Gray and brown rock surrounded me on all sides, and seams of coal ran like black ribbons through the various layers of stone. The passage was wider than I’d expected.

Taller too. Concrete beams shored up the roof, and a variety of old, broken equipment lay scattered on the ground.

The air smelled of rocks, dust, metal.

All around me, the stone muttered. Sharp, angry sounds that told of massive explosions and heavy equipment burrowing into the heart of the mountain. The stone didn’t like what had been done to it anymore than I had. I listened to that anger, let it clear my aching head.

Feeling sorry for myself wouldn’t be any help in this situation.

But anger—anger was another story. Sure, anger could make you reckless, sloppy, but it could also made you strong. Determined. Both of which were things I was going to need if I had any hopes of getting out of here alive.

“Pick her up,” the dwarf ordered. “I want the bitch to see exactly what she’s dying for.”

Two giants stepped out of the shadows and lumbered over to me. I recognized them as two of Dawson’s men, the two that had come with him to Country Daze to brace Warren and Violet Fox. The giants hauled me to my feet. More pain blossomed in my shoulder and jaw, and I let out another low groan. But I didn’t offer any resistance to the giants. Not yet.

I was already injured, which meant I needed more of a plan than my usual method of hacking and slashing my way out of trouble. I didn’t know how long I’d been unconscious, but Finn had surely realized things had gone to hell at Mab’s party. He was probably working his connections, trying to figure out where Tobias Dawson had taken me. Finn might even be on his way to the mine right now, with Sophia and Jo-Jo Deveraux in tow.

But I couldn’t count on them to save me. I wouldn’t.

In the end, the only thing, the only person, you could ever count on was yourself. Another lesson Fletcher Lane had taught me. Something else I’d already figured out for myself long before I’d met the old man.