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.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Early the next morning, so early it was still late, a roar woke me. I bolted upright and stared at the ceiling. Stone dust rained down on me, forcing me to hunch and hide my eyes. Another roar came, and I felt it in my chest.
“Kas,” I whispered.
He's close. He's coming for me.The thoughts sent a shivering rush of emotion through my body. I didn't want to be the King's weak human mate who had to be rescued. That being said, knowing that Kas was doing everything he could to get me back made me feel damn good. It made that glowing warmth in my chest burn brighter. To be wanted like that, to have someone search endlessly for you when you went missing, to know that they wouldn't want to go on if they couldn't find you—it was fucking satisfying. It shouldn't have been. I shouldn't admit that it was. But it's the truth. I felt empowered by Kaspian's need for me. Because I needed him back.
Standing up, I went back to staring at the ceiling. Under the thunderous anguished sound of my lover looking for me were other noises. Feet running. Voices raised in horror. Had Kas actually found me? The roar moved away. I could feel him there. Above me. Circling. Could he feel me too? Kas shrieked. The ground shuddered.
“Oh, fuck. Is he going to literally tear apart the city to find me?”
People screamed. I didn't think it was my Tyasmoran captors. Kaspian was terrorizing his citizens. Those poor people were up there, running for their lives because the King was losing his shit over his missing mate. This wasn't the best PR for Kas, but I didn't think he cared.
Then other roars came. I felt my mate's fury. Something cracked. Thundered. The building shook. With wide eyes, I realized that Kaspian's guards were trying to reel him in. A fucking Dragon fight. No, a dragon fight with a little D. And that was even worse.
“Kaspian!” I shouted. “Kas, I'm here!”
I stared at that fucking vent. I had tried for over an hour the night before to scratch a ledge out of the seam so I could use the bone to pry it open. It hadn't worked. But I wasn't giving up. And now was the time to try again.
I grabbed the bone from under my pillow, stood on the bed, and dug into the faint seam with the sharp end. It snapped. I kept digging. Kas kept roaring.
Then the roaring faded.
“No!” I cried and dug faster. “Come on, Kas. I'm right here. I can feel you. Why can't you feel me?”
In a panic, I gripped the bone with my fist and dug like a fucking savage. Fragments of stone broke off. Pieces of bone turned to dust. Then, suddenly, a chunk of stone cracked off and fell. I stopped to gape at it, denting my pillow. Then, with a growl, I slammed the blunt end of the bone onto the vent.
