Chapter 62 Chapter 62: Escape Route
Senna’s POV
Thistle sat at the table with me, trying not to look exhausted, even though I knew he was.
“We have to go over this again,” I said firmly. He stifled a yawn but nodded. I had to be firm about this. His life might depend on it.
It had taken some convincing. When I’d first broached the subject, Thistle had shaken his head.
“You’ll keep me safe,” he told me. Thistle had come to rely on me. But given what we’d just learned about the Spire, I had to make sure that Thistle could protect himself. Just in case.
So, I was teaching him all the escape routes, both out of the estate, and out of the capital, if need be.
There were several large channels under the capital. They were likely conduits for the spire. But judging by the maps, they were big enough for someone to crawl through. Especially someone small like Thistle. He could use them if he had to.
“If you can get through this,” I said, tapping the page, “you can get through anything.”
Thistle squinted at the lines of text like they had personally offended him.
“That’s not encouraging,” he said.
“It’s not supposed to be,” I replied. “It’s honest.”
We sat at one of the long tables in a quieter section of the estate. The morning light spilled in through the tall windows. It pooled across the surface of the table between us. The manuals were spread out in a rough stack/ There were pages marked where I’d started breaking things down into something usable.
“This word,” I said, pointing. “Say it.”
He leaned in. His lips moved silently as he sounded it out.
“Con… con… con-duit,” he said finally.
“Conduit,” I repeated. “Good.”
“What does it mean? What’s a conduit?” he asked.
“It’s like a channel,” I said. “Like something that carries things from one place to another.”
“Like water?” he asked
“Like water,” I nodded. Although I knew these channels were not carrying water.
“Okay,” he said. “What about this one?” He pointed to another word. It was longer and more complicated. I followed his finger.
“That says reservoir,’” I told him.
He scrunched up his face. “What does it mean?”
“That’s a place where something is stored,” I said. “It usually stores water. But it can store other things too.”
He glanced at the diagrams on the page and furrowed his brow. “Why are we doing this?” he asked.
“Because they are potential escape routes,” I told him. “And you need to know where they are. In case something happens.”
Behind us, I heard the door open. I didn’t even turn around. I didn’t need to. I could smell him before I saw him. Or at least, Verity could Orrin.
It was Kalev.
He strode into the room, but he didn’t interrupt. He came up to the table we were sitting at. Thistle stumbled over another word, frowning as he tried to piece it together.
“Take your time,” I said. “You need to learn these words so you can recognize them on a map.”
Kalev pulled up a chair and sat down. His expression was quieter than usual. I didn’t look up at him.
“I can leave,” he said. He knew what we were doing. I’d told him about it beforehand.
“No, it’s fine. You can stay,” I told him. It honestly didn’t bother me that he was there. Maybe he’d even have some useful information for us. Thistle glanced between us, then back at the page.
“Is he always like this?” Thistle asked.
“Yes,” I said.
“No,” Kalev said at the same time. I gave Kalev a glance.
Things between Kalev and I had really warmed up ever since the night of the Victor’s gala. He didn’t mention the present I left him on his bed. But I had a feeling he appreciated it.
We weren’t exactly best friends or anything like that, but I was gaining a mutual understanding for him. He’d been put in a difficult position his entire life. He’d basically been born into the position of architect of the games. It wasn’t a path he’d chosen.
So I had a bit of sympathy for him.
“What are you using?” he asked. He leaned forward, looking at manuals spread out over the table.
“The hazard manuals,” I told him. Kalev glanced at the open pages.
“That’s smart,” he said, looking impressed. “Where did you get them?”
“I have my ways,” I said, in an almost teasing voice.
I’d snuck into his mother, Petra’s office, late last night. The door hadn’t even been locked. I’d found the manuals in her private library. It had actually been very easy.
“Senna thinks they might come for us,” Thistle told Kalev. Kalev looked surprised by this.
“They can’t,” he shook his head. “You’re safe here, at my estate.”
“I’m not so sure,” I quipped back. Kalev could think I was safe all he wanted. There was obviously a lot that Kalev didn’t know. Like the fact that the spire was some sort of massive siphon. I couldn’t leave things up to chance.
I didn’t trust Viktor as far as I could throw a stick. There was something off about him. Something I’d noticed at the gala but couldn’t quite place. He had lacked scent, which was strange. But there was more to it than that. Something deeper. Something darker.
I had to be proactive. I had to make sure that, if something happened to me, Thistle would know what to do. I felt like Thistle was my little brother. I felt personally responsible for his safety.
And right now, that meant teaching Thistle all the escape routes under the capital.
Thistle and I went back to work. He tried to memorize what all the words looked like. We worked on it until mid-afternoon.
I honestly hoped at the time that he’d never have to use these escape routes. I honestly hoped that Kalev was right and that we were perfectly safe at his estate.
Spoiler alert.
We weren’t.