Ryder did something on the keyboard, and then Kinsey was furiously pounding away at hers. A short time later, she let out a little whoop. Cain watched the two rows of monitors act as one huge screen as Kinsey hacked into the CCTV of where the email had come from.
“It’s an internet café,” Ryder said.
Cain’s gaze roamed around the screen to the various computers and people sitting at them. “We’ll never be able to figure out who it is.”
“Oh, ye of little faith,” Kinsey said with a smile.
Ryder chuckled, and all Cain could do was watch in awe.
“Here we go,” Kinsey announced as she hit the enter button with a flourish.
The monitors blinked, and Cain found himself staring at a woman’s face. The silver in her hair and her red eyes may be absent, but there was no doubt she was using glamour to hide herself. She kept her baseball cap pulled low, and her gaze scanned the café frequently as if she were worried about being followed.
“She looks scared,” Cain said.
Ryder blew out a breath and laced his hands behind his head. “If her email is legit, then she has every reason to be.”
“Or,” Kinsey said, letting the word linger for a moment, “she knew that we’d hack in and find her, so this is all a show.”
Cain shrugged. “Is it a chance we can take?”
“I doona believe it is, and I think once we tell Con, he’ll agree,” Ryder pointed out.
Kinsey’s lips twisted in a frown. “All I can think of is a trap. We’ve suffered enough.”
“But the Others need to be dealt with.” Cain got to his feet. “I’ll find Con and tell him the news.”
Ryder gave a nod. “I’m forwarding the email to his computer so he’ll be able to read it for himself.”
Cain left the computer room and made his way to Constantine’s office. The King of Dragon Kings was rarely far from Dreagan, but it wasn’t just their businesses of sheep and cattle as well as distilling whisky which kept him there. Con was the glue that held everyone together.
He was the one who had forged a way of life for them on Dreagan when they sent their dragons away after the war with the humans. He was the one who found a way for them to live among the humans thousands of years later while still hiding. It was the whisky that made them the most money, and no mortal who came to Dreagan even realized immortals lived there.
And that’s just how they wanted it kept.
However, the Dark Fae, and now the Others, were making that difficult. The Dark Fae had been after the weapon Con had kept hidden in his mountain. That weapon was now gone, though Con still wouldn’t tell any of them what it was.
While the Dark wanted the world to know about the Dragon Kings, the Others just wanted their death. The Kings had already been through so much as they encountered trap after trap from the Others, set millennia before in anticipation of their plan falling into place.
Cain didn’t believe that their paths were set before them. Or, at least, he hadn’t. The Others were proving his theory of free will false, because how else could a group of Dark and Light Fae and good and evil Druids know exactly what the Kings would do and when?
Cain stopped outside of Con’s office. The door was slightly ajar. He gave a quick knock.
“Enter,” Con said from inside.
Cain pushed open the door and walked into the office. Con sat behind his desk dressed in his usual dark suit and dress shirt, looking through a file that contained several papers as well as photos. He closed it and looked up at Cain with his fathomless black eyes.
“You have some jelly on the side of your mouth,” Con stated.
Cain reached up and wiped it off with the pad of his finger before sticking the digit into his mouth and savoring the last bit of sweetness.
“That tells me where you’ve been,” Con said. He sat back in his chair. “And I’m guessing the ding of my email is from Ryder?”
“There’s something you need to read,” Cain explained.
Con didn’t need to be told twice. He turned to the open laptop. It didn’t take him long to read the message in his inbox.
“Ryder and Kinsey determined that the note originated twenty-five miles away. They also pulled up the CCTV footage. The email is from a woman. She used glamour as well as a hat to help hide her face.”
Con’s gaze slid to him. He smoothed a lock of wavy blond hair from his forehead. “You doona think this is a trap?”
“I can no’ say for sure, but I think it’s something we should check out.”
“By the email, the Dark intends to tell us where the Others are meeting. Reply to her, and then go to the café and see if she returns.”
Cain raised a brow. “You want me to confront her?”
“She’ll tell you more one-on-one.”
“Or she’ll run.”
A quick smile pulled at Con’s lips. “She willna get far with you chasing her.”
CHAPTER THREE
Minimal magic. That’s all she could do without being caught, and even that was pushing things. Noreen rubbed her chest. It felt as if an elephant sat on her.
She had trouble breathing, and that didn’t even factor into the knot in her stomach that had kept her up all night. Maybe she was making a mistake. Were the Dragon Kings worth all of this? Were they worth her life?
No, they weren’t. Because they wouldn’t give their lives for her. She was a Dark, after all.
Noreen wrapped her hands around the cup of coffee to help warm them. She was ice-cold, and it had nothing to do with the weather. She dropped her head forward, letting her hair hide her face. But she felt even more exposed.
It had taken all her will not to return to the café until this morning. She wished she had some kind of device of her own so she could check her email as often as she liked. Instead, she was back at the shop this morning and waiting for as long as she could to check her email.
If she checked and there was no response, she wouldn’t allow herself to remain. It kept her in one spot too long, and that was something she couldn’t chance. She knew for a fact that the Others kept tabs on those within the group. Her time was running out in Scotland.
Noreen closed her eyes. If she was smart, she’d leave now. She could sign onto her email somewhere else. She didn’t need to be here. So, why had she stayed?
She knew why. She had thought to work up the nerve to go to Dreagan herself. Even when she had realized that she didn’t have it in her, she still hadn’t left. At this rate, she’d be dead within days.
She was supposed to be great at lying, moving about without being seen, and getting others to do what she wanted. Now, she was making rookie mistakes that only an idiot would make.
Noreen rose from her chair and made her way out of the café. She glanced to her right as she turned left on the sidewalk, and her heart jumped into her throat because she recognized one of the Others.
“Shite. Shiteshiteshiteshite,” she mumbled and ducked around the nearest corner.
Every instinct screamed at her to teleport away, but that’s what someone who had done something wrong would do. Noreen drew in a deep breath and steadied herself as she put her back against the building and bent her right knee, pressing her booted heel to the wall.