Kinsey’s knees threatened to buckle. Betray? She’d never do that to Ryder or anyone.
It took her a full minute to pull herself together. There was only one way she was going to get out of this. She had to put all the emotions aside and tackle this like she would any work project.
After she found her way back to wherever she was supposed to go and faced Ryder and the rest, then she could allow the emotions to come through.
Because if Tristan helped her, it was for one reason only—to get information.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Ryder hated not knowing what was going on. He trusted Tristan, but it was his mistake about Kinsey, so he should be the one helping her.
But his power would only hurt her, not help. His ability to build anything electronic did nothing either. So he stood, helplessly, watching as Tristan tried to reach Kinsey.
“I found her,” Tristan said. “She’s asking about Ryder.”
Ryder was at one moment relieved that Kinsey’s mind might come out of this intact, and another furious that they were in this position.
After a moment, Tristan dropped his hands and stepped back. “I’ve never communicated that way before.”
“You spoke with her?” Con asked.
Tristan nodded. “The magic was hard to pierce on my end and hers, but Kinsey managed it. She kept asking what was going on. I told her she was trapped in her mind and must find her way back.”
“You couldna lead her out?” Dmitri asked.
Tristan ran a hand through his light brown hair streaked with gold. “I wish it were that easy. Only Kinsey knows the way around her mind. If I attempted to help her, I might get her trapped somewhere.”
“How long is it going to take to find her way?” Ryder asked.
“I’ve no idea.”
Roman stepped forward then. “I suppose it’s my turn now.”
“It is,” Con said and motioned him to come closer to Kinsey.
Ryder stepped between Roman and Kinsey. Then he looked at Con. “Why is Roman here?”
“I want to see if there’s anything implanted in Kinsey,” Con said in an even tone.
Ryder turned and looked at her. Implanted. He hadn’t thought about that, but there was a possibility there could be. “Why use magic only then to use technology?”
“To cover both bases,” Con said.
Ryder moved back, giving Roman the space he needed. His instincts kept telling him to protect Kinsey, but the proof upstairs warned him to do nothing. He’d never been more confused in his life.
“Kinsey asked for you,” Tristan said as he came to stand beside Ryder.
He hated how his heart leapt at the thought. “She’s probably worried about how much I knew.”
“She sounded genuinely confused about all of it.”
“As we’ve learned, she’s a verra good actress.”
Tristan crossed his arms over his chest. “Is she? I’m beginning to wonder.”
That got Ryder’s attention. He swung his head to Tristan. “About?”
“Her mind was laced heavily with layers of magic. Why did they need to do that if she wanted to spy on us?”
Ryder shrugged and turned his attention back to Roman. “She might have had them do that to help her in her acting.”
“That’s a possibility.”
Or they could’ve used her.
No. Ryder refused to hold onto that small bit of hope. With the evidence they’d discovered and Kinsey’s actions, the truth was staring him right in the face.
Roman held his hands palm down over Kinsey’s stomach. Within moments he said, “I’ve found something. It’s in her left arm just above her wrist.”
“How deep is it?” Con asked.
Roman walked around to Kinsey’s left arm. “Just beneath the flesh.”
“Remove it.”
Ryder clenched his fists as Roman pierced her flesh and an elongated metal tube about half an inch slid from her skin. Con then placed his hand on her and healed the wound.
“It’s a tracker,” Roman said.
Dmitri muttered a string of curses. “They wanted to keep track of her.”
“That’s for certain,” Tristan said.
“Should I destroy it?” Roman asked as he held the bloody object.
Con shook his head. “No’ yet.”
Roman handed the tracker to Con who tucked it into his pocket.
“Now what?” Ryder asked.
Con turned to Tristan and Roman. “Repeat these same steps with Esther.”
The two gave a nod and walked out of the cavern.
Dmitri cleared his throat and mumbled, “I’m going to … go do something else.”
Once he’d left, Ryder faced Con. “I’ve looked through everything Kinsey did three times.”
“And?” Con urged.
“Nothing. I can no’ find a single thing that would alert me that she did anything.”
Con nodded absently as he stared at the floor for a long minute. Then he looked at Ryder. “The evidence you found that she betrayed you, is it in her own words?”
“No. Nothing I found was ever from her or forwarded from her.”
“We know you were followed before you met her.”
Ryder shrugged nonchalantly. “Right.”
“We know that after you left Glasgow, they concentrated on Kinsey. But she was already working for Kyvor before you met her.”
“All that’s true. What are you getting at?”