The pain in my shoulder was excruciating and I cried out, but Anya’s voice was in my head, commanding me to fight it. “Don’t give up, l’vitsa! Fight. Come back to my son. Kill the bastard. You can do this. I know you can. I taught you well. You are ready. Fight, damn it. Fight!”

Manuel struggled, but I only tightened my hold, squeezing the life from him as Anya’s voice grew louder and louder in my head. He clawed at my legs and somehow turned his head enough to bite into my inner thigh. I was unable to hold in the scream as his teeth sank deeper and deeper, but I refused to release him. My legs tightened even more, and I twisted, causing his bite to tear away a big chunk of my flesh. I screamed again, masking the sound of his neck snapping, but I still felt the vibrations all the way to my bones, and he went limp.

Breathing hard, I unwrapped my legs from around his neck and let him fall to the floor like the trash he was. I could feel blood pouring from the wound on my inner thigh, but like my shoulder, I had to ignore it.

“Holy shit,” Cali whispered in awe. “Y-yo-you killed him.”

“Shh, I’m busy,” I told her as I concentrated on getting one of my wrists free. It was one of the pluses of being so small. My wrists were tiny, and the cuffs were made for an adult-sized person’s hands. It was a tight squeeze, and hurt like hell, but I was finally able to pull them both free.

Bending, I found the keys to Cali’s restraints and unlocked her hands. “I need you to do something for me.”

“Anything,” she readily agreed, limping on her injured leg. I noted that the slashes on her legs were openly bleeding, just as her mouth continued to, but she didn’t whine or complain about the pain she must have been in, especially with how swollen her left ankle was.

I held out my hand to her. “Pull with all your might.” She gave me a confused look, and I explained, “My shoulder is dislocated, Cali. It has to be put back in before I can get us the rest of the way out of this hellhole.”

I grabbed on to one of her chains and held on as she tugged on my hand and arm. “Harder,” I instructed, and she pulled a little harder. The pain made me nauseous, it was so intense, but I swallowed the bile threatening to choke me. “Harder!” I yelled, knowing it wasn’t going to go back into place without more effort.

She jerked back at my raised voice, but my shoulder finally popped into place, causing me to scream yet again. For several long moments, I stood there, trying not to pass out from the shot of excruciating pain. But as soon as my shoulder was where it needed to be, and the spots faded from around my eyes, I nearly sobbed with relief.