My knees slammed into the stone with a crack that rattled up my spine, but the pain was nothing new. Mira gripped me under the arms, her breath sharp and fast.

“You’ve got maybe twenty minutes,” she whispered, scanning the door.

“Before what?”

“Before the next patrol checks this wing. I bribed one of them to stall. But I can’t hold him forever.”

My muscles burned from hanging for so long. My shoulders screamed, but I was standing, breathing, free. ...