“You would never leave important information out in the open, not where anyone could walk in and get it,” Roque said.“You’re too careful.”
He wasn’t wrong, but it surprised Dimri to realize that Roque knew him that well.“I don’t know what they might use,” he explained.“Even something that appears useless to us could be useful to the mole in my network, especially in a war.I couldn’t risk it.”
“What you can’t risk is Berith’s safety.”
“Which is why I did it.”
Roque looked like he wanted to disagree, but they’d reached Berith’s office.His assistant was at his desk, his phone to his ear.He blinked when he saw them, then waved at them to go in.It didn’t look like Berith was in a meeting right now.
Roque opened the door without knocking.Dimri was always appalled when he saw Roque and Yakim do that, but he had to remember that they were Berith’s friends.They were much closer to him than anyone would normally be in their position.
Berith blinked at Roque and Dimri’s entrance.“I’d asked to what I owe the pleasure, but I can already see it’s not going to be pleasurable.What’s going on?”he asked.
“Dimri’s spies are dead,” Roque declared.
Berith’s expression turned sharp.“Dimri?”
“Three of four are dead,” Dimri confirmed.“The fourth one is attempting to come back to the palace, but I don’t know if they’ll manage.”
“What happened?”
“Ramiel found out about them.I don’t know how yet, but he had them killed.”
“And Dimri here thought that it was more important to destroy documents in his office than to tell you about this right away,” Roque said, and this time,hewas the one who looked like a child.
Dimri narrowed his eyes at him.“Are you a spy, too?”
“I’ll tell on you every time if it means keeping Berith safe.”
“It’s not like I wasn’t going to tell him.”
“Maybe not, but you were wasting time.”
“To ensure that things wouldn’t get worse.”
“Enough,” Berith snapped.
Dimri sucked in a breath.As annoyed as he was with Roque, he had to be professional.“I apologize,” he told Berith.“Not only are three of my four spies in Ramiel’s palace dead, but the only survivor managed to let me know that I have a mole in my network.I needed to destroy any information they could use against you.That’s why I didn’t come to you right away.”
“You really think it was necessary?”
“I do.”
“There are better ways to destroy things than to throw them against the wall,” Roque pointed out.
“How I destroy my things doesn’t concern you,” Dimri told him.
“Children,” Berith scolded.“Please.You’re supposed to work together, not to bicker over something as stupid as this.Dimri, please, next time, come to me before destroying your office.Roque, Dimri has been at this for years.He knows what he’s doing, and I’m sure that if he decided that destroying his office was a priority, he was right.”
Dimri looked down.Why did he feel like he was getting scolded by his parents?He supposed that it was similar since Berith was his prince.
“I’m sorry,” Roque said.“I’m worried.”
“We all are.We need to trust each other, though.We’re not going to be able to win this if we don’t.”
He was right.Clearly, Dimri couldn’t trust anyone but the people in this office and a few more.He couldn’t even trust his own network that he’d built over the years.As little as he liked Roque right now, he was one of the few that Dimri was sure would never betray Berith.That meant that Roque was safe to work with.
“In fact, I want the two of you to work together to find the moles,” Berith said.
