Chapter Two
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DIMRI STARED AT THE burner phone on his desk. When human technology had been introduced to Hell, he’d been wary of it, but now, he was glad he’d gone along with it. It made it so much easier to contact his spies and check on his network.
Or at least, it usually made it easier. The problem started when his contacts didn’t answer his texts.
They knew better. They knew that if he reached out, they had to contact him as soon as possible.
He usually gave them a few hours, just in case, and he had this time, too.
He still hadn’t gotten a text back. He’d contacted the three spies he had in Ramiel’s palace, and no one had answered.
It had been three hours, so they normally would have.
That had to mean that something had happened. It was unlike them. They knew what was on the line and how important they were to Berith’s safety. They wouldn’t ignore Dimri’s attempts to contact them.
Where did that leave Dimri?
He tapped his fingertips on top of his desk and stared down at the burner phone.
He still had one card to play, one more spy embedded in Ramiel’s palace.
If they didn’t answer, either, he would assume they’d all been compromised.
Unfortunately, it would make it nearly impossible to get any kind of information on Ramiel and what was happening in his palace.
Dimri grabbed the phone and navigated the screen until he found the contact he was looking for. Normally, he would text them, but this was too urgent. He needed to know.
So he called instead.
The phone rang, which was a relief, but it didn’t mean everything was fine.
Dimri was pretty sure that everything wasn’t fine.
The problem was that he’d never get any proof of that.
If Ramiel had found his spies, he’d already killed them.
Dimri would have to find someone else to bribe in the palace or send someone he trusted, and by the time he did, it would be too late.
He needed to know what Ramiel was up to now.
“Mother, I told you not to call while I’m at work,” a voice suddenly said on the other side of the phone.
Ramiel breathed easier. “Can you step away from whatever you’re doing to talk?” he asked.
“I don’t know, Mother. I can try, but I’m working.”
“It’s fine if you can’t. Just try.”
Dimri listened to someone moving around, then talking. He couldn’t hear what either of the two voices were saying, but he could take a guess. His spy was coming up with an excuse to leave whoever was with them.
It took a few minutes, but the spy eventually came back on the line. “What’s going on? Why are you calling me?” they asked.
“I’ve been trying to contact the other people I have in the palace, but no one has answered. I wasn’t sure you would, but I had to take a chance.”
“Yeah, well, it’s clear that you’re not the one putting his life at risk here. Your contacts aren’t answering because they’re dead. Do you want me to end up the same way?”
Dimri briefly closed his eyes. He’d been sure that was what had happened, but he’d hoped. “You know I never wanted anyone to die.”
“I know. I’m just scared.”
“Can you leave the palace?”
“Maybe. I’m going to try, but you’ll know what happened if I don’t answer your next phone call.”
“What happened?”
“I’m not sure. Ramiel’s been in a foul mood since the attack failed.
There’s been a lot of screaming and throwing things.
Then, he found the spies. The executions were public.
Before you ask, I don’t know how he found them.
We were all careful. I honestly don’t know how he didn’t get to me, too, but I’m not going to stick around and find out. ”
“Good.”
“There have been rumors since the executions, though.”
“What kind of rumors?”
“The servants heard Ramiel say that he had spies.”
“We already know he has someone close to Berith.”
“Yeah, but do you know that one of your own spies is working for Ramiel?”
Dimri sucked in a breath. He’d suspected that might be a possibility, but he hadn’t wanted to believe it. He should have. He couldn’t trust anyone right now, not when doing so might mean putting people in danger.
He had two spies to find. It wasn’t going to be easy.
* * * *
ROQUE WAS MINDING HIS own business, walking down the hallway on his way to lunch, when he heard a crash coming from a room down the hallway he was walking past. He paused, wondering if he should do something about it.
What was in this hallway again? Mostly, it was offices, which didn’t explain the kind of noise he was hearing.
It sounded like someone was trashing the place.
His heart kicked up a notch. Was it the spy?
Were they destroying things so that Berith would have a harder time defeating Ramiel?
It didn’t make much sense, but it didn’t matter.
Even if whatever was happening was completely random, Roque was curious, so he abandoned thoughts of lunch and turned into the hallway.
He winced at the sound of something breaking.
It didn’t sound good, but maybe it had nothing to do with the war and Ramiel.
Maybe this was just someone who’d found out that their partner was cheating.
Living in a palace with so many people meant that there was always drama, which Roque enjoyed.
He wanted to know everything about everyone.
It was his job, after all. It helped him protect Berith better and more efficiently.
Or at least, that was what he told himself when he stuck his nose where it didn’t belong.
He found the office where the noise was coming from.
No one inside was screaming, so maybe it wasn’t a cheating partner.
When something else crashed, he decided it was his duty to check in on whoever was inside.
There was no name tag on the door, but he was pretty sure he knew this office.
It didn’t make sense, though. Why would Dimri be doing this?
Roque raised his hand and knocked on the door. The noise stopped, and for a moment, the only thing Roque could hear was silence. It was kind of eerie because he knew there was someone behind the door, listening to him. Did he breathe loudly? Should he say something?
“Who is it?” a voice called out.
That was definitely Dimri. Even though something told Roque he should leave the spymaster alone, he was too curious to do that. He needed to know what Dimri was up to. “Roque,” he called back.
He heard Dimri swear. The two of them weren’t friends—they weren’t even acquaintances—but Roque grinned at the annoyance in Dimri’s voice.
The spymaster was always so settled and cool that it was nice to know that he could fluster him.
It made him want to do it again and again, but it probably wasn’t the right moment for that.
If he wasn’t careful, Dimri might throw something at his face instead of at the door.
The door swung open. Dimri didn’t glare because that wasn’t something he did, but he did look Roque up and down as if trying to understand what he was doing there. Roque peeked into the room, not surprised to see a mess on the floor, considering the noise he’d heard.
“I’d ask if someone’s attacked you, but I don’t think there’s anyone in that office but you,” he said.
Dimri was good at schooling his expression. Roque could never tell what he was feeling, but just guess. Right now, though, there was a flicker of annoyance there, and Roque wondered if Dimri was thinking about slamming the door in his face. He wished Dimri would try, just to see what would happen.
“I’m fine,” Dimri eventually said. “You don’t have to worry about me. No one’s attacking me.”
“Maybe not, but it looks like someone’s attacking your files.”
“No one is. You can go.”
“How about I stay, and you tell me what the fuck is happening?”
“There’s no need for that.”
“Does it involve Berith?”
Dimri didn’t say it did, but he also didn’t say it didn’t. That was all the answer Roque needed.
He pushed past Dimri into the room. He was surprised when he felt a hand on his arm, and he acted by instinct, reaching with his other hand and grabbing Dimri’s wrist. When Dimri tried to push him away, Roque turned them around and slammed him against the wall by the door, surprising both of them.
For a moment, they stared at each other. Dimri was breathing hard, but Roque didn’t fool himself into thinking it was because of their position or because of him. No, it had to do with whatever had happened to cause him to trash his office.
“Let me go,” Dimri said, trying to push Roque off.
Roque shook his head. “I’m not letting you do anything until you tell me what’s going on. Does it involve Berith? Should I be worried?”
Dimri’s expression softened. “No, you shouldn’t be worried, at least not yet.”
“But I’ll have to be eventually, which means it does involve Berith. What’s going on? Is it your spies?” He’d said he would contact them to find out what was going on in Ramiel’s palace. What had he discovered that would have caused him to destroy his office?
Dimri stopped resisting and trying to get out of Roque’s hold. His shoulders slumped, and his entire body relaxed, but not in a good way. It was as if he was giving up—surrendering—which wasn’t something Roque had expected from him. He’d never seen Dimri do that.
Shit. What the fuck had happened?
Roque let go of Dimri, but he didn’t go far.
It was clear that Dimri was not doing well.
Roque doubted he’d ask for help, especially from him, but that didn’t mean he would abandon the guy.
In part, it was because he needed to know what was going on so he could protect Berith, but in part, he also worried about Dimri.
As annoying as the spymaster could be sometimes, he was an ally.
More than that, Berith considered him a friend.
“I had four spies embedded in Ramiel’s palace,” Dimri murmured. “One of them is on the run, coming back here. I’m not sure they’ll make it.”