The Order of the Elements 01 - Breaking Point Read Online Free PDF Page B

freaked. Not that I blame her. Wow, is it just me or can I see better? That’s weird; I can see every strand of her hair. This is insane. And smell, I can smell fresh rainwater from her skin. I don’t think dreams have senses, do they? Isn’t that why people pinch themselves to see if they’re dreaming? Whoa, are we slowing down?
    Phoebe was now positive that Ethan’s thoughts and emotions were somehow inside her head because his thoughts carried the same tone as his voice did, and he was right—she could see better too. Not just better, but everything. Every strand of hair, every swirl of silver mist. Everything was sharper, more defined. Colors were brighter, richer, and more multihued. Her sense of smell was better too, and her skin did smell like fresh rainwater. His smelled like freshly dug earth and honeysuckle. And hearing, did he mention hearing? Every rustle of fabric, every movement, was easily discernible.
    And it did feel as if something was starting to cushion their fall.
    Newly refocused, Phoebe’s eyes could see something in the distance. A mile below there was an opening in the silver mist to a large tunnel lined with stones and lit with torches. Two men stood there waiting. One paced agitatedly and another was still, all except for his hands, which twisted nervously. She was amazed by how many details she could make out from such a long distance away.
    The noisy thoughts in her head increased with various tones and pitches, and Phoebe was sure she was hearing more than one person’s thoughts as they fell further. Either that or she really was going completely crazy. Her father had said her gift was going to get stronger; was this what he meant? She should have asked.
    There are people down there. Okay, maybe this isn’t a dream. But how is this possible?
    Phoebe could tell by the tone that those were definitely Ethan’s thoughts. Two other voices mixed in with his and became louder by the second.
    I wonder where they are. They should have been here five minutes ago. The voice was nervous, slightly bored.
    Where are they? If they are returned in anything less than perfect condition…so help me…I’ll…One more minute and I am going after her, I mean them, myself. This voice was anxious, worried, and impatient—and so familiar that Phoebe felt a jolt in her stomach from the brief thought. These thoughts were smooth and soft like wind whispering though the trees of a silent forest. She tried to hear more of his thoughts—entranced by their very sound—but Ethan’s loud thoughts overpowered them.
    Let’s be rational here. If this is a dream, it wouldn’t feel this real, right? And a hallucination would feel too real, and I wouldn’t be able to think rationally and consider that it might be a hallucination. And if I had been drugged, I would hope that my brain could come up with something more interesting than this for entertainment. So that only leaves me with one option. This is really happening.
    They were only a hundred yards from the tunnel and moving as slowly as if they were walking down stairs rather than falling through nothing. The voices were getting louder, and it now was impossible to discern one from the collective. It just sounded like a lot of loud babble, and Phoebe’s own thoughts were lost in the mix. By the time her feet touched the ground and she surveyed the two men in front of her, it was very difficult for her to concentrate at all.
    On top of that, every sound filtering through her overly sensitive ears added to the confusion. Every footstep echoed, every twist of the nervous man’s hands scraped, every step of the pacing man’s boots squeaked. Phoebe forced all her attention away from the noise so she could concentrate on her surroundings.
    Her clear vision made it seem as if her eyes had been clouded and not properly focused until now. She took in every aspect of the men. The one who had been pacing stopped, his expression softening into relief. He was about