The four mages had their stones out, but I locked my gaze on Bart. I’d felt his mind when he spoke to Rod, and it would be easiest to link with him. “If I share with you, can you show the others?”
“Yes.”
I waited to take Aonghas’s hand until Bart extended a link. The old phoenix’s thoughts pushed into my mind. Three mages, two men and a woman, stood in front of Aonghas. The man at the back sneered when Aonghas asked who they were, why they were asking, and did they have the king’s permission.
Aonghas’s defiance felt like it was mine as I watched the three struggle to remain calm. When the woman put her hand into her coat pocket, Aonghas tensed for a fight. The man in front raised a finger and she stopped.
“We’re meeting with the king tomorrow,”he said. “We’ll ask him for permission.”
“See that you do before ye come back.”
When the three turned and left, I broke the link. I’d done everything I could to stick to just what we needed, but I couldn’t block Aonghas’s discomfort of having me in his thoughts. “Thank you.” I squeezed the hand I still held and then released it. “I appreciate you allowing us to intrude on your privacy.”
“Find the king and we’ll be square, young prince.”
I wondered what he’d say if he knew how bitter and petty Grandfather had become. “We’re doing our best.”
The others in my group had moved to the far side of the circle and were huddled together in obvious conversation. When I reached them, Bart beckoned me over. “I’m guessing you recognized some of those visitors,” I said.
“All three,” Otto said. “The woman is Victoria Ashworth, deputy ambassador to the European Union. I’ll alert the Ministry.”
“The man in front was Thomas Reid,” Leo said. “Assistant deputy inquisitor general in our London office.”
“The mage in back was Thorton Beckinbaugh,” Cael said. “He’s a self-proclaimed expert in creative magic who was removed as a teacher at Utrecht High School for using magic to discipline a student. He’s a real whack job.”
The brothers were quiet, and their stones were glowing, so I assumed they were reporting the names of the traitors. I waited for them to finish before raising the question of what to do next.
“Now we know why the Ocular Society said Bart, Otto, and Leo needed to be in Scotland,” Cael said. “Unfortunately, those three probably are in hiding now.”
I understood his frustration. We were one step behind them at every turn. “Catching one of them would be helpful in finding my grandfather.”
“I wouldn’t count on them giving us useful information,” Otto said. “Blackstone has put a kill spell in the stones of other agents in case they get captured.”
My head throbbed from the intensity of sharing Aonghas’ memories, but I was also angry. These mages came into our home and took our king. The new information, however, meant our answers would be found elsewhere. “What do we do next?”
I scanned the group, but everyone had turned toward Bart. He had his stone out and was oblivious to the attention. Purple light from his gem scoured the snowy ground. He stopped moving his stone and remained stationary over a single point. “Cael? Can you come here?”
Bart only asked for his mate, but we all converged on him. Cael put his hand over Bart’s and they closed their eyes. I’d spentmost of my life speaking to my family mentally, so I knew they were talking. Finally, Cael pulled his hand away.
“You’re right,” he said.
“Right about what?” Leo asked.
“Sorry,” Bart said, putting his stone away. “There’s a lot going on here. There are burial mounds inside the circle and inside those are some powerful magical items. Which is truly fascinating and confirms our suspicions that our ancestors used other items besides gemstones to work their magic. If we could excavate the area, the wealth of information?—”
“That’s enough, Bart,” Cael said, touching his mate’s chest. “As interested as everyone is in this academic discussion, Cinaed’s question needs an answer.”
“He asked a question?”
Cael rolled his eyes and let out a sigh. “He asked what we should do next.”
“We should go visit Percy and Gio,” Otto said. “Maybe their library has some details on what these circles were used for.”
“I could ask Syrax if there’s any information in our library,” Gund said. “Leo and I can go help him look.”
Finding an answer to the circles was important, but Leo and Gund leaving felt wrong. We’d never picked a leader for our group, but as the prince, I had some claim to the role while we were here. “You should send Syrax a message and let others look,” I said. “Whatever we’re supposed to do as a group isn’t finished. At least it doesn’t feel that way to me. We all need to go see Percy and Gio.”
“Agreed,” Thal said. “Let me tell my uncles the seven of us are coming.”
