“We saved Ulrik a lot of pain by doing it ourselves. He cared for his woman. No matter how angry he was, he’d never have been able to look her in the eye and kill her. And neither will you.”
“I’ve already thought of that. I doona plan to have her facing me.”
Con walked around the chamber and leaned against a wall across from Ryder and Kinsey’s prone form covered with a blanket. “That’s a good plan. You’d still carry the stain of her death upon your soul.”
“She betrayed us. Me.”
“I know,” Con said softly.
So Thorn and Dmitri had told him. Ryder should’ve expected that. “I gave you my word she was innocent.”
“Aye, you did.”
Ryder lifted his gaze from Kinsey to Con’s face. “But you didna trust me.”
“It wasna about trusting you. I trust every King here. However, I saw the love you held for Kinsey.”
“And you knew it blinded me,” Ryder finished with a nod.
Con raised a blond brow and removed his cuff links. He put them in his pants pockets and began to roll up the sleeves of his dress shirt. “Doona presume to know what I’m thinking, Ryder. What I was going to say was that I knew you were hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst.”
Ryder blinked. Con was right. He had prepared for the worst. Every stroke of the keys by Kinsey had been recorded and logged.
“Love blinds,” Con said. “But so does anger and betrayal.”
Ryder ran a hand down his face, suddenly wanting to sleep for a millennia he was so tired. “She could’ve—”
“Doona allow your thoughts to go down that road,” Con interrupted him. “It willna do anyone any good. Let’s concentrate on piecing all this together.”
“I tracked everything Kinsey did at the computers. I’ll begin there.” Ryder pivoted and started walking away when Con’s voice halted him.
“I’ll remain with her.”
Ryder turned his head to the side, but didn’t look back at either Con or Kinsey. With a nod, he strode into the tunnel heading back to the manor.
It wasn’t until he once more sat in his chair staring at the monitors that he realized everything was different now. He saw the world differently. All because of a single treachery.
Ryder pushed thoughts of Kinsey aside and tapped the table. The virtual keyboard appeared instantly. He moved evidence of Kinsey’s duplicity to other monitors. Then he typed in a few commands and everything Kinsey had done over the past several days filled the screen in front of him.
He began to go through them one by one.
*
Dmitri waited until Ryder disappeared around a corner before he walked into the cave. He glanced at Kinsey, but his attention was on Con. “He’s a wreck.”
“Aye,” Con agreed. “Any of us would be in that situation.”
“He has that same look Ulrik wore.”
Con didn’t so much as blink as he returned Dmitri’s stare. “Ryder has informed me we willna be repeating the past.”
“You mean he’s going to kill her?” Dmitri asked in surprise.
“He says he is.”
Dmitri shook his head in shock. He knew he’d never be able to do such a feat. “He’ll never be able to do it.”
“I doona believe so either. It’ll crush Ryder in ways he doesna understand.”
“But you do now. Just as you did so long ago. Does Ulrik no’ understand you were trying to help him?”
“When someone is hurt that deeply, they doona see truth.”
Dmitri leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest. “There’s Esther as well.”
“I know.”
The only evidence that Con felt anything was a sigh that escaped him. Dmitri was surprised the King of Kings showed even that wee bit of emotion.
Everyone worried about how Henry was going to react. And they had a right to worry. Henry was an ally. The Kings didn’t need another enemy.
“We could have Guy wipe their memories,” Dmitri suggested.
Con put his hands in his pockets and looked at Kinsey. “I contemplated that on the flight over. It was my plan until you, Thorn, and Anson told me what had occurred.”
“Meaning you think they were programmed?”
“Meaning magic was used.”
Dmitri shrugged. “Our magic is stronger.”
“A mortal’s mind is a delicate place,” Con said as he slowly walked around the slab of granite. “We could force our way in and brutalize their minds.”
“We need Tristan,” Dmitri said.
Con added, “And Roman.”
Dmitri sent a mental call to both Kings as he observed Con. “What are you thinking?”
“I’ll tell you when Kellan confirms my suspicions.”
There was only one reason to call Roman. Since he could control metal, Con must assume there was something within Kinsey and Esther.
Dmitri dropped his arms and walked to Con. “What if whatever made Kinsey do this was done against her will?”
“I’ve thought of that as well. For Ryder’s sake, I hope that’s the case.”
“I watched her with him,” Dmitri said. “She has feelings for Ryder, deep feelings. And it didna look fake.”