“We do not act blindly,” Rhen said.
Cole turned from the fire.
“We cannot afford to do nothing.”
“We also cannot afford to react exactly as the sender expects.” Rhen’s voice remained calm, which made the warning beneath it more dangerous. “We identify the paper, the wax, and the route the courier took. We find out how the sender compelled a human and directed him here without being identified.”
Dax leaned forward.
“That brings us back to X.”
The name altered the room.
Malakai signed,There has still been no contact.
“X would not disappear without cause,” Cole said.
“Unless he cannot return,” Dax replied. “If he has been captured, broken, or coerced, they may be using what he knows.”
“No.”
The word came from Rhen too quietly.
All three brothers looked toward him.
Rhen’s jaw moved once.
“X does not break easily, and he would not vanish without leaving something behind. If he chose betrayal, there would be signs in the places he knew we would search.”
Malakai watched him closely.
Belief is not evidence.
“It is more than we have against him.”
Dax reached for the unopened bottle of blood near his elbow and turned it slowly between his hands.
“What do we do until we know?”
Rhen stood.
“We tighten the perimeter, monitor the civilians, and watch the roads leading to the stronghold. Nobody enters without being identified, and no rumor involving Norse is dismissed as harmless.”
Cole’s expression shifted.
“And you?”
Rhen’s eyes moved toward him.
“You’ve barely stopped moving since Leena died. Are you certain you are all right?”
Rhen went still beside the door.
“Don’t.”
The warning carried no volume, but Cole understood it.
Rhen opened the door and left the room without looking back.
