That look reminded Issac of Aidan, how he used to lose himself to the millennia of knowledge he kept stored in his head, never forgetting a single detail. It was why everyone considered the duo omniscient. They had lived through so much that they literally knew everything.
“Osiris sees us all as pawns in a war he intends to wage with the Seraphim,” the Elder said slowly. “I can’t imagine he was thrilled by Jonathan taking down some of his most valuable assets.”
“Osiris and Aidan were rather close,” Issac replied, recalling all the moments he’d witnessed between the two men over the last few centuries. “And he was fond of Anya as well.”
“Jonathan also destroyed the CRF,” Balthazar added. “He blew it up. I can’t imagine Osiris appreciated having all his experiments taken down in the process.”
“So John was no longer useful to him.” Aya leaned into Issac’s side, her voice soft. “Rather than try to save him, he allowed us to remove the problem from the chessboard and also triggered Clara to take the fall for the leak of information.”
“He would see her as an ideal pawn—she can only sense emotion, not control it.” Lucian’s pragmatic nature had taken over, his tone no longer irritated, just flat and to the point. “She’s expendable to him. Which means his real mole is far more valuable.”
“Jacque is valuable,” Balthazar said. “As are Ash, Tristan, and even Nadia.”
“It’s not Tristan,” Issac replied, confident. “He’s my best friend.”
“He also didn’t know about your test.” Aya radiated certainty through their bond, confirming she agreed with Issac’s assurance of Tristan’s innocence. He wrapped his arm around her, giving her a subtle squeeze to show his gratitude. She and his progeny weren’t friends. But her loyalty to Tristan meant a great deal to him.
“So we agree it’s someone who knew about the test,” Balthazar said.
Lucian nodded. “Yes. Unless Osiris has a spy in our midst who isn’t visible to our senses.”
“Technology?” Aya suggested. “Or do you mean a Seraphim?”
Issac frowned, her questions igniting a flurry of potentials in his mind. “Hold on. I think you might be onto something there.” He started to run through all the facts, piecing together everything they knew.
Clara’s phone records had indicated she’d spoken to Jonathan on numerous occasions. So they’d all suspected she’d called Jonathan to tell him about the wedding on the beach. They also assumed she’d warned him about the assault on the CRF headquarters. Just as she supposedly called to inform him of the location they’d given her—a false location that only a handful of people knew about.
But they’d tracked all those suspicions through one thing.
Technology.
His heart skipped a beat.
There was only one person on this island with the ability to control technology. That person also happened to be involved in all the planning, knew about the tests, and could have provided the details back to Jonathan for him to act.
Only, Aya’s comments about the culprit really working for Osiris gave him pause.
“We all agree that the guilty party reported everything to Jonathan, such as the wedding details and the pending assault on the CRF headquarters. But we also believe Osiris didn’t appreciate Jonathan’s actions.” The jigsaw pieces in Issac’s head were refusing to marry together. “The mole couldn’t possibly have been reporting to both because Osiris’s objectives differ from Jonathan’s destructive goals.”
They all fell silent for a moment.
Then Aya said, “Maybe John was the go-between. Osiris doesn’t strike me as being easily contacted. So maybe the mole was feeding information to him via John.”
“And Jonathan chose to act on the details rather than pass them on,” Issac added. “Which earned him a proper death sentence.”
Lucian and Balthazar hummed in agreement.
“So our mole has been working for Osiris this whole time but reporting through Jonathan,” Issac continued. “The question is whether or not he’s been compelled or if he’s been betraying us all for decades.”
“He?” Lucian arched a brow.
“Mateo,” Balthazar said. “That’s who he suspects.”
Issac was only mildly irritated at the mind reader for speaking his thoughts out loud. They had bigger problems. Particularly if Issac’s suspicion proved right. “He was in the inner circle, and he has the means with which to manipulate everything. Such as the technology around us. He’s also the one who provided Clara’s phone records, and he was the one in charge of the radios at the CRF—”
“The radios that failed,” Balthazar added.
“Yes. And he would be the only one capable of sending updates to Jonathan undetected because he manages the technological infrastructure of the island.” The more Issac thought about it, the stronger his suspicions became.
