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He rubbed his temple. Cut off from his family this far away gave him a dull headache. He surveyed the rounded room. Not many people there. Which didn’t surprise him. Prison breaks by nature shouldn’t be a public event.
Excellent, an empty seat was next to Jelena. He sauntered to her, his heart quickening the closer he came.
She glanced at him with a frown.
Too bad if she thought her dark look would discourage him from taking his place next to her. Clasping his hands behind his back, he stood in front of her. “Jelena.” With a quick nod, he pulled the chair out and sat.
Her lips pursed. “There are other places to sit, you know.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t dream of it.” He gestured to the room as others took their seats around the oval dark wood table. “Perfect place to keep an eye on everyone.” Which was true. Not only was he sitting next to Jelena, but he had a perfect view of the door to watch all the comings and goings.
Warad-Mushtal took the head seat.
On one side, Zamush’s shipmates sat, while two unknown Akurns parked on the other.
“Good, we’re all here.” Warad-Mushtal gestured to the two Akurns. “May I introduce Asu and Sabum, two indispensable leaders of WOTA.” He gave a slight chuckle. “Of course, that’s not their real names. We’re keeping their identities secret for now, at their request. That way, if anything happens to them, their families won’t suffer.” He nodded to the younger Akurn. “Asu, give us an update on Sychar’s status.”
Akurns might age slower than people on Earth, but Holy Goddess, this man appeared to be barely out of his teens.
“Sychar’s condition is worse than we thought.”
The male’s deep baritone made Zamush raise his eyebrows. Might not be as young as he thought.
Jelena gasped. She clenched her hand on the armrest until her knuckles turned white.
He resisted the urge to cover her fist in comfort.
Warad-Mushtal leaned forward. “In what way?”
“They left him in solitary confinement ever since the public arrest. He’s barely given food and water. His only relief is when they take him out and torture him until he passes out. We believe they’re trying to get the names of other WOTA members.” The young Akurn’s rough voice wavered. “Which he won’t give.” He pounded a fist on the table. “We’ve got to get him out before they kill him!” His voice broke.
Murmurs and growls fill the room.
One glance at Jelena’s tear-filled eyes changed Zamush’s mind. He reached over and covered one of her icy hands in his. A slight smile creased his lips when she didn’t pull away.
“Agreed.” Warad-Mushtal’s no-nonsense tone left little doubt about his serious intent. “Sabum, have you discovered where they’re holding Sychar?”
“Yes.” The middle-aged man’s hair was more gray than platinum. He waved to open the monitor floating in the middle of the table.
The transparent visual was clear for all to see.
He widened the schematic diagram of Erset La Tari, the maximum-security prison just outside Akurn’s capital city of Eengurra.
Zamush grunted when he realized the name of the prison translated to “land of no return”. How appropriate.
“As you can see—” Sabum highlighted a narrow corner underground. ”—this cell has no windows and no way in or out except for the heavily guarded door. Breaking Sychar from here is going to be near impossible.”
“Not necessarily.” Zamush pulled his hand away from Jelena. “You get me near it, and I’ll teleport in and then take him out with me.”
“Teleport? What does that mean?” Warad-Mushtal’s cobalt-blue eyes stared steadily.
Zamush leaned back and twined his fingers on his lap. “The official definition of teleporting is the transference of matter from one point to another without traversing the physical space between them.”
All eyes were on him.
He struggled not to smirk at the mirrored frowns.
“Can you demonstrate for us?”
