Page 127 of Twist of Fate

The lock housing split apart.

Light cut through the widening seam around the door.

Luke dropped the ruined archive module and searched for anything he could use as a weapon. The empty storage bay had left a narrow metal brace exposed. He wrenched it free and tested its weight.

It wasn’t much.

It would have to be enough.

The server-room door buckled inward as voices surged through the gap.

The live tracking array was disconnected. The stored data was destroyed. Somewhere beyond the concrete, steel, and distance separating them, Connal had become harder to find.

That had to count.

Luke squared himself between the ruined archive and the door.

If keeping Connal safe came with a price, Luke would pay it.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Connal stood over the plans for Hale’s building, memorizing the route to Luke for what had to be the hundredth time.

His brothers waited around him in the armory, armed and ready. Asterius had abandoned any pretense of ease. Keir stood near the door, silent and watchful, while Zer paced beside the table. Avaneel remained tucked within his hair, peering through the dark strands with unusual solemnity.

Tyson checked the time again.

The armory door opened.

A castle messenger entered, breathing hard from his rush through the corridors. “Word from Koios.”

Every head turned toward him.

“The building’s fire alarms have activated, and the humans are evacuating. The observers saw the upper windows breached from outside.” He swallowed. “Multiple masked figures entered through the opening.”

The threshold had been crossed.

Luke could no longer leave freely.

Connal reached for his sword. “We move.”

His brothers were already in motion. Tyson gathered the plans and the small human devices he had prepared.

Gomez stepped forward with them.

“You remain here,” Connal said.

“Like hell I do. Luke is my friend.”

“And you have no training for a fight involving magic.” Connal held his gaze. “Going through that portal would not help Luke. It would give us another person to protect.”

Gomez opened his mouth, anger flashing across his face, but whatever he saw in Connal’s expression stopped the argument.

“Bring him back,” he said.

“I will.”

“You’d better, bonehead.”