The captured Fae operative broke during interrogation forty-eight hours in, and when Kael brought the information to our private family meeting I could feel through the bond that it was bad in ways that made the kidnapping attempts look like minor inconvenience.
"Eirlys is alive." His statement was flat. Certain. "Not just surviving. Active. Planning. The assault was—it was test. Proving capability. Preparing for something larger."
Something larger. Right. Because apparently one coordinated global assault wasn't enough.
"What is she planning?" Because that was the actual terror underneath.
"The operative wouldn't say." Kael's voice carried frustration. "But the interrogation team got fragments. References to 'the unbinding.' References to 'opening the gate.' Something about—" He paused. "Something about Hope being 'the lock not the key.'"
Hope being the lock. Right. Our daughter was apparently critical to whatever Eirlys was planning.
