CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
I can’t do this!
She didn’t know where she was. She couldn’t see. The scent of cold metal saturated her senses. She gasped, searching for air she couldn’t find. Her body trembled violently, jarring her arm and sending sparks of pain shooting through her frame.
Toni flashed to a memory—long ago, blinded by Colten’s flashbang, Mate had led her to safety. She closed her eyes, blocking out the blackness entombing her and focused on her memory of the C-bot’s voice. “Take one step at a time—I am here.” She jammed her back against the wall and shuffled upward, imagining Mate’s fur beneath her fingertips and his voice in her ears. Eventually, she opened her eyes. One step at a time.
She could do this.
Hearing Mate, at other times Zach, Toni climbed silently, contorting he
