Rykan sat beside her, his thigh pressed against hers beneath the table, radiating contentment Baylin was across from them, attacking his meal with hunger of a male who’d spent the day running through forests in beast form. Tomas presided over the table’s far end, eating sparingly but watching them all with quiet satisfaction.
“You should take a look at the eastern ridge,” Baylin said around a mouthful of meat. “It’s a perfect defensive position. Anyone approaching from that direction would be visible for miles.”
“Assuming they approached from that direction.” Rykan nodded thoughtfully. “The southern approach through the forest offers more cover.”
“True,” Baylin agreed, conceding the point. “But the terrain is rougher. Hard to move quickly if you’re carrying equipment.”
They’d been having variations of this conversation since returning from their exploration, debating tactical advantages and potential vulnerabilities with the easy familiarity of warriors who’d served together. She found it oddly comforting—proof that Rykan had people in his life who understood him, who could share the burden of constant vigilance.
“I received a message from Korrin today,” he said, turning to her. “He wants to set up a meeting with Soren. I know you prefer to discuss business in the city, but…”
“It feels more appropriate to meet him here,” she said immediately. “Are Korrin and Tessa coming with him?”
“Yes, and Soren’s mate. Who is also human.”
“There seems to be a lot of that going around,” Baylin muttered, then gave her an apologetic look. “Sorry. No offense.”
“None taken,” she said, “If someone told me I would end up mated to a Vultor a few months ago, I would have recommended an extended stay in a mental health facility.”
Tomas chuckled into his wineglass.
“I look forward to meeting them both,” she added. “And to seeing Korrin and Tessa again.”
Rykan nodded, a relieved look on his face. “I’ll make the arrangements.”
They moved on to other topics, the conversation flowing easily. But her mind kept returning to the journal and the mysterious entry about the southern communications relay. She waited until the household staff had cleared the dessert plates and discreetly withdrawn before she brought it up.
“I found something strange today.”
She tried to sound casual but from the way that all three of them immediately focused on her face, she didn’t think she’d succeeded.
“In the library.” She reached for her wine glass, organizing her thoughts. “I found an old journal from about twenty-two years ago. There’s a reference to a communications tower in the far south—coordinates, supply schedules, everything. But when I checked the electronic records, there’s nothing. No property deed, no construction permit, no mention of it anywhere in our official holdings.”
Tomas looked at her thoughtfully. “A tower?”
“The journal called it a ‘communications relay.’ And here’s the strange part—it’s still receiving automated supply shipments. Twice a year, every year, for over two decades.”
Silence fell over the table. Baylin leaned forward, clearly interested.
“Twenty-two years ago.” Tomas’s weathered face creased with concentration. “That would have been just before you were born, Miss Ember. Your father was… consumed with other matters at the time. Your mother’s pregnancy, her health, the preparations for your arrival.”
“Do you remember anything about a southern tower?”
Tomas was quiet for a long moment, his eyes distant. “There was something,” he said finally. “A conversation I overheard, not meant for my ears. Your father and another man—I never knew who—discussing something in the south. A research project of some kind. I assumed it was business related and thought nothing more of it.”
“And after?”
“Nothing.” Tomas shook his head slowly. “I never heard it mentioned again. Not once in all these years.”
She exchanged a glance with Rykan, reading the same questions in his golden eyes that churned through her own mind. A secret project, hidden from all records, maintained for over two decades without any acknowledgment of its existence.
What were you hiding, Father?
“The coordinates?” Baylin’s voice cut through her thoughts. “Where exactly is this tower?”
“It’s located at the very tip of the southern peninsula but from what I can gather, there’s nothing there but jungle. No settlements within hundreds of miles.” She pulled up her datapad and projected the map onto the wall. The red dot representing the relay blinked in an area of untouched wilderness, where the jungle met the sea. “Why would my father build a facility in the middle of nowhere and hide all records of its existence?”
“Could it belong to another company?” Baylin suggested. “Someone operating without Duvain’s knowledge?”
