Chapter Four
Roque and Dimri had survived their outing to Medea’s tavern, but they hadn’t gotten what they needed.
They still needed to dig into the life of who they thought was the spy, and this time, Dimri wouldn’t allow Roque to take the lead.
He’d fucked up once. He wasn’t going to do it again because Dimri wouldn’t let him.
That meant that Dimri needed to come up with another plan.
Part of him wished he could keep Roque out of it, but he knew better.
Not only had Berith specifically told them to work together, but Roque wouldn’t hesitate to tattle if Dimri moved on his own.
He wanted to be involved, which made sense, but considering how impulsive and annoying he was, he wasn’t making Dimri’s life easy.
In fact, he was actively making it harder because Dimri had to work around his impulsiveness.
He’d allowed Roque to do what he wanted once, but that had been the only time.
He wouldn’t tolerate Roque putting anyone in danger, least of all him or Berith.
“You look like you’re thinking really hard,” Roque said before taking another bite of his sandwich.
He stared at Dimri as he did so, but Dimri kept his gaze firmly on the documents on his desk. He shouldn’t find Roque endearing. There was nothing endearing about a grown demon eating a sandwich and leaving crumbs all over Dimri’s desk.
“Considering what happened at the tavern, we still don’t have any information about the spy,” Dimri said. “That needs to change.”
“We don’t even know if they’re really the spy yet.”
Dimri glared. He didn’t need Roque to remind him of that. The person they were after was only one possibility. It was the strongest one, but Dimri might be wrong.
That was why they needed to find out whether or not he was as soon as possible. If he was wrong, they’d have to start looking again, and it might take them a while to find whoever was behind all of this.
“I’ll start planning what’s next,” he said. “And no, we won’t just go out there and talk to the spy. It didn’t work when you decided to talk to Medea, and it won’t work this time, either.”
“A demon makes one little mistake, and you keep throwing it in his face. That’s not nice.”
“What’s not nice is that your little mistake almost got you killed.”
“I can’t deny that,” Roque said before stuffing more food in his face.
Dimri had been surprised when Roque had appeared at his office door with a tray of sandwiches.
He hadn’t known what to think of it, and he still didn’t, but he couldn’t say that he hated spending time with Roque, at least when they weren’t bickering over their plans.
Unfortunately, it was what they did most of the time.
There was a sense of urgency to this mess.
Roque didn’t know all of it, but Dimri still hadn’t heard back from his surviving spy.
He still didn’t know if they’d managed to leave Ramiel’s palace and was on the way here.
The spy was protecting themselves, which was what Dimri wanted, but it made him anxious.
He also disliked that someone on their side was feeding Ramiel information.
After everything Berith had done for so many people, it didn’t feel right.
Nothing in this situation felt right. Dimri suspected that nothing would until the war was over and Ramiel had been defeated.
He hoped that would happen as soon as possible, which was the reason he needed to find the spy. Once they knew, they could start plotting.
“You know, this would be easier if you told me who you think the spy is,” Roque said. “I promise I won’t go find them if that’s what worries you. I learned my lesson.”
“Did you?”
Roque raised a hand and wiggled it. “More or less. I promise I won’t approach the spy, though. Remember that we have the same goal. We want to protect Berith and his family.”
Dimri sighed and leaned back in his chair. “His name is Abath. He’s one of Berith’s family’s servants. He’s been working for them for years, and they all trust him, including Berith.”
Roque blinked and slowly put down his sandwich. Dimri winced at the thought of it touching his documents, but he didn’t say anything. He could see that Roque was shocked, which wasn’t a surprise. He had to know Abath.
“He’s been working for Berith almost as long as I have,” Roque said.
“Which is why he has easy access to Berith and his family. The princess loves him.”
“I know that. You really think it’s him?”
“I think it’s a possibility.”
“Why?”
“Well, he has the means. He spends all of his working days close to Berith. He knows where everything and everyone is.”
“I get that, but why would he do that?”
“Because he needs money.”
Roque frowned. “What for? He knows that if he needs anything, Berith will help. Everyone does.”
Berith treated everyone in his territory with the same respect.
Even though he didn’t view most of the palace servants as family, he cared about them.
He always made sure they had time to rest and that they were paid more than adequately.
It wasn’t something most princes of Hell did, and it was one of the reasons so many people were loyal to him.
“He gambles heavily, and he has debts,” Dimri explained, even though he felt like he shouldn’t.
This wasn’t something Abath would want most people to know.
It was why he’d been hiding it. Unfortunately, hiding something like that meant that he was vulnerable to people hiring him to find information about the prince or even a way to harm him.
Roque flopped back against his chair. “I can’t believe that.”
“Be that as it may, I can assure you that I’m not lying.
Abath is close to Berith and his family, and he has a good reason to work for the enemy.
I’m not saying he doesn’t care about Berith or that he’s happy with what he’s doing if he’s the spy, but he probably feels like he doesn’t have a choice. ”
“How do you want to do this, then? Should we confront him?”
Dimri briefly closed his eyes. “I thought you’d learned your lesson. Confronting people doesn’t work.”
“I know that it didn’t at the tavern, but this is Abath we’re talking about. He would never hurt a fly.”
“You think he wouldn’t. No, we can’t just talk to him. We need to watch him...maybe feed him false information that he can send back to Ramiel. We have to find a way to confirm that he’s our spy before we do anything.”
Roque’s mulish expression was back on his face, which meant that Dimri wouldn’t like what he was about to hear.
“Abath is family. We should talk to him. If you don’t want to, I can do it.”
Dimri reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose. This was going to be another long meeting, wasn’t it?
* * * *
ROQUE UNDERSTOOD WHAT Dimri was saying. He couldn’t even say that Dimri was wrong. The confrontation with Medea had shown Roque that Dimri knew what he was doing more than he did.
But Dimri didn’t know Abath as well as Roque.
To him, Abath was just another servant. Roque had spent countless hours talking to the demon over the years, though.
He wouldn’t say they were friends, but they were familiar with each other.
He didn’t think Abath would do anything to hurt Berith, no matter how much money he owed to anyone.
That was why he felt they should talk to him.
If they did, he could clarify the situation, and they’d be able to focus on finding the real spy.
That was what he told Dimri. He hoped Dimri would understand his reasoning and agree with it, but instead, the spymaster looked at him like he was an idiot.
“Again, didn’t you learn anything?” Dimri asked.
“This isn’t a random tavern owner, Dimri. This is someone I know,” Roque told him.
“Which is why you probably shouldn’t be working with me. I understand why it’s hard, but it’s necessary.”
“Is it?”
“I don’t have the certainty that Abath is the spy, but if he is, he’s not just going to tell you. Beyond his debts, he knows what that would mean for him.”
Jail. That was what it would mean for him, and if he really was the spy, Roque would be the person locking him up. He’d volunteer for it. But Roque truly didn’t think that Abath had anything to do with this. He just needed to convince Dimri of that.
Easier said than done.
“Confronting him will catch him off-guard,” Roque said, trying to find a way to convince Dimri that he wasn’t stupid. “He won’t have time to come up with lies. We’ll be able to see instantly whether or not he’s involved.”
“Or he might have lies ready because someone might eventually find out.”
Roque hated it when Dimri made sense. He needed the spymaster to go along with his request, dammit.
“His reaction will tell us everything we need to know, though,” he said, desperate to find the right angle.
He didn’t want to spend weeks doing whatever Dimri thought was necessary to solve this mess.
He needed it to be over now. “I know him. I can tell you if he lies.”
“Roque, I understand where you’re coming from. This man is a friend, and I hope that you’re right and that he has nothing to do with this mess, but we can’t afford to trust him or anyone outside of Berith’s small circle.”
“I get that. I just don’t see why we shouldn’t talk to him. He’s not like Medea.”
“He’s not,” Dimri agreed. “He’s even worse because he works here. You might be able to understand if he’s lying or not, but he’ll be able to do the same with you. He knows you as well as you know him.”
Dammit. Dimri was right again.
They couldn’t afford to continue bickering back and forth.
Time was running out, and they needed to find the spy.
It didn’t matter if it was Abath or someone else.
Whoever it was had to be stopped. Before they could do that, though, they had to be sure they were dealing with the right person.
Talking to Abath would help, which meant that Roque had to find a way to convince Dimri to do it.