I headed in the direction of the garden and the infirmary, since it was basically the only route I knew.
Ahead of me at a t-juncture, I could hear voices and froze for only a moment before I straightened my back.
Act like you belong here, Ellis.
As two Draax turned the corner, I made a show of wiping at a spot on the wall with the rag. I smiled at them as they walked closer. They were staring curiously at me and I said, “Good afternoon, gentleman. Lovely day for cleaning, isn’t it?”
“Hello, human,” the one on the left said.
The one on the right studied my legs. Now that I’d done a bit of adjustments to Galan’s shirt, you could actually see my knees and the Draax stared at the scar on my leg until the one on the left elbowed him.
“Have a nice day,” I said and walked down the hallway and around the corner. I released my breath in a pent-up rush. Ignoring the way my knees were trembling, I hurried down the hallway to the next corner.
I passed by the infirmary and the garden without seeing another Draax. I was thankful for my luck but at the same time – did this damn place not have any exits? How freaking big was this castle anyway?
Ten minutes and countless corridors later, I was hopelessly lost and no closer to finding an exit.
“Holy fuck,” I muttered, “there’s gotta be an exit somewhere or a front door for God’s sake. They don’t just parachute in through the open ceiling in the garden.”
The problem, I decided, was that I was still in what appeared to be the living quarters section of the castle. Every door I’d tried in the random hallways was locked and on occasion, I could hear voices behind doors as I walked past them. I needed to go back to the garden and try a different corridor, one that didn’t lead to living quarters.
“Now to find my way back to the goddamn garden,” I said. I didn’t have a terrible sense of direction, but the maze of corridors and hallways would have been too much for freaking Marco Polo.
“I should have left myself a damn trail of breadcrumbs.” I peered up and down the hallway, trying to decide if I should go left or right at the t-intersection up ahead.
“Left… I think. Yeah, no, it’s left for sure,” I said.
I froze when I heard voices coming from that t-intersection… one of them sounded familiar. I cocked my head, straining to hear… oh shit. I did recognize that voice. It was old blue eyes who had caught me during my first escape attempt.
Panic made my heart trip in my chest. I needed to hide and do it quick. I backed up a few steps, glancing behind me as the voices drew closer. There was no way I’d make it to the end of the corridor before they saw me.
Think, Ellis! Think!
I grabbed the handle of the door closest to me. It was locked and I backed away to the next one as the voices swelled in the hallway. Fuck, they would be turning the corner in seconds. The handle of the second door turned beneath my sweaty hand, and I opened the door and slipped inside just as the two Draax rounded the corner.
I closed the door with a quiet click and leaned up against it with my eyes squeezed shut. My heart was racing, my breath was puffing in and out of my lungs, and my back was slick with sweat.
The low voices and heavy footsteps of the Draax grew closer and I held my breath as they walked past the door. Their voices and footsteps faded, and I slumped against the door.
“Fuck,” I breathed. “That was close.”
I opened my eyes and stared in mute surprise at the luxurious furnishings in the large living room to my left. The living room alone was bigger than my entire apartment and it was decorated in dark greys and rich burgundies.
“Holy shit,” I said. “Look at this place.”
I took a step forward and turned to the right to study the kitchen. “Shit!” I backed up, my ass hitting the door again, my heart roaring along like an airtrain, as I stared at the woman standing behind the marble topped island that separated the kitchen from the living area. She had long dark hair and blue eyes and she held an identical bottle of cleaner in one hand and a rag in the other.
She