Thomas Wildus and the Book of Sorrows by J.M. Bergen

Author:J.M. Bergen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: juvenile fiction, middle grade, magic, fantasy, adventure, suspense, Percy Jackson, Maze Runner, Harry Potter, good versus evil, friendship, friendship, funny, humor, laugh out loud, family
Publisher: Elandrian Press
Published: 2018-11-06T05:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-SIX

The whooshing of air woke Thomas from a nap he never intended to take. His body was achy, his thoughts disoriented. He yawned and lifted a hand to rub his face. Instead, his elbow thumped into the edge a jagged stone. “Ow!”

The sound was louder than he intended, rebounding down the dark shaft before disappearing into the swirl of frigid air. He shivered. Jeans and a T-shirt weren’t adequate cover in the cool air shaft. He grabbed his shoes and started moving, hoping to find a less chilly listening post. He rounded a corner and stopped.

Distant voices carried down the narrow vent, riding the current of swooshing air. He crawled forward on knees so sore he could hardly move, listening to make sure he was heading in the right direction. He paused. The voices were coming from the big office to the left.

Thomas hit a “T” and turned left. Light filtered through a grate in the passage wall. He quietly slid past the grate, carefully skirted one of the shafts leading downward, and bent his body silently around another corner. The voices grew suddenly clearer. He inched closer until he could make out at least three distinct speakers. Two of the voices belonged to Huxley and Adelia. The third was raspy and unfamiliar.

“He’s got to be somewhere we can find him,” Adelia said, her voice cracking with emotion. “He has to be okay. He just has to.”

“All of the vehicles are accounted for,” said the unknown speaker. “Given thirty minutes of silence, I should be able to get a read on his location. It’s only been a couple of hours. He can’t have gotten far.”

“On his own, he can’t have gone far,” corrected Huxley. “If our enemies tracked him here and helped him escape, there’s no telling where he might be.”

“Nonsense. There’s only one person with the motivation and resources to get to us here, and if he manages to take the boy, we’d know exactly where to look.”

“That can’t have happened.” Adelia’s voice was anguished. “If Arius has gotten to him, I-I’ll—”

“If Arius has gotten to him, then our worst fears have been realized,” interrupted the third speaker. “A rescue would be all but impossible, and Thomas doesn’t yet know enough about his own powers to escape. And worse, he might believe that they were the ones doing the rescuing. If Arius were to convince Thomas that we were the bad guys and he was the savior, I have no doubt that he could bend the boy to his will.”

Adelia made a sound that Thomas could only interpret as an audible shiver.

“Thomas is too smart for that,” said Huxley. “Arius might fool him for a while, but eventually, he would see through the lies.”

“Time is our enemy,” said the man. “We can’t afford to wait for eventually. That’s not good enough. Not even close. We have to get to the crystals before Arius, but with our friend out of reach and Thomas missing, our chances for that are between slim and none.

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