Valentina
I raced down the halls, trying my best to keep my steps light and my breathing even. Down the stairs. Third door on the left. Down the service hallway. Sneak through the second pantry. Hide around the corner for forty-five seconds. Then make a break for the side door. After that, the early morning shadows would conceal my way through the deserted gardens to the outer wall.
"Hey!" someone shouted when I was three feet from the door to freedom. Half a second later, a towering guard whose name I didn't remember stood in front of the door. "Where do you think you're going?"
I should have stopped. A sane person would. But something came over me, and instead I charged at him, raising my broken chair legs high.
His eyes widened, not expecting my attack, and I cracked him over the he
