Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The corridor widened as they approached the king’s council chamber. Two Unseelie guards stood outside the doors, but neither challenged their approach. The doors opened before Connal reached them. Power filled the chamber beyond, familiar now but no less commanding.
Silenus waited near the center of the room with Cosmo at his side. Zer, Keir, and Asterius had already gathered around them, along with Tyson. Avaneel sat on Zer’s shoulder, one hand tangled in his long dark hair.
Connal’s brothers had arranged themselves around the king without appearing to do so. Zer stood nearest Silenus, while Keir watched the chamber from the opposite side. Asterius had chosen a position near Tyson that served no defensive purpose Connal could identify.
Connal entered with Luke beside him. Their joined hands drew a brief glance from Zer, followed by the slightest lift of his brow. Connal ignored it.
Silenus turned his attention to them.
Connal released Luke’s hand to place his fist over his heart and incline his head. “My king.”
Luke offered his own respectful bow. “Your Majesty.”
“You have both recovered?”
“Yes,” Connal answered.
Luke glanced at him. “Mostly.”
Connal resisted the urge to dispute the qualification in front of his king.
Silenus’s gaze moved over them before settling on Luke. “Asterius and Keir provided their accounts of the warehouse last night. You will have an opportunity to add anything they did not witness.”
Luke nodded. “Understood.”
“The meeting was delayed so we would not be limited to speculation.” Silenus looked toward the gargoyles. “Igneous, give us your findings.”
Igneous stepped forward. “The containment structure had been installed inside the warehouse. Whoever created it used the foundation and support columns as anchor points.”
Keir frowned. “We found no visible wards.”
“You were not meant to,” Balthazar explained. “The markings were concealed against the concrete, and the anchors remained inactive until the structure was triggered. Before it closed, there was nothing visible to identify it as a containment structure or reveal what it was designed to do.”
Connal remembered the pressure forcing him to one knee and the grid of magic sealing the warehouse around them. He had sensed the unnatural stillness before entering, but nothing had warned him what would happen once he crossed the threshold.
“What caused it to activate?” Silenus asked.
“We cannot determine that from the residue,” Igneous said. “It may have responded when sufficient magic crossed its boundary, or someone outside the structure may have triggered it.”
“Outside?” Asterius asked.
“The structure was designed to close around its targets,” Balthazar said. “Anyone controlling it would have been safer beyond its reach.”
Luke pressed his shoulder against Connal’s.
“What was it designed to contain?” Luke asked.
“Magical beings,” Igneous answered. “The structure would not have activated for an ordinary human. Once it recognized magic within its boundary, it sealed the space and suppressed the power of whatever had triggered it. Anyone caught inside would have been unable to leave, but the restraint itself was designed for magical beings.”
Asterius folded his arms. “It did more than seal Connal and Luke inside.”
“The pressure Connal and Luke experienced was part of the restraint,” Balthazar said. “The more power a captive used against the structure, the more force it returned.”
That explained why the attack had focused so quickly on Connal. He had reacted first and fought hardest, giving the structure more of his magic to seize.
“The spell that remained attached to me,” Connal said. “What do we know of it?”
“A binding strand,” Igneous confirmed. “You escaped before it completed its hold, but part of the structure had already fastened itself to your power. Had the healer not removed it, the strand would have continued draining you.”
Anger moved through Luke’s expression. “Could it have killed him?”
“Yes.”
The single word settled heavily over the chamber.
Connal turned toward Luke. His mate’s face had gone pale, but Connal felt the fear beneath Luke’s control through the unfinished bond.
“I survived,” Connal said quietly.
“That doesn’t make it less dangerous.”
“No,” Connal agreed.
Silenus allowed the exchange before returning to Igneous. “Was the structure intended for Connal and his brothers?”
“The residue cannot identify a particular target,” Igneous said. “It was designed to contain any sufficiently powerful magical being who entered.”
“Then we cannot assume whoever prepared it knew Connal and his brothers would accompany Luke,” Silenus said.
Tyson stepped closer to the center of the room. “But they expected someone magical to enter the warehouse.”
Cosmo’s expression sobered. “A human warehouse. Whoever prepared it anticipated that the drive would attract attention from beyond the human world.”
“Or intended to capture whatever came looking for it,” Keir added.
Connal looked toward Luke. His mate had entered the trap because his employer redirected him there after the original exchange failed. The attackers had wanted the drive, but the warehouse had also been prepared to restrain any magical being drawn into the conflict.
Those two purposes could be connected without being identical.
Luke appeared to reach the same conclusion. “Whoever prepared the warehouse might have known I wasn’t alone. Or they could have prepared the trap because they knew the drive would attract magical attention, even if they didn’t know whose.”
“Correct,” Silenus said. “We have evidence of intent, not identity.”
Silenus looked toward the gargoyles. “Could you determine where the magic originated?”
“No,” Igneous answered. “The residue was too degraded to identify its source.”
The answer disappointed Connal but did not surprise him. Their sigils had given no reaction at the warehouse. Nothing connected the structure to the stolen staff or the secret mission that had brought them into the human realm.
Not yet.
“Then we will not assign an identity the evidence does not support,” Silenus said.
Luke looked toward the king. “Hale sent me to that warehouse after the original exchange was compromised.”
“You believe he selected the location?” Silenus asked.
“I know the instruction came through his office. I don’t know whether Hale chose the warehouse himself, someone told him where to send me, or the message was manipulated before it reached me.”
“And the drive?” Silenus asked.
Luke touched the small watch pocket at the front of his jeans. “It came from Hale’s assistant. I was supposed to deliver it to a contact Hale selected.”
“Then your employer remains the clearest path between the drive and the trap,” Silenus said.
“Yes.”
Connal already knew what Luke would propose. Every protective instinct rose in protest, but he did not speak over his mate.
Luke met the king’s gaze. “I need to contact Hale.”
Silenus regarded him steadily. “How?”
“By giving Hale what he expects,” Luke said. “A report that the warehouse was compromised, the drive is still secure, and I’m waiting for new instructions.”
Connal reached for Luke’s hand. “Contacting him will confirm that you survived.”
“My silence has already told him something went wrong. If I contact him, I can control what I reveal. If Hale was involved, he’s wondering whether I survived and what I know. If he wasn’t, he’s wondering why I haven’t reported.”
“And his response will tell you which?” Silenus asked.
“Not by itself.” Luke glanced toward the gargoyles. “But I know how Hale normally handles a failed exchange—what questions he’ll ask, what information he’ll give me, and what precautions he’ll expect me to take. If he breaks from those habits, I’ll know something has changed.”
“And if he directs you to another location?” Connal asked.
“I don’t go charging into it.”
Connal did not find the promise reassuring. Luke had already entered one prepared trap because he believed reaching the drive’s intended recipient was worth the risk. Connal could not assume he would not make the same calculation again if Hale offered him the possibility of answers.
Luke met Connal’s gaze. “We examine whatever he sends before anyone moves. If he gives me a location, Tyson’s contacts can watch it. If he asks me to return to the office, we decide whether approaching him is worth the risk.”
“We decide,” Connal repeated.
“Yes.”
The answer came without hesitation. Luke was not asking to act alone. This time, he was making room for Connal in the decision.
Silenus turned to Tyson. “Can you arrange a secure location in the human realm?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I have access to several properties unconnected to Luke, Hale, or the warehouse. I can have one checked before we arrive and provide whatever human equipment Luke requires.”
“I’ll need my laptop,” Luke said. “It’s in the backpack in Connal’s chamber. I may not use it to make contact, but there could be information on it I need.”
Tyson inclined his head. “I will see that it comes with us.”
“No message will be sent until the location is secured,” Silenus said. “Nothing Hale provides will be acted upon until it has been examined. You will report what you learn before proceeding further.”
Luke nodded. “Understood.”
“And you will not make contact alone,” Silenus said.
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“I will accompany you,” Connal said.
Luke turned toward him. “If Hale sends me somewhere, your presence might activate another trap.”
“Then I will wait until the location has been examined and remain beyond the structure’s reach.”
Connal disliked the concession even as he made it. Fighting at Luke’s side had barely been enough to get them out of the warehouse. However, insisting upon standing there again would mean little if his presence activated another structure designed to capture magical beings.
Luke’s thumb moved once across the back of his hand. “Close enough to reach me if something goes wrong.”
“Immediately.”
“That works.”
Silenus watched the exchange with an expression Connal could not read. “Asterius, Keir, and Zer will remain available until we understand the nature of the threat. Tyson will coordinate the human arrangements.”
The king rose, bringing the council to an end. “The rest of you will prepare, but no one enters the human realm until Tyson confirms the location is secure.”
Everyone inclined their heads.
As the others began moving toward the doors, Silenus’s attention settled once more on Luke. “We do not yet know whether your employer is responsible for the warehouse. Until we do, he will be treated as both a possible source of information and a possible threat.”
“That’s how I intend to treat him.”
Silenus accepted the answer with a slight inclination of his head.
Connal followed Luke from the council chamber, their hands still joined.
The meeting had given them a course of action, though not the one his instincts demanded.
He wanted an enemy he could confront and a danger he could destroy.
Instead, they had questions, a silent drive, and a man in the human realm who might have sent Luke into a trap.
For now, they would proceed according to Luke’s plan.
But Luke would not face whatever came next alone.