The guard gasps, reels back, and releases me to raise both hands to her face, which is twisted into an expression of abject horror. I don’t blame her for it—as far as she knows, that mouthful of saliva could’ve been a death sentence. I’m not going to wait around for her to figure out that it’s nothing more than an insult. I peel off before she can recover, sprint out the prison’s door, and keep running toward freedom.

With rain falling in a sheet around me, I run until I can’t run anymore. Even then, with my legs shaking and my lungs aching, I force myself to keep planting one foot in front of the other, stumbling over slippery rocks. At least the hills to the north of Levian are familiar to me and provide plenty of cover. Within twenty minutes, I’m halfway to the city and confident that no one’s following me. My clothes are soaked through and I’m cold down to my bones, but at least the weather will make it more difficult for hovercrafts or drones to follow me. Gaia is used to mild weather; I’ve never seen a storm quite like this before.

Soon, the thrill of my escape has faded and been replaced by a sour taste in the back of my throat. Dread fills my stomach and weighs me down. I’m not sure how much time has passed since I separated from my siblings. But between my meeting with Shey, my imprisonment, and now this, I’m sure I’ve missed the meet-up time with my family’s client. My share of that job would’ve been five times the amount I nearly got from Shey… and I blew it. All because of this stupid, botched side job.

Another failure for the list. Panic swells in my chest as I imagine Momma’s reaction when I see her, so I force my thoughts to my siblings instead. What would they have done when they realized I wouldn’t be there in time? Did they stay behind in Thudana’s storage facility? Or go without me to meet the client?

Probably the latter, which is by far the worse option. Lyre would have taken the initiative. Lyre and the twins would’ve gone… the trigger-happy twins, who refuse to listen to a word that she says. I groan and shake my head, forcing myself not to imagine that scenario any further. It doesn’t go anywhere good, and I don’t need that weighing on my mind right now. I have my own shit to deal with.

It takes another thirty minutes to arrive at the outskirts of Levian. By the time I reach the city, I’m shaking with exhaustion and cold. I drag myself into the shelter of a nearby building to rest for a few minutes before moving onward.