“Where are you going?” Erick asked.

“You two keep on the mission. Do what we discussed,” Elias said while sending several texts. “But have the sedan leave me at the private airstrip near the helipad.”

“Are you going to fill us in?” Caspian inquired as they approached the waiting car.

Elias slid into the front seat, leaving the back for his brother and Caspian. “Not until I’m in the air.”

“So you’re about to do something you shouldn’t,” Erick said, in a tone that suggested he’d been there, done that, before.

“Yes. I’m about to cut the head off the snake.” Elias sent two more texts as the sedan sped away from the street scene. Darkness was almost upon them, the city lights beginning to glow along the sidewalks and skyline.

“Holy crap. You’re going to Weithan Isle,” Erick said with sudden enlightenment.

“What? Weithan—Elias. We have no proof yet,” Caspian said.

“No, we don’t. What if our guys can’t locate the assassin? What if the man strikes before security can act, and leaves the area? We need a backup plan. We need to make sure he doesn’t set up to try again tomorrow, or the next day. Or next week. Enough is enough.” Elias’s patience had come to an end. He disliked the feeling of being one step behind, and now he intended to put himself ten steps ahead.

Caspian cursed as he pulled out his phone. “Do I mention Valentina?”

“Not yet. Let me get there first, or Thane will call Weithan Isle in an uproar, demanding answers. Just tell them most of the truth—Erick tracked the assassin with the help of the forensic team, and when we closed in on his location, we discovered him gone as well as his weapons. All of that is no lie,” Elias said.

“Father will skin you alive,” Erick boldly predicted.

Elias could not argue that, or worry over it. “Then I will remind him of his and Leander’s escapades, once upon a time.”

“Once upon a time,” Erick said with a snort. “They’re still in the game. I’m surprised we didn’t run across dear old Dad in the assassin’s hotel room.”

Elias actually laughed, as did Caspian. Sander’s penchant for being many steps ahead of everyone else was well known in their secretive group.

“Don’t mention it to him, either. At least not yet,” Elias said. “Or he’ll show up at Weithan Isle and ruin my plans.”

“I’ll hold off as long as I can,” Erick said.

“I’ve got to say it, Elias, because you’re a good friend and because I’d hate to see you get into serious trouble over this. You’re taking an enormous risk,” Caspian said, all hint of amusement gone from his words.

Elias glanced back. “It runs in the blood.”

---

For the first half hour after Bero explained the situation, Inari paced the Crypt in restless circles. It had been decided that the best place for her to take cover, for now, was right there in the subterranean cavern. Bero stationed ten guards at the top of the stairwell, and another five stood near the door to the Crypt itself. It kept her away from all windows, which had, it appeared, seemed a possible way for a strike.

So she paced, hands wringing together as nerves set in, her thoughts scattered across a variety of scenarios.

Elias, Lisbet, her father and mother. Her brother. An attack on their castle in Somero, an attack on Rehn Castle in Imatra. No one knew positively where the shooter was, or where he might show up next. Only that the man and his weaponry had disappeared from his hotel room and that her father, along with Caspian’s guard, had taken defensive positions at each location.

No one would tell her where Elias was or where he was going. She only knew he was not with Caspian and Erick, who were on their way back here. Perhaps he had returned to Latvala, or gone to Somero. She could not guess his instincts and reactions, not yet.

Memories surfaced of their kiss. Of how warm and pliant his mouth had been against her own. She thought of their combined efforts in the Crypt, searching for clues, and how, with each hour that passed, she’d become more engrossed in Latvala and Imatra’s history. It spoke to the bloodline she carried, the royal duties she was expected to perform over her lifetime. She felt a connection to it all for that reason. Kings and queens, blood and battle. It was writ in their past, writ in their future. She had a deeper desire to learn more, research more, and thought she understood that aspect of Elias’s personality from a better point of view. He was a deep thinker. Introspective. Thoughtful.

And the more she learned, the more she wanted to know.

Would she get the chance? Was Elias embarking on a new, more dangerous mission?

She continued her circuits, keeping the claustrophobic sensation at bay. The suffocating feeling was trying to creep in at the edges and overwhelm her as she’d been overwhelmed beneath Kallaster Castle.

Finally, she sat at the table and pulled the journal closer. That was when she remembered she’d found nothing more of interest inside. Nothing to advance the troubles between Latvala and Imatra or clues about the crest.

She returned to the bookcase and picked up where she left off. The intensive search would, she hoped, produce something as interesting and consuming as the journal inside the box.

Anything to keep her mind off assassins and the trouble Elias might be getting into on her behalf.