Fated Blades (Kinsmen #3)(26)

He sighed. His fingers flickered across the console, and her own console lit up. She took a couple of seconds to orient herself, checked the plotted course, checked the radar, ran the math in her head on the storm bypass, and nudged the stick, altering course slightly. The aerial responded instantly.

“Smooth,” she said.

“I have them custom built.” He leaned back into his seat, reclining, raised his arms, and braided his fingers behind his head.

Matias in repose. She wished she could take a picture. Her brothers would lose their minds.

“Have you thought of what happens when we get to Adra?” he asked.

The festival was massive. Finding either Cassida or Gabriel even with the latest facial recognition software would be impossible. They had to rely on human psychology instead.

“Everything you told me about the Vandals suggests that subterfuge isn’t their strong suit.”

“That’s putting it mildly.”

His pose was still relaxed, but his expression hardened. Every time the Vandals were mentioned, Matias snapped into battle mode. Something had happened between Matias and the Vandals. Something beyond simply being warned about the danger they posed. He braced himself like a man who had been exposed to that danger firsthand. She was dying to know what it was. But Matias was a deeply private man. He trusted no one and revealed very little, and when he allowed her a glimpse into his thoughts, it felt almost like a gift. A small acknowledgment of the camaraderie they shared as partners. She didn’t want to press him for it. It would mean much more if he decided to tell her on his own.

Why does it even matter? Why do I care about what a Baena thinks of me?

“We won’t find Cassida,” she said. “Most likely her father stashed her away in some safe house filled with his private guards armed to the teeth. They’re maintaining a complete blackout, because they know the moment we notice any activity, we’ll descend on their hidey-hole with weapons hot and seco out.”

“Of course.”

“I don’t think Varden Plant will be that cautious. He and the other two Vandal officers we watched on Davenport’s recording have bulletproof Dahlia IDs, and they think like soldiers, not like spies.”

Matias nodded. “The Vandals will act as a unit. They will take over a hotel, some place they can secure, and once they do that, they will start patrolling the exchange site.”

She smiled. “Festival hotel prices are insane. People make reservations a year in advance. Forty Vandals applied for the asylum. We killed sixteen. So, we’re looking for twenty-four newly minted asylum seekers staying together and paying premium rates.”

“Shouldn’t be too hard.”

“They’ll stick out like a sore thumb. Once we find their reservations, following them will be a snap. People at the festival are happy and carefree. These guys will be the opposite of that. We’ll have seven days to learn everything we can about them.”

He frowned. “I always found it ridiculous. Perfectly reasonable people become tourists and suddenly decide that nothing bad can happen to them. It’s like a switch is flipped. Suddenly they’re drinking too much and stumbling through dark streets with their implants unsecured. They walk into traffic. They hang off the rails next to signs expressly forbidding it. They think every stranger is a friendly local.”

She shook her head. “Matias, do you ever relax? Do you even know what that word means?”

He smiled. “I do. I have even been known to allow myself a sensible chuckle on occasion.”

She squinted at him. “My family had you under loose surveillance since you were born. The only time I ever saw you laugh was when you stabbed Drewery’s career through the heart.”

“He deserved it.”

He did. Matias had been married for three years. It must’ve grated on him the entire time. Having met Drewery, she had no idea how he had endured for so long.

“I’m relaxed right now,” Matias said. “This is it right here. You’re watching it happen.”

“I feel so privileged.”

“You should.”

“Since you’re so relaxed, perhaps you could clear something up for me,” Ramona said. “I seem to recall an article I read about a month ago regarding that Monroe chemical spill. The provincial special prosecutor had filed a formal inquiry with the federal government requesting access to certain sealed records. Now why would he do that after two years?”

Matias shrugged.

“The article hinted that new information had come to light.”

Another shrug.

“It was you. You leaked it to the prosecutorial office.”

He sighed. “It bothered me.”

“Matias! An upstanding, conservative kinsman like yourself getting involved in politics. How brazen of you. What will the people think?”

Teasing Matias Baena. Like playing with fire.

“It’s not politics. It’s justice.”

Ramona hid a smile. Kinsmen like them didn’t get involved in government. It was a tradition as old as Rada itself. They occupied a special niche in the society, and like Drewery, they recognized that they didn’t represent an average citizen. The families lobbied to look after their business interests, and some were related to politicians through marriage, but if any kinsman ever ran for office, they would be shunned by their peers. If Drewery had bothered to pay attention, he would’ve realized that Matias would never break that tradition.