Chapter 13
The next morning, right after an early breakfast, Garrett and I left to interview our list of Thorgana’s associates.
I’d half considered bringing a carriage around so Rylan could accompany us, but Garrett had seemed eager to use the steambike again, and I didn’t want him to think anything was wrong.
Our first stop was the Mendle family, who had just recently moved into a new mansion in Maintown.
It was a ginormous affair of stone and glass, with a huge, cobblestone paved roundabout in front, and gardens that stretched around the sides and to the back for who knew how far.
Heavy silk curtains hung in the six-by-six casement windows spanning the two stories, and several chimneys jutted from the slate roof.
Just how much house did these people need, anyway?
Of course, most of the guests who regularly attended the Benefactor’s lavish parties lived in opulent style.
Maybe they were planning to host similar parties, now that Thorgana was no longer able to do so.
A wrought-iron gate prevented us from parking in front of the door, so I left my bike at the curb, then flashed my enforcer bracelet at the lone guard manning the small booth outside the gate. He let us in immediately, then picked up a phone to let the house staff know we were coming.
“The Mendles must be doing very well,” Garrett remarked as we approached the house, skirting around the stone fountain at the center of the roundabout.
The leaves on the bushes edging the fountain were turning burnished shades of red and gold.
No doubt they grew brilliant flowers during the spring and summer. “This is quite the place.”
“From what I understand, they just moved in,” I said, trotting up the stacked-stone steps. I reached for the heavy brass knocker, then recoiled with a hiss moments before my fingers brushed against it. “What the fuck?”
“What is it?” Garrett asked, sounding alarmed.
“Silver.” I glared at the offending knocker, my fingers twitching toward my crescent knives. Not that I’d be able to cut the knocker off with them, but someone ought to. “Guess shifters aren’t welcome here.”
“That’s right,” Garrett said, his gaze lighting with understanding. “You are allergic to silver. I completely forgot.” Stepping forward, he grabbed the knocker and rapped sharply on the door.
I glared at him. “Seriously? That’s it?”
He turned to me, a puzzled frown on his face. “What? I knocked on the door for you. Isn’t that what you wanted?”
“Yes,” I said through gritted teeth. I didn’t know why I was acting offended that Garrett wasn’t showing more consideration for me.
We weren’t friends. Still, if I pushed emotion aside, it was an interesting tidbit, this knocker.
Were the Mendles an anti-shifter family?
Had they supported the Resistance in any way?
Approaching footsteps sounded beyond the door, and it opened before Garrett could say anything else. “Good morning,” a human male dressed in a dark suit greeted us—the butler. He had thinning blond hair and sallow skin, and there were dark circles beneath his pale brown eyes. “How can I help you?”
“Umm, we’re looking for Mr. and Mrs. Mendle.” Normally, I would have sounded a lot more official, but the fetid smell of sickness was wafting from beyond the open door, and man, it was strong. My skin crawled, and I fought the urge to back away. “Are they in?”
“Mr. Mendle is at the office, and the missus is indisposed, I’m afraid,” the butler said. A gust of wind blew past us, and he looked like he was about to topple over. “If you’d like, I can take a message.”
“This is a matter of some urgency—” Garrett began, but I cut him off.
“That would be just fine.” I took out a pad and pen, scribbled down a note, and handed it to the servant. “Please have Mrs. Mendle call me at her earliest convenience.”
As soon as the door closed, I grabbed Garrett by the sleeve and dragged him away from the house as fast as I could without looking like we were running away.
“What are you doing?” he snapped, struggling to break my grip. “Why did you cut me off like that!”
I refused to answer him until we were beyond the gates and out of earshot of the guard.
“Didn’t you notice how sick that guy was?” I demanded, finally letting go of him. “There’s no way we were going in there and interviewing Mrs. Mendle today.” I shook my head. “Something was definitely wrong.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Garrett said, smoothing the sleeve of his robe where I’d grabbed him. “You’re a shifter—you don’t succumb to human illnesses. And neither do I. We would have been perfectly safe.”
Normally, I would have agreed with him. But…
“I just had a bad feeling, okay?” I snapped, folding my arms across my chest. Damn, did it get colder, or did I just have the chills?
“That sickness, whatever it is, was affecting the whole house. Even the butler was barely able to stand, for Magorah’s sake.
Just because I can’t get sick doesn’t mean I can’t accidentally pass the disease to someone else.
There are human children who I help look after.
Besides, it won’t do any good to interview Mrs. Mendle while she’s so ill. She needs to be coherent.”
“Very well,” Garrett said, but from the sound of his voice, I could tell he was anything but pleased by my explanation. “We’ll do it your way and come back another time. But I don’t have forever, Miss Baine. As Lord Iannis himself said, if I don’t find any leads soon, I’ll have to move on.”
“I know, and I’ve been wondering why a man of your importance, with a large and growing organization at his beck and call, would be doing this sort of house call at all. Surely the boss doesn’t need to lower himself like this.” I arched a brow, deliberately needling him.
“A bit of fieldwork now and then helps keep my skills fresh,” he said stiffly.
After a moment, he added, “And this case is high-profile enough to merit my personal attention. I don’t see why we are even discussing this, not when every minute that passes is so precious.
We should be heading to see Mr. Mendle at his office. Not bickering about why I’m here.”
“Sure, we can do that. I just didn’t want you to feel like I was wasting your precious time.” His eyes flashed, and I bit back the rest of my snarky retort. Garrett was right—there wasn’t time for bickering.
We got back onto the bike, and drove to Mr. Mendle’s office, which was on the other side of Maintown.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t in—he was out overseeing some emergency repairs—so we moved on to the next people on our list, a banker and his socialite wife, and a rich playboy in the diamond trade who lived in a tricked-out bachelor’s pad in Rowanville.
Neither of them had seen Thorgana or had any clue about her whereabouts, and as my nose could detect no lie, we had nothing to show for our efforts.
Maybe Thorgana really isn’t here, I thought as we rode back to the Palace for lunch.
I wasn’t too keen on the idea of giving up if there was a chance she was lurking in my city, but if this was an excuse to send Garrett packing, I’d gladly pounce on it.
I could always continue sniffing her out after he was gone.
I was tempted to go back to my room for a bit of solitude, but I forced myself to follow Garrett straight to the Winter Garden room. It seems like every meal is going to be a working one these days, I thought resentfully as I sat down to lunch with Chen, Kardanor, Garrett, and Pillick.
To my surprise, I spotted Fenris curled up on the window bench in wolf form.
No doubt he’d chosen to come so he could keep up on developments.
The kitchen had sent up shepherd’s pie today, one of my least favorite meals, but I forced myself to pile two helpings on my plate and dig in.
I would need my strength to get through the rest of the day.
As we ate and talked, I noticed that Chen seemed to have warmed to Kardanor.
The two were sitting close together, chattering enthusiastically about the progress they were making on their various projects.
At one point, Chen even gave him a rare smile.
Her cheeks flushed as her eyes met mine, and I bit back a grin.
Oh boy. Director Chen was in big trouble.
I was just considering the idea of teasing Director Chen about her new beau when Iannis walked in. My jaw dropped in shock as my eyes flitted from Iannis to his guest—Father Calmias, dressed in a fresh set of white robes, and glowing with inner peace and serenity.
“Lord Iannis,” Director Chen exclaimed in horror, shooting to her feet. Fenris and I exchanged a glance. Could it be…? “Why have you brought Father Calmias in here, with no restraints?”
“There is no need to fear,” Iannis said, pulling out a chair for himself and another for his unorthodox guest. “Father Calmias has renounced his previous gospel. He is being released today as a free man.” He looked over the room. “Now be seated.”
“That’s outrageous,” Garrett said, staring at Iannis as though he’d lost his mind. He remained standing even as the rest of us took our seats. “Father Calmias is indirectly responsible for hundreds of casualties.”
“For which I will spend the remainder of my life repenting,” Father Calmias said gravely.
I nearly fell out of my chair at the profound sorrow in his voice, which my nose told me was absolutely genuine.
“I have done terrible things in the name of the Ur-God, things I now realize must have been planted in my head by some evil spirit.”
“And how did you come to this realization?” Garrett probed, sounding highly skeptical.