A sound behind him had him turning his head. He saw Dmitri just inside the doorway. Dmitri raised his brows in question.
Ryder gave a small nod of his head to let him know that everything was all right. But was it really? He kept telling Kinsey it would be, and yet he was beginning to wonder if those words were false.
He gently turned her so that she faced him. Ryder rested his chin atop her head when he heard her soft sigh. At least she was calm once more.
Before, Ryder had been fixated on uncovering who was behind all of this. Now he was going to take it a step further. He was going to kill every last one of them.
“Thank you,” Kinsey whispered.
Ryder stroked a hand down her hair. “Better?”
“Yes.” She stepped out of his arms. Then her gaze moved past him.
Ryder missed her instantly. He turned to face Dmitri only to find Thorn had joined him. “Lads. What can I do for you?”
“Actually, we’ve come to see if you could use some help,” Thorn said.
This was a first. The only time a King ever came to Ryder’s sanctuary was when they needed something. That’s also really the only time they ever contacted him.
Dmitri slapped Thorn on the back as he walked around the monitors. “Ryder, you need to be focused on the important things. I can watch the cameras around Dreagan. I know these MI5 wankers, so doona mind spying on them.”
Thorn followed Dmitri around the computers. “Tell me what you need, Ryder.”
Ryder glanced at Kinsey to find the corners of her lips tilting up in a grin. He gave a nod and kicked his chair to Thorn while Dmitri pulled up one of the spares.
Thorn sat and looked at the monitors as if they might jump out and bite him. “Sooooo. What do I do?”
Leaning over to use the keyboard, Ryder moved things around on the monitors. He pointed to the two top ones in front of Thorn. “These are running facial recognition software looking for Ulrik in Ireland.”
“You think that’s where he’s at?” Thorn asked.
“I doona have a clue. He’s no’ in Scotland, I know that. These will run on their own. If the program finds something, it’ll flash red and pinpoint the location.”
Thorn smiled widely. “Easy enough.”
“Now, this bottom one on the left,” Ryder continued. “It’s decrypting e-mails from Kyvor. The first one should be finished soon. Read through them as they come up. If it’s encrypted, my guess is that it’s important. If it has to do with Ulrik, Kinsey, or us, let me know. Otherwise, put it in a folder for me to go back over a second time.”
Thorn’s smile wasn’t as big. “Aye. I can do that.”
“On this bottom right screen is—”
“I think I’d like to switch with Dmitri,” Thorn interrupted.
Dmitri laughed and shook his head. “No’ going to happen.”
Ryder straightened, chuckling. “I’m running a search on Sam MacDonald business owners. Go through each photo and see if it’s Ulrik.”
“Easy enough,” Thorn said.
Dmitri chuckled as they watched Thorn take a deep breath and lean his arms on the table as he began to look through the pictures of the Sam MacDonalds.
Ryder pulled up another chair next to Kinsey. Now he would be able to concentrate on uncovering exactly who’d sent Kinsey to Dreagan. He knew it was Ulrik, but this time he was going to get proof.
“You look surprised,” Kinsey whispered.
He glanced at Dmitri and Thorn. “I am. No one comes to help.”
“Now they do.”
Yes, now they did. Ryder wondered if Con had sent them, then he realized it didn’t matter. They were there helping. That’s what was important.
“Where were we?” Kinsey asked. “Ah, yes. You told me that they documented every move of my life for the past three years.”
Dmitri made a sound at the back of his throat. “That’s messed up.”
“Four if you include when I was in Glasgow,” Ryder added.
Kinsey made a face. “What were they looking for?”
“I’m wanting to know that myself.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Ireland
Rhi was cautious as she walked through the Dark palace. Even though she was veiled, she didn’t leave anything to chance. She’d been held with the Dark once. That wasn’t going to ever happen again.
Behind her a few steps was her watcher. If only she could see him when she was veiled, but Fae magic didn’t work that way. Which sucked, if she were being honest.
She’d been in the palace for a few hours with no sign of Balladyn. Though that wasn’t why she was there. She was in the Dark palace because she wanted to see what they knew about the attacks on the Dragon Kings as well as pick up any other information she could.
Unfortunately, she’d gotten nothing on the Reapers. All she’d managed to gather was what she’d heard in the bars and the Light castle—everyone was terrified.
Although, she did overhear several conversations about the Dark moving around Ireland. That made her wonder, because it wasn’t something they did. But the Dark were being cryptic about it—even in their own palace.
Interesting.