The Acolytes of Crane (Theodore Crane, #1)(90)

I knew that Zane, or one of his minions, could be listening every second, but I chanced it. Who could be listening in every second, twenty-four hours a day?

I told the guys about the shocking revelation of Ted being alive. We fell into an excited banter, but did our best to appear casual. ‘What should we do? We don't have a choice. We have to play ball with these guys,’ Liam said.

‘My mother once told me, Aunque la mona se vista de seda, mona se queda. You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, but you can still make a purse out of something else!’ I said.

The boys looked at me like wavering bowling pins. ‘Okay,’ I relented, ‘I admit we have not been at war. We are not used to fighting for our lives, and that is why we are having a difficult time. They are giving us weapons and training us,’ I lowered my voice and leaned in so they all could hear me. ‘We could escape. So far, we have been so predictable. Let's take control of our own lives and leave here!’

‘Yeah, I think this Traz guy is just bluffing. But he knows about Ted. What do you have in mind?’ Dan asked.

‘Trazuline told me he knows Theodore is alive. We could find Theodore ourselves. What's stopping us?’ I gazed at the disk in front of me and gave it a half-hearted push. It fell short of the required baseline. I ignored my faux pas.

Lincoln rolled his eyes. ‘Reality check. We have to find out where Ted is. Trazuline’s not telling us. Plus, we need a ship. Trazuline helped Ted find a ship, but he’s not going to do the same for us. Plus, how about the guards that are constantly following us?’

I seized the moment to motivate them further. I said, ‘Don't you see? They are protecting us. We mean something to them. I am sorry, but I do not trust Trazuline. He seems like a good guy, but there is something he is not telling us.’

Lincoln pressed on his disk and pushed it out accurately, making us envious of his grace under pressure. ‘They will not even know what is coming. We can do this. We just have to make a plan. We can escape and find Theodore,’ Lincoln said.

“That was all I needed to hear, and even I started to believe...”

“Believe in what?” the warden asks.

“Us. When Theodore left, we were freaking out. We were like a car with no steering wheel, empty of gas. He brought us to the Uriel and without him, our purpose was gone. But we found ourselves when we heard he was alive.”

“I see. Well, it has been a pleasure, Mariah. I have to admit, there is actually no real exit debrief. My prisoners leave, and before they go, I tell them one thing.” I scoot to the edge of my seat to hear, nearly falling off. “If you pick up another rifle to fight for Sephera and Zane, or resist us in any way, with Theodore and your misfits, you will be in here again. And not in a way that is considered easy. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then, tomorrow you will be free. Make the best of it.”

A guard barged into the room and yelled, “Warden! We have a situation!”

“Wait here! I want two guards on this prisoner. Why are the alarms sounding?” the warden asks.

“I am not at liberty to say in front of the prisoner, sir,” the other guard answers. The two extra recruits arrive to take over command.

The two original guards leave, and I am left sitting between the gun muzzles of the two freshly arrived guards who are watching me intensely. What could be so pressing? I have never heard the alarms sound before, besides drills, but usually the warden seems prepared for those instances.


This was probably my weirdest encounter in this prison. If he is keeping my friends captive here, it may not be the last time I see this prison. I sigh.





17 THEODORE: JAAKRUID





The stampeding of bodies and pouncing of the dirt floor of the cave drove me crazy. I hid from the unknown. It caused me to shield myself within my cave room.

‘He is in here, summon him forth,’ an Elon voice said from outside the room.

‘They are waiting for his command,’ another Elon voice different from the first said.

It was time to make my grand entrance. I let loose the searing destruction of Wrath through the leafed curtain and peered out in astonishment at the stirring sight before me. My heart slapped my sternum with a violent ferocity.

Directly in front of me stood a thousand Elons, erect and still. When I appeared, they all turned to me in perfect harmony.

‘Master Theodore. Sir, we are honored. Attention!’ one of the Elon soldiers echoed loudly throughout the tunnels, and every Elon in the Cave snapped to an upright formal posture. They were like a line of Monk statues. They looked so similar. It was difficult to tell one from the next.

‘What are you waiting in line for?’ I asked, because the line paralleled the walls of the cave with no end.

One of the Elon soldiers jumped to respond, ‘We already have received our communication devices, and now we are waiting for our gear, sir-zzz.’

I felt overwhelmed at the prospect of shouldering the responsibility of such a large army. The simulation exercises on the Uriel were nothing compared to this. The Uriel had trained me to fight, but not to take command. This was a totally new level of authority. I was a commander of my own army, and being a solider of Zane was long in the past.

The Elons were young and wiry, but they were plants, resilient, and full of life. They were saplings compared to their mother, but they were still formidable. Even though I was anxious, I was focused.