We walked across. Luc immediately wrapped an arm around my waist and tucked me in close to his big, warm body. It felt like a homecoming.
Mo glanced at me. “They came here for you.”
“I figured as much when I discovered Winter was controlling the attack.” I swept my gaze over the nine men. They were all human, no half-breeds. I couldn’t help but wonder if they had any idea who they’d been working for. “I take it you’ve questioned them?”
“Just started to,” Barney said. He was a well-built man with silver-gray hair, craggy but handsome features, and kind brown eyes. “But aside from the groaner, they’re a closemouthed lot.”
“I’m going to fucking sue the lot of you,” the groaner shouted. “You’re legally obliged—”
“You gave up your legal rights when you accepted an assignment from Darkside,” Ginny interrupted calmly. “You’ll be lucky to see the inside of a courtroom, let alone a hospital.”
“We’re not fucking working for Darkside,” another man said. “I may be a gun for hire, but I’m not a traitor.”
There was something in his expression that made me think he was telling the truth. “Did a man called Winter contract you?”
The second speaker hesitated and then nodded reluctantly. “But not to kill anyone. We were just meant to flush you out.”
Me, not the others. “How did you find me?”
“Tracker.”
Mo swore. “Meaning I did miss one.”
“We talking magical? Or physical?” Ginny said. “Because the latter can be microscopic and often need specialist equip—”
“Indeed,” Luc cut in. “But this wouldn’t be the first time I’ve had to deal with them. We’ll be fine.”
“Yes, but I can call in help—”
“No need,” Mo said. “Can you, Mia, and Barney keep an eye on this lot and let us know when Jason and his team arrive?”
“As long as all you’re doing is removing a tracker and not planning your next course of action,” Barney said. “Because this shit is bigger than the three of you. You can’t keep going at it alone.”
She patted his arm comfortingly. “Trust me, I’m very aware of just how big this shit is, and I know exactly what it’s going to take to stop it.”
Barney’s expression suggested he wasn’t comforted by her words, and I didn’t blame him. But he didn’t object when she motioned Luc and me to follow and then strode toward the house.
“Given how thoroughly you checked my body the first time around,” I said as we headed into my bedroom, “I’m thinking the tracker is probably in my feet.”
“That is a favorite location of theirs,” Luc said. “Nanotechnology makes it very easy to insert under the skin, and the recipient is rarely aware of them.”
“Especially if the insertion area is already battered and bruised.” Mo shook her head. “I can’t believe I didn’t think to check your goddamn feet.”
“You might not have found it anyway,” Luc said. “They’re very easy to miss unless you know exactly what you’re looking for.”
He motioned me onto the bed. I dropped down and shuffled back so that only my feet hung over the edge. He knelt in front of me and examined my right foot. After several minutes of gentle probing, he released that foot and repeated the process with the other.
Within seconds, he gave a grunt of satisfaction. “And there it is.”
Mo bent and frowned at my foot. “I’m not seeing anything—not even an entry point.”
“With the new nanotechnology, you often don’t.” His gaze rose to mine. “It’ll have to be cut out.”
I drew Vita and handed her to him. “She’ll heal the wound.”
“Which suggests the connection between you and the two knives has grown,” Mo said.
My gaze met hers. “Yes. And that’s in part what I needed to talk to you both about.”
“Your tension made it pretty evident there was something you needed to discuss.” She hesitated, her expression edged with unease. “What happened in the tunnel after you were captured, Gwen? You never really said.”
“Two things—”
Luc pressed Vita’s point into my skin, and I jumped, though it didn’t actually hurt. He murmured a quick “sorry” even as he dug deeper.
I did my best to ignore it and continued. “The first—and probably the least important—is the fact that, after I’d called on the earth’s energy to bring down the tunnel, my lightning flowed via Elysian into the ground and seemed to use my awareness of the demons’ weight on the earth to seek each one out and cinder them.”
Mo’s gaze widened a fraction. “I would hardly call that unimportant.”
“So the other kings weren’t able to do something like that?”
“No—although it has to be said that none of the other kings was also a mage.”
“It could be argued that I’m really not, either,” I replied, amusement briefly rising. “But they were Aquitaines and could not only call and control fire, but also use the might of all four elements via Elysian.”
She smiled, though it failed to lift the seriousness in her eyes. “Yes, but none were able to individually target demons in the manner you described. For the most part, they simply unleashed a broad band of elemental energy at the attacking horde.”
“Got it.” Luc held up what looked to be a tiny microchip. “These things have a battery life of ten days, so it’s just as well we found it.”
“How can something that small have a life of ten days?” I asked, surprised.
He dropped the chip onto the carpet, then pressed Vita’s point into it and sliced it in two. “As I’ve said, nanotechnology these days is quite sophisticated.”
He returned Vita, then sat next to me on the bed, his arm and thigh pressed lightly against mine. It was intimate and yet not, comforting and yet not. It had the connection between us flaring to life, but for once didn’t offer a look into his memories or even his fears. It simply offered strength.
Which only made me hope that this wasn’t all there’d ever be between us, even as I knew that it might well be.
Because of what lay ahead.
Because of what I needed to do.
“And the second point? Mo asked softly.
I drew in a breath and released it slowly. “The second point is that I felt the presence of the Carlisle gate without having to step into the gray.”
Mo stared at me for several seconds, her expression a weird mix of surprise and consternation. “That truly shouldn’t be possible. Elysian was never designed to react to the gates in this world, only the other. She should be nothing more than a conduit for elemental or even your mage powers outside of the gray.”
“But if you actually think about it,” Luc said, “her ability to use Elysian as no other king has does make sense. After all, Vivienne not only declared that Gwenhwyfar’s fate was tied to the sword, but also that destiny and blood had finally converged in our timeline, with Gwen.”
Mo began to pace, her steps long and somehow angry—at the old gods and their plans rather than me, I suspected. “That doesn’t alter the fact that Gwen’s use of the sword is unforeseen and untested.”