A glimmer works its way around the outside of the glass as I place the fragment beside it, proof of its connected magic.

A shift from my side has me pulled from my thoughts and the old relic.

“You took quite a long time to find something so small.” Ilyric sighs, his brows furrowed in annoyance at the inconvenience and wait.

“Could’ve helped,” adds Cole, an unreadable look on his face.

“I believe she already received a hand.” Lucien smirks, an amused look spreading across his dark features. Jace growls behind me, his glare set on him.

Ilyric's eyes pinch together tighter, a confused look on his face. “And you still took that long?”

Lucien’s smirk grows darker, an amused chuckle falling from his lips as he stares at the bewildered Fae.

I look toward him, cutting straight to the point. “How do you know that there's a traitor here?”

Cole's eyes widen before his face twists in anger, his nostrils flaring as his eyes narrow. One word falls from his lips. “Who?”

A shudder works its way down my back from the cold animosity in that single word.

Ilyric’s eyes flicker between Jace and me, both staring toward Lucien before landing there too. His expression more in disbelief than rage.

Lucien sighs, a look of boredom on his face. “I’ve been observing the group that came here and have listened to all the stories on the attacks and compared them to our own attack.” With this, he looks to Ilyric.

“Doesn't it seem strange? They attacked all the protective spells and communication artifacts when they were attacking, going straight to them first.”

“They knew where they were,” calls Jace, his eyes wide with the realization.

“That doesn't make sense…” Ilyric argues, his eyes flickering back and forth. “Who would do something like that to the Libraries?”

“A traitor…in this Library?” Cole’s eyes narrow toward the door, his face now dark and unreadable as he makes his way closer to it.

Jace and Ilyric move quickly to stop him in his irrational state.

I could understand his anger and need for revenge, but now wasn’t the time. We also didn’t know if there was a traitor among us or who it was, so charging in head first wasn’t helping anyone.

They clash, trying to wrangle the large hulk of a man, his stature and strength giving them a hard time trying to contain him.

I make my way around them and head to the door, closing it with a loud bang, the sound grabbing their attention immediately as they stop their little skirmish. I place my hands on my hips, a severe glare in my eyes as I look at them.

“Nobody is going anywhere. We need more information, and we can’t be reckless.” With this, I look to Cole. He freezes, his gaze fixated wholly on me, as I narrow my eyes toward him.

“We don’t know who our rat is or when he’ll show his tail. We need to be careful. We have too many people in that room to just go in blindly accusing them.”