Page 104 of Twist of Fate

Either way, at nine, Hale expected a report from the same human courier who had left to complete a routine delivery.

Instead, he would speak to the mate of a fae warrior who understood what the drive had been meant to prove—and was ready to fight back.

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.