Page 70 of Alpha Queen
No retreat. No surrender.
"We need to search them all," Apollo declared, breaking through Ares' thoughts.
"That could take days," said Ares. "Titan is bound to find out by tomorrow at the latest what's going on."
Apollo gave his brother a tight smile. "That's why I've brought in extra help."
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
RIVER
River lay on the remains of the foam mattress, with the shredded blanket on top of her. She had no idea how long she'd been lying there. True to his word, Titan had only returned to place a tray of food on the floor by the door and then leave again. No words. No questions. Nothing.
A stack of now four trays sat mostly untouched where he'd left them. He hadn't even questioned the fact that she hadn't eaten much or that the trays hadn't moved. As with all the trays before, she removed a small portion of food from each and flushed it down the toilet. She took the cans of soda and put them in the fridge to save for when she really needed them, since the twenty-four-pack hadn't lasted. She had so much candy and soda over the last weeks, she wasn't sure she'd ever have either again after getting out of her prison. But she couldn't afford to eat anything else. She needed her wolf to get up. She needed help if she intended to escape. But the additional strength her wolf had exerted to get Titan to leave her alone had depleted her. The suppressors may be working their way out of her system, but whatever Titan had used on her hadn't entirely left yet. She just hoped it didn't affect her baby.
After Titan's tirade, she had searched every inch of her room for hidden cameras. Even though Kane had told her there weren't any, she wanted to be certain.
Titan had done so much damage to the place that her making a bigger mess wouldn't be noticeable. When she was certain there were no cameras in the room, she went to work.
She'd walked to the fake electric window, which had previously displayed an outdoor scene, and inspected the area where it'd shattered and dangled on the wall. Titan had put a hole through the wall beside the fake window. Not too big. Roughly the size of a fist, but it had been enough to catch her attention. Upon examination, she found space on the other side of the wall.
First, she reached her hand in and then up to her elbow. She'd almost been able to fit her entire arm in the space when she felt cinderblock on the other side. River peeled back the drywall enough to see inside the hole. The room was a facade. She ripped the drywall more and stuck her head inside. Though pitch black inside, she made out that the space ran down the entire length of the room, like a movie studio on a sound stage she'd seen once on a documentary. She assumed it was because it had been made specifically for her.
River pulled her head out of the hole and looked at the shattered window. It was a good forty-inch screen. She reached her hand through the hole and felt around behind it. It sat on a wooden beam, and wooden beams surrounded it. Cables connected it to an extension cord below. River unplugged the LED screen and wrapped her arms around it. She shimmed it from side to side until it tipped forward into her arms. She held it for a moment, checking the weight. It was light for a flat screen. She lowered it to the floor and took a breath. She looked at the door and then scanned the room. She walked to a piece of the footboard from the bed and lifted it. It might be big enough. She crossed to the door and wedged the wood under the handle. It just fit. She kicked it in tight and then went back to the hole.
She hoisted herself up on the wooden beam and looked both ways into the small space inside the wall, but saw nothing. She dropped down inside the passage and headed to the left.
River crept along the narrow passage, her hands outstretched, groping through the utter darkness as she shimmied forward. The space felt impossibly tight, only wide enough to accommodate her shoulders, and it carried the stale smell of dust and mildew. Her heart pounded, the sound echoing in her ears and mingling with the loud thump of her pulse. She inched ahead, every sense on alert.
Her wolf whined, but excitement also coursed through her at the prospect of an escape.
After only a few feet, her fingertips touched solid resistance. She ran her hands along the surface, feeling the rough texture of the cinder block. Pressing her weight against it, she pushed as hard as she could, but the wall didn't budge.
"Damn it."
She turned around awkwardly in the cramped, stifling space, scraping her shoulder against the drywall and biting back a hiss of pain where her bruises healed. The passage extended in the opposite direction, disappearing into darkness. Sweat dampened her forehead as she slowed her breathing, desperate not to let the feeling of entrapment sink its claws in any deeper. With no other option and her determination rising, River moved to the right, more urgently.
As she crept along, her mind raced with possibilities. If this passage ran the length of her prison, where did it lead? Was there a way out? Was this finally her opportunity to escape?
A swell of emotions threatened to overtake her. Anger, hope, desperation, all tangled together, pushing her forward. The passage stretched endlessly, and claustrophobia threatened to overwhelm her. Suffocating. Endless. Just when she thought she might have to turn back, the space widened slightly. Her outstretched hands brushed empty air, and she realized she'd reached the end of the wall.
Feeling around carefully, River discovered another passage branching off at a right angle, running along what must be the back wall of her room. Hope surged through her as she considered the new path.
River pressed on, her wolf sluggishly stirring with her heightened pulse. New energy spurred her forward, though the familiar pressure of the enclosing walls soon reasserted itself. When nothing but blackness lay ahead, her hope began to shrink along with the passage. Her arms ached from stretching out. Her eyes watered from the grit in the air, but she dared not stop to wipe them. She couldn't afford to stop. The terror of her confinement began to build again, gnawing at the edges of her mind.
A whirring sound floated from somewhere up ahead.
She swallowed down the panic as her hand snagged on a splinter of wood, and she twisted it free with a grimace. The splinter pierced her palm, burning her skin. She ripped it free and sucked on her bleeding palm, realizing anything could lie ahead of her. Wires. Nails. A drop off. Who knew? She could be putting herself in more danger by walking around outside the room than inside it.
She had to keep moving. Despite the risk, she had to try.
She continued in the same direction, and at last, the space widened once more. Her hands brushed against open air, and she discovered not only a wider turn but another branching passage. The whirring sound grew louder still, and she turned right but ran into a wall.
Left it was then.
River made a mental map of her location in relation to her room and took a step into the open area when a sudden noise froze her in place.
A thud sounded distantly behind her. Then another.
