9. Jaiel
Just what was Dimiri thinking?
I pulled out three sets of pants from my wardrobe and piled them neatly on the bed, then returned for matching shirts.
He didn”t trust Lady Frexin, yet he wanted me to work with Frexin”s team to retrieve some relic? And what kind of insanity were those damned mechs?
Saints save me.
If it were possible, I”d have declined in a heartbeat. Or at least delayed it so I could get this charisma replenished. But working for the kings as a spy, and for the Rogues as a double agent, I walked an extremely thin line.
The last thing I needed was to jeopardize the efforts Dimiri and I had been working toward these last few years. We were so close to the truth.
I could feel it.
Clothes gathered, I walked to the kitchenette, plush blue carpet whispering softly beneath my feet. Tea would help. It always helped.
Withdrawing my favorite cast-iron pot, I filled it with fresh water, lit the burner, then set the pot atop it and turned back to the piles of clothes on my bed.
Oh hells, and what about Liam? If Kaiya found out the man she knew as Eli was alive and that I”d hid that fact from her this whole time …
The lordling might survive her wrath, but I highly doubted I would. I”d talked to her dozens of times, watched her grieve, then move past that grief — and, at his request, never said a thing.
As far as Kaiya knew, Eli had sacrificed himself to save her in Gleyma.
I just had to make sure she didn”t find out the truth.
Gritting my teeth, I slipped more clothes into my pack. As they slid in, a note fluttered softly out and fell to the ground, a familiar golden crest emblazoned on the front of the silky white paper.
My heart twisted uncomfortably.
Nope. Absolutely not. I didn”t have time for them.
Jaw clenched, I jammed the paper into the bottom drawer of my desk with the dozens of similar papers already there, and slammed the drawer shut.
A small, framed photograph on the desk wobbled for a moment, catching my gaze. A teenage Liam and I stared out of the image, grinning happily as we held up a huge trostell we”d caught near his home.
That was five years ago.
Saints, had it already been five years?
I only had —
No. I shook the thought away and swallowed the knot in my throat.
It didn”t matter.
I grabbed the last few items and stacked them in my pack.
Like it or not, I was ready.
The tea pot let out a soft whistle, and I strode over, filling my cup with the hot water and dropping in a pre-tied bag of chamomile.
As always, the scent made my shoulders loosen.
I quickly pulled my hair into a topknot and changed into a loose pair of sleep shorts, waiting for it to steep.
My windup timer chimed just as a sharp knock sounded on my door.
”Jaiel, you there?”
Tye? What”s he doing here, and so late?
Shaking my head, I pulled out the tea bag, grabbed the cup, and took a seat in the wing-backed chair overlooking the palace gardens.
”Yes, come in. Door”s un?—”
The door slammed open, and the bedraggled investigator strode in, bright yellow eyes scanning the room as if for threats.
Had he always been so intense? I mean, I didn”t know him all that well. But we”d worked together a few times and he”d never been quite this wound up. And that anger in his eyes when he saw Kaiya in the hall …
”Kaiya Maderoth,” he said, voice tight as he turned to stand directly in front of me. His hands were tense at his sides, pale nostrils flared below that frenzied yellow gaz. ”Is. She. Forsaken?”
I let out a dry laugh. Straight to the point. At least that hadn”t changed.
Pasting on my most innocent smile, I shrugged. ”Not that I”m aware of. Why do you ask?”
It was a lie, of course. Kaiya was absolutely a mage, and a bond mage at that. But revealing her secret was not an option. And technically, she wasn”t actually Forsaken, since her magic wasn”t corrupted.
But I highly doubted Tye would see that distinction. He”d made it his life”s work to find and capture all mages.
Growling, he ran his hand through that bright white hair of his and stalked to the window beside me, close enough that I could smell the subtle shift in his scent. A vague sense of sunshine and stone twisted in my nostrils, and I doubled back.
Why did he smell like Kaiya?
”I think she did something to me.” The words sounded as though they were torn from him, and I lifted my eyes to meet his tortured gaze.
Well, fuck.
When Kaiya said he”d acted strange after their assignation, I”d assumed it was something normal. Maybe she”d been more adventurous than him in bed or something.
But there was more going on here, and it wouldn”t surprise me if the ever-troublesome Princess was somehow at fault.
”Look.” I made my voice soft, calming. ”I”m not sure what you think she did —”
He ground his teeth together and stalked closer, nostrils flaring. ”She”s been here for what — two years? And she”s already earned the Arbiter Medal for relic hunting. That”s suspicious, is it not?” He ran his hands through his messy white hair. ”I used to think her success was Frexin playing favorites, but every single mission she”s sent on, she returns with some insane relic. And she does itwhile working alone, attributing it all to ”hard work and luck”. Ha!”
He scoffed.
”I don”t buy it — any of it. She was even at that cult ceremony in Gleyma two years ago!” He ran his hand through his hair again and slumped into the chair beside me.
”Worst of all, I can”t get her out of my fucking mind, no matter what I do. I can”t eat. Can”t sleep. I can”t even fuck!” His frustrated gaze met mine. ”You can”t tell me any of that is natural.”
I stared at him, sympathy twisting in my gut as I debated my next move.
He”d always been a little wild off duty, but while on duty, he was like those machines he loved so much — methodical and consistent — always in control and focused entirely on following the rules. As Lead Hunter in the Investigation Division, he caught nearly every uncollared mage he set his eyes on — save for those few who I and the other Rogues smuggled away first.
This, though … his emotions were out of control — raw and wild.
Frexin”s words in the meeting earlier echoed in my mind. What if removing him meant something more than firing? I”d heard the stories about Lady Frexin”s ruthless side —the side she kept hidden.
I took a long sip of tea and tried to ignore the guilt twisting in my stomach. As much as I wanted to, I couldn”t assuage his worries by revealing Kaiya”s secret.
Saints alive.
What I needed to do was get him to drop the issue entirely.
My charisma reserve was already low, but if I could soothe him, it would at least let Kaiya and me get away without issue in the morning. And buy me time to see if there was anything I could do to help his situation.
”Look,” I said, leaning forward. ”Kaiya and I are leaving on a mission tomorrow. How about I keep an eye on her while we”re gone? You know I can sense when people use magic, and if I see anything, it”s my duty to report it.” I sat down my tea. ”In the meantime, you try to get some rest. You don”t look so great. Maybe even go see someone in the medical ward?”
”No.” His voice was quiet, but hard. His whole body tense, as he ran a hand down his face, palm scraping the stubble along his jaw.
”She”s taken everything from me, Jaiel. Everything. And I”m so close to proving it.” His fists clenched in his lap. ”King Torsten has already discharged me from the Investigation Division, and Lady Frexin has given me a week to move out of the city before I”m thrown into prison.” He lifted his eyes to meet mine and my chest twisted at the pain in them. ”I need to solve this now.”
Fuck. I ran a hand over my hair and shook my head. Charisma it was.
Leaning closer, I rested a hand on his shoulder and took a deep breath; the scents of moonlight and fallen leaves mingling with my charm magic, along with the twinge of Kaiya. I let them coalesce, savoring them a bit as I added in more charisma.
The monster inside me grew restless at the change, but I still had more than enough charisma to suppress it.
I refocused on Tye …
While I couldn”t make him forget about Kaiya, I could give him a little peace.
I breathed out softly, and for a moment, his pupils dilated and his shoulders softened beneath my hands.
But then it was as though a switch flipped inside him.
His yellow eyes widened, and his nose twitched as muscles rippled across his shoulders and chest.
He sprang away from me to the other side of the room in what seemed like a single, inhuman leap.
Saints!I held my hands up in front of me as he stood there, hunched and shaking. Eyes wild with fear and rage.
I”d seen a lot in my years, but I”d never seen charisma do something like that before!
I felt a prickling sensation at the back of my neck, and I reached a hand up to rub at it.
My jaw dropped.
There was no way he could be a mage. Like every citizen in the Empire, Seekers must have tested him a few dozen times over the years, and unlike Kaiya, he had no strange ring to hide his affinity.
Yet there he stood, muscles rippling, eyes nearly glowing as he shook his head to clear it of my charm.
”What the fuck, Jaiel? Did you just try to charisma me?!”
”I —”
”Can I trust noone?!” He roared as he stormed out, slamming the door behind him.
I stared at the closed door, mouth agape. First my charisma didn”t work on Kaiya, then Lynk. Now Tye pushed it away?
What the fuck?
I tugged at my earrings. So much for trying to help!
Did I dare warn Dimiri?
I hated adding to the pile of shit Tye was already dealing with, but who knew what he might do now that he”d been pushed into a corner?
And with the way my neck had prickled when he”d leaped away, I had a feeling there was a lot more to the situation than a little anger.
Picking up my tea, I strode to my desk and pulled out a paper and a pen.
Dimiri would surely step in before something bad happened.