"Why? I mean, creating gates that size" – I waved a hand toward the two stones – "has to take a lot of power, even if it is standing in the middle of a ley-line intersection."
"Yes, but does it not seem odd to you that we found this building very easily? It's not as if a great deal was done to conceal its presence."
I frowned. "Well, it wasn't exactly easy. I mean, the paper trail alone was hell —"
"Yes, but if she really wanted to hide it, she could have done so magically. Also, neither Ilianna nor the witches could find any great energy output coming from this area."
I sat on my haunches and leaned back against the wall, even though my feet itched with the need to move, to do something other than just sit here. "Which was explained by some sort of spell restraining any visible output."
"Perhaps." He half shrugged, but his expression suggested he wasn't buying it. "It also occurs to me that the Aedh" – he paused, his expression suggesting even the mere thought of Lucian was distasteful – "was never one to leave anything to chance. His actions in trying to impregnate you, Ilianna, and indeed the sorceress herself were indication enough of that. He would not be foolish enough to rely on only one entrance to the fields."
Especially when he'd had centuries to plot every little detail of his revenge on both the Raziq and my father. "Yeah, but I thought gateways were straight-line things. You know, point A to point B with no offshoots or detours. And there's only one gate here."
"Yes, but a ley-line intersection holds enough power to create more than one gateway into the gray fields, so why would they not do so? The Aedh undoubtedly knew enough about magic to siphon the intersection's energy down lesser lines. I cannot believe he would not have done so, especially given he knew – at least from the moment he became involved with you – that both your father and the Raziq were well aware of his presence."
"And doing fucking nothing about it," I muttered.
"They did not see him as a threat. In their eyes, he was lesser than he was, and therefore unimportant."
And that lack of foresight had cost them – and us – the first key and might yet cost us the second.
Although to be fair, Azriel, at least, had seen Lucian's true colors from the very beginning.
"If there's more than one gateway, surely the Raziq would be watching both," I said. "They want to stop this bitch – or bastard, depending on which form she's wearing – as much as we do."
"But what if the sorceress's gray fields gateway is in the one place no one would ever think to look?"
"But there's nowhere —" I paused, suddenly realizing what he was implying. "Surely even Lucian wouldn't be that devious."