“Thank you. What about the team?”
“I stopped them in time. They're waiting out front, sir.”
“Go fetch them. Bring them here.” I waved down the alley. “We have another scene to process.”
“Yes, sir!” The talon ran off, down the alley to the street.
The Dragon King read the words on the wall aloud, “You have until nightfall tomorrow to find him or he will have company. How fast can you dig up the past, Shinkai?”
I wrote the message in my borrowed notebook and then looked up to find the King staring at me yet again. “What?”
“Where are going first?”
I groaned.
Chapter Fourteen
“Dig up the past,” I muttered to myself as the royal carriage carried me to the Hall of Talons. “Dig.”
“Rather obvious, isn't it?” The King slid me a smile.
I looked at him. Really looked. “You are unfailing.”
He blinked, his smile falling into laxness. “What?”
“You are unfailing, Your Majesty. In your stamina, your wit, and your . . .” I shook my head. “Your positivity. It is, well, yesterday I might have called it irritating. Tonight, however, I am impressed. In a way, it is like upholding the law. You remain true to what you believe no matter what happens. How do you do that? How do you keep smiling when I constantly dismiss you? I have pushed you away again and again. Yet here you are, helping me, still smiling at me. Encouraging me.” I leaned closer and narrowed my stare at him. “Why?”
The King chuckled. “I guess I was born like this.”
“Stubborn?”
He shrugged. “When I want something, yes. I refuse to be swayed from the path that gets me my desire.”
I leaned back. “I see.”
“You're upset.”
“That statement is motivating in most cases.”
“But not this one?”
“No. Not when it involves another person.”
“I would think you'd be flattered.”
“Yes, of course you would.” I turned away, returning to sifting through my memories of the Kun-lo case.
“And you say I'm irritating,” he growled before he grabbed my hand and tugged on it. “Tekhan, you can't say something like that and not explain it.”
“I just did.”
“You know what I mean.”
“And you don't know what I mean?”
“Yes. I mean, no.” The King laughed. “Just tell me plainly. I said you could speak so when we're alone.”
“Very well, Your Majesty. What I meant by that is you are the King, and so I'm sure many men would be thrilled to learn that you have decided to have them. And because of the manner in which you've been treated—by those many men—you assume that all people, men and women, would be delighted by your refusal to veer from your pursuit.”
