Gedeon stopped moving.How was this possible?“You’re sure it was her?”
Fiona eyed him warily. “Yes. I sold her intoxicant for a few years, though I didn’t know she was The Butcher at the time. She was waiting outside of the underground market, and when she spotted me, she said hello.”
Gedeon sat, stunned.Why would his sister release an inmate early, especially one as notorious as Aurora Raven?It didn’t make sense, nor had there been any news of it.
“Thank you, Fiona. You will be rewarded.” He unlocked the bottom drawer of his desk and counted out a handsome amount ofgold moedas. Handing them to theAlchemist, he said, “Keep your ears open, and let me know if you see her again.”
Her eyes widened at the amount he handed her. “Yes, Your Grace. Thank you.”
After she left, Gedeon picked up his office phone and called Titus. “I need a detail on everyone Aurora Raven was affiliated with before her arrest. She was released from Vincula, and I need to know everything about her and her associates. Be discreet. If any of your men breathe a word about this, I will kill you all.”
Titus agreed and hung up. The light from the windows became blinding with his growing anticipation.
Aurora Raven was important to one of his siblings.
But which one?
13
Rory jumpedwhen the front door burst open, and Sam stomped in with an annoyed look on his face. She was beginning to think it was his default setting.
Standing abruptly, Lauren planted her hands on her hips and glared daggers. “Where have you been?”
It was around midnight, and Lauren had been on edge since dinner. Instead of answering, Sam said, “We need to speak in private.” He opened the front door and gestured for Lauren to step outside.
“You should go to bed,” she suggested to Rory with a look that brokered no argument.
Rory bristled at being ordered around like a child but didn’t argue. “Fine.”
She strolled toward the stairs, and when the front door shut, she ran the rest of the way to her room and cracked open her window. The large eave below her window blocked her vision, but Sam couldn’t speak softly if he tried.
“Explain why you were hours late,” Lauren demanded.
“I was at the Lux Palace,” he replied, loud enough for the dead to hear.
“Why would you be there?” Lauren asked, reining back her attitude. “You hate that place.”
“Caius wants us to spy on Gedeon during our shift changes,” Sam explained.
Caius and Gedeon?As in the Lux and Umbra Kings? No one in Erdikoa knew what theRoyalslooked like, but they studied them in school. Everyone knew their names.
“I tried tonight, but I was intercepted.” Something about his demeanor suggested there was more to that story.
She heard one of them shift before Lauren asked, “Intercepted by whom?”
“A maid,” Sam replied.Why did he sound uncomfortable?“I shifted into a cat, hoping to move around undetected, and she caught me and tried to take me home.”
Lauren laughed loudly. Rory slapped her hand over her mouth to keep from doing the same.
“We will cover more ground together,” he replied in a gruff voice that made Rory want to laugh again.
“Next time, shift into a rat,” Lauren suggested, trying to hold in another laugh. “No one will touch you then.”
It was impressive how calm he sounded after telling someone he almost became a domesticated pet. “You must shift, as well,” he said, all business. “We cannot chance being seen because the king is hiring other mystics as guards, not justAatxe, and paying for their loyalty.”
Rory swallowed the urge to yell,‘What?’at the same time Lauren asked, “Why?”
“He hired them to spy and report back with anything pertaining to his siblings,” Sam answered, sounding tired.
