Broken Thread

Chapter 8: A New Plan Forming

Eltuh leaves me, the only door to the room opening and closing leaving me in silence, yet it doesn't feel as silent as I hoped. My thoughts are still screaming and running laps around in my head. With heavy legs I trudge to the bed, pulling the lush sheets back and settling into the deep mattress. It almost feels like water moving me. As if I'm laying still in the ocean of Xoven. Throwing the covers over my head to shield me not only from the light but from the outside entirely, I go over everything Eltuh had whispered to me.

"If Scorpius and you have spoken through your threads somehow and he mentioned he's coming for you, that must mean he's closer than we thought."

"How'd you figure that?" I asked her. If he was closer than either of us imagined did that mean he was becoming desperate because he knew the risk him breaking in would pose?

Eltuh rubs her chin, her eyes all over the room. "Think about it. They already broke through the border not too long ago. We haven't found them since then. Nothing on the cameras surrounding this place and the lakes haven't been touched, at least as far as we know. Lord Crypt has guards stationed at each of them just in case but we haven't heard a sound."

I know Estella and Scorpius wouldn't let Seren and Barlow dehydrate, but the thought of them not being able to get water makes my anxiety rise.

"If they haven't been spotted, not even once, I'll bet that they're closing in on this place."

My anxiety worsens when I say, "But how will they find it? You said we're underground."

Eltuh doesn't look the least bit worried. "Lucky for you your mate happens to be a Pharon. I haven't had the pleasure of going to Ocura myself, but I've heard the stories of deep tunnels and charred ground. I don't have a doubt in my mind that that one Pharon can find this place in a heartbeat. He'll feel the change of the soil when he walks right on top of it."

More than one, I think as I picture Ogmellos and Caelum traveling with everyone to come save me. If one Pharon was all it took to find this underground hideout, than three would make this easier than necessary. The tenseness in my shoulders ease a bit.

"So they'll feel the difference with their feet and then what? There's no way Demien has us down here exposed enough to just walk right in."

Eltuh nods, her jaw tensing at my words. "You're right. There's a sliding door that's latched to the floor camouflaged with the dirt around it. If you didn't know where it was then it's nearly impossible to find. Once opened it leads to a staircase that has a sealed door at the bottom of it. The only people that can open that one is anyone of royal blood, the head guard, and the second guard under her."

I push my palms against my eyes, attempting to rub out the frustration this situation just put on me. "So basically Demien, Zenith, and some random guard who's most likely always at Zeniths side." The more information I get the more impossible this all seems.

"Right. Although the second in command, Vex, doesn't always stay by Zenith. And, lucky for us, she doesn't hate you as much as Zenith does."

"But there's no way in Plut she would help me escape. She's the second in command for a reason. Demien wouldn't have someone who would be betray him so easily that close to him."

Eltuh nods. "True, but she trusts me."

My brow muscles pull together while I try to understand what she's saying. Why would she trust Eltuh so much and how would that trust help with whatever plan we were going to come up with? But then I see the blush creep over Eltuh's cheeks, the way she's avoiding eye contact with me, the corners of her mouth twitching hiding what I think is a smile tugging at her lips. The realization is so obvious. How did I not hear the tenderness in her voice when she said Vex's name?