Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Connal raised his hand to open a portal.
Luke caught his arm. “Not directly onto the roof.”
“I had not intended to. I do not know what is waiting there.” Connal looked down at the hand gripping him.
The torn nail had left blood across Luke’s fingers, and bruises were already forming around his wrist. “I am taking us to Hale’s office.
We know the terrain, and it will place us close enough to approach the roof without emerging inside an ambush. ”
Luke considered that, then released him. “That works.”
Connal opened the portal.
This time, when Connal entered Hale’s office, Luke stepped through beside him.
The ruined room had changed since Connal and his brothers first entered it.
Smoke had thickened beneath the ceiling.
The shriek of the alarm had stopped, but flashing lights still pulsed silently along the walls.
Wind rushed through the broken windows, scattering papers across the bloodstained carpet.
Keir and Zer emerged behind them, followed by Asterius and Tyson. Avaneel remained tucked into Zer’s hair, only her eyes and the top of her head visible between the strands as she studied the room.
Connal held the portal until everyone had crossed, then allowed it to close. Luke was already moving. He stepped over the wreckage and headed toward the corridor, Hale’s keycard in his uninjured hand. Connal fell into place beside him.
“The roof access is past the executive elevators,” Luke said. “There should be a stairwell at the end of the hall.”
“Should be?” Asterius asked.
“I didn’t make a habit of wandering onto the roof during working hours.”
“A regrettable lack of curiosity.”
“I was busy.”
Luke’s stride remained steady, but Connal saw the stiffness he tried to conceal each time he drew breath. Every protective instinct demanded that Connal stop him, lift him, or send him somewhere safe while the warriors finished what remained.
He did none of those things.
Luke remained steady at his side, and Connal trusted him to say if that changed.
The first security door stood open. The second did not.
Luke pressed Hale’s keycard against the reader. The panel flashed red.
“Try again,” Tyson said.
Luke swiped it a second time. The lock remained engaged.
Tyson examined the panel. “The authorization may have been revoked when the basement system went offline.”
“Or someone locked the route behind them,” Keir said.
From the other side of the door came the unmistakable sound of footsteps on concrete. Everyone stilled.
Avaneel slipped free of Zer’s hair and darted upward. She pressed one tiny ear against the narrow space above the door, wings trembling with the effort of holding herself still.
Then she looked down at them.
“Something is moving on the stairs.”
Tyson looked from the locked door to the corridor behind them. “There is another route.”
Asterius followed his gaze toward Hale’s office and the shattered windows beyond it. A slow smile spread across his face.
“You are going to let me ride you.”
“I am going to carry you to the roof,” Tyson said stiffly.
“That is what I said.”
“It most certainly was not.”
Luke looked between them. “Am I missing something?”
Tyson turned and headed back toward the office. “Only Asterius’s determination to make every situation more difficult than necessary.”
“It is a gift.”
Connal understood Tyson’s intent. The exterior approach would place him above whatever moved through the stairwell and allow him to determine what waited on the roof before the rest of them emerged. Once they landed, Asterius could protect Tyson while he returned to his usual form.
Connal caught his brother’s arm as he passed. “You observe first. Do not engage alone.”
Asterius glanced toward Tyson’s retreating back. “I will not be alone.”
“That was not reassurance.”
“It was not intended to be.”
Connal and Luke followed them into the ruined office. Keir and Zer remained at the locked door while Avaneel continued listening from above it.
Tyson stopped several strides from the broken windows and rolled his shoulders once, his attention fixed on the open air beyond them.
Magic gathered around him.
Luke went still beside Connal.
The change swept over Tyson in a rush. His human form expanded as tawny fur covered powerful limbs and great wings unfolded behind him.
His hands struck the floor as talons, followed by the heavier impact of a lion’s hind paws.
Feathers flowed over his head and neck, bronze beneath the flashing emergency lights, until a griffin stood amid the wreckage where Tyson had been.
For several heartbeats, Luke said nothing.
Then he looked at Connal. “He could do that this entire time?”
“Yes.”
“Anyone else planning to turn into something enormous?”
“Not at present.”
“That is not as reassuring as you think it is.”
Asterius approached Tyson with entirely too much satisfaction. Tyson lowered himself, one wing dipping toward the floor. His sharp beak opened with a warning snap.
“I know, I know,” Asterius said. “No comments about mounting.”
Tyson snapped at him again.
“I said I wouldn’t.”
Asterius climbed onto his back and settled between his wings. Tyson rose, then spread those wings wide, filling what remained of the office and sending loose papers spiraling through the air.
Luke stepped back. “Is there any chance they’ve done this before?”
“Tyson is an accomplished flier,” Connal said.
“I meant with Asterius on his back.”
“No.”
“Thought so.”
Tyson launched through the shattered windows.
For one terrible moment, griffin and rider disappeared beyond the edge. Then bronze wings surged upward, catching the air and carrying them past the broken windows toward the roof. Asterius’s laughter drifted back through the opening.
Tyson answered with a furious screech.
Luke watched them climb. “I’m beginning to understand why those two irritate each other.”
“They have only recently begun.”
Connal turned back toward the corridor. Keir and Zer guarded the approach to the locked door while Avaneel remained above it, listening to the movement beyond.
Tyson and Asterius would approach from the sky.
The others would take the stairs.
Connal drew his sword. “Open the door.”
Luke pointed beside the lock. “The frame is weakest there.”
Connal drove the edge of his sword into the narrow seam. Keir braced one hand against the door while Zer caught the opposite side of the frame.
“Again,” Luke said.
Connal forced the blade deeper. Metal shrieked, the frame bowing until the lock tore free with a sharp crack. Keir caught the door before it slammed inward.
A concrete stairwell waited beyond it, lit by pulsing red emergency lights. Footsteps rang from somewhere above them, moving away.
Avaneel darted through the opening and rose above the first landing. She hovered there, head tilted as she listened. “They are still going up.”
“How many?” Zer asked.
“More than a few.” Avaneel glanced toward the stairs curling overhead. “The echoes are all tangled.”
Connal entered first. Luke moved beside him, with Keir and Zer guarding their backs. The stairs climbed only two levels, but Luke’s breathing grew tighter with each one. Connal adjusted his pace without comment. Luke noticed anyway.
“I’m fine.”
“I can see that.”
“Then stop slowing down for me.”
Connal faced forward. “No.”
Luke muttered something under his breath, but he kept climbing.
They reached the final landing. The roof-access door stood partly open, its locking mechanism shattered and a dark streak of blood crossing the threshold. Through the gap came the scents of burned metal and unfamiliar magic.
Connal’s wrist began to burn.
He stopped.
Keir hissed behind him. Zer went silent.
Luke turned. “What is it?”
Connal pulled back his sleeve. The sigil encircling his wrist glowed beneath his skin, faint but unmistakable.
“The Queen’s magic,” he said. “Something on the roof carries its touch.”
Luke’s attention fixed on the glowing mark. “The staff?”
“Perhaps.” Connal flexed his hand against the burning beneath his skin. The sigil had been created to guide them toward the stolen staff, but it offered no direction now. Only recognition. “Whatever is on the roof carries enough of the Queen’s magic to awaken the mark.”
“Meaning we still won’t know what caused it until we get up there.”
“Yes.”
Keir pushed back his sleeve. His sigil glowed with the same faint light. Zer’s did as well. Connal looked toward the partially open door. Whatever waited beyond it carried enough of the Queen’s magic to awaken every mark she had placed upon them.
He eased the door open another few inches.
Wind swept into the stairwell, cold and sharp with the scent of smoke. The rooftop spread beyond the threshold, crowded with ventilation housings, industrial piping, and equipment Connal could not identify.
One structure stood near the center of the roof. Metal cabinets and angled panels surrounded a raised platform crowded with antennae. Thick cables ran from it to a separate bank of equipment humming beneath bright security lights.
“The receiver?” Connal asked, gesturing with his head.
Luke nodded.
A second structure waited near the far edge of the building, unmistakably magical. Black supports formed an arch taller than any man, filled with restless green-black power. The darkness inside it moved like smoke trapped beneath glass, pulling toward a single object mounted at the base.
Connal’s wrist burned hotter.
The two structures were not connected. No cables ran between them, and the magic gathering around the arch did not touch the receiver. They were separate systems, and the forces surrounding them were divided as well.
A man in a torn, smoke-stained suit stood near the receiver, surrounded by three armed guards. A translucent barrier curved around them and the equipment, flashing each time magic struck its surface.
Across from them, masked warriors in black spread between the receiver and the gate. Connal recognized their clothing from the enemies they had fought below. Their leader stood closest to the arch, directing the others with precise movements.
Scorch marks scarred the rooftop between the two groups. The battle had already begun, but neither side had gained control.
On the opposite side of the roof, Asterius crouched behind a ventilation housing. Tyson had returned to his human form and knelt beside him. Asterius caught Connal’s gaze and pointed first toward the receiver, then toward the dark gate.
A warning: there were two threats here.
Luke leaned close enough to see through the opening. His expression hardened when he spotted the man inside the barrier.
“That’s Hale’s buyer. I didn’t think he’d survived the attack in the office.”
“The masked warriors?” Connal asked.
“They’re the ones who attacked him.” Luke watched the two groups through the opening. “They came through the windows before the buyer arrived, but the second he entered the office, they turned on him.”
“Then followed you below.”
“Some of them did. The others must have kept the buyer occupied while the basement team came after Hale and the system.”
A burst of magic struck the barrier surrounding the receiver. Light flashed across the rooftop, illuminating the buyer’s face as the impact drove him back a step. One of his guards returned fire, forcing the masked warriors to scatter behind the ventilation units.
Zer moved closer to the door. “The gate belongs to the masked ones.”
“Yes,” Connal said. The burning beneath his sigil intensified whenever the black-green power shifted. “And it carries the Queen’s touch.”
Luke’s gaze moved from the gate to the receiver. “This started with the drive.”
Connal looked at him.
“The attack at the drop,” Luke continued. “They knew what Hale was selling and tried to take the demonstration before it reached the buyer. If they’d succeeded, they could have disrupted the sale without exposing themselves.”
“But you escaped with it,” Keir said.
“So they escalated.” Luke’s expression hardened. “They attacked the meeting, killed Hale, checked the servers, and came up here to finish the job.”
“They seek to destroy the system,” Connal said.
“Every part of it. The buyer wants to own the tracker. The masked team needs it erased.” Luke glanced toward the leader standing beside the gate. “Hale got caught between two enemies.”
The masked leader touched two fingers to a dark stone at his throat. Green-black light pulsed beneath his hand, and his head tilted as though he were listening to a voice no one else could hear. A moment later, he inclined his head and signaled two of his warriors toward the receiver.
“He’s reporting to someone,” Luke said.
The attack at the drop had not been random.
Neither was the assault on Hale’s building.
Someone had begun with a quiet attempt to stop the sale, then escalated to a full assault on Hale’s operation when that failed.
They had known where to find Hale, when the buyer would arrive, and which pieces of the system had to be destroyed.
The leader directed the warriors on the roof, but he was still taking orders. Whoever stood above him remained unseen.
Connal studied the masked leader. “They are protecting someone.”
“That’s my guess,” Luke said. “The person who sent them believes this receiver could lead someone straight to them.”
“And that person commands magic connected to our Queen,” Keir said.
“Or possesses something that does,” Zer added.
Connal looked at the burning sigil. It offered no answer, but Luke was right. The buyer was the enemy standing in front of them. The greater threat remained hidden, directing the attack from somewhere beyond their reach.
Asterius rose slightly behind the ventilation housing across the roof. He pointed toward the receiver, then slashed one hand across his throat.
The warning came too late. The hum of the rooftop equipment deepened.
Luke turned toward the sound.
Lights awakened across the receiver one after another, racing along the raised platform. The angled panels shifted with a mechanical whine, turning away from the masked warriors and the buyer.
One faced Connal and his brothers. Another rotated toward Tyson and Asterius.
Connal’s sigil erupted with white-hot pain.
Keir and Zer doubled over behind him. Across the rooftop, Asterius grabbed his wrist. The receiver’s lights changed from white to red.
Luke caught Connal’s arm, staring at the burning mark beneath his skin.
“It found you.”