Chapter 18 #2
If he’d had his way, he’d have made a pot of tea and maybe chatted a little with Dorian to see if he could unravel more from his side, but Ashley wasn’t the sort who liked to be kept waiting.
He opened another portal, keyed to the spark, and stepped into a book-lined living room.
Chris, Jack and Ashley were already present.
“Ah, Alex, now you’re here, we can begin,” Ashley said.
“And where is here?” he asked.
“My flat in Warwick,” Jack said. “Ashley wanted somewhere to talk that could be considered neutral.”
“I didn’t want to risk being overheard at Crofton Hall. I don’t want to upset Ben if he were to misunderstand this discussion.”
“That depends on what you think he could misunderstand.” Alex already had an idea where Ashley might be going with this, but he would wait until he’d unleashed his full idiocy.
Ashley glared at him. Many people had tried to stare him down over the years, and he’d been immune in the most part. “From our initial discussion, there’s an obvious possibility that there was another person involved apart from this Trevir bloke.”
“Speaking to Debi—Dorian’s PA—I agree that is an avenue to consider,” Alex said. “She has worked with Trevir before and had never considered him to be a threat.”
“Our thoughts need to turn to who this second person could be. They would want to bring harm to Dorian and would have the capability to do so.”
“I would caution against over-simplification. As the individual I know you’re considering would have other ways to bring down a dragon than this complicated charade.”
Ashley pursed his lips. “I think Simon is a credible suspect.”
Chris gasped. “Hang on, when you said you wanted to talk about a person of interest, I didn’t think you meant Simon. That’s the daftest thing I’ve heard in… forever.”
“You’re all quick to dismiss the idea, despite the facts,” Ashley insisted.
“You have a point that he’s bloody powerful and is pissed off at a bloke who was trying to bang his husband,” Jack said.
“But I don’t see why he would have bothered being so underhanded.
He also doesn’t have the time with everything going on in the fae realm to come up with such a convoluted scheme when he could’ve blasted Dorian into next week. ”
“Then you come up with an alternative?” Ashley bit back. “Dorian couldn’t think of anyone.”
Alex had a brain itch—there was something here not adding up. “We should speak to Trevir. There are two options here. That he was fully aware of what would happen to Dorian, or he was a mage for hire who thought he would be doing one thing and ended up doing another.”
Ashley snorted. “You think he’ll give up his co-conspirator?”
Jack shrugged. “I’d suggest inferring that he’s on Robin’s shit list, and he’ll be drained to a husk if he doesn’t come clean.”
“That’s a good point,” Alex said. “This guy’s a mage for hire. He’s not gonna put his neck on the line.”
He was well aware of what people would do for money and knew there was only so much risk they would take.
“They’d have to find him first,” Jack said. “Do you think he’s going to crawl out of the woodwork?”
“Debi is convinced he’s not a bad guy. She’s going to contact him and let me know when he’s coming so I can be there to have a conversation.”
“I wouldn’t suggest you go alone,” Ashley said.
“I was thinking of taking Karl. There’s something about demon magic that tends to put people off their guard.”
He hoped Ashley was no longer considering Simon a real suspect. Unfortunately, he was to be disappointed.
“Simon might be protecting him.” Ashley looked defiant. “I don’t want to rule him out yet.”
“It seems far too convenient to me,” Chris said.
“Almost as if Simon is being set up. There’s too much political nonsense going on at the moment, and Simon is in the middle of several important discussions.
Ashley, you’re about to marry into the House of Hewel, who are linked by marriage to the House of Cartwright through Robin and Simon. This is not a hornet’s nest to kick.”
“I know that, why do you think we’re talking here and not at the hall? I like Simon, but we don’t really know that much about him.”
“He helped me,” Chris said. “I refuse to believe he is behind what happened to Dorian.”
Chris did have a tendency to find the good in everyone, but Alex thought he was right about Simon. “I’m willing to keep an open mind. But, Ashley, I think you’ve jumped to a conclusion here you shouldn’t have. Chris might be on the right track regarding someone wanting Simon to be the fall guy.”
Jack hummed, which Alex had come to learn was him about to offer an opinion that might be a bit out of left field. “Any chance Dorian is playing a double bluff? That he’s behind this, but being stuck as a dragon wasn’t part of the plan.”
“I don’t think he’s bright enough to have come up with an idea this complicated on his own,” Alex said.
He didn’t say it to be unkind, but Dorian wasn’t an intellectual; he had an excellent memory and emotional depth, which made him a good actor.
That didn’t make him a strategic mastermind, though.
“But I will keep the idea as an option and continue with my conversations with him.”
Ashley smirked. “How’s the dragon babysitting going?”
“I’ve not spent that much time with him yet. He seems likeable enough, and I’ve done much worse things as part of my job.” He checked his watch. “Talking of which, I need to get back to the hall. I assume this conversation didn’t happen.”
“Correct,” Ashley said. “I’m going to see if I can find any more registered Sentry Mages. I don’t think Trevir is on our global list.”
Alex said his goodbyes and returned to Crofton Hall. He had several things to discuss with Dorian, including how to play his egg game, which, given all the daft conversation he’d had today, might be the solace he needed.