Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
Luke stared at the locations glowing across Koios’s screens. He understood now why someone had been willing to kill him for the drive. It wasn’t merely evidence that magic existed. It proved magical beings could be found, followed, and hunted.
Including Connal.
Anger settled cold and steady beneath Luke’s ribs.
“What time is it?” he asked.
Tyson checked his watch. “Eight forty-three.”
Hale expected Luke’s call at nine.
“The king must be informed,” Tyson said.
“He will be,” Luke said. “After the call.”
Connal looked toward Tyson. “Does Silenus know when Hale expects Luke to contact him?”
“Yes. He expects us to return with everything we learn from both the drive and the conversation.”
Asterius glanced at the phone. “Then we have seventeen minutes.”
“Enough time to decide what I need Hale to tell me,” Luke said.
Koios removed the drive from the reader and held it out to Luke. “The original remains unchanged. The decrypted copy exists only on this workstation.”
Luke accepted the drive. He would be carrying the original back within Hale’s reach. Leaving Koios with the evidence was the safest way to ensure it survived.
“Keep the copy. If Hale takes this from me, I don’t want it to be the only evidence we have.”
“It will remain isolated.”
“And if anyone compromises this location, destroy it.”
Koios inclined his head. “If this facility is compromised, the copy will be gone before anyone reaches this room.”
“Good.”
Luke returned the drive to the inner compartment of his backpack and secured the zipper.
The weight settled against his shoulder again, familiar but no longer mysterious.
Hale had sent him across the country carrying proof that someone could track magic.
Now Luke intended to find out how much Hale knew.
Luke intended to find out.
Koios crossed to an empty workstation and placed a cell phone on the desk beside it. “The call will pass through several temporary connections before reaching Hale’s office. Anyone attempting to trace it will find an ordinary commercial network several hundred miles from here.”
“And this location?”
“Will not appear anywhere in the path.”
“Can they use the call to reach your equipment?”
“No. The phone is not connected to anything in this room.”
Luke picked it up and inspected the screen. No stored contacts. No identifying applications. Nothing linking it to Koios or anyone else present.
“You do this often?” he asked.
“Frequently enough to have learned caution.”
That was answer enough.
Tyson moved closer to the workstation. “What do you intend to tell Hale?”
“As little as possible.”
“You know he’s involved,” Asterius said.
“I know he ordered me to deliver the drive. I know he redirected me to a warehouse where someone had prepared a magical trap. I don’t know whether he arranged the trap, knew what was on the drive, or was following someone else’s instructions.”
Connal’s expression hardened. “You still believe he may be innocent?”
“No.” Luke met his gaze. “I believe I need facts before I decide exactly what he’s guilty of.”
Connal accepted the distinction, although he clearly disliked every possibility it contained.
“And if he summons you?” Tyson asked.
“Then we decide what happens after we know why.”
The clock on the phone changed to eight fifty-nine.
Connal rested one hand against Luke’s back. The contact did not distract him. It reminded Luke precisely what the call was meant to protect.
At nine, Luke entered Hale’s office number and pressed the call button.
The line rang twice.
“Mr. Hale’s office.”
Patrick’s familiar voice carried none of the strain Luke had expected. Either Hale had told him very little, or Patrick was better at concealing concern than Luke had given him credit for.
“It’s Luke.”
“Mr. Bennett.” A brief pause followed. “Mr. Hale is waiting for your call.”
Of course he was.
“One moment.”
The line clicked before Luke could respond. Connal remained close behind him while Tyson and Asterius watched from across the workstation. Koios had returned to the other screens, but Luke doubted he had stopped listening.
“Luke.” Hale’s voice came through, clipped and controlled. “Is the package secure?”
No question about Luke’s injuries. No demand for an explanation of what had happened inside the warehouse.
The drive came first.
“Yes.”
“You’re certain?”
“I wouldn’t be calling otherwise.”
“Good. We’re moving forward. The buyer remains committed, and the exchange will be completed today.”
That answer eliminated one possibility. No one had slipped the assignment into Hale’s operation without his knowledge.
Hale had knowingly sent the drive to a buyer, remained in contact with that buyer, and intended to complete the sale.
Whether he understood exactly what he was selling remained unanswered.
“After two compromised locations, I’m surprised they’re still willing to proceed.”
“The buyer wants what you’re carrying.”
“And the warehouse was their choice?”
A brief pause followed.
“I passed along the location I was given,” Hale said.
Luke let the answer sit rather than pressing hard enough to make Hale retreat. “Then I’ll need to know what happened before I walk into another location.”
“This isn’t a conversation we’re having over the phone.”
“Then where are we having it?”
“My office. Come directly to me. I need the package, and I need someone I can trust while I determine who is working against me.”
The word trust almost drew a laugh from Luke. He kept his voice level.
“The warehouse location came from the buyer,” Luke said. “Are they also the ones working against you?”
“They deny involvement in either attack.”
“And you believe them?”
“I believe they still want the package.”
Not an answer. Hale was willing to continue the sale without knowing whether the buyer had attacked his courier—or he knew more than he intended to reveal.
“What should I expect when I arrive?”
“You’ll receive the full explanation then.”
Hale was finished answering questions. Luke recognized the finality in his tone because he had obeyed it for years.
He had also trusted the man giving the orders.
That part was over.
“I’ll have Patrick arrange transportation,” Hale continued. “Get back here as quickly as you can.”
“I’ll arrange my own.”
“That wasn’t a request.”
The last time Luke had followed Hale’s arrangements, he’d walked into a warehouse trap. He wasn’t surrendering control of his route too. “After the warehouse, it’s a condition.”
“You’re becoming difficult.”
“Being difficult has kept me alive.”
Hale released a controlled breath. “Fine. Make your own arrangements, but come straight to my office. No deviations. Be here by eleven.”
Luke looked toward Connal.
“And Luke?”
“Yes?”
“Come alone.”
The line went dead.
Luke lowered the phone but did not immediately set it down.
Hale had offered no name for the attacker and no reason to trust the buyer’s denial. What he had offered was access to his office—and an explicit instruction to enter it without anyone beside him.
“What did he say?” Connal asked.
Luke turned to face him.
“He wants the drive brought to his office.” Luke placed the phone beside the workstation. “He only gave me until eleven, and he wants me to come alone.”
“No,” Connal said.
The word struck the room with the force of a weapon.
Luke had expected it. That didn’t make what came next any easier.
“If I don’t go, Hale knows I’m no longer following orders,” Luke said. “He’ll move the sale and anything connected to the tracking system beyond my reach. We may never get another chance at the buyer.”
“He ordered you to come alone.”
“Because he either believes I’m still ignorant or wants to make certain I don’t bring help. Both give me a reason to go.”
“They also give him a reason to kill you,” Asterius said.
Luke looked at him. “He could have done that without inviting me into his office.”
“That is not comforting.”
“It wasn’t supposed to be.”
Connal stepped between Luke and the door. He didn’t touch him, but every rigid line of his body communicated the same refusal.
“You will not enter an enemy stronghold without protection.”
“I’m not asking to.”
Connal’s eyes narrowed. “You intend to go alone.”
“I intend to use protection Hale can’t detect.”
Luke looked toward Koios. “Based on those records, could the system detect someone like Connal simply for entering the building, even if he never used magic?”
“I cannot answer with certainty,” Koios said. “The results prove it detects magical energy. They do not establish whether someone must actively use power before the system registers them.”
“Then we assume the presence of magic is enough.”
“Yes.”
Connal turned toward Koios. “And if we opened a portal near the building?”
“That would almost certainly be detected if the location falls within the system’s range.”
A muscle tightened along Connal’s jaw.
Luke understood what he was asking Connal to do. Everything in the warrior demanded that he place himself between Luke and danger. This time, doing so could expose them both before either had a chance to act.
“Hale doesn’t know I understand what’s on the drive,” Luke said. “He expects the same courier he sent to complete the delivery. If I bring anyone the system can detect, I give away the only advantage we have.”
“You expect to enter, find the system, and destroy it alone,” Connal said.
“I expect to learn what Hale knows and where the sale is happening. What comes after that depends on what I find.”
“That is not a plan.”
“No. It’s an objective.” Luke held his gaze. “The plan needs to account for conditions we don’t know yet.”
Tyson stepped closer. “I can place human observers around Hale’s building before Luke arrives. They can monitor every public entrance, track anyone who enters or leaves, and alert us if the situation changes.”
“No intervention,” Luke said. “If they move too soon, Hale will know I brought surveillance.”
“They will observe only.”
“I’ll need transportation Hale can’t trace back to anyone in this room.”
“That can be arranged,” Tyson said.