Page 20 of King's Reckoning
"Some kind of resonance," the professor said, running specialized equipment over the metal surface. "The alloy is responding to...something. Like it knows we're here."
"That's not possible," Reed said from his position by the door. But his hand rested on his weapon, and his eyes never left the artifact they'd retrieved from the warehouse.
Rowan understood his unease. The box didn't just look wrong—it felt wrong, like it was operating on frequencies just beyond human perception. Her mother's journal had warned about this, about "safeguards built by those who came before." But experiencing it firsthand was something else entirely.
"Flash's box never did this," King observed. He stood at Rowan's shoulder, close but not touching. Their relationship was still evolving, each revelation bringing new complications. "What makes this one different?"
Before anyone could answer, the clubhouse door burst open. Ace rushed in, his usual calm shattered. "We've got trouble. Big trouble."
"Devils?" Reed asked, already moving.
"Worse." Ace's face was grim. "They found Abby."
King went very still. "Where?"
"Hospital. Someone worked her over pretty good. But before she passed out..." Ace hesitated, glancing at Rowan. "She was asking for you, boss. Said she knows about The Archive. About Elena."
The name hit like a physical blow. Rowan saw King flinch slightly.
"She's lying," Reed said flatly. "Trying to play us."
"Maybe." King's voice was cold. "But we need to know for sure." He turned to Rowan. "Your mother ever mention someone named Abby?"
Rowan started to say no, then stopped. There had been something...a photo she'd found once, buried deep in Elena's things. A woman with striking features standing next to a much younger King. On the back, in her mother's precise handwriting: "The price of secrets."
"Who is she?" Rowan asked instead.
The silence stretched. Finally, King spoke. "Someone from the old days. Someone who might know too much." His eyes met Rowan's. "Someone who could destroy everything we're trying to protect." He was already reaching for his cut. "I should go alone."
"No." The word came from both Rowan and Reed simultaneously. They exchanged glances before Rowan continued, "Mom's journal was clear. We work together on this. Whatever Abby knows about her, about The Archive, we need to hear it firsthand."
"Besides," Reed added, "somebody worked her over for a reason. Could be Blackwood's people, could be Devils. Either way, she needs protection while we question her."
King's jaw clenched, but he nodded. "Fine. Small team. Rowan, Reed, Ace. The rest of you secure that box. Barbara, figure out why it's acting strange. And somebody get Darkness back here. I want extra security on the clubhouse."
The hospital corridors were eerily quiet at this hour, their footsteps echoing off sterile walls. Two prospects guarded Abby's room—men Rowan recognized from her surveillance of the club. They straightened as King approached.
"Any visitors?" he asked.
"Just medical staff," one reported. "But she's been in and out, talking crazy about some kind of archive and old burial grounds."
Rowan felt Reed tense beside her. Even delirious, Abby knew too much.
The woman in the hospital bed looked nothing like the photo Rowan remembered. Bruises mottled her face, and bandages covered what looked like defensive wounds on her arms. But her eyes… When they snapped open at their entrance, they were sharp with intelligence.
"Marcus," she rasped. "Took you long enough."
"Save it," King growled. "What do you know about Elena?"
Abby's split lip curved in a smile. "Which part? How she found The Archive? How she used it to control you? Or how she died protecting it?"
Rowan moved before she could think, but Reed caught her arm. "Easy," he murmured. "She's baiting you."
"Smart boy," Abby said. "But wrong. I'm telling truths nobody wants to hear. Ask your father about the night Elena left. Ask him what really happened to Flash. Ask him—"
"Enough." King's voice cracked like a whip. "You don't know anything."
"No?" Abby shifted, wincing. "Then why did Elena come to me that night? Why did she trust me with her secrets before she disappeared? Before she started training your daughter to finish what she started?"
