Chapter 217

• Serafina
• My eyes adjusted quickly to the dark, which was good, because the stairs were slick with the light drizzle of rain that was falling. When I reached the bottom, I found a latched gate and threw up a quick prayer that it wasn’t padlocked because I really didn’t want to have to try to climb over it.
• Luckily, it opened easily. I closed it again as quietly as I could, just in case someone was lurking around, so nothing would look out of place. Then pulled up the hood of my coat over my hair, which I’d pulled back into two braids to avoid any strands slipping out and giving me away. Something rustled in the brush to my left and I froze. But whatever it was, it must’ve run away.