Chapter 16
Emmett
The knock came just as I was pouring myself a whiskey on the rocks.
I knew who it was before I even opened the door—the scent of smoke and brimstone preceded them.
Blaze and Flame stood in the hallway, or rather, they hovered.
Unlike the last time I’d seen them, they wore name tags, probably to make it easier for others in the castle to tell them apart.
I heard they’d made friends with the staff, which was the thing Leroy had been so upset about.
The air in the room grew thick with the scent of smoke as Blaze and Flame took their positions before my desk. But despite looking like they were ready to drop a match into dry tinder, all I felt was a slight heat from them.
“Tell me what you’ve learned about the stranger in town.” I leaned back in my chair.
The two nearly identical djinns exchanged a look before Flame spoke. “Before we do that, we request that this room be completely private and warded. And we ask that you use one of Sena’s old spells to prevent anyone else from listening in.”
I frowned. “How do you know about Sena?”
“It’ll become clear soon.”
I retrieved one of the last premade privacy wards from my desk and tore it open. The spell spilled out, circling and encompassing the office. “It is done. Now speak, djinn.”
“The man you saw in town isn’t Samuel,” Blaze said.
I exhaled sharply. “Did you find out who it is?”
“Not exactly. But we know he’s a wizard,” he said. “He doesn’t seem to have any connections with Samuel. But he’s definitely a magic user.”
I nodded, processing this. I had told the two about the call Elana had received on Sunday. I almost wished the bastard would call again so we could trace it back to him. But he hadn’t done so yet.
“So we don’t have definitive proof that Samuel knows Elana’s here,” Flame said, eager to spill the beans.
“We can confirm, however, that Samuel is free. The EA is trying to keep the details under wraps. We know that they have a team looking for him. But there is something else you need to know. It’s about your wizard, Leroy. ”
I tilted my chin, appraising them. “What about him?”
“He’s a lying liar,” he said, his voice low. “Your wizard has been playing you for a fool for some time.”
I stiffened. “That’s impossible. He’s been with me for decades.”
The djinn grinned. “Your demon, Cassian? He’s been spelled so that he can’t speak of it. He can’t warn you. But there’s nothing in the spell preventing him from telling us. And us from telling you.”
Lead formed in my belly. “You’re telling me Leroy has been scheming against me? How do you mean?”
“Here’s where Sena comes in. Leroy murdered her when she was at her weakest, in the middle of her life extending spell. That’s why he was the one to find her in the woods first. He knew already because he’d killed her.”
I felt the blood drain from my face. I hadn’t even considered Leroy might have been involved. But I couldn’t just take things at face value. I needed irrefutable proof.
“Can you prove it?”
The two exchanged a look.
It was Blaze who spoke. “We can’t prove what happened to your witch. But if you put some hidden cameras in Melly’s playroom, you’ll find proof of his current ploy yourself. That’s where he goes to contact his buddies since he knows there are no cameras there.”
“His current ploy?”
It was the other ifrit who answered. “Let’s just say he’s not happy working for a dragon anymore. He wants to be in control.” He didn’t offer any more. “Consider this a warning.”
I stood, my chair scraping against the floor. “And Cassian told you all this?”
“It was the only way. He can’t tell you or anyone working for you directly. He’s tried since Sena, but every time, the magic prevents it from happening. He wrote a note once, and it turned into gibberish. Technically, we work for Desmon, so he was able to tell us.”
Was that why Leroy hadn’t wanted Cassian around the ifrits?
I paced the length of my office, my mind racing.
Leroy had been with me for decades. He’d helped me build this life.
And now they were telling me he’d been lying to me?
That he was the reason for the death of my trusted witch?
And what was this new ploy he was up to?
I turned back to them, my voice low. “What do you want from me in return for this information?”
Their twin grins were slow and a little creepy. “Nothing. Yet,” they both said in unison, suddenly sounding very much like one person.
I exhaled sharply, running a hand through my hair.
I dismissed them. Then, alone in my office, I continued to pace, trying to make sense of what I’d just learned.
Should I confirm with Cassian? Or would that alert Leroy?
Especially since I’d just had a meeting with the two ifrits in a sealed room.
Perhaps it would be better if I waited to talk to him.
But that didn’t mean I needed to wait to install those cameras.
I happened to have a few small ones available.
All I had to do was figure out where to hide them.
The one thing that worried me the most was the fact that I’d already told Leroy about Melly’s recent breakthrough and the fact that she indeed had a human side.
The playroom was quiet when I pushed open the door. Dizzi and Elana sat cross-legged on the rug in the center of the room. Dizzi’s fingers wove through the air as she worked her magic. The tiny point of flame dancing between them flickered out when they noticed me.
Melly was sprawled on her nap mat in the corner, fast asleep, her tiny chest rising and falling in slow, steady breaths.
Dizzi grinned, her sharp teeth showing. “My lord! Perfect timing. I was just teaching Elana how to snuff out small flames with her magic. Just in case Melly lights something on fire.”
The goblin girl had some magic of her own, but I hadn’t thought of having her help Elana control hers. It was a great idea.
“That is a sound plan,” I said. “I trust your lessons are fruitful?”
“I’m having a lot more success now than when I tried using my magic before.”
“As I said,” Dizzi said with a grin, “it’s the mountain air. I can’t imagine how stifling it must be in the city.”
“Well then, perhaps Elana should accompany me as I make my rounds. I haven’t checked up with Kai for a while.”
“Oh! You’re going to love Kai. He’s our moat monster. Kai Kraken,” Dizzi said. “He’s nice as long as he isn’t hungry. You two run along now, I’m fine dealing with a sleeping baby dragon.”
The courtyard was alive with summer, from the buzz of cicadas to the scent of blooming jasmine. Elana squinted against the brightness, her sundress catching the warm breeze as we stepped onto the stone path.
“So,” she said, her voice light but curious. “A kraken shifter. You mentioned him the first day, but I totally forgot. I’ve actually never met a kraken before.”
The moat stretched before us, its dark waters still and silent. I stopped at the edge, scanning the surface. “Kai!” I called. “You decent?”
A ripple broke the water’s surface, and then a massive tentacle emerged, curling over the stone ledge. A moment later, Kai’s very human-looking head broke the surface, his dark eyes gleaming with amusement.
“Decent enough,” he rumbled, his voice like gravel.
“Though I can’t say the same for you, dragon.
You drove right over the drawbridge several times, and didn’t even once say hi.
” Then his eyes landed on Elana. He grinned, showing sharp teeth that were most definitely not human. “And who’s this beautiful creature?”
“This is Elana,” I said. “She’s visiting for a few weeks.”
Elana extended her hand toward the kraken’s offered tentacle without hesitation.
Kai’s gaze flicked to me, then back to her. “Ah. The one who’s been keeping Emmett so busy,” he undulated suggestively, “that he couldn’t visit when I’m literally just at his doorstep.”
Elana’s cheeks flushed.
I rolled my eyes. “Ignore him. He just likes to stir the pot.”
“More like churn the water.” He made several obscene hip thrusts.
Elana ignored them. “So how did a kraken get so far from the ocean?”
“That’s a long story, but I can summarize,” Kai said, lifting himself out of the water down to the waist where the human skin ended, turning a purplish gray.
“At my very lowest, a sea witch told me that I must follow legs to find what I seek most in life. So I made my legs, got out of the water, and started walking wherever my legs took me.”
“That sounds like quite a story.”
“It is, and it isn’t. I had a few false starts, walked across a number of the Hawaiian Islands, before I realized I had to swim a bit to get to the mainland first. I spent a few years traveling up and down the coast before I started into the mountains.
My legs got tired here, so I stopped. I still don’t know what I’m trying to find, but my legs don’t want to walk anywhere else. ”
“Well, I hope you find what you came here for.”
“Me too. But in the meantime, I’m living the life. I take trips out to the big city when I can, and I get my own saltwater moat, and all the sashimi I want. I’m in a lot better place than I was when I first started. And I’ve only had to eat one intruder.”
Elana’s face visibly paled.
We stayed a little while longer, and I steered the conversation away from the devouring of intruders and to creatures he was raising in the moat.
Apparently, not all fish were for eating.
Many were pets. The kraken’s eyes lit up as he called over his favorite, a particularly clever octopus named Inky.
He proudly had Inky show us a few tricks, including opening a jar to get the shrimp inside, and “jumping” through a hoop. Though it was more like swimming through a hoop instead.
As we finally prepared to leave, I turned to Elana. “I’ve been meaning to check on the plants in my conservatory. Would you like to come along?”
“Yes! I keep forgetting to check it out.”
I offered Elana my arm with a flourish. “Shall we?”