Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
CASSIAN
Business was a slow trickle, but it was back. Willorunia’s advice had helped, but the inn still wasn’t the same. On a night like this, we would typically have at least eight guests, but tonight we had three.
Still, it was a cause for celebration. I knew how to fix my inn. I spent the evening in the pub chatting happily with Griffin. His mood was up too, and he was happy to drink with me.
We were deep in a bottle of wine when the pub door opened, and Sterling and Jasmine stepped inside.
I slid off my stool, beaming at them. “You’re back!” I said a little too loudly. I wanted to throw myself into Sterling’s arms, but I couldn’t do that in front of Jasmine and Griffin. We were still trying to keep it quiet.
Sterling smiled, but there was something hiding behind it. He looked exhausted, and Jasmine looked somber.
“Hey, Cass,” Jasmine said with a small smile.
“What’s the matter? You didn’t get the writ?” I asked, glancing at each of them.
Sterling shook his head, approaching me. “That doesn’t matter. We need to talk,” he said, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder.
I frowned at his hand. It didn’t feel like the usual loving touch, and it made my stomach turn. “Sure, Sterling. Should I make you some coffee first? You look tired.”
He let me go. “No, thank you. Can we go somewhere private?”
“Yeah, all right.” I smiled at him before sliding my wine glass across the counter toward Griffin. “Thanks, Griffin.”
“G’night, Cassian,” Griffin grunted.
I brought Sterling to the office, and Jasmine followed close behind. I didn’t speak until the door shut. “Did you two have fun?” I asked, trying to lighten the mood.
“Yes,” Sterling answered seriously, which made me think he was lying.
“Better than a stay at the Shoreside Inn,” Jasmine joked.
I laughed, knowing how much she hated it there. “Good! So, what did you want to tell me?” I leaned against the desk and crossed my arms while I waited.
Sterling frowned at Jasmine. “I’m sorry, but do you mind if I speak to Cassian alone?”
“Really? Don’t you think it’s better if I’m here?” she asked. Clearly, she already knew whatever Sterling was about to say.
Sterling sighed, rubbing the lower half of his face with one hand, which I’d noticed he did when he was stressed. “You understand why I want to talk to him one on one, don’t you?”
“Oh. Right. Sure,” she said, hesitating before she headed for the door. She gave me an uncomfortable nod before shutting the door behind her, leaving Sterling and me alone.
I immediately pushed off the desk just as he extended his arms, pulling me into a hug. “I missed you,” I said against his chest, my voice muffled in his thick shirt.
“I missed you too,” he said, squeezing me tight. He leaned back, sliding his hands up to hold my face. He leaned in to press a gentle kiss to my mouth, and then he went in for another. And another.
I laughed against his lips. “What’s the matter?”
He sighed as he glanced at the door to the lobby. “Let’s talk in your room.”
“Our room,” I said, already taking his hand to drag him there.
“Right.”
I shut and locked the door before facing him, my curiosity eating me. “Seriously, what’s the matter? You’re scaring me.”
Sterling raked his dark curls out of his eyes. “You might want to sit down for this.”
My heart beat fast, and my mind raced with possibilities. Had he figured it out? Would I believe him? I had to. I promised I would. I numbly took a seat at the table beneath the window. The moon lit the snow outside a bright shade of blue. Sterling remained standing.
“Cassian, I…” He fiddled with his hands, watching them instead of me. “I don’t think you’re going to like what I have to say. I’ve grown very fond of you, and I want to be sure we come out the other side of this conversation in one piece.”
I nodded, but that scared me more than anything. What kind of information did he have that he thought would break us up? “I don’t want to break up.”
“Good,” he said, looking past me out the window.
The blue light from the moonlit snow reflected off his beautiful face, lining his soft expression with gloom.
“Nothing was adding up, and I felt stuck, so Jasmine asked me to talk it out with her. It only left me more confused, because I had nothing to go on, but there was one person I hadn’t considered.
Someone who didn’t want to be here, who could only benefit from a forced sale of the inn. ”
My brow furrowed. He couldn’t be implying what I thought he was implying. “Sterling…”
He lifted one finger in the air. “Even in my most objective state of thinking, I couldn’t believe it. But Jasmine… she said you seduced me.”
I stood up, already feeling the sting of tears. “Sterling, you don’t really think that, do you?”
“Of course not,” he said.
I shook my head, unable to stop the flow of tears. “So, what? You don’t believe I seduced you, but you still believe I cursed my own inn and lied to you about it?”
“I know it wasn’t you, Cassian,” he said.
“What are you saying, then?” I demanded.
“Jasmine was more willing to pin the blame on you than you were willing to even pin the blame on Ricky. It didn’t add up until I let myself really consider her, Cassian. I’m so sorry. Jasmine cursed the inn.”
I didn’t hear anything he said after that. He was still talking, probably listing all the reasons he thought it was her, but despite my promise to believe him, I didn’t. Finally, I shook my head and said, “It wasn’t her.”
“Cassian—”
I stepped away from him. “You got it wrong. Look at the evidence again. It wasn’t her,” I said.
He watched me, his mouth hanging open. “You promised to accept my answer.”
“I didn’t think you’d try to take the only person in my life who I could count on to be here for me. Jasmine is my best friend. She’s family. We grew up together. I know her better than anyone, and you’re wrong, Sterling. It wasn’t her,” I said, my voice shaking.
Sterling folded his hands behind his back. “She didn’t defend you like this. She said you seduced me to stay blameless.”
My eyes filled with tears. “You’re lying. She wouldn’t say that.”
Sterling hesitated. “I’m sorry, but she did.”
“Call off the investigation if this is your answer. You’re wrong,” I said.
Sterling stood with me, his mouth hanging open. “You should really listen to me, Cassian. Our relationship aside, this is serious. You could lose the inn.”
“I’ll sell the inn! I don’t care! Jasmine is more important to me.”
Sterling watched me with pity when I said so, and that angered me more than anything.
He knew nothing about my relationship with her.
“Just hear me out, Cass. Everything fits. Jasmine would have gone to Ezzila because she doesn’t know enough magic to cast the curse herself, and of course she knew better than to go to Willorunia.
She told you to throw the rune stone back into the water because she knew what it was.
The baker mentioned that the only two people from the inn she saw in town were Olive and Jasmine, and Olive doesn’t even want the money from your grandfather’s will.
Your grandfather specifically bypassed Jasmine to inherit the inn in favor of you, and she told me she was jealous.
She was here when we went to Dreckle, so she could have altered the curse while we were away.
Your mentor wrote to advise you on protection wards, but the letter was intercepted, just like the letter I sent to the Force was intercepted.
The only person who could intercept mail would be Jasmine, and when the legalers gave her a letter for you from your grandfather’s estate, she opened it immediately to read for herself.
She’s guilty, Cassian! Please believe me. ”
I shook my head, and a tear fell down my face. “Jasmine wouldn’t do this to me. Find someone else.”
“There is no one else. It all leads back to her.”
“Then call it off. I’ll fix it myself,” I said.
“Cassian… If I call it off, I have to leave.”
“Then leave. It was just a matter of time, anyway.”
The look on Sterling’s face broke my heart, so I looked away.
“Is that really what you want?” he asked gently.
“Is this really your answer?”
“It’s not my answer. It’s the answer,” he said.
I rubbed my neck and watched the dark snow fall out the window. “I’ll set you up in another room tonight. I want this investigation over as soon as possible.”
“Does this mean we’re… done?” he asked. I had to squeeze my eyes shut to keep the tears back.
“You’re leaving me, Sterling. You were always going to,” I said.
After a stretch of silence, Sterling scoffed. “I should’ve known better than to fall for you. Of course you only liked me when you thought I could help you.”
I whipped around to glare at him. “That’s not true.”
“Then why are you telling me to leave?” he demanded.
“Because you want to arrest my cousin!” I said. “She told me to contact the Force! Why would she do that if she were guilty?”
“To appear innocent,” Sterling said.
“That’s crazy. You sound crazy,” I said.
“I urge you to reconsider. You’ll be in a lot of trouble if I call off the case,” Sterling said.
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll figure it out,” I said.
Sterling watched me for a stretch before saying, “Fine.” He took two steps toward the door but stopped. “I almost forgot. This is for you. It’s from your grandfather.”
He offered me an unmarked letter inside an open envelope. “Why is it open?” I asked as I took it from him.
He frowned pointedly at me. “Jasmine tried to read it.”
“She can read my mail. I don’t mind.”
“Evidently not.”
I scowled at him. “Goodbye, Sterling.”
He hesitated, and then he nodded once. He didn’t even say goodbye.
In the morning, he was gone.
STERLING
The walk back to Ladiall was a blur. Cassian’s reaction shocked me. I knew he wouldn’t like the answer, but I didn’t expect him to break up with me. He had torn my heart right out of my chest and left me empty.
And I was about to do the one thing Commander Decker told me not to do: return with an unsolved case. I would be demoted the moment she found out.
The snow felt colder than ever that morning. I felt foolish carrying my fully packed bag back to the city. I really thought I would have a nice stay with Cassian while we collected evidence against Jasmine. I should’ve known he wouldn’t want me anymore when I gave him an answer he didn’t like.
The conversation with Commander Decker would not be fun. Demotion aside, I would have to find some way to explain this without revealing my relationship with Cassian.
I dropped my things off at home, cleaned up, and then headed to the Force headquarters, arriving around midday.
“Sterling. Back so soon?” she asked as I stepped up to her desk.
“Yes, ma’am,” I said.
“Have you solved it?” she asked.
“Cassian Fibbersnap no longer feels our presence is necessary at Fibbersnap Inn. He requested I close the case,” I said.
Commander Decker leaned forward, folding her hands together. “Didn’t I specifically instruct you to come back with a solved case, Thorndrop?”
“Yes, ma’am. Cassian Fibbersnap requested it himself.”
“Why?” she demanded.
“The person responsible for cursing the inn is his cousin, Jasmine Bloomday. He wouldn’t accept it,” I said.
“Her arrest is not up to Mr. Fibbersnap. You should have brought her in regardless,” Commander Decker said.
“I didn’t yet have sufficient evidence to arrest her,” I admitted.
“Thorndrop,” she said, leaning back in her chair with a heavy sigh. “Do you remember why I sent you out there?”
“To fix my priorities,” I answered.
“And what did you prioritize while you were there? The safety of the victim? Or something else?” she asked.
I frowned at my feet. She was right. No matter how I felt about Cassian, I should not have left him there with Jasmine free to ruin his life. He didn’t believe me, but that didn’t matter. I didn’t do my job.
“You’re too soft to be an investigator, Thorndrop. I’m demoting you to patrol.”
My head snapped up. “Commander—”
She lifted a hand to stop me. “I gave you a chance, and you failed. I put you on that case to test your ability, but you got too close to the victim. You closed the investigation because the truth hurt Mr. Fibbersnap’s feelings, which is absolutely unacceptable and downright absurd. You should know better.”
I wanted to argue with her, but I couldn’t. I messed up. Cassian was unsafe because of me. “I’m sorry, Commander.”
“You’ll start patrol at the eastern gate tomorrow. Hand in your case notes and all relevant information. You’re no longer an investigator.”
“Yes, ma’am.”