"Hey!" Ayesha gasped.
A thief.
"Give that back!" she shouted and immediately ran after him. The boy was quick, weaving through the crowd, darting around corners, slipping into narrow alleys.
Ayesha chased him, determined, ignoring the pounding of her heart. She followed him through twisting paths until he darted into what looked like a small stall.
She rushed in after him—
—in the middle, the floor beneath her suddenly gave way.
"Ahhh!" she screamed, crashing down hard as her body hit the cold ground. Pain shot up from her tailbone. "Oww…"
She groaned and pushed herself up, brushing dust off her palms, then froze.
People were surrounding her. And worse, she wasn't just in a room. She was inside an iron cage. Panic surged in her chest.
"Looks like we caught something good this time," one of the men sneered, grinning as his hungry eyes roamed her from head to toe. He looked filthy, his grin twisted and lecherous.
Ayesha's blood ran cold. This wasn't a theft. It was a trap.
