Pain woke Luna.
Sharp. Burning. Everywhere.
She tried to move. Couldn't. Her wrists were bound above her head. Metal cuffs cutting into skin. Her feet barely touched the ground.
Luna opened her eyes. Concrete room. Single lightbulb. Chains hanging from the ceiling.
Victor stood in front of her.
"Welcome back," he said.
Luna's head throbbed. Her mouth tasted like copper. Blood. She tried to speak. Her throat was raw.
"Where's Aria?" she croaked.
"Safe. Back in her room. Where she belongs." Victor circled her slowly. "You caused quite a scene tonight. Damaged property. Injured three of my guards. Cost me a very expensive window."
"Let her go."
Victor laughed. "Let her go? Luna, she's inventory. I don't let inventory go. I sell it when the price is right."
"She's your daughter!" Luna's voice cracked. "My baby!"
"She's a product." Victor stopped in front of her. "Just like you were supposed to be. But I made a mistake with you. I got sentimental. Let you think you mattered. Let you think you were special."
He backhanded her across the face.
Luna's head snapped sideways. Blood filled her mouth.
"Fifteen years," Victor said. "Fifteen years I invested in you. Training you. Perfecting you. Making you the best weapon I ever had."
Another hit. This time with his fist. Luna's ribs screamed.
"And this is how you repay me?" Victor grabbed her hair. Yanked her head back. "By betraying me? By trying to steal from me?"
"I'm taking back what's mine."
Victor smiled. "You own nothing. You are nothing. Everything you have, I gave you. Even your name. Even your life."
He pulled out a knife.
Luna's heart raced. She'd been tortured before. Knew how to endure pain. But this was different. This was Victor. The man who saved her. Raised her. Lied to her.
The knife pressed against her ribs. Cold. Sharp.
"I should kill you," Victor said quietly. "End this. Move on. But that would be wasteful. You're still valuable. Still useful. After we break you properly."
He cut.
Luna screamed.
The blade carved a line across her ribs. Shallow. Precise. Meant to hurt, not kill.
"That's for Maya," Victor said. "For making me waste a perfectly good asset."
He cut again. Deeper this time. Luna's vision blurred.
"That's for the guards you injured."
Another cut. Across her shoulder.
"That's for the window."
Blood ran down Luna's body. Warm. Sticky. She fought against the chains. They didn't budge.
Victor stepped back. Admired his work. "We'll continue this later. Give you time to think about your choices. About whether your daughter is worth dying for."
He walked to the door. Stopped. "Oh, and Luna? Even if you somehow escape, you'll never get her out of that facility. It's impossible. You're one person. I have an army. You've already lost."
The door slammed. Lock clicked.
Luna hung in the darkness. Bleeding. Broken.
But not defeated.
She looked at the chains. The cuffs. The lock mechanism.
Victor had made a mistake. He'd tortured her. Weakened her. But he'd left her alive.
And Luna had been escaping from impossible situations since she was eight years old.
She started working.
It took an hour.
Luna dislocated her thumb. Slipped one hand free. Then the other. She dropped to the ground. Her legs nearly gave out.
She stumbled to the door. Picked the lock with a piece of wire she'd found on the floor. Years of training. Muscle memory.
The door opened.
Hallway. Empty. Luna moved quietly despite the pain. Despite the blood loss. Despite everything.
She found a window. Second floor. She broke it with her elbow. Climbed through. Dropped.
Hit the ground hard. Her ankle twisted. She bit back a scream.
Get up. Move. Run.
Luna forced herself to stand. She was outside the facility. Desert stretched in every direction.
No motorcycle. Victor would have found it. Tracked it.
She started running.
Behind her, alarms blared. Shouts. Dogs barking.
They'd discovered she was gone.
Luna ran faster. Her body screamed. Blood soaked her clothes. Her vision swam.
Keep moving. Don't stop. They'll kill you if they catch you.
She heard vehicles. Engines roaring. Headlights sweeping the desert.
Luna dove behind a rock formation. Pressed herself flat. The vehicles passed. Close. Too close.
When they were gone, she kept running.
Miles. She didn't know how many. Time blurred. Pain became everything.
Her legs gave out. She fell. Got up. Fell again.
The world spun. Luna crawled. Her hands dug into sand and rock.
Aria's face filled her mind. Those big brown eyes. That small voice.
"I don't have a mother."
"You do," Luna whispered. "You do. I'm coming back. I promise."
She tried to stand. Couldn't. Her body was done.
Luna collapsed onto her side. Blood pooled beneath her. The sky above was full of stars. Beautiful. Cold.
She thought about Maya. About the letter. About the evidence she'd hidden before going to the facility.
The files. The recording. The proof.
She'd hidden them in Maya's secret room. Behind a loose brick. No one would find them there.
Unless Luna died out here. Then no one would ever know.
Tears streamed down Luna's face. Not from pain. From failure.
She couldn't save Aria. Couldn't even save herself.
"I'm sorry," she whispered to the stars. To Aria. To Maya. "I'm so sorry."
Her vision darkened. The cold seeped deeper.
Luna thought about the little girl hiding under the bed. The one she'd spared. That mother and daughter were alive because Luna had made a choice.
Maybe that was enough. Maybe one good thing was all she'd ever get.
Her eyes closed.
The darkness pulled her under.
Luna's last thought was of Aria. Hoping somehow the little girl would know her mother had tried. Had fought. Had loved her.
Then nothing.