Page 45 of Curses & Keys (Curses & Gods #1)

MATHIAS

“ F ound them,” I inform Jamison as I stride into the living room. With a grimace, he carefully sits up. “They’re alive. Has Gatlin returned?”

His brow furrows. “Not yet. I’m worried. It’s not like him.” He stares at me. “Something’s wrong. What is it?”

Ignoring his question, I press him on Gatlin. “Think the council detained him?”

“Probably,” he says, raising a hand to his head. I grab him a pain pill and some water, which he takes immediately. “I need to contact my father and find out what’s going on.”

He reaches for his phone and dials. When his father picks up, he puts it on speaker. “Where is Gatlin?”

His father gives a harsh laugh. “Where do you think? He’s in interrogation.

The council is considering a trial. Against you.

They want to gather all the evidence they can before they charge you.

” He exhales loudly. “You’ve ruined our family name.

Embarrassed me. And the humans are still out there causing chaos, threatening to expose us. ”

“You have no right to hold him,” Jamison coolly states, although I can tell he’s worried about what they’re going to do to him.

“We have him on camera, at the hospital, helping you escape,” his father spits out. “He knew the council’s orders and decided to ignore our authority.”

Jamison curses loudly. “He reports to me. I ordered him to get me out of there.”

“Then turn yourself in, and we’ll consider letting him go,” Lord de Vere promptly says. “I’m sure they’ll be lenient on you. Ask for your resignation. Require you to make a public apology to those poor families who lost a loved one. Not too bad, considering.”

Jamison’s jaw tics. “I’ll think about it.” He hangs up and looks at me. “Until we have a handle on our enemies and the traitor, I want to avoid the council. We need a plan to break him out.”

“I built our security systems. I’ll help Gatlin, but first, I need to stash you somewhere safe,” I tell him. Knowing he’s going to protest, I hold up a hand and continue. “It’s only until you recover. If we stay in London, they’ll find us.”

“Damn it,” he curses. “I fucking hate this. Where are you taking me?”

“To her,” I tell him. His eyes drop to conceal the spark that lights in their depths. “Do you need anything before we go?”

He shakes his head. After covering our tracks at the safe house, we step into a portal to her place.

“It’s Mathias,” I call out, not wanting to be shot.

She comes around the corner, gun in hand, but tucks it away the moment she sees us. Her face lights up the second her gaze lands on Jamison. Sparks fly between the two of them as they drink each other in.

I glance down at him and catch the daggers in his eyes. He’s pissed that she’s seeing him like this. Vulnerable. Hurt. Even though it’s temporary.

I raise an eyebrow. “Couch or bed?”

“Couch,” he snarls, raising a hand to his head.

I set him down gently and hand his medications to Phaedra.

“I’ll be back soon. I have to get Gatlin.

” I leave out the part where I’m going to have to break into the council to get him out.

There’s no reason for her to worry. “I didn’t have a chance to tell Jamison about Hawthorne. Maybe you can fill him in.”

Jamison opens his mouth, but I shake my head, silently telling him not to say anything. She’ll only worry more. His mouth firms, and he agrees.

Phaedra sits down beside him on the couch, her fingers lightly tracing the tight lines around his face. “How bad is it?”

Leaving them here is tough. All I want to do is stand guard, ready to slay anyone who comes through that door. My fangs ache with the need to tear into our enemies. Damn . The old me is starting to show. Not now .

With a flick, I disappear into a portal and arrive at my favorite safe house in London.

Firing up the computer, I watch the large monitors flicker on, one by one.

Time to get to work. I flex my fingers and begin to search the council’s numerous holding facilities.

Over the years, I’ve slowly overhauled every single security system, conveniently leaving myself a back door in case we were ever hacked.

Never thought I’d use it to commit treason.

Each screen shows a different facility. Images fly by too fast for the human eye to see, but vampires have the unique ability to process things at a much faster speed. Maybe because we can move so much faster than other supernaturals.

There. I stop the camera and watch six guards escort Gatlin from a holding cell into an interrogation room. Based on the large scowl he’s wearing, he’s pissed. I’m surprised he’s cooperating.

I switch to another angle on a different screen while this one continues to run. Inside the interrogation room, Daegan walks in with a frown on his face and sits across from Gatlin. That’s strange. Is he going to conduct the interrogation?

“Leave us,” Daegan orders the guards. When they don’t move, flames appear in his eyes. “That’s an order. Unless you want to see how fast I can fry a mage?”

They scramble out the door, unwilling to incur the wrath of his dragon. Interesting. They were willing to defy the council leader, though. From the narrowed look on Daegan’s face, I’m guessing he’s aware of more than he’s letting on.

Daegan glances at the mirrored wall behind Gatlin, then slides a piece of paper across to him. He folds his arms while Gatlin reads it.

I try different angles, but the rooms were designed to listen and watch, not read a piece of paper. The sheer size of the two of them obscures most of their actions as well.

Gatlin lifts his head and considers the man across from him, then nods. Daegan takes the paper and with a slight puff, burns it to ashes and stands.

“Good luck,” he tells Gatlin, then strides to the door. “Put him in cell block four. I’ll send additional guards to relieve you in a couple of hours.”

The guard stiffly nods. He jerks Gatlin up by his cuffs, and Gatlin snarls at the guard.

It’s so unusual, I keep watching. Once Gatlin is in the cell, the guard picks up his cell and provides the holding cell number to someone on the phone.

Traitor. Furious, I click over to the cameras in cell block four and glance at the clock. This happened two hours ago.

On screen, a portal opens in the back of the cell and Gatlin walks into it. As he passes under the camera, he flashes two fingers, then disappears.

Hurriedly closing everything down, I open a portal and step into our number two safe house. A knife across my throat greets me at the door. I strike his hand and scissor my two daggers across his neck.

“You forget who I used to be,” I say with a chuckle.

His golden eyes stare back at me. “No, you forget. I’m simply reminding you. All these years you’ve hidden behind that bloody laptop, playing a role that defies your true nature. War is coming. Which one will you embrace when it hits?”

Stiffening, I throw him a bland smile. “You know why. Nolan would never have left me alone if I’d continued to be a threat to him. It would have endangered us all.”

He scoffs. “Bullshit. You wanted to hide the monster inside.”

“Maybe I did,” I admit in a low voice, not wanting to admit it. “What did the paper say?”

He stares at me for a long second but finally drops the topic. “He’s aware that the mages and vampires are involved. They’ve been quietly eliminating shifters, Fae, and elves in key positions and lobbying to replace them with their own candidates. One was a close friend of Daegan’s.”

“So, it is a coup,” I say, thrusting a hand through my hair. “The humans are a distraction. Did you get a chance to tell the humans about the vampires?”

Gatlin shakes his head. “No.” He pauses. “Daegan believes the two factions were working together until they had a falling out. Regardless, the council cut us loose. They won’t support our continued investigation. Daegan asked us to continue, although he can’t protect us if we’re caught. I agreed.”

Movement outside alerts me to the intruders the moment they enter the building. “Time to go.” With a flick of the stylus, a portal opens. A moment later, we step into Phaedra’s house in Rome.

“It’s Mathias,” I call out.

Gatlin slides a questioning glance at me.

When we step into the living room, Hawthorne is lying motionless on the bed.

Jamison and Phaedra are sitting on the couch, heads close together, examining a blue and gold panel.

That must be the one they found in Hephaestus’ temple.

She looks up and sees Gatlin. Her eyes scan him from head to toe as if she’s searching for injuries, then she sighs in relief.

“Jamison told me the council locked you up,” she says, flicking an irritated glance at me. “If I’d known Mathias was going after you, I would have gone with him.”

Gatlin practically preens at her words. “I’d rather you stayed safe. Besides, Mathias didn’t have to rescue me. Daegan set up an escape.” He proceeds to share their conversation.

Jamison’s jaw locks, and a tic appears. “A fucking coup. What the hell is my father thinking?”

“Who’s leading the vampires? I doubt it was the woman I saw,” I ask with a frown. “There’s no way this was planned overnight. Everything is too coordinated. But I will say, bringing the humans in as a distraction worked. We never saw it coming.”

“Maybe the humans aren’t just a distraction,” Phaedra says with a concerned expression on her face. “What if they’re using the coup to expose themselves to the world? They almost succeeded in Greece.”

Jamison shakes his head. “My father’s always been opposed to exposure. I doubt he’d change his mind.” He pauses. “But I never thought he’d side with humans either.”

“Could be the reason for the fallout,” Gatlin interjects. “Vampires want it. Mages don’t?” He looks from me to Jamison. “But where do Phaedra and the key and panels come in?”

“They must think they hold some kind of power,” she speculates.

“We won’t know until we find them, but I’m beginning to believe they’re right.

” She picks up the panel in front of her.

“This didn’t come easy. It almost cost Hawthorne his life.

We have to get to the other four and figure it out before our enemies find us. ”

Doran’s drawing is in front of her. “They have this panel, which I think is the lid. There are six gods on it. Two panels were found in Hephaestus’ temple. If I’m correct, the next panel will be on Delos. The birthplace of Apollo and Artemis.” She taps each of the gods in the drawing.

“I’m going with you,” I state firmly.

She shakes her head.

Gatlin crosses his arms over his chest. “I’ll go with her. You stay here and figure out where the next one will be.”

Phaedra stands and glares at us both. “Neither of you is going with me. Look what happened the last time.” She motions toward Hawthorne. “If I hadn’t asked him to go, he wouldn’t be in this state.”

Gatlin steps closer. “If he hadn’t been there, maybe you wouldn’t have made it or have the panel. Ever think of that?”

She lifts her chin. “I would have found a way to start the fire.” Her hands are on her hips as she stares up at Gatlin with a defiant expression on her face. “These tests are meant for me. Remember?” She holds up her left palm.

An obstinate look crosses his face, and he crosses his massive arms. “This is not a negotiation. You’re not going alone. Pick. Me or Mathias.”

She turns toward Hawthorne, indecision warring on her face.

Jamison tugs on her hand. “They’re right. Hawthorne knew the risks. From what you’ve told me, he could have stopped at any time, but he didn’t.” His cool logic penetrates her anger.

“Fine,” she capitulates and looks at me. “I want to leave at dawn.”

Not liking the dark circles under her eyes, I start to question the timing, but one sharp glance from Jamison stops the words on my tongue. He’s right. If I ask her to wait, she’ll go without us.