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“Sofia,” I say immediately as worry makes my knees weak. The image of bodies covered in white sheets flashes over my eyes. “I need to know she’s okay.”

Ulara considers me for a moment, then nods. “She completed her evaluation this morning. I can’t get you alone with her, but you can slip into her group’s enclosure during the guard change. You’ll have to stay there for an hour and then leave during their next swap.”

I’m almost giddy with all the information my favor just awarded me. Not only will I get to see Sofia, but I’ve also confirmed that she survived and that the guards at her location change every hour, as well as the location of her building.

The latter I strike from my list as Ulara puts a blindfold on me. “Hold my hand,” she says with a smug tone.

I obey as I try not to stumble, and I follow the female shifter out of the room and down a hall.

Hang in there, Sofia.

I’m coming.

CHAPTER 11

Ulara shoves me into a corner between two stacks of logs and rips off my blindfold.

I blink at the sunlight as she barks whispered instructions.

“I’m going to distract the guards when the replacements show up. There is a window that you’re small enough to crawl through, I think. See it over there? Can you get through that?”

Peering around her and through the slit between the logs, I see the window she’s talking about.

It’s tiny, but thanks to my flexible joints from what is likely a physical defect, I’m like a mouse. I can squeeze through anything.

“I can do it,” I confirm.

She considers me for a moment, then nods. “Okay, then you have an hour once inside, and we’re even. When you hear the signal, go back out the window, and I’ll be waiting for you.”

“What’s the signal?” I ask.

She smiles. “You’ll know it when you hear it.”

I can’t help myself. I’m too curious to keep quiet as another question bubbles up. “Are you really that scared of Godric finding out you kept a secret from him that you’d do all this for me?”

She smirks. “Maybe. Or maybe I’m not one of the asshole monsters you grew up hearing about in your city with sponge cakes.”

She’s got me there.

A shuffle of boots and men’s voices have me crouching.

“Here we go,” Ulara says, and if I didn’t know better, I’d say she was enjoying this.

I watch from behind the pile of logs, using the tiny cracks between them to spot Ulara as she blocks the guards from my view. They’re turned the other direction, and she starts talking to them.

It’s obvious that there’s something different about Ulara. Her movements are more graceful, the air about her more vibrant with confidence, and her features are both strong and sharp. Both males seem smitten with her, as she easily keeps their attention.

It doesn’t take long for the guards who have been standing at the building’s entrance to take their cue to join them. Ulara can see the door from her vantage point, so they likely trust her to let them know if she sees anything amiss during the changeover.

I take the opportunity to emerge and haul myself through the unimpeded window.

My hips hook on the edges, but once I’m inside, I wiggle until I collapse onto a pile of towels just underneath it.

Talk about luck.

But when I glance up, I realize it wasn’t luck at all.

I have been outsmarted.