Page 107 of Twist of Fate

“Yes?”

“Come alone.”

The line went dead.

Luke lowered the phone but did not immediately set it down.

Hale had offered no name for the attacker and no reason to trust the buyer’s denial. What he had offered was access to his office—and an explicit instruction to enter it without anyone beside him.

“What did he say?” Connal asked.

Luke turned to face him.

“He wants the drive brought to his office.” Luke placed the phone beside the workstation. “He only gave me until eleven, and he wants me to come alone.”

“No,” Connal said.

The word struck the room with the force of a weapon.

Luke had expected it. That didn’t make what came next any easier.

“If I don’t go, Hale knows I’m no longer following orders,” Luke said. “He’ll move the sale and anything connected to the tracking system beyond my reach. We may never get another chance at the buyer.”

“He ordered you to come alone.”

“Because he either believes I’m still ignorant or wants to make certain I don’t bring help. Both give me a reason to go.”

“They also give him a reason to kill you,” Asterius said.

Luke looked at him. “He could have done that without inviting me into his office.”

“That is not comforting.”

“It wasn’t supposed to be.”

Connal stepped between Luke and the door. He didn’t touch him, but every rigid line of his body communicated the same refusal.

“You will not enter an enemy stronghold without protection.”

“I’m not asking to.”

Connal’s eyes narrowed. “You intend to go alone.”

“I intend to use protection Hale can’t detect.”

Luke looked toward Koios. “Based on those records, could the system detect someone like Connal simply for entering the building, even if he never used magic?”

“I cannot answer with certainty,” Koios said. “The results prove it detects magical energy. They do not establish whether someone must actively use power before the system registers them.”

“Then we assume the presence of magic is enough.”

“Yes.”

Connal turned toward Koios. “And if we opened a portal near the building?”

“That would almost certainly be detected if the location falls within the system’s range.”

A muscle tightened along Connal’s jaw.