Chapter 17

• I flung the door open and bolted into the corridor, the echo of swift, light footsteps striking from the left. Without thinking, I sprinted in that direction. A blur of movement female, a servant flashed past and vanished around the corner.
• “Hey! Stop!” I called out, but she was already flying down the stairs into a dim, narrow passage. I followed, but she was too fast. “Please! I just want to talk to you!” I shouted after her, my voice bouncing uselessly off the stone walls. She didn’t look back.
• She kept turning sharply, disappearing through hallway after hallway, and when I finally skidded into a fork at the end of the corridor, she was gone. Just gone. I spun in place. “Damn it,” I muttered under my breath, glancing left, then right. Nothing but dimly glowing bulbs casting long shadows and darkness beyond.