausing just long enough to feel intentional, and for one terrible second it seemed to settle directly over the spot we’d covered, like whoever stood above us was looking straight down, seeing too much.
A shadow crossed the opening and stopped, and I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, couldn’t do anything but wait for it to end.
“You hear something?” a voice muttered from above, low and rough, close enough to land heavy in my chest.
Silence answered him before another voice cut in, sharper, dismissive. “Rats. This place is crawling with them.”
A beat passed, another shift of weight, and then the footsteps moved, slow at first and then farther away, until the sound finally disappeared.
I didn’t move right away, didn’t trust it, didn’t trust anything, until I forced myself to breathe again, my lungs dragging in air like I’d forgotten how.
“Sit,” I whispered, even though we already were, my hand still locked around Ruby’s arm.
We stayed like that as the opening above shifted wider for a moment, light spilling down and then fading again as whatever covered it slid back into place, sealing us in once more.
Because we weren’t out—not even close.
But now we had something.
And they had no idea.
***
I KEPT MY head down even after the light shifted, even after the opening above scraped wider and the air changed just enough to make it easier to breathe, because looking up too fast felt like giving something away, and right now we couldn’t afford that.
Boots hit the edge above us, slow and deliberate, followed by the low creak of weight shifting, like whoever it was wasn’t in any hurry, like they already knew we weren’t going anywhere.
“Still alive?” a voice called down, rough and edged with something that didn’t sit right, something that sounded almost amused.
Ruby’s fingers tightened around my arm, hard enough to hurt, and I could feel the tremor in her grip even before she spoke.
“Yeah,” she said, her voice thinner now, not steady anymore. “We’re—”
I squeezed her arm once, just enough to cut her off before she said too much, before she gave him anything we didn’t need to.
I lifted my head then, slower, controlled, letting my eyes adjust to the light enough to make out the shape above us, broad shoulders, a shadow blocking most of it, but not enough to miss the way he leaned forward slightly, like he was trying to get a better look.
Kane.
Even in shadow, I knew it was him.
“That so,” he said, his tone shifting just slightly as his gaze settled on me instead, something possessive slipping in underneath the casual edge. “Didn’t think you’d last this long down there.”
“You don’t want us dead” I said, keeping my voice even, not giving him the shake that sat just under it, not giving him anything that looked like weakness.
His mouth curved faintly at that, not quite a smile.
“No,” he agreed. “Not yet.”
The way he said it landed wrong.
Too easy.
Like the ending was already decided and this was just a step on the way to it.
Ruby shifted beside me, her grip tightening again. “You can’t keep us down here,” she said, the words coming out faster now, breaking at the edges. “Drago will—”
Kane laughed. “Drago is too busy losing his shit,” he cut in, his voice flattening as he straightened slightly, his attention drifting back to her like she was something already dealt with. “He doesn’t give a fuck about you Ruby.”
Something in Ruby cracked at that.
I felt it.
The way her body went still, the way her breathing hitched like she’d been holding onto something that just slipped out from under her.
I didn’t look at her, didn’t react, because he was watching.
And that mattered more.
“You got a reason for coming down here,” I said instead, pulling his attention back, forcing it onto me where I could control it, even just a little. “Or you just checking to see if we’re still breathing?”
His eyes flicked back to mine, something interested sliding in now, like I’d given him something he hadn’t expected.
“Maybe I like the view,” he said, leaning forward just enough that more light hit his face, enough for me to see the way his gaze dragged over me slow, deliberate, like he was taking his time with it.
My stomach turned.
I didn’t let it show.
“Or maybe,” he went on, “I’m decidin’ all the things I’m going to do to you.”
That hung there. Heavy. Because it wasn’t a threat. It was a statement. Behind me, Ruby made a small sound, barely there, but enough that he heard it, enough that his attention flicked past me for half a second.
“You can imagine all you want,” I snapped, cutting that moment off before it could settle on her. “I’d rather die.”
His gaze snapped back to mine.
That did it.
I saw the shift in his posture, the slight tightening in his shoulders, the way something in his expression went colder, less amused.
“Careful,” he said, quieter now, but heavier for it. “I can make that happen, but I’ll still get mine.”
“Then do it,” I shot back before I could stop myself, before I could second-guess it.
Silence settled between us again, thicker this time, heavy in a way that felt dangerous, and for a second I thought I’d pushed too far, until he smiled, not wide or friendly but something else entirely.
“You’re different than I thought,” he said, almost to himself.
“Yeah,” I said, forcing my voice back to even, forcing everything back under control. “You don’t know me.”
“I’ll be gettin’ to know you real well,” he said. The way he said it told me I had definitely pushed his buttons and would pay for it.
He straightened fully then, stepping back from the edge, the light shifting again as his shadow moved, and for a second I thought he was leaving.
Then something dropped.
A small container hit the ground a few feet from us with a dull thud, rolling slightly before settling.
“Food,” he said from above. “Don’t say I don’t take care of what’s mine.”
Then the opening scraped again, the light narrowing, shrinking until it was just that thin strip again, and then less, until we were back in the dark, the sound of the cover sealing overhead final in a way that settled deep in my chest.
Neither of us moved right away or said a word, we just waited there in the silence, listening and counting the seconds until his footsteps faded far enough that I finally trusted he was gone.
Only then did I move, shifting forward slightly, my eyes adjusting again as I looked toward where we’d covered the stone, my heart still hitting too fast against my ribs.
“They’ll rape us and then kill us,” Ruby whispered behind me, her voice shaking again, worse now than before.
I closed my eyes for half a second, just long enough to steady myself. “No,” I said quietly. Then I opened them again, harder now, more focused. “Not if we get out first.”