Page 309 of Fated Mates of Breeder Prison

Lessons from a distant—and I thought forgotten—gym class suddenly became the most important lesson I had ever learned.

How to run efficiently.

I pulled my arms back, encouraging my legs to stretch as far as they could.

I held my head high, my neck long, and breathed in through the nose and out through the mouth in a circular pattern.

The sand turned blurry beneath my feet as I passed over it.

I never lost my feet, not even once.

A real wonder for me.

Before long, my breaths rasped in my throat and my body ached.

I didn’t stop.

I wouldn’t stop.

Already I could feel the pleasant effects of making love to Egara wearing off.

Soon, I wouldn’t have enough oxygen to power my lungs never mind my muscles.

I wished I could reach the prison and the safety of its impenetrable walls.

Funny how obstruction could suddenly become protection.

I checked over my shoulder, just once, and noticed the roaring fires were now nothing more than tiny islands in a vast and endless ocean of darkness.

I had run so far, so fast, I hadn’t taken notice of where I was heading.

Surely the tendrils couldn’t reach this far?

I slowed, my lungs already aching.

I placed my hands on my head to expand my lungs the way Egara had taught me.

The breaths rasped loudly, already hoarse.

I had no idea how long I’d been running.

I didn’t know if having my hands on my head like this was helping or hindering.

Black spots danced before my eyes, a sure sign of an impending headache, but I would take it over the fate of the prison guards any day.

Right now, they were being dragged across the sand toward a creature that would swallow them whole… and then slowly digested for countless years.

The thought alone made my skin crawl.

Then I heard it.

A shout for help.

It came from my left, invisible in the darkness.

Still, the moons weaved between the charcoal grey clouds like they were traversing a slalom course, illuminating only tiny patches of wind-swept sand dunes.

Had I imagined it?

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