“What’s the escape hatch?” Zethan asked.

“An alternate way into and out of our headquarters. They haven’t discovered its existence yet.”

“How many of them?” Valek asked.

Tweet held up ten fingers, then flashed them again.

“Twenty?”

A nod.

He considered. They’d have the element of surprise if they used the escape hatch to get inside. But he still didn’t like the odds. “Do you know if any of them have magic?”

Three fingers.

They’d need backup. Or would they? What if he allowed them to capture him? They’d think they were safe if he was contained in a null shield. Then they’d take him to Yelena. He wouldn’t have to worry about sneaking in, just getting away.

“Where are they holding Yelena?” he asked Fisk.

“Krystal Clan garrison. About two days west of the Citadel.”

“Near Mica?”

“Yes.”

And north of the Stormdance Clan’s lands. “Can you get null shields for your helpers?”

“No. Bruns stopped the magicians from selling them.”

Damn. “What about the magicians in hiding? Do any of them know how to craft them?”

“One or two, but it’ll take at least seven days to reach them.”

Too long.

“There might be a few of those glass ones that Quinn makes left inside the Keep,” Fisk said.

Tweet piped twice.

“The Keep’s being watched by Bruns’s people,” Fisk translated.

“Has the staff left, as well?”

Tweet nodded, but then gestured.

“Most of the staff didn’t go to the other garrisons,” Fisk said. “Just the magicians.”

“Do you know if Leif’s wife, Mara, was taken?”

The boy shook his head. He didn’t.

Valek considered the information Tweet had provided as he spurred Onyx toward the center of the Citadel. He found an inn with a stable a couple blocks away. After the horses were groomed and settled, he rented two rooms.

Fisk and Tweet followed them upstairs. As soon as they closed the door, Fisk asked, “What’s the plan?”

“You tell me,” Valek said.

“I’m not one of your corps.”

“You could be.”

Fisk smirked. “You couldn’t afford me.” But then he sobered. “I can send a team to check the situation with the Stormdancers and bring them on board if they’re able.”

“Good. And?”

“And you will visit the Keep and see if you can find anything that will help us.”

“What about us?” Zethan asked.

“Stay here for now.” He held up a hand, stopping the protest. “I’m going to need you both when we implement the rescue.”

“You have a plan?” Zethan asked.

“I’m working on it. First I need to see what resources are available. Tweet, can you find out if Mara is still in the Citadel?”

He nodded in agreement and left with Fisk, who planned to check on his helpers. Fisk promised to return in the morning for another planning session.

Valek instructed Zethan and Zohav to remain inside while he visited the Keep.

“What if you don’t come back or are captured?” Zethan asked.

“Fisk or one of his people will take care of you.”

“And if Fisk is caught, as well?” Zohav asked, ever the pessimist.

He handed her a pouch of coins. “Then stay here. I will send one of my Citadel spies to keep you safe until I return.”

“But—”

“Don’t worry, Zo,” Zethan said.

She jabbed him in the chest with her finger. “You said the same thing when those pirates boarded our ship.”

He spread his hands wide. “And look how it turned out! We’re in Sitia!”

“And in the middle of a...whatever this is.”

She had a point. As Valek left, he tried to put a name to what Bruns’s Cartel had been doing. Recruiting only worked for those who hadn’t been coerced, or for those who were too scared to say no. As for those being drugged to obey, they didn’t have a choice—more like a hostile takeover.

He paused. A takeover. Under the guise that it was in order to protect Sitia from the Commander’s army. But a takeover all the same.

Valek didn’t like where his thoughts led him next. The Commander’s hints of massing an army had never made sense to him, and he suspected Owen had influenced that decision. What if that was all a show? What if Owen had made a deal with the Cartel? The Commander’s distrust and hatred of magicians ran deep, but what if Owen and Bruns conspired to demonstrate to the Commander that they could control the magicians, make them obey and show that they no longer had any free will?

But they wouldn’t be content to rule Sitia. Once they’d earned the Commander’s trust, or used magic to hijack him, it’d be just a matter of time before they removed him from power. Then Owen would rule Ixia, and Bruns’s Cartel would be in charge of Sitia.

His stomach churned, pushing bile up his throat. Valek tried to dismiss his speculation as nothing but that—an exercise in logic. However, the inner intuitive sense that hadn’t ever let him down agreed with his conclusions.

A wave of despair washed through him. He paused in a shadow, leaning against a wall. He didn’t have the people or the resources to stop it. Plus, his life had been turned completely upside down. His protection from magic was gone, and he had no idea how to use the power. But Valek knew if Owen and the Cartel won, there’d be no family for him. Yelena, the baby, all the people he cared for would be eliminated, including him. Basic strategy.