Chapter 167 One on the inside
Coban's POV
The tournament hasn't started yet. It was only eight in the morning. The sun is still climbing. Light spilling over the stone arches of the arena complex. For the first day only we'd push the start time back to 10. That way it gave everyone time to arrive, to settle and walk the grounds. Also, it lets nerves burn off before muscle and pride tuck over, or so that was the official reason.
Unofficially? I wanted time to watch.
Warriors were already filing in. They're not here to compete yet, just to circle the perimeter, pretending to stretch and joke while they're eyes traced everything.
The course itself is massive. Most of it is hidden behind reinforced walls and elevation changes. You had to be on it to really see it. Enough was visible to make even seasoned fighters go quiet.
Balance beam rising high. Steel frames. Suspended rings disappearing into shadows. Sections scorched black from prior testing.
Trixie walked beside me, the twins between us, one hand in mine, the other around Atlas as he toddled with more confidence than sense. Cassian lagged half a step behind, distracted by everything. Sounds. Movement and energy.
Darien and Lucian flanked us without being obvious about it. Which meant they were very obvious, if you knew what to look for. Wherever Trixie was, they were not far behind.
Caden stayed on my other side. His eyes scanning the crowd. His posture was relaxed, but coiled. He looked calm, but he wasn't. None of us were.
Kevan and Mark joined us near one of the outer railings. Kevan cracking a joke about half these warriors were already rethinking their life choices. Mark snorted. His eyes still moving, cataloging all the faces.
Thats when Atlas stopped walking. He just stopped abruptly. Cassian froze as well. They were focused on something.
A low hum vibrated through the air. Barely perceptible. It was more felt than heard. The light along the nearest arch flickered once. I felt it before I understood it. My gaze snapped to the twins.
Atlas's shoulders squared, his chin lifting. Cassian's fingers curled. The stone beneath his palm frosting over in a thin crystalline, pattern before melting away.
"Coban." Trixie inhaled sharply.
"I see it my love." I said quietly. Caden was already following their line of sight.
A man walked past us. He was mid 30s brown hair, neutral clothes he was staff, not a warrior. His clipboard was tucked under one arm. He didn't even look at us. He didn't slow down at all.
But Cassian growled. "That's new." Kevan muttered.
Mark's humor vanished instantly. "Yeah it sure is."
I didn't react. Not outwardly anyway. I just watched the man's reflection and the polished stone as he moved away.
The twins relaxed as soon as he was gone. Trixie leaned closer to me. "That definitely was not curiosity." She said as she stared at the boys. "No. That was recognition." I agreed with her.
We didn't move in on him. Not yet.
Ten minutes later, the man passed again. A different direction this time. He was pretending to check the towel station.
This time their reaction was immediate. Atlas cried out. Sharp and angry. Power was ripping off him like heat distortion. The nearby banner snapped violently against its pole. Cassian slammed both hands down to the ground. The lights above us dimmed hard and then surged back on. Every head nearby turned.
There was no pretending now.
"That's him" Caden says flatly as we all look in that direction. "Well, that's subtle." Kevan whistled under his breath.
"He felt it to." Mark nodded once.
The man's pace had changed. Not much but enough. I didn't raise my voice. I didn't need to.
"All eyes on him. Distance. No engagement. Let him think he's invisible." I ordered through the link at a couple of my warriors.
My warriors melted into the crowd like shadows. We kept walking. We kept talking like nothing had happened. Jokes and comments about the course. Kevan made a crack about early nerves. Mark played along.
Trixie held Atlas closer, murmuring to him, trying to steady him. Cassian leaned against Caden's leg, still watching.
Fifteen minutes later, the man slipped. He had ducked behind a service corridor near the storage wing. He glanced once over his shoulder. The stupid fool thought he was alone. He wasn't. Our warriors heard him before they saw him.
"I told you. They felt something. The kids. No just listen. I'm serious Clarence." he hissed into his phone.
That was all we needed.
My warriors mind linked me instantly, telling me everything.
"Take him now!" I ordered.
They moved fast and clean. They didn't even make a sound. A cloth over his nose for him to breathe in and he was out cold. He dropped like a sack of bricks. Then a shot of wolfsbane to the neck.
I watched from a distance as they secured him and moved him out through the service corridors. Carefully and controlled and invisible to the rest of the grounds. To anyone else it would look like routine staff movement. To us it was confirmation.
I exhaled slowly and looked down at my son's. Atlas had settled. His cheek pressed to Trixie's shoulder, breathing evenly again. Cassian leaned against Caden's leg, eyes still sharp, tracking the direction the man had been taken.
"Well, I guess the kids just saved us weeks of guessing." Kevan muttered as he looked down at my boys.
"Clarence just lost his first piece. But there's more. They're always is." Mark nodded.
"This isn't over." Trixie said as her eyes met mine.
"No love, but at least now we know." I said quietly.