Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The word remained beneath the message.
Read.
Somewhere in the human world, the man who had sent Luke to the warehouse now knew Luke had survived what happened there.
“He has seen your message,” Connal said.
“Yes.”
“Then why has he not answered?”
Luke leaned back in the rolling chair, leaving his phone untouched on the table. “Because men who control other people’s time enjoy making them wait.”
Tyson glanced over from the security monitors. “That has also been my experience.”
“My king has never required such games to establish his importance.”
“No,” Tyson said. “His crown generally handles that for him.”
Luke’s mouth twitched, but his gaze remained on the phone.
Connal wanted to take Luke back to the Unseelie. The message had been delivered. Remaining inside the human building gave an unknown enemy more time to find them, and every minute spent waiting asked Connal to trust defenses he could neither feel nor understand.
The conference room itself offered little reassurance.
The table was too flimsy to provide meaningful cover, and the single door gave them only one route into the larger office.
Even the windows beyond Tyson’s desk looked across a stretch of concrete filled with human vehicles instead of offering a useful view of the surrounding streets.
Connal crossed to Tyson. All three security feeds showed no changes.
Zer stood near the elevators, his arms folded as he watched the empty corridor.
A faint flicker near his shoulder marked Avaneel shifting beneath his hair.
Keir had positioned himself beside the second stairwell, while Asterius paced the parking entrance with increasing impatience.
None of them had encountered a threat.
That did not mean one was not coming.
“How long can you conceal our location?” Connal asked.
“The protections will remain effective until we leave,” Tyson said. “Whether anyone is actively attempting to trace Luke’s message is another question.”
“Can you determine that?”
“Not without revealing more about this network than I am willing to expose.”
Connal disliked the answer. He respected it anyway.
When he returned to the conference table, Luke had not changed position.
Only the movement of one thumb against the edge of his chair betrayed how much the waiting cost him.
Connal stopped behind the chair. He wanted to stay close enough to protect Luke, but standing over his mate would accomplish nothing except make Luke feel watched.
He pulled out the neighboring chair and sat.
Luke glanced toward him. “Getting comfortable?”
“No.”
“Good. I’d hate to think the furniture was growing on you.”
“The castle would have provided better chairs.”
“The castle would probably have grown me a couch and tucked a blanket around my legs.”
“If that was what you required.”
Luke looked at him for a moment, his expression softening before he turned back to the phone. “I’m okay.”
Connal had begun to recognize the difference between Luke saying he was unharmed and Luke asking not to be pressed. This was the latter. The bond tugged restlessly beneath his skin, but Connal let the silence return and waited beside him.
Tyson moved quietly between the monitors and the black device protecting their connection.
Beyond the conference room, Connal’s brothers maintained their positions.
The building continued its ordinary human functions around them, unaware that six creatures from another realm waited inside it for one man to decide their next move.
One hour passed, then another.
By the time Luke’s phone vibrated against the table, the last light had vanished beyond the windows, leaving only the office reflected in the glass. His hand closed around the phone before the sound ended.
“Hale,” he said, glancing at the screen.
Luke opened the message and read it without speaking.
Connal waited until his gaze reached the end. “What does he say?”
“Do not attempt delivery. Maintain possession of the package. Remain off-grid.” Luke’s eyes narrowed as he read the final instruction again. “Contact my office at nine tomorrow morning from a secure line.”
“He does not ask what happened at the warehouse.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Luke set the phone on the table. “Either he already knows, or he doesn’t want my answer in writing.”
The possibility that Hale had known about the trap brought Connal halfway out of his chair. Luke caught his forearm before he could stand.
“We don’t know which one it is,” Luke said. “That’s why I didn’t accuse him.”
“You are willing to obey him without knowing?”
“I’m willing to let him think I am.” Luke released Connal and looked toward Tyson. “Did the protection hold?”
Tyson checked the black unit connected to the office network. “Nothing in the exchange identifies this location. If anyone attempts to follow the path, they will find several convincing lies before reaching a dead end.”
Luke nodded. “Then we’re done here.”
The speed of the decision reassured Connal. Waiting had been necessary while Hale’s answer could give them useful information. Now that it had arrived, remaining inside the office would only create an unnecessary risk.
Tyson sent a brief message through his device. “The others are returning.”
Luke powered down his phone before disconnecting it from the protected network. He packed the charging cable and laptop into his backpack and closed it. Before lifting the strap over his shoulder, he checked the small watch pocket at the front of his jeans. The drive was still secure.
Zer entered first, Avaneel’s glow briefly visible through his dark hair before she tucked herself more deeply beneath it.
Keir followed from the second stairwell.
Asterius arrived last, carrying the unmistakable restlessness of a warrior who had spent too long guarding an entrance no enemy had attempted to use.
“Please tell me something happened,” Asterius said.
“Hale answered,” Luke told him. “The delivery is suspended. I’m supposed to keep the drive secure and contact his office tomorrow morning.”
Asterius frowned. “That is not enough to justify the time I spent watching humans struggle to position their conveyances between painted lines.”
“One struck a column,” Tyson said.
“That was briefly entertaining.”
Zer ignored them both. “Do we remain here?”
“No,” Luke said. “Hale ordered me to stay off-grid until tomorrow. The safest place to do that is somewhere human technology can’t reach me.”
“The king will require an account,” Zer said.
“I’ll give him one.”
“You should return to Gomez first,” Connal said.
Luke looked at him.
“You promised to tell him what happened. He will be concerned.”
The surprise that crossed Luke’s face lasted only a moment, but Connal saw it. He had listened when Luke made that promise. Remembering it should not have been remarkable.
Luke seemed to think it was.
“Yeah,” Luke said. “I did.”
“I will report to Silenus,” Zer said. “Keir and Asterius can give their accounts of the office and its approaches. Tyson can explain the human protections.”
“I am certain His Majesty will enjoy that tremendously,” Tyson murmured.
Asterius clapped him on the shoulder. “Do not worry. I will make the account interesting.”
“That is precisely what concerns me.”
Luke headed toward the office door. “You can argue about the report on the way.”
“The way where?” Connal asked.
Luke adjusted the backpack against his shoulder and looked at the five fae gathered around him.
“We’re going back to the Unseelie,” he said. “But first, I’ve got to see a clown about a nuggie.”
Connal looked at Tyson.
The attaché sighed. “He wants to purchase food.”
“Then why did he not say that?”
“Where would be the pleasure in that?” Asterius asked.
Luke chuckled and kept walking.
They left the office suite together and entered the parking structure through the guarded access point.
A dark human conveyance waited near the elevators, large enough to hold all of them without forcing Asterius to fold himself into an unreasonable shape.
Tyson spoke briefly to the driver before directing everyone inside.
Luke gave the driver an address, then settled beside Connal and rested the backpack between his feet.
He kept one hand looped through its strap throughout the journey.
The trip took only a few minutes. When the conveyance stopped, Connal looked through the window at a brightly lit building surrounded by painted images of food.
A smiling creature with red hair and a painted white face watched them from one of the signs.
Connal frowned. “That is the clown?”
“Yep.”
“It should not be near anything people intend to eat.”
“That’s a widely shared opinion.”
Luke climbed out before Connal could ask why humans continued displaying it. Connal followed, scanning the vehicles, the windows, and the people moving through the entrance. No one appeared to be watching for them, although several stared once Asterius unfolded himself from the conveyance.
Luke noticed too. “Try not to cluster.”
“We are walking through the same door,” Keir said.
“Then cluster less threateningly.”
Asterius smiled at a human who had stopped beside a nearby vehicle. The man hurried away.
“That was not less threatening,” Luke said.
“I was being friendly.”
“You showed him all your teeth.”
“They are excellent teeth.”
Luke shook his head and entered the restaurant.
Warm air carrying the scents of salt, hot oil, and cooked meat met them inside. Voices competed with the chiming of machines behind the counter. Children darted between tables while their parents attempted to contain them with varying degrees of success.
Connal stayed close to Luke as the brothers spread themselves through the ordering area. Zer remained nearest the door, Avaneel completely concealed beneath his hair. Keir studied the room without appearing to do so. Asterius stared up at the illuminated menu with open fascination.
“They place the meat between bread,” Asterius said.
“Yes,” Luke replied.
“With cheese.”
“If you want it.”