The Usurper's Throne

46

"Friday is when we're going to attack," Elijah said. He flipped over in the bed to face me. Tonight, we were both under the flat sheet. "Two days. Tomorrow we'll start preparing."

I nodded.

"I have been trying to keep you out of this, but I do think it's important for you to know," he said. "If you want more details, just ask. If you don't, then don't ask, okay?" he said softly.

I nodded. Questions were burning inside me. I hadn't had a nightmare in days. Was knowledge really worth the risk?

Yes.

"What has he been doing?" I asked.

Elijah bit his lip for a few second. "Nothing good."

"I heard Daniel at lunch. He said Damien got a glass ornament cage," I said simply. "Is that for me?" My voice shook.

"There's no way to know. But likely." He reached out an arm and rested it on my shoulder. "Naomi, he will never get to you. I promise. You are safe."

I nodded. I believed him. I really did. "Are you going to kill him?" I asked.

"Maybe," Elijah said. "The aim is to bring him under arrest as unfit for his title and let the Council decide justice. However, if he resists, and it can fall under self-defense..." he faded. "Naomi, I want to kill him," he confessed.

"Because he killed your father?" I asked.

Elijah moved his hand and rolled onto his back. "Partially. But primarily because...he has hurt so many people. He has killed so many people. Naomi," he said urgently, turning back to me. "When I think about what he...did to you, I am filled with such deep rage. It's hard for me to put it into words."

"Please don't kill him because of me," I whispered. "Don't sink to his level."

Elijah sighed and rubbed his thumb down my face. The touch was strangely intimate. "Naomi," he said, struggling. "I...can't make that promise."

"Please try," I said. "If he attacks you, and you kill him out of self-defense, that is another story, but don't let me be the cause of his death."

Elijah moved his hand to my torso and pulled me against his chest slowly, as if waiting to see if I would protest. I didn't and let him pull me until our bodies were nearly flush. He moved his arm under my head, and I rested my head on his chest.

Just friends?

Yes. Just friends.

"Okay. I promise," Elijah said. I nodded against him, welcoming the warmth. Before long, my eyes dipped into a deep sleep.

++++++++++++++++++

Alarms.

I don't know anything else.

Alarms.

I blinked awake, surprising to find my legs and arms wrapped around someone else. Elijah. My friend.

He was waking up as well, albeit a bit faster.

He swore. "Get up, Naomi. Quickly. Grab a book," he said.

I rushed out a bed. Did he say grab a book?

He grabbed his phone and swore again. He gestured for me, and I swiped the book that I had on my bed from the day before. He tucked me under his arm, and we raced out of the room and down the hall.

The light was too bright for me, so I was grateful for Elijah's body guiding me. We made it to the end of the hall as everyone else was waking up and stumbling out of their rooms.

"Stations!" Elijah roared. I stood there, suddenly fearful, but grateful to be near someone who seemed to know what he was doing. He turned to me, and I was surprised by the tenderness in his eyes. That could only mean one thing.

"Damien's here?" I asked.

He nodded and began pulling me toward the elevator. Instead of pressing a button, he made a dark realm portal and pulled up through. Suddenly, we began plummeting. I grabbed hold of Elijah, but he already had a firm grip. Finally, we sliced through a layer of concrete and landed in a small concrete room. I looked at Elijah.

"Eli, what—"

He cut me off by handing me a flashlight. He absorbed the whole room into the dark realm. I saw a cot and a toilet. Bare bones.

"No one can get you down here. If Damien somehow breaks down the door, you are in the dark realm, so you are safe. If he somehow makes it into the dark realm, listen to me, use your flashlight to create an exit. The door code is 4327. Repeat that back to me," he said quickly.

"4327," I said.

"Good. 4327. He doesn't know the code, so when he leaves the dark realm to get you, he will be stuck inside, okay? Outrun him and close the door in his face, okay?"

I nodded, trying to understand these instructions.

"What's the code?" he asked.

"4327," I said.

"Good," he said, kissing me gently on the nose. "I will be back, okay? Roger or I will come get you, okay? Stay here until we do. Please."

With that, he jumped up and left where I was—in a small concrete room with a cot and toilet.

I looked up, heart pounding. "Elijah, why do I have a book?"

He didn't answer.