Page 132 of Under Arthur’s Protection

“Dr. Lyons?” Dr. Hopkins said, folding his arms. “I’m a patient man, but not as patient as you seem to think I am.”

“My analysis connecting the sword and the church inscriptions to the cave at Tintagel. A Hospitaller inventory from 1312 confirming the inscription at the church.” Ignoring the goosebumps climbing up and down my arms, I forced myself to keep looking at Dr. Hopkins. If I met Rick’s eyes, I’d lose my nerve. “Your name is in the email, with a list of research you’ve discredited to keep people away from Tintagel.”

His eye twitched. That last part was the key. That was what he wanted buried.

“If I don’t get out of here and shut the email off, the BBC, Sky News, CNN, and every major news outlet in the world will be reporting on the carving”—I took a gamble, hoping I was right about what they’d said—“inside the Passage at Merlin’s Cave.”

Dr. Hopkins stood and crossed to the door. He flung it open and said to Big Hands, who was waiting outside, “Take her.”

Big Hands came in, a wicked grin on his face.

Oh shit. Had I said enough? Was the cave really what they called the Passage?

“If you hurt her,” Dr. Hopkins said to Big Hands, “I’ll take you out in the boat myself.”

Rick pushed off the table. “She’s stalling. She doesn’t⁠—”

Hopkins held the door open, glowering at Rick now. “Move her to one of the bedrooms in the main wing. And this time, put a man outside her door and keep him there.”

“You’re going to⁠—”

“Dr. Lyons, I want you to understand.” Hopkins turned back to me, and for a half-second, the mask slipped. He looked tired, as though a weight on his shoulders had just grown heavier. “The work we do here has mattered for a very long time. I don’t expect you to believe that right now, but I hope in time⁠—”

“In time?” Rick cut him off. “You’re talking to her like she’s a fucking colleague.”

“Watch how you speak to me.” Hopkins’s weariness disappeared, and he let go of the door. To me, he said, “Letting this information get out carries significant risks. I’ll speak with you in the morning, and we’ll see if we can’t figure this out.”

Rick grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the chair. He gripped harder and pulled me close enough to rasp into my ear, “You won’t stay this lucky for long.”

Chapter 40

Arthur

Two dark utility vehicles, headlights off, approached Lance and me at the top of the lane. I checked my watch. Seven o’clock on the dot.

I’d picked this spot for the height of its hedges and the dead spot in its cell coverage—five minutes from the estate’s outer wall, but hidden from it by the hill. Rain plinked off the gate rail beside me. Fog had climbed the nearby cliffs since we’d parked, cutting our view to a short stretch of road. The cover was thin, but the sun had set half an hour ago. In those conditions, eight men could cross open ground as indistinct shapes.

The fog was on our side this time.

The fist that had been tightening around my heart for the past three and a half hours squeezed a little tighter. I didn’t try to push it aside. I held on to every ounce of fear for Gwen as a reminder: we had to get this right.

Emotional connections are dangerous.

Fuck yes, they were. But they were worth it.

A successful op was about motion, not emotion. Under normal circumstances, I ran an op with the right one. But tonight? I held onto the fear, and I wouldn’t let it go until I had her safely away from these people. Bravery was my currency tonight.

“I want you in overwatch,” I said to Lance. “North of the chapel. You’d own the whole west lawn.”

“Not a fucking chance.”

“You’re better on a scope than⁠—”

“I’m going over the wall with you.” He didn’t raise his voice, and he didn’t reach for a joke, which from Lance was an answer all by itself. “She’s in there, Arthur. I’m not sitting on a hill.”

I patted his shoulder, part of me wanting to order him to stand down, part of me happy to have him with me.

The vehicles pivoted and parked nose-out, ready to leave in a hurry. Doors opened, and eight men stepped out into the rain, easing them shut. One of them nodded to me, but they immediately went to work. Tailgates opened, and they kitted up in silence. Suppressed carbines. Night optics. Flex cuffs by the bundle. Soft armor, radios, gloves.