Her niece was silent, still not completely convinced.
There was too much that could go wrong. If Whitmore discovered what they had done, money would be the least of their concerns.
It was a dangerous plan, perhaps a reckless one, but after a long moment, Clara finally nodded.
Cassandra sat quietly while the more severe side effects of the tonic continued to wane, which enabled her to follow every word the women exchanged. She understood enough to know that they were discussing a way to get her out.
That knowledge gave her the first fragile thread of hope she had felt since leaving Ashford House.
After some time, Clara approached the door. She opened it only a fraction and slipped her head through the gap, looking one way and then the other, but found nothing. Not a single soul was in sight.
She closed the door again and nodded to her aunt.
"It’s empty."
"Good." Then, turning her attention back to Cassandra, she asked, "Can you stand?"
Cassandra nodded, and a moment later, she did with Clara’s help. Her legs trembled beneath her, and she tried not to sway as she struggled to steady herself.
Together, they slipped into the corridor.
Josephine led them toward the opposite end of the building while her niece supported Cassandra. They kept close to the walls, avoiding the main passageways as much as possible.
Cassandra moved carefully, every step requiring more effort than it should have.
Her breathing quickened. Every distant footstep made her heart leap, her pulse pounding anxiously against her throat.
They reached a narrow section of the corridor where the space appeared most unremarkable and unkempt. Dust clung to the corners, and the walls were bare and poorly maintained, making the passage look as though it had been forgotten.
They took a right turn and found a partially hidden staircase.
"Careful," Clara whispered as they began their way down.
The younger woman kept Cassandra’s weight against her as they descended, each step taken slowly and silently. Cassandra gripped Clara’s arm tightly, afraid that one misstep would send them both tumbling down the narrow staircase.
They were nearly at the bottom when footsteps sounded above them.
Clara froze, her eyes widening in fear.
Someone was coming.
She looked desperately around the passage. Then she saw a wooden door that led into a small room. Without hesitation, she opened it and pushed Cassandra inside.
"Stay here." She ordered quietly. "Do not make a sound. I will come back."
Cassandra stumbled backward into the cramped storeroom before the door was closed in her face.
She stood motionless in the darkness.
For several seconds, she heard nothing. Then came the muffled voices, drifting from somewhere beyond the wall.
She drifted closer to it as she strained to listen, scarcely daring to breathe.
One voice was unfamiliar.
The other... She knew it.
And it still made her shiver, just like the first time she had heard it.
Mr. Whitmore.
"...the latest shipment arrived yesterday. But there was a complication."
"What sort?"
"One of the new acquisitions was damaged."
Whitmore’s voice remained cold.
"A boy or a girl?"
"A girl. She threw herself from the ship before we could properly restrain her."
Cassandra pressed a hand over her mouth, suppressing the horrified sound that escaped her.
Then Whitmore spoke again, his tone still as lifeless as ever.
"Was her body recovered?"
"No."
A short pause.
"Then she’s a loss. Ensure you inform the transporters that if their stupidity causes another such loss, I will be dealing with them personally."
Cassandra’s eyes widened as she thought through everything she had just heard.
Shipments.
Girls.
Acquisitions.
She backed away from the wall, her stomach lurching with sudden revulsion as fear and shock warred for dominance within her.
People.
They were talking about transporting people. Both boys and girls. They were moving them like cargo, speaking of their lives and deaths as though they were nothing more than damaged goods.
Her thoughts raced back to her own predicament.
Was this what they truly had planned? To have her trafficked like the others?
The door suddenly opened, and Cassandra recoiled.
Clara stood by the doorway, her face pale with nerves.
"It’s time." She reached for Cassandra’s hand. "Come. We have to run."
Cassandra did not hesitate for a second. She barely noticed that Josephine was no longer accompanying them.
But that was hardly her problem now. There were more pressing matters to handle, like escaping the devil himself.
They hurried through the passage, emerging through a narrow door at the rear of the chapel.
Cold air struck Cassandra’s face as they rushed outside the building.
Beyond the grounds stretched a dense woodland, its trees standing close together beneath the moonlight.
"Go, run!" the younger woman urged. "The village is beyond the woods."
A shout suddenly rang out behind them.
"Who is there?"
Clara blanched in horror, but Cassandra was already hurrying toward the woods as fast as her legs would take her.
Another voice rang out from somewhere near the chapel, already spotting Cassandra.
"Stop her!"
Clara snapped back into action and darted back inside before she was spotted. For a split second, she contemplated running into the woods with Cassandra as well, but her aunt was still inside.
She couldn’t leave her behind.
Cassandra stumbled into the dense clusters of trees. Low-hanging branches tugged at her clothes and scratched her skin, but she hardly felt the pain.
Her weakened legs nearly collapsed beneath her, but she forced herself onward.
Behind her came the sound of hurried footsteps.
Someone shouted again.
Cassandra looked back once and saw that the dark woods had swallowed the chapel from view. Only the faintest glimpse of it remained between the trees before it disappeared completely.
She kept running, even as her lungs burned and her legs shook beneath her.
A moment later, she stumbled and caught herself against a tree, her palm scraping against the rough bark. For a brief second, she nearly collapsed to the ground.
But she still pushed onward.
She did not know where she was going. She only knew one thing.
If they caught her, she might never get another chance to escape.