Page 34

By the second day, I was drained. The stress of being a captive combined with the constant questions and useless descriptions I had to conjure got to me. I'm an active guy and sitting there all day didn't help either. Nor did I trust those assholes to wipe my memory and let me go. I wasn't familiar enough with magic to know if that was possible. It seemed as if it would be, but they could have been lying to me as easily as I was lying to them. So, yeah, there was death looming over me too.

Actually, most of the things I told them about Earth were true. True and useless to their cause. I did worry about the laser thing. It wasn't exactly a lie. But that kind of technology would be a leap for them. It would be easier to go from catapults to projectile weapons. The thing was, the light as weapon idea had stuck with Valen. And he had magic. He could make the leap. I hadn't considered that when I came up with my plan.

Had I given Kaspian's enemies the idea that would inspire them to create weapons that could hurt him?

When I wasn't coming up with stories to entertain my captors, I was trying to find a way out. No way would I sit there and wait for Kas to rescue me. Fuck that. If I could escape on my own, that would be both satisfying and faster. Plus, all that shit they said about Kaspian haunted me. I felt the truth in it the more time went by. It didn't take long for me to realize that the anxiety I felt wasn't all mine. I could feel Kaspian's wild emotions, rollercoasting from rage to despair. The guy was not taking my disappearance well.

Which was kinda sweet.

Did love even matter in light of devotion like that? I was starting to understand why Kaspian was both unconcerned and offended by my concern over us falling in love. He said it was inevitable, and I finally agreed. Those savage things he felt could not be born without being fated to evolve into something softer. The evolution of love. That's what I was witnessing. Not only in myself but also in Kas. And how wondrous was that? Who else got to feel their lover's growing affection? No one.

Kaspian's elitist attitude became less of an issue for me. At least he didn't try to sugarcoat anything or hide what he believed. He was a product of his environment. Did that make him right? Fuck no. But speaking with my Tyasmoran captors made me realize that everyone has a ranking system in their heads. Depending on what they valued, they saw others as better or lesser than themselves. If you don't think that's true about yourself, I suggest you take another look in the mirror and be a bit more honest. Even if you're being self-deprecating, you're still participating in the ranking system.

Humans are just as bad as Dragons. We place people on pedestals because they're beautiful, athletic, powerful, or wise. We get so obsessed with these people that other people make a job out of following celebrities around, taking pictures of everything they do. Hell, Instagram wouldn't exist if we weren't obsessed with status or looks. We were the Evil Queen. Internet, who is the fairest of us all? We need to know. We have to watch their posts and emulate them even though we know they're fake. We search for the new tech gadget or purse or cosmetic—whatever will make us better than we are. And we think that in that betterment, we will find happiness.

How fucked up is that? Maybe as fucked up as a race of Dragons thinking they were better than everyone else?

“Shit,” I whispered, staring at my palms. “What we hate in others is what we hate most in ourselves. I yelled at him for being an elitist when I was one too. I believe that America's the most powerful nation, ice cream is the best dessert, and having more money than everyone else is the ultimate dream. At least Kas is honest about what he believes. He's honest, and he doesn't see a damn thing wrong with it.”

“What was that?” Valen, who was at a worktable across the room, called over to me.

“Nothing.”

He met my stare, then went back to his experiment. Valen was trying to make a lasergun. Yup, as I said, I may have fucked up by giving him that idea. But even as I watched, his spell went awry and the light he was focusing down a metal tube hit a glass beaker, shone through it, and set his notes on fire.

I pressed my lips together and snickered as Valen cursed and smacked the flames out with his bare hand. But then I saw the smoke. There was a mass of it at first. Then, as smoke does, it found a way out.

I went still. Could my training help me escape? I knew fire. I knew what it did, and I knew its byproducts. Smoke fled the scene like a criminal, following air currents to freedom. This particular smoke thinned and flowed upward, twining into a spiral before moving toward me. I followed it with my eyes alone, not daring to move and alert Valen. But then it reached my cell and went behind me. I had to turn around.

Subtly. Slowly. I angled myself sideways to see the smoke slip into a hidden vent. The vent was expertly crafted to blend with the ceiling. It reminded me of a scene from that old movie with David Bowie— Labyrinth . The heroine was trying to find her way through the labyrinth, but the path she was on appeared to be one long corridor. Then a little worm pointed out a hidden turn to her. It was just a trick of light hiding it. A passage set back and hidden by color and texture. That was this vent.

And it was big enough for a guy of my size to get through. Now, that felt like divine intervention. As a man who had met a goddess, I thought it might be prudent to thank her just in case she was helping me again,

“Thank you, Ensarena,” I whispered as I lay down on the bed.

After a glance at Valen to make sure that he wasn't paying any attention to me, I stared up at the vent. The mage or sorcerer or whatever Valen wanted to call himself was cleaning his worktable. He hadn't noticed my reaction at all. On my back, with my hands folded across my belly, I could stare at my possible escape route with impunity.

And I quickly found a problem.

There were no screws or nails. Nothing to pry loose. I had no idea how to get the panel off. There was a seam, though. It wasn't just carved into the stone. So, there had to be a way to get it loose.

I glanced at the tray near the cell door—the remainder of my lunch. Valen had yet to retrieve it. On the tray were my empty plate, a cup, and some utensils. There wasn't a knife. The fork was the obvious choice. But they'd notice if it wasn't there. Then I saw the bone.

Lunch had been a hunk of meat with a side of vegetables. The meat had been on the bone. And the bone had splintered in the cooking process. Other than that break, it was a good, strong piece of bone. I sat up and slowly went to the tray. While Valen was focused on the light tube, I broke the bone in half where it had splintered and palmed the sturdiest piece. Once I was back on the bed, I slipped the bone under my pillow.

Then it was a waiting game.