Page 66 of Wicked Bonds

The phone started ringing almost as soon as he stepped through the threshold.

“Luc,” Balthazar said as he walked over to the bed he hadn’t slept on in years. It probably wasn’t even the same mattress or original frame at this point. But it worked.

“Good to hear your voice,” his oldest friend replied.

Balthazar smiled. “I thought you might be worried.”

“Me? Never.”

A lie, but Balthazar let it slide. The Hydraian King always worried about his people. It was what made him a good leader.

“When did you turn your den into a computer?” Balthazar asked, the question serving as a good way to convey his current location to Luc without outwardly stating it. Balthazar might be on an encrypted burner phone, but that didn’t mean it was entirely safe to speak openly.

Especially since their resident tech genius, Mateo, was likely working for Osiris.

Unless it’s only been Vera all along,Balthazar thought, recalling his suspicions about her behavior. The distrust likely stemmed from what she’d done to his mind.

But his instincts rarely failed him, and right now they told him that Vera was hiding something. Something important.

And not just the detail about her working with Osiris.

“My regular screen only allows so many research tabs to be open at one time. So I improved the process by expanding the size to encompass the wall, but it’s still not large enough to keep up with my mental processing. It’s a work in progress.” Luc sounded a bit frustrated by the project.

Balthazar imagined his face would match the tone if he could see him, but this burner phone wasn’t built with that technology. With facial scanner tech being utilized throughout the world, they just couldn’t risk using an upgraded platform. It’d actually taken quite some effort for Jay to procure these old devices for this purpose.

“Everything good?” Luc pressed, curiosity lightening his tone.

“Yeah,” Balthazar replied. “Just business as usual. We’ll be staying here for a few days.” It was an important statement because it meant this home wasn’t currently safe for Luc to visit and might not be for the foreseeable future.

Leela would need to elaborate more on Seraphim protocols and what they would do upon discovery of this location. Would they monitor it? Forget about it? Destroy it?

“We were found quickly,” Balthazar continued. “But the fail-safes in place gave us enough notice.”

“There are certain countermeasures in place surrounding mycomputerthat should help you there as well,” Luc replied, his emphasis oncomputermeaninghome.

“Excellent.” Balthazar already knew Luc would have some sort of security system installed to guard his estate investment. Every property they owned maintained a similar framework for protection. Not just for the homes themselves, but for the potential occupants inside.

“Things are progressing here,” Luc told him, aware of the update Balthazar would want. “The retired Sentinel says it’s going to take four or five days to finish the review.”

The retired SentinelbeingGabriel Stark, Balthazar translated. Because he wouldn’t use that term to describe Tom or Stas.

The only other “retired Sentinel” in Hydria right now was Blake, and he definitely wasn’t involved. As far as Balthazar knew, the human was still recovering from whatever mindfuck John had done to him. The now-dead CEO of the Catastrophic Relief Foundation (CRF) was a piece of fucking work and had subjected Blake to a form of rehabilitation to punish him for not adhering to an order.

Similar to how the Seraphim apparently subjected their own to reformation when they showed signs of feelings or emotions.

“It would go faster if he had help,” Luc added. “But one of his allies is unaccounted for.”

Balthazar considered his statement for a moment, wondering if he meant Leela. However, that didn’t make sense. Luc wouldn’t factor Leela into the equation, as she had another mission—to distract the Seraphim.

Which meant he was referring to those with the power to help Stark reinforce the wards.

It’s not Osiris. Luc would never grant him safe passage in Hydria. So it’s either Stas, Sethios, Caro, or…“V?” he guessed, using her first initial rather than her name.

If Mateo was listening in and also a mole, then he would already know that Vera’s presence had been noticed. He would also be aware of Stark’s current task to fortify the wards. Therefore, they risked nothing by mentioning her first initial.

Unless the Seraphim were listening, in which case, they might be able to deduce the meaning eventually.

But that was a risk Balthazar accepted.