A presence approached Kieran from behind, and he relaxed as he recognized who it was. But the reaction from Isaac Yale was the complete opposite.

Yale's eyes narrowed. "You."

Kieran glanced to Mistral, who now stood at his side. Her lips flickered with the hint of a smile, her posture loose and head cocked marginally to the side. But that was rage in her dark eyes, a rare glimpse of ruthless fire.

"Is something wrong?" Kieran redirected his attention to Yale, arching a minacious eyebrow.

"What is she doing here?" Isaac Yale disregarded Kieran's question, instead firing back one of his own.

"Mistral is my employee," Kieran answered with a thin, sharp smile. "My bodyguard, to be exact." His voice held an explicit warning that not even Isaac Yale would disregard.

Yale's gelid grey eyes flashed once more before he schooled his expression, replacing his frosty mask. "Mistral and I go back a long way," he said, voice cool and utterly lethal, eyes never departing Mistral's. "However, I do not think that you are here to discuss matters of past controversies."

Kieran arched an eyebrow once more, dispassionately this time. "You would be right in thinking that." He paused, eyes narrowing and expression hardening. "Why are you here?"

"I'm afraid that is classified knowledge," Yale replied, his smile supercilious.

"By whose authority?" Kieran responded.

The hauteur in Yale's expression only increased. "I serve none other than the Crown."

With Yale's words, another piece of the puzzle clicked into place. The realization spurred a fractional widening of Kieran's eyes, before he spun on his heel, Isaac Yale's low, comminatory laughter following him back to the car. Only when Kieran had seated himself inside the black sedan and shut the car door did the sound cease, opaque silence following in its wake.

Mistral, starting the engine of the sedan, was the one to break it. "Where to now?" she asked.

"Back to Stone Hall," Kieran answered tersely. "I need to contact Aidan."

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A/N:

I have to admit, darlings, I'm more than a little dissatisfied with this chapter. Now is when the rewriting has begun getting harder for me, since it's less rewriting and more actual writing. Gah, how do you all do it? My writer's block has also been cropping up, so that's probably part of the problem. Anyhow, vote and/or comment if you liked this chapter, and I'll see you all at the next installment!