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36The Paris Catacombs, France
She careened off walls, crashed around corners, gaining distance from her pursuers. Their voices faded… as did their torchlights. Darkness deepened. She cried out when the ground vanished beneath her.
Aruna plummeted down a mineshaft, banging her shoulders and knees. She cracked her head and saw stars. The shaft expelled her into a lower level of the mines. Hands and legs flailing, Aruna landed with a splash in shallow water, grunted in pain, and — before she knew it — was sliding into a pond of putrefaction. The stench was unbearable, and she had another lesson in self-preservation: she forced herself to stay in the filth, her ears pricked to the slightest noise of pursuit.
Sure enough, she heard muffled voices. A torchlight shone down the mineshaft, i
