extraction point

I'm sorry this sucks, I'm still trying to figure Annique's character out.

"Are you stuck?" The voice filtered in along with murky sunlight through the pile of branches and down the narrow channel into damp, cold soil. Annique felt a surge of relief that someone, at least, would know she was here if she were to perish in this subterranean environment. Quick on the heels of that thought, she said in a voice that would be prim if she didn't have to yell to be heard, "I am, and you will kindly help extricate me from this awkward situation." Dirt covered the girl in clods and clumps that clung to her pale fur, darkening her cheeks and shoulders and haunches, yet the girl had gone instantly into her modus operandus, placing a false identity, feigned personality, and a facade of genteel manners.

It was not that she had any particular motive or mission for which she concealed herself; she had simply trained in subterfuge so long that it had become a second nature to the DeMonte, and now she used her skills and training as a barrier to keep others from coming close. It was a part of her training that remained with her--to keep those who might genuinely care out. When one was working as mercenary or spy, letting others in, and trusting them, would only spell heartache or danger to those who she'd allowed to grow close.

Those thoughts, congealed in the form of memories of her father's lessons, swept through her mind and quickly left it at the girl's bidding. She needed her full concentration to dig out of the rabbit warren, and she only hoped she could gain the cooperation of the wolf on the topside.