Page 114 of Warrior Unraveled

Wesley pointed to Cinead’s and Barclay’s daggers. “It was the same dagger. I’m sure. It was in Zoltan’s possession. I saw it break into two pieces. The handle split off. It was hollow, and inside it, there was a picture. Old. Black and white.”

Cinead gasped. “A picture?”

“What did it show?” Barclay asked.

“A couple, dressed in the style of the early 1900s. It fit with the way the photograph looked,” Wes explained. “You know, like one of these old sepia photos?”

“Did you recognize the couple?” Barclay asked.

“No. But there was something else. On the back of it, something was written: First day at the council.”

Virginia exchanged an alarmed look with Cinead and Barclay, but Wesley continued, “But it makes no sense, because there was no building in the photograph. Just a bunch of old stones.”

“Stones?” Cinead asked.

“Yeah, a bit like Stonehenge, but different. Not as neatly arranged as Stonehenge, and the stones were of different sizes.”

“Oh God,” Virginia murmured and met Cinead’s gaze.

“I need a computer, quickly,” Barclay demanded, looking at the three vampires.

Amaury snatched one from a side table and booted it up. “Here you go.”

Barclay slid onto the chair and pulled up a browser, while everybody crowded around him. His fingers flew over the keyboard as he typed something into the search box. Virginia didn’t have to look at what he’d written, because she knew what he was searching for.

Images finally filled the screen. Barclay clicked on one of them to enlarge it and looked over his shoulder to Wesley. “Is this what you saw in the picture?”

Stunned, Wesley stared at the image, then at Barclay. “That’s it. How did you know?”

Barclay swiveled in his chair. “These are the Callanish Stones. In our native language we call them Clachan Chalanais. A ring of stones located on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides in Scotland.” He looked straight at Wesley. “You were there.”

“Trust me, I’ve never been to Scotland.”

“You were there, because that’s where our council compound was located until the demons attacked us and we had to destroy it.”

Wesley’s mouth fell open, and the three vampires also let out gasps. “That’s how the demons knew. Zoltan found the picture in the dagger and put two and two together.”

Cinead nodded. “That dagger can only have belonged to one person.”

“Finlay,” Virginia said. “And because of his betrayal, Zoltan knew that Finlay was a member of the council, and what he looked like. It would have been easy for him to figure out that the picture showed Finlay and his wife not far from the compound.”

Barclay nodded. “Finlay joined the council in 1903. I can have a photo of Finlay sent to us so Wesley can identify him.”

Cinead nodded and pulled his cell phone from his pocket. “I’ll contact the council.” Then he looked at Virginia. “Don’t worry, this is a new phone with a new number.”

“Good.” Virginia moved her gaze to Barclay. “So there was no leak then. It was more fallout from Finlay’s betrayal.”

Barclay nodded slowly. “It appears that way.”

“I’ve got it,” Cinead said and held up his phone, motioning to Wesley. “Is this him?”

Wesley took the phone from Cinead’s hand and stared at the display. “Without a doubt. In the picture he looked a little younger, but not by much.” He returned the cell phone to Cinead.

Cinead sighed and shook his head. “How can we be sure that Zoltan doesn’t retain any more of Finlay’s possessions?”

“Zoltan was frustrated,” Wesley said.

“What?” Cinead asked.