Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 44450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 222(@200wpm)___ 178(@250wpm)___ 148(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 222(@200wpm)___ 178(@250wpm)___ 148(@300wpm)
A middle-aged man wearing a black baseball cap, black hoodie, and jeans stood outside of my door. He didn’t say a word to me. All he did was hand a satcom phone to me. Once it was in my hand, he turned and walked off into the woods, leaving me there with a confused look on my face.
I didn’t even get a chance to wonder what the hell was going on before the satcom phone suddenly rang. I stared down at it for a moment, wondering who was on the other end of the call. There was only one way to find out.
“Hello?” I answered in a hesitant voice, feeling Sol’s eyes on me.
“It’s been a long time, Theo.”
My eyes widened at the sound of Zephyr’s voice. He was the last person that I expected a phone call from unless he was trying to bargain for Biba’s life. Hell, what if Zephyr reached Biba before she could escape Stormcloud?
“Where’s Biba?” I demanded, rage flooding through me.
“I don’t have her. My father and Arvo’s father kidnapped her,” Zephyr told me.
My blood ran cold. She had been kidnapped by two manipulative, narcissistic men who probably didn’t care a single bit about her safety. She could’ve been hanging onto her life by a thread right now, and I felt like every second that passed by was precious.
“It’s been days! Why tell me now?” I ordered, needing to know everything. What was he waiting for?
“I just found out from my father. He called me and told me that he and Edward have Biba in a safe place,” Zephyr explained to me. “I wouldn’t have waited this long to tell you if I knew earlier.”
I wasn’t sure about his promise, but the timing of his phone call didn’t matter. I needed to figure out if he was even telling the truth, and what better judge of Zephyr’s words than an old friend of his?
“Hold on,” I told Zephyr, needing Sol to hear this. I turned and walked over to Sol, who gave me a perplexed look. He seemed as on edge as I was, especially after hearing Biba’s name.
“Who is it?” Sol asked.
I extended my hand out to him, offering him the satcom phone.
“It’s Zephyr. He says his father and Arvo’s father kidnapped Biba,” I reported to him, watching his eyes grow wide in shock.
It wasn’t the craziest thing that could’ve happened, but it was certainly wild. Those exact details hadn’t crossed my mind when I wondered what happened to Biba. I thought Arvo and Zephyr had something directly to do with Biba’s disappearance, but I hadn’t thought about their fathers being the main culprits.
Sol then narrowed his eyes and grabbed the satcom phone from me. He walked over to the kitchen and placed the phone on the kitchen counter, turning up the volume so that we could both hear Zephyr’s voice.
“Why would they kidnap her?” Sol asked, not seeming convinced by Zephyr’s claim.
“They think she has information about Schmidt and his key,” Zephyr replied. “But I doubt she’ll tell them anything.”
“What are they going to do to her when they realize she’s not going to talk?” I found myself asking. Biba was tough and resilient. I didn’t doubt that she would withhold any information, but that could get her in even deeper trouble.
“I don’t know exactly, but I doubt it’ll be anything good.” Zephyr sighed. “I don’t even know where they’re keeping her.”
“Are you even trying hard enough to find her? I thought you outcasted her,” Sol replied with a sharp tone to his voice.
“I regret that, okay? I let Arvo get in my damn head, and now he’s taken over the Kings and Biba is locked up somewhere,” Zephyr snapped back. “He even knew about the plan to kidnap her when I didn’t!”
Sol and I shared a surprised look. Zephyr was overthrown by Arvo. Even if we couldn’t fully trust Zephyr, he was easier to deal with than Arvo. I couldn’t imagine the damage Arvo would do to Stormcloud with his twisted mind. The academy would be in ruins by the time Arvo arranged everything how he wanted.
“We’ve tried looking for her, but we haven’t had any luck,” I said, wondering if Zephyr had any clue as to where his father would’ve kept Biba. He was the closest person to Biba’s kidnappers besides Arvo.
“I want to look, but I don’t want to leave campus,” Zephyr replied.
“Why not? They’re not keeping her on campus,” Sol told him, maintaining his suspicious aggression. He obviously didn’t trust Zephyr after all he had done, and I didn’t blame him. Who could we truly trust during these times?
“Because if I leave campus, Arvo’s father will suspect something’s up. He’ll think I’m looking for Biba, and I don’t want to give him another reason to want to kill her,” Zephyr explained. “Arvo knows she’s my weak spot. They’ll just threaten to kill her if I try to go against Arvo.”