Page 77 of The Queen

“Isn’t there anyone else you could try? What about Violet or Robin?” If Edeth was responsible for this, surely she wouldn’t have seen my maid or a common citizen as a threat.

“No one’s picking up on the encrypted channels. This unit is shielded, but we can’t risk unsecured comms with the Imperatrix ships so close. That would lead them right to us.” Ghost got to his feet, scrubbing a hand through his wind-tousled hair.

Encryption. That reminded me of the note Yannix slipped me at the ball. “Where did you put that scrap of paper that fell out of my book earlier?”

Lex fished through his pocket, pulling it out. “I still have it.” He held it out to me.

I took it from him, but hesitated. Was it worth the risk? My enemies wouldn’t spend much time looking elsewhere before checking here. If this was a trap, the outcome would be the same.

“The Duke of Spectre gave me this and asked me to give it to you.” I handed the note to Ghost, careful not to lose it in the strong draft.

He scanned it and looked at me, then back at the paper, then back to me. “This is an encryption key for a secure comms channel. Why would he give this to you?”

“He said he regretted that he wasn’t able to help my mother, but if I needed anything, I shouldn’t hesitate to ask. It could be a trick, but if you want to contact the city…” I let the suggestion hang heavy in the humid air.

Shadow stepped forward, his midnight eyes fixed on the code in Ghost’s hand. “We didn’t, but now we might.”

“That’s true. Initially, I’d only wanted to check in, but there’s no response. Now I’m worried. Maybe he can tell us if something happened.” The concern was obvious on his face. He was my most optimistic mate. If he was troubled, it was a bad sign.

Ghost’s words lingered until Grey broke the silence. “Saphyra had a memory on our way back. It might shed some light on the situation.”

He paused, giving me time to decide if I wanted to share what I’d remembered. I didn’t. I never wanted to think about it again, but they needed to know. It affected all of us. Especially now.

My voice shook. “Edeth killed the queen. It was part of some sort of deal she had with the Imperatrix. She handed me over to the enemy soldiers with my mother’s blood still on her hands.” Hatred pulsed across my skin, constricting my heart like a steel band.

The color drained from Ghost’s face, and Shadow’s brows pinched together in anger. Lex had been silent on the subject, probably blaming himself for not seeing it when she’d been right under his nose all this time.

Stupid alpha pride.

I collected my hatred and pain and directed it at the immediate problem. “It changes nothing. We have to get the condenser to work or we’ve already lost.”

We couldn’t defeat the armada. We’d discussed that. If the ships got past the shield, that fight would be over before it started. The only way to stop them was the defense field. Without it, there was nothing stopping Edeth or the Imperatrix, and we might as well surrender.

I wasn’t ready to give up.

Ghost went back to the panel and pressed a few buttons. “The controls don’t initialize the shield. It just raises and lowers the hole’s cover, or whatever it is, and lifts a bunch of rods out of the grid in the center.”

A metallic clang echoed from the steel lined pit in the middle of the tower. The sound of gears and unseen chains rattled.

I held my breath.

From deeper than the light could penetrate, a flat gray platform rose. When it was even with the floor, it stopped. Ghost moved something else on the panel and a grid-work of hexagonal rods shot up from the middle.

“But now what?” I asked.

“We can send it down, but that’s all it seems to do.”

I motioned for him to wait before Ghost did just that. “Hold on. You’ve already tried sending it back. We’re missing a step somewhere.” I lifted the datapad that had been all but forgotten in my hand. It pinged cheerfully when I pressed my thumb to its cool glass surface.

“Search… control panel?” I asked, unsure of how this thing worked.

A lilting voice replied, “Search parameters have yielded unclear results. Please rephrase criteria.”

I glanced around at my mates. “Um… Search planetary shield condenser.”

An image of the tower we were in lit up the screen. “Selection displayed.”

I scrolled down. The first entry was the history of the defense field. It had an image of a blond girl sitting in a meadow of wildflowers with her back resting against a low cobbled wall surrounding what looked like a well. That picture morphed, displaying a slideshow of images over the ages. The well evolved into a tower as a castle was built around it. The pit was dug deeper with high-tech drills. Metal cladding was added, and then the grid and machinery to raise and lower the platform was installed.

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