Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Gomez rested against a mountain of pillows when Luke, Connal, and Asterius entered his chambers.
Fizzwick perched on one raised knee, describing something with both hands while three other pixies hovered near the bed. Gomez looked past Connal and found Luke. For one brief moment, all his humor vanished. “You came back.”
“I said I would.” Luke and Connal placed the bags on the bed beside him.
Gomez reached for Luke’s arm before he reached for the bags, squeezing once as he looked him over. “You’re okay?”
“Nothing happened.”
“Nothing?”
“Message sent. Reply received. Nuggets acquired. That’s it.”
Gomez appeared unconvinced, but the scent rising from the paper bags demanded his immediate consideration. “Please tell me one of those contains proof that humans occasionally deserve nice things.”
Luke opened the nearest bag and handed him a box of chicken nuggets.
Gomez pressed it to his chest. “I knew I could trust you.”
“You said that before I left.”
“I was operating on faith. Now I have evidence.”
Fizzwick abandoned Gomez’s knee and landed on the edge of the box. He peered through the open lid, his wings fluttering with excitement.
“That is a chicken nugget?”
“That is twelve chicken nuggets,” Gomez told him. “Because Luke understands commitment.”
The other pixies descended immediately.
Luke caught the box before six tiny hands could empty it. “There’s more.”
He opened the remaining containers of nuggets and spread the fries across several wrappers. The pixies gathered around them in a delighted swarm, each attempting to select the longest one.
Avaneel arrived before the first fry disappeared. She flew through the open chamber door with Zer several paces behind her, snatched a fry from the pile, and retreated to his shoulder.
Zer caught up a moment later and stopped beside her. “You could have waited for me.”
“There were fried potatoes. A human delicacy.”
“So I see.” Zer didn’t seem convinced.
Avaneel took another bite, then held the other end toward him. “You may share.”
Zer looked at the fry and then at her. “Generous.”
“I know.”
Gomez pointed toward the open containers. “Come on, big guy. You deserve some human food after all that reporting to the king.”
“I do not require it,” Zer said.
“I didn’t say you required it.” Gomez dipped a nugget into the bright golden sauce Luke had placed beside him and held it out. “You’ve carried me across realms and through the castle. The least I can do is introduce you to processed chicken.”
Zer studied the offered nugget. Then he looked at Gomez.
Luke expected the refusal to be immediate. Instead, Zer bent and took the nugget directly from Gomez’s fingers.
Gomez froze.
So did everyone else.
Zer chewed with the same solemn concentration he brought to everything. “Acceptable.”
Gomez’s grin spread slowly. “Acceptable is an excellent start.”
Asterius made a strangled sound that might have become laughter if Zer had not turned his head.
Fizzwick flew close to Gomez’s ear. “Fred should have a chicken nugget.”
Gomez gasped. “Fred!”
“Don’t worry. I took care of your new bestie,” Luke said.
He lifted the smaller box from one of the bags.
Gomez stared at it, then at Luke. “You bought Fred a Happy Meal?”
“It came with a toy.”
Asterius looked toward Connal. “I was not informed that happiness was included. Or a toy.”
For a huge warrior, Asterius’s pout was impressive.
“You received more food,” Luke explained.
“That is not the same thing.”
Gomez sent Fizzwick to find Fred. The pixie shot through the doorway and returned moments later with Igneous, Balthazar, and Fred behind him. All three gargoyles stopped when they encountered the gathering around the bed.
Gomez held out the box. “Fred, my friend, Luke brought you a present.”
Fred approached and accepted it in both hands.
Luke showed him how to open the top. Fred removed the food first, examining each item before setting it carefully back inside. Then he found the brightly colored packet concealed beneath it. He opened the wrapping and withdrew a small plastic creature with oversized eyes and movable wings.
Fred stared at the toy.
The toy stared back.
Gomez leaned toward him. “Do you like it?”
Fred nodded once and held it against his chest.
“I knew you would.” Gomez looked around at the food, warriors, gargoyles, and pixies filling his chambers. “And this is why chicken nuggets are the cornerstone of modern civilization.”
Luke grinned and glanced toward Connal, who was examining the sandwich Luke had chosen for him as if it might be concealing a threat. He finally took a bite.
His expression revealed nothing.
Then he took another.
Luke hid his smile and reached for his own food.
Conversation filled the room as the bags emptied. Even Igneous accepted a fry after watching Balthazar consume three without suffering any obvious harm. Asterius attempted to trade half his sandwich for Fred’s toy and received a silent look severe enough to make him withdraw the offer.
The chamber doors opened. Tyson entered with Keir behind him—and stopped.
Two pixies flew past carrying a chicken nugget between them. A third rode on top, brandishing a fry like a sword and shouting directions neither of the others appeared to be following. They banked around Tyson, narrowly avoided Keir, and dove toward Gomez’s bed.
Tyson surveyed the wrappers, the sauce-covered pixies, the gargoyles sampling human food, and Asterius searching through an empty bag for anything the others might have missed.
He closed the door behind him with deliberate care.
“What,” he asked, “is happening?”
“Dinner,” Gomez said.
Tyson looked toward Connal as if expecting a translation.
Connal took another bite of his sandwich. “Do not involve me.”
Asterius grinned. “That means he likes it.”
“It means I do not wish to be involved.”
Luke glanced at the sandwich in Connal’s hand. “You’re eating the evidence.”
Connal gave him a look that promised retribution.
Luke smiled. “Thought so.”
Tyson appeared to decide that the argument posed no immediate danger to the realm. He crossed the chamber, sidestepping a falling fry, and stopped beside Luke.
“The king has received our report. He agrees that you should remain in the Unseelie until your next contact with Hale.”
“That’s the plan,” Luke said.
Gomez set down his nugget. “Speaking of plans, you promised me answers.”
Luke’s smile faded. “Hale responded. He canceled the delivery and ordered me to keep the drive secure. I’m supposed to contact his office from another protected location at nine tomorrow morning.”
“Did he explain why someone tried to kill you?”
“No.”
“Did he ask whether you were injured?”
“No.”
Gomez looked unimpressed. “I don’t like your boss.”
“At the moment, neither do I.”
“But you’re calling him tomorrow.”
“I need him to believe I’m still following his instructions.” Luke sat on the edge of the bed. “If Hale was responsible for the warehouse, I need to know what he plans to do next. If he wasn’t, he may be the only person who can tell me who compromised the exchange.”
“And until then?”
Luke glanced toward the brown backpack he had placed near the foot of Gomez’s bed. His laptop was inside, but connecting an unknown drive to a machine tied to his own life would be reckless.
“I need to find out what everyone is willing to kill me for. But I’m not opening it on my laptop.”
“What would you require?” Tyson asked.
“A clean computer disconnected from every outside network. Preferably one we can destroy if this goes wrong.” Luke’s hand settled over the watch pocket holding the drive. “And someone qualified to identify whatever protections are buried inside before we try to access the files.”
Luke could define the equipment he needed. Trusting another person near the drive presented the greater risk. Too many people already knew it existed, and he had no intention of adding anyone else without knowing exactly who they were.
Tyson met his gaze. “The king determined that we required someone familiar with both human technology and fae magic. He ordered me to contact someone he trusts.”
Luke’s attention sharpened. “You told someone about the drive?”
“I told him we recovered a human storage device that may be connected to hostile magic and required isolated equipment to examine it. I did not give him your name, Hale’s, or any details about the warehouse.”
“But you arranged for him to see it without asking me.”
Tyson didn’t retreat behind the king’s authority. “I arranged the possibility of Koios’s assistance. I did not promise him the drive. Whether he examines it remains your decision.”
Luke studied him. He didn't like that the conversation had happened without him, but Tyson had shared only what was necessary.
“Who is Koios?”
Asterius lowered his food. The room didn’t fall silent, but enough of the others took notice to tell Luke the name carried weight.
“Koios has considerable knowledge of the human realm and its technology,” Connal said.
“Can you trust him?” Luke asked.
“Yes,” Tyson said.
“With our location, Connal and his brothers, and everything that happened at the warehouse?”
Tyson did not take offense at the question. “King Silenus trusts Koios with his life. So do I.”
Luke turned to Connal. Tyson’s assurances mattered, but Connal had followed Luke into the warehouse and trusted his judgment against a threat he didn’t understand. Luke could offer him the same.
“Koios saved our king,” Connal said. His gaze held Luke’s. “I trust him.”
Luke still intended to ask questions before anyone touched the drive, but he could agree to the meeting. “All right. When do we leave?”
“Tomorrow morning,” Tyson said.
“Before I contact Hale?”
“Yes. Koios needs time tonight to secure the equipment and location before we arrive. Nothing he uses to examine the drive will be connected to an outside network, and no one beyond Koios and those present will know the meeting occurred. I’ll collect you at first light.”