Page 32 of Hidden Fate

Thorn sighed and leaned his head back on the couch.

We were all tired…so damn tired.

Standing, Vlad paced around the footstool in front of the television. “Everly and Eva know him better than any of us. He wasn’t the king’s hire, so Drake would have something to leverage over Uther to force him to remain loyal. Maybe he wants to be free, and we should meet him.”

Releasing my hand, Thorn straightened. “Dad, you can’t be serious. If it’s a trap, we’ll be handing ourselves over to them!”

Arching a brow, Vlad leveled his gaze on Thorn. “You should know I wouldn’t go in blindly. Nor do I think Everly and Eva would. We’d have to assume itisa trap.”

“That’s good.” Errol bobbed his head. “We’ll need to make sure no one is hiding at the meeting place and that he’s not followed.”

“We need to set up a location where we don’t plan on staying.” Vlad rubbed his hands together. “We’ll be ready at the real location and watch when he arrives. There’ll be no chance for others to get into position ahead of us.”

Thorn rolled his shoulders. “I could get behind that plan.”

“Wait.” They were missing something, or I’d lost my mind and wasn’t following. “We have one problem to figure out before we can get to the meeting logistics.”

Narrowing his eyes, Brenton focused on me. Then he snapped, “How to get the meeting scheduled without putting Wyvern and the thunder at risk.”

Exactly. “Even though I trust Uther, you all are right. Drake could be pulling his strings, so if Wyvern schedules the meeting, it’ll prove that he’s in contact with us, putting them all in danger.”

“Shit,” Thorn growled, and lowered his head. “You’re right. It doesn’t even matter if he’s trustworthy. We can’t risk it, which is more than fine with me. I didn’t like the thought to begin with.”

There had to be a way to fix this. “Errol, Brenton. Do you have any friends you trust at the château?”

“I do.” Errol rubbed a hand along his chin. “A maid who cleans my house, the château, and the house the guards live in on the grounds. I’ve known her since she was a child, and when her parents passed, I got her a job on the premises. I made sure she was provided for as best I could, and I know the type of person she is. She told me Drake was up to no good, but she refused to tell me specifics, and I thought it was his usual shenanigans like when he was younger. When I realized what Drake had done to Saphira, her warnings made more sense, but it was too late. Then the king asked me for help, and I knew it would get me back to my daughter. There was no question where my priorities lie.”

“Is there a way she could leave a message for Uther that no one else would find?” That might be impossible, but it could work.

Some of the worry ebbed from the connection as Thorn connected,You’re brilliant. Have I ever told you that?

My face heated. He actually hadn’t, but he’d complimented me several other ways.

Taking my hand, Thorn leaned toward me and said, “When I lived in the château, I remember the guards having their own lockers in the house where they log their weapons upon returning them into inventory. While the other maids are working, she should be able to slip a note into his locker undetected. Then they wouldn’t be able to guess who left the note. We just need a way of communicating with her.”

“Errol and I can drive several towns over and find a phone to call her.” Vlad grabbed a set of keys. “If they trace the call, it won’t compromise our location, and if they somehow get wind of the meeting, we’ll have it set up in a way that doesn’t lead them here.”

The plan was shaky at best, but it was the only option I could think of to get a message to Uther. We couldn’t risk giving away our location or proximity to Edna’s thunder.

“Now?” Errol’s mouth dropped. “I thought we were waiting on Edna.”

“We should leave the message as soon as possible if Drake has imminent plans we need to know about.” Vlad headed to the door. “The good thing is they won’t be sure who is connected to us, which will give the warriors pause before the meeting. We’ll schedule something for tomorrow night so they don’t have too much time to get things ready.” As he opened the door, I heard the faint sound of engines.

Someone was headed this way. It had to be Edna and the others they were bringing.

We headed into the yard as Vlad and Errol reached one of the Suburbans.

Edna’s car and a Ford Escape SUV pulled in a few yards back so Vlad and Errol could leave.

Edna climbed out of the car, frowning. “What’s going on?”

“We received some news, and Errol and I are going to drive several towns over to make a phone call.” Vlad opened the front door. “I promise we’ll go far enough that it won’t be traced back here.”

Edna’s forehead wrinkled, but all she did was nod as two older couples got out of the Ford, and Mindy shut the passenger door. The two older men stepped to the back and removed a pair of large suitcases as Mindy reached into the back seat and pulled out a duffel bag. This was the group who’d come to stay here.

The two women stared at us. The taller of them had thick gray streaks in her black hair and crow’s feet set deep around her pale brown eyes. She was about Saphira’s height, so she had several inches on me. The other lady was all gray, but her face was less wrinkled. Her baby blue eyes had a layer of white over the top like cataracts.

The shorter one smiled as her gaze settled on my mate. “Belinda, that’s him. The prince who saved Emily and our precious new baby.”

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