Page 143 of Kingly Bitten

Calina

“If the signalwent out on the watches worn by the Vigils unit at the server farm, then Damien already knows,” I said, halting Jace midstep again. “Unless that signal was meant specifically for us, triangulated somehow to this specific location or something.”

I glanced around, noting that none of this felt right.

“A protocol wouldn’t be set for the watch of a dead man,” I continued out loud. “And Lilith would have intended for that unit to die before returning here, something she would have conveyed to Lajos in the protocols. Which means that this might not be a trap at all, but a fail-safe engaged as a result of using the watches marked for destruction.”

She would have thought of every potential outcome, including the notion of Lajos betraying her and deciding to keep the Vigils alive—something I felt certain she would have been against. Allowing anyone to know too much would have been considered a weakness to her legacy and her operation.

Jace stared at me while I continued puzzling through all the procedures in my mind, searching for the path Lilith would have chosen.

She’d triggered the doomsday sequence at Bunker 47 upon her death. Yet she hadn’t destroyed any of the others, at least none that we’d found. Which meant she’d considered something there too valuable for anyone else to find.

But when the files hadn’t been sent as expected, a team of Vigils from this location had been sent to the server farm to retrieve them. They’d sent a copy to this location but were supposed to rendezvous at Bunker 27.

“Did Damien ever find out why they were supposed to go to Bunker 27?” I asked, my focus on Jace because he would understand my question since he was actively in tune with my mind.

He studied me as he replied, “I don’t think he ever gave them a chance to find out. He went in with guns blazing and cleared out the lab.”

“I wonder if they were sent there to die.” It would make sense. They’d already sent the files here, and they’d never mentioned a return mission, just that they were supposed to stop in Bunker 27.

Of course, the return mission had been implied.

But Lilith would never have intended for them to actually see it through.

She would have had another protocol waiting for them at Bunker 27, one where they would’ve been taken care of and the information would’ve been officially confirmed.

Except they had shown up with Damien.

And the security procedure had never been triggered.

“You have a mole,” I said, straightening my spine. “Who all knew that Damien was with the transport?”

“A mole?” Darius repeated.

Jace held up a hand, his gaze intent as he jumped through the logic in my mind. “Someone canceled the protocol.”

I nodded. “To lull us into a state of comfort.”

“So we would end up here,” he concluded, his attention falling to the watch. “Do you think it’s a fake timer?”

“I don’t think we can trust anything at this point,” I admitted. “It could even be a bluff. The security protocols at Bunker 47 sent the Vigils to each floor to wipe out all the occupants. But you haven’t heard the elevator move yet. That doesn’t add up.”

“You’re right.” He looked at Darius. “I don’t hear anyone except for us.”

“Are you thinking the bunker was evacuated?” Darius asked.

“I’m not sure,” he replied. “If this was a trap to kill us, the lab would have already exploded. And based on what we saw of Bunker 47, we would absolutely be dead.”

“So what’s the game here?”

“Checkmate,” Jace murmured, puzzling it through. “Lilith adored a good show. This is ours. Either we indulge her or we try to leave.”

“Or we outmaneuver her,” I interjected, realizing the key to all of this. “I’m supposed to be dead. There’s no way she accounted for me to be here.”

“But if I have a mole, as you suggested, then whoever is in charge now knows you’re here, too,” he pointed out.

“Yes. That’s true. But whatever this is, I’m the wild card.” Because I was supposed to die at Bunker 47. My files were the ones she’d wanted to have sent here. Something inside me was key to all this.