**CHAPTER 16: THE ESCAPE**
The moment my feet touched the ground, pain shot through my injured ankle so sharply I nearly collapsed. I caught myself against the wall, biting down hard on my lip until the worst of it passed. My heart pounded so violently I was sure someone inside would hear it. Above me the small window still stood open, the curtain shifting in the cold night air. For a few seconds I could only stare at it, hardly believing I had actually done what I’d planned for two weeks.
I had escaped.
*Don’t just stand there,* Eva murmured inside my head, quieter than usual but still carrying that familiar lazy edge. *Unless you’d like to be caught before we even reach the trees.*
I pushed away from the wall and limped into the darkness.
I didn’t know exactly where I was going. I’d
