I study everything as we walk, instead of focusing on the burning where he touches me.
We pass several servants but not too many guards. And the guards we do pass just give Felix a curt nod. They don’t question what he’s doing with me above ground.
We walk to the back of the house and don’t spot Milo, but it doesn’t stop my heart from racing. I try to keep my pulse as steady as I can, knowing the earrings will be sending my pulse rate to Enzo. And any increase will set him on edge.
Wait, Enzo, just a little longer. Give me more time to figure out a safe way in.
And then Felix stops and releases my arm, while he opens a bookshelf that leads to stairs.
“Here, here is your way in or out,” Felix says.
I look down at the long staircase. “I want to go down.”
I don’t trust him at his word. It could be a trap; I need to know where it leads.
He just nods and holds the door for me to descend.
Slowly, I make my way down the stairs to what looks like a tunnel. “Does Milo know about this tunnel?”
“Yes, but he thinks he’s the only one. He doesn’t tell his security team because he doesn’t trust anyone. He wants a way to escape if his team ever turns on him.”
This is perfect.
We walk the entire tunnel. It leads up to a hidden entrance in a secluded garden near town.
When I feel the sun on me, I have the instinct to run. To get far away, but Milo would always be chasing us. And I’m not sure Felix would let me run anyway, it would be his ass on the line.
But I get to feel the sun for a few seconds. I try to memorize anything of importance that could help Enzo find the entrance. I notice a coffee shop across the street and take in the name. And then we make the long journey back to my cell.
Felix locks me back in my cell after removing my handcuffs. “How are you going to get the message to Enzo?”
I smile. He doesn’t get to know that. “Don’t worry about that. I’ll make sure Enzo gets the information.”
Felix reluctantly leaves me alone. And then I send all that I can through the earrings about the tunnel, where it starts, where it leads. I tell them to prepare. Soon, I will get them a distraction that will allow for them to enter.
Soon, this will all be over.
Days get easier after Felix leads me to the tunnel. For once I have hope. Hope that my plan will work. Hope that Enzo will be able to save me. Hope that Enzo can become the leader he was destined to become. Hope that I will live long enough for him to love me back.
“You want some fresh air?” Felix says, stretching as he gets up from his chair. “Because I’m really tired of sitting in a dark basement all day.”
I smile, loving the idea of being to go outside again. “Is it safe? Won’t Milo find out?”
“No, he isn’t here.”
My grin shoots up to my eyes. “Let’s go, then.”
I jump up off the mattress on the floor and head to the door. Felix laughs at me, as I bounce anxiously behind the door like a dog about to be let outside for the first time in days.
He unlocks the door, and I stick out my wrists.
“What are you doing?” he asks.
“Waiting for you to handcuff me.”
“No handcuffs.”
I frown. “But what if Milo’s men see us?”