Chapter 116

Chapter 116: Chapter 116

Sally’s POV

The river was colder than anything I had ever felt.

The moment I hit the water, the shock stole the breath from my lungs.

My body sank beneath the surface, and for a few terrifying seconds, I forgot how to swim.

The cold wrapped around me like a thousand sharp needles, numbing my arms and legs while the current dragged me away from the dock.

I struggled, kicking blindly beneath the water. My lungs were beginning to burn, and panic threatened to overwhelm me. I had never imagined that I would die in a river, especially not after everything I had survived.

Then a memory flashed through my mind. Celeste.

I could almost hear her laughter as clearly as if she were beside me. We had been children when she first dared me to jump off the old fishing pier in the lower belt.

I remembered standing at the edge, shaking my head while she laughed and called me a coward.

She had jumped first, of course, and when she surfaced, she had splashed water at me until I finally followed.

That was how I learned to swim.

I remembered how she had taught me to keep my arms moving and my legs kicking whenever I felt myself sinking.

I remembered her voice telling me not to panic because the water would only win if I allowed fear to take over.

I forced my arms to move.

My head broke through the surface, and I gasped desperately for air. Water entered my mouth, making me cough, but I kept swimming until I could lift my face properly.

I was close to the dock.

Behind me, the commotion continued. Arrows struck the water, sending little splashes into the air. I heard men shouting, followed by the familiar voice of the bargemaster.

"Find her! She cannot have gone far!"

"Check beneath the dock!"

"Release the hounds! I want every one of them in that river!"

My heart hammered against my chest. They were looking for me.

I turned my head slightly, trying to judge how far I was from the nearest stretch of shore.

The current was carrying me away from the dock, but I knew I couldn’t remain in the open water for much longer. My arms were already growing tired, and the cold was making it difficult to move my fingers.

I tried to swim faster, only to remember that my wrists were still tied together.

"Shit," I muttered, struggling to keep my head above the surface.

It was one of those moments when I desperately wished I had a wolf.

A strong wolf could have broken the rope with ease, and shifting would have made swimming through the river much easier.

But I didn’t have one. I was just a girl with cold limbs, tied wrists, and a group of men determined to drag me back.

I had to find another way.

As I drifted closer to the dock, I spotted something rusted sticking out from one of its wooden supports.

It looked like an old metal hook, probably left behind by fishermen who used the structure years ago.

I angled my body toward it, fighting against the current until I managed to reach the support.

My fingers barely responded when I tried to grip the wood. I stretched my tied wrists toward the hook, wincing as the rope scraped against my skin.

It took several attempts before I managed to catch the rope against its sharp edge.

I began dragging it back and forth.

The first few movements did nothing except scrape my wrists. I gritted my teeth and continued, trying not to think about the pain.

Every second I spent there increased the chances of someone spotting me.

"Come on," I whispered and pulled harder.

The hook caught the rope, and I felt a few strands begin to loosen. I continued scraping, ignoring the sting in my wrists until the remaining fibres finally snapped and my hands separated.

I almost laughed with relief, but there was no time to celebrate. I glanced toward the dock and saw a lantern moving along its edge. Someone was searching the water.

I quickly slipped beneath the pier.

The wooden structure concealed me from the men standing above, and I allowed the current to carry me farther downstream.

I kept my head beneath the water whenever I heard voices approaching, only surfacing when I needed air.

By the time I reached a muddy stretch of shore, my entire body was trembling.

I dragged myself out of the river and collapsed onto the ground.

For a moment, I did nothing.

I simply lay there, my cheek pressed against the damp earth, breathing heavily as I tried to convince myself that I was alive.

The ground felt strangely comforting beneath me.

After spending so long in that filthy cell and being dragged around like property, feeling the earth beneath my body reminded me that I was still free.

I closed my eyes briefly.

I wanted to stay there. I wanted to forget the slaughterhouse, the guards, the bargemaster, and everything I had witnessed. But I knew I couldn’t afford to rest for long.

Selena was still in danger.

The others needed to know what was happening, and I had information that could help them expose the people behind the entire operation.

I pushed myself upright and brushed the mud from my clothes. My legs trembled when I stood, but I forced myself to remain steady.

I needed to think.

Before the riot, while we were still waiting near the loading area, an old man had been standing close enough for me to hear him whispering to another captive.

At the time, I hadn’t understood why he seemed so frightened about where the barge was going. Now, every word he had said returned to me.

The barge was headed down to the port. Agents from other packs would be waiting there to collect the captives and distribute them to different regions.

He had mentioned the fisheries in the Mavari region, the mines in Zahram, and the plantations in Akarai.

I stopped walking. "Mavari. Zahram. Akarai. Three different regions..."

The prisoners weren’t simply being moved between slaughterhouses or farms within Blackbourne.

They were being transported across the realm and sold to people who had probably been doing this for years.

And there was something else. The crates...