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Jalio!
I couldn’t believe he’d survived, never mind managed to evade recapture while remaining in the city. It had been months in Oreylian time since the night of the Star Festival and ball. How had he managed to stay hidden this long?
“Get in quickly,” he quietly ordered.
I shared a look with Vas before we followed the burly man into the house. Inside, we found shelves upon shelves of stockpiled weapons. I glanced at Vas again, my eyebrows rising. He pressed his warm palm to the small of my back and I shuddered at his touch, again remembering my mouth clamped around his wrist this morning.
“Relax. I’ll do the talking,” he whispered, misreading my arousal as anxiety. What was wrong with me? This wasn’t the time to be thinking of intimate acts.
I was shocked to find at least fifteen or more hungry, desperate looking people huddled within the living room, men and women both. These were the same miners who’d escaped with Jalio that night and they’d been on the run ever since. My heart clenched for them. This was hardly the situation they’d hoped for when they’d escaped the mine.
“How have you all avoided recapture?” Vas asked, impressed despite their shabby appearances.
“We move around a lot, and we have some allies who have helped keep us hidden,” Jalio replied. “But never mind that. What are you doing back here? I heard you made an assassination attempt on Red Armand before disappearing from the city.”
My throat thickened with dread as I met Vas’ gaze. A cold sweat slicked down my spine. “Assassination attempt?” I questioned. “Does that mean he’s still alive?”
Jalio nodded, his dark eyebrows two furious slashes across his forehead. “He survived. Just barely.”
Vas let out a string of curse words.
“I take it you’ve returned to finish the job?” Jalio went on.
Vas glanced at me, then brought his attention to Jalio. “That’s part of it. We’ve also come to free as many of the miners as we can manage. If enough are freed then they can march on the palace and outnumber the Dicteps’ army, allowing me the chance to kill him.”
Jalio’s eyes widened before he glanced at a red haired man who stood by the wall nearest him. “Well, then, it looks like our purposes might be aligned.” A pause as he surveyed Vas once more. “You want to be the one to end him? Why?”
Vas didn’t speak, only stared at Jalio pointedly. Jalio released a stunned breath. “So the rumours really are true,” he whispered.
“If anyone should put an end to his tyranny, it’s me,” Vas said finally.
“Never mind that,” Sven interrupted before glancing around the room. “How exactly did you lot plan to overthrow the Dicteps? I mean, I’m impressed by the amount of weapons you’ve managed to stockpile but still, there are so few of you.”
“We never intended to do it alone. We’ve been planning to free the miners, too, but we haven’t been able to settle on a plan yet,” the red haired man next to Jalio spoke up.
“Ah,” said Vas. “In that case we might be able to be of assistance.” He quickly filled them in on his plan to turn the lava rivers to an illusion of gold, thus distracting the demon watchers and leaving the mines open for escape. Jalio and the red haired man shared a long, serious look before they returned their focus to Vas.
“You only planned on going to Red Armand’s mine, correct?” Jalio questioned.
“Yes,” Vas replied. “Ideally we’d go to more but time is an issue. Plus, we don’t have enough people.”
“There are seven mines in Treyu and there are twenty-five of us. If three or four of us go to each mine and break open all the locks and gates while the demons are distracted by your grand illusion we can free thousands more captives. That way we’ll be guaranteed to outnumber the army. The Dicteps has five thousand troops but there are at least thirty thousand down in the mines.”
Listening to him speak got my blood up. I’d thought my plan was ambitious but this was on another stratosphere. A revolution on this scale could transform the city of Treyu forever.
Vas glanced at Sven then at me. I gave him a nod to say I was in. Next to me, Ren slid his hand into mine. I sensed he was nervous but eager. His love for Demi was what spurred him to join this fight. I, too, had been hopeful before but now I was confident that the plan could truly work.
We hashed out more of the details with Jalio and his crew, coordinating to lead the masses to the palace once we successfully got them out of the mines. Once everything was agreed upon we divided into our individual groups to set off to separate mines.
Just before we left Jalio pulled me aside. “We’re doing this for her, and for all the others like her whose lives were stolen.”
