I cradled Isabelle's broken body against my chest as we emerged from the Second Mystic Realm portal. Her skin was cold, almost translucent. The rise and fall of her chest was so slight I had to strain to detect it. Behind me, Min-Li stumbled through the portal, carrying another rescued girl—her friend from the extraction chambers.
Relief flooded through me when my feet touched solid ground outside the Guild's main complex. We'd made it out of the Mystic Realm. But that relief quickly soured as I looked down at Isabelle's face. She was barely alive. What they'd done to her...
"We need to move," I muttered, already scanning for the quickest escape route. "The Guild will send people after us."
Min-Li nodded, her face drawn with fatigue. "The east gate has the fewest guards. If we—"
"Going somewhere, Liam Knight?"
