For a moment, they stared at each other.Dimri was breathing hard, but Roque didn’t fool himself into thinking it was because of their position or because of him.No, it had to do with whatever had happened to cause him to trash his office.
“Let me go,” Dimri said, trying to push Roque off.
Roque shook his head.“I’m not letting you do anything until you tell me what’s going on.Does it involve Berith?Should I be worried?”
Dimri’s expression softened.“No, you shouldn’t be worried, at least not yet.”
“But I’ll have to be eventually, which means it does involve Berith.What’s going on?Is it your spies?”He’d said he would contact them to find out what was going on in Ramiel’s palace.What had he discovered that would have caused him to destroy his office?
Dimri stopped resisting and trying to get out of Roque’s hold.His shoulders slumped, and his entire body relaxed, but not in a good way.It was as if he was giving up—surrendering—which wasn’t something Roque had expected from him.He’d never seen Dimri do that.
Shit.What the fuck had happened?
Roque let go of Dimri, but he didn’t go far.It was clear that Dimri was not doing well.Roque doubted he’d ask for help, especially from him, but that didn’t mean he would abandon the guy.In part, it was because he needed to know what was going on so he could protect Berith, but in part, he also worried about Dimri.As annoying as the spymaster could be sometimes, he was an ally.More than that, Berith considered him a friend.
“I had four spies embedded in Ramiel’s palace,” Dimri murmured.“One of them is on the run, coming back here.I’m not sure they’ll make it.”
Roque suspected he knew what Dimri’s answer to his question would be, but he still asked it.“What about the other three?”
“Dead.I managed to get in touch with the only survivor, but they didn’t have any more answers than I do.We don’t know how Ramiel found out the others were spies.We just know that he did and had them killed in a public execution.”
Roque didn’t know exactly what Dimri’s job entailed when it came to the spies, so he had no idea what kind of relationship Dimri had with them.There had to have been trust there, though, and he probably felt like he’d failed them.It would be of no use to tell him that all of this was on Ramiel’s shoulders.Dimri felt responsible for what had happened, and he was taking it hard.
That still didn’t explain the state of his office.
“I’m really sorry,” Roque said.“Is that why your office looks the way it does?Did you get angry over what happened?”If this had been Dimri exploding, Roque could understand.
Dimri shook his head.“I’m destroying documents because the remaining spy told me I have a mole in my network.I don’t know if that’s how Ramiel found out about my people, but I can’t afford for them to give him any more information than they already have.”
Roque looked around the room.Dimri had done a pretty good job.“And you think that destroying your office is going to help with that?”
“I don’t know, but I can’t take the risk.”
He sounded determined, but there had to be a better way to do this.“What did Berith say?”
“I haven’t told him yet.”
“What are you waiting for?He needs to know what’s happening.”
“I can’t let anyone get their hands on the information in my office.Destroying this takes precedent.”
“Then get a guard to stand by the door.The first thing you should’ve done was talk to Berith.”Roque grabbed Dimri’s arm.“Let’s go.”
* * * *
DIMRI TRIED TO PULLaway, but Roque wasn’t letting go.It made Dimri feel like an unruly child being dragged to his parents so they could yell at him.He glared at Roque’s back, wondering what the bodyguard would do if he kicked him behind the knee.
It was tempting, but Roque wasn’t wrong.Dimri should have contacted Berith to tell him what had happened.Berith expected him to, and he needed to know about the deceased spies.
Before destroying half of his office, Dimri had gone over the documents he had.He’d collected a lot of information on many people, including his spies.That meant he had a pretty good idea about who might be responsible for this, and he couldn’t wait to get his hands on them.Luckily—or unluckily, he wasn’t sure yet—none of them was at the palace right now.Dimri wasn’t sure what he would’ve done if they had been.
People watched them walk past, clearly curious.Dimri glared at the whispers and stares, then he tried to free himself from Roque again.This time, Roque let go, for which Dimri was grateful, but he was still snarky.“There’s no need to drag me around the hallways like that,” he said, shaking out his arm.“I can walk.”
“Then why didn’t you walk to Berith’s office to tell him about this?”
“And leave all my files available for the spy?”
Roque snorted.He was walking so fast that Dimri almost had to run to keep up, which didn’t help him feel less like a child.
