House of Royale (Secret Keepers #4)(59)

Lexen looked at his phone again, moving the screen with his thumb. I wondered if he was deliberately drawing out the moment. Annoying Laous was one of life’s little pleasures.

“We’re getting close,” he eventually said.

Emma leaned toward me, and I lowered my head. “He’s checking in with Astoria,” she breathed into my ear. “We have to stall Laous until we know everyone is safe back there.”

“How much longer?” I asked, trying to be quiet, but failing because I was getting spooked.

Emma shrugged, pulling me down again. “They took out that front group who were without hostages. Our people have taken their place in the hope they’ll trick the other members of Gonzo scattered around. Roland managed to fry their comms, so it’s working so far. Some of the other houses have gotten Daelighters situated around Astoria. So far, we’re looking good.”

My eyes flicked to the side. Laous was about twenty feet away and a little back from us. “Didn’t he say he was keeping in touch?”

“Not sure how he could be,” Emma said. “All of the overlords are blocking the network, and 90 percent of the town is out of cell service. Roland left one small part so he could communicate with Lexen.”

And we hadn’t seen Laous, or any of his people, with a phone. So why was he so unconcerned? It was like he didn’t even care what was happening back in Astoria.

A thought occurred to me. What if he wanted the Daelighters to take out Gonzo and whoever else was helping him? The little I knew of him, I’d never have guessed he was a guy who liked to share power. Getting rid of them would be in his best interest. Especially if he didn’t need their help any longer. Which had to mean that he was supremely confident he could get the stone from us now, even though he was vastly outnumbered.

But how?

“He’s up to something,” I whispered, keeping my voice down.

Emma nodded rapidly. “I think so as well,” she returned. “We just have to remain on guard, and make sure the stone does not come out of the ground until the town is secure. Then Laous will have nothing to use against us, and we are stronger than him.”

My worry didn’t abate even a fraction. It just didn’t make sense that he would bring only three of his people with him, one being Rao, who was clearly too beaten down to do anything.

We walked on in silence, all of us on high alert. The land grew steadily darker as the night wore on and the moon shifted across the sky. There were still no signs of human inhabitants, but the rustling in the bushes when we had to push through them made it clear animal life was still active in this area.

Lexen’s phone lit up and my attention went immediately to him. Emma gave my arm a squeeze and hurried to his side. I wondered if this was about Astoria and whatever was going on back there. “Stone is twenty yards away now,” Lexen said, loud enough for Laous to hear.

“About damned time,” Laous muttered. “I was afraid you were about to try and screw me out of this deal. And let me tell you, you definitely don’t want to do that.”

He tripped then, and it almost looked like a branch had slid across the ground where he’d been standing. Laous recovered quickly, his head darting around as he tried to figure out what he had fallen over. I saw Maya hide a smile, letting her head drop forward so her dark hair covered her face.

Chase.

I managed not to laugh, even though I really wanted to. It was the little things, seriously. We started to descend, the ground getting quite steep, and by the time Lexen stopped we were in a small gorge, a cliff face on one side and a creek on the other.

For the first time since we’d stepped into this land, there was evidence of humans: a fire pit, huge stones arranged in a circle with half-burned sticks inside. I could feel no heat from it though, and I hoped that meant this was just an occasional camping spot. There were also markings on the side of the wall. Emma went straight for them, her eyes alight.

“Amazing,” she whispered. “It’s like discovering hieroglyphics from an ancient tribe.”

She paused then, leaning closer. “Actually….”

I realized what she’d noticed, and I turned to Xander, lifting some of his blond hair so I could see the marks. He nodded. “Yes, they’re definitely Daelighter symbols.”

Laous regarded the wall, scowling. “Lucky you’re all so diligent in helping me with my task. I never would have found this location otherwise. There are a lot of wards here blocking the network energy, among other things.”

“Guess someone saw your evil ways coming a long time ago,” Callie said, staring daggers at him.

He moved in a flash, reached out to smack her in the face … or maybe grab her; it was hard to tell in the dark. Before he could touch her though, Daniel’s hand shot out and wrapped around Laous’s throat. He lifted the man with almost no effort, throwing him solidly back against the wall with the wardings.

Laous’s people—except Rao—immediately went into attack mode, lashing out with something that flashed brightly in the darkness. Lexen’s hand become a blur of white light; it looked like a path of ice followed the movement of his palm. He intercepted whatever had been thrown at us, sending it shooting off across the water that ran nearby.

“Stop,” Laous shouted, stumbling to his feet. “Let’s just get the damn stone.”