Page 139 of Twist of Fate

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 “The authorization may have been revoked when the basement system went offline.”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.”