Coben pursed his lips together. “I can always pick her up and question her some more if you think it’s warranted.”
“No,” Sven answered firmly. “I’ll handle it. Any news on my brother?”
Coben gave a curt nod. “Nothing. If he was on the plane, it’s like he just disappeared. No one noticed anything unusual until you were hit. We’ve had no demands for ransom if the Skelvarns took him nor have we…” His voice trailed off.
“Nor have you found any bodies,” Sven finished for him. He exchanged a glance with Lars. They both knew that a dragon body would never be found if Erik had been murdered.
Coben half-bowed. “I will let you know when I have something else. In the meantime, coffee awaits and I have to get to work.”
“Thanks for stopping by.” Sven didn’t want to reveal how important it was to him to have a name for the mystery woman. Now Martin wouldn’t have to call her the voodoo lady.
Sven sat in silence for a moment before he turned to Lars. “Bring me Eva.”
“Your mother’s assistant?”
He nodded. “She’ll be perfect to convince Bryn to come to the castle.”
Lars stepped closer, tense and obviously not happy. “I understand that we need to know how she healed you, but perhaps I can handle that part.”
“She will come here to me and I will get to the bottom of it.”
“That’s not wise, Sven, and you know it. Alitta…”
“Alitta is not here yet and we still have a few days before the ritual.” Annoyance flared. “Do you think I don’t understand my duties as king?”
“I understand women. Alitta will not approve of your involvement with this human.”
“Is she, Lars? Is Bryn human? Because last I knew, humans could not heal dragons.” Sven didn’t bother to hide his sarcasm. He was going to deal with Bryn himself come hell or high water.
“If she’s not human,” Lars growled, “then we may have a bigger problem.” With that, he spun on his heel and slammed the door behind him.
Moments later, Eva knocked on the door. She stared at him with huge eyes as he beckoned her forward. She curtsied and almost whispered. “How may I help you, your Majesty?”
“I need you to go to the Silver Snow Mountain Lodge and find a woman named Bryn. She checked in yesterday and is a visitor. Bring her here to me but use discretion. And don’t scare her.”
Eva nodded. “I would be happy to. I’ll be certain not to attract attention.”
Sven watched her go. No one would suspect a young girl in town, even if they knew she was from the castle. Sending a guard would absolutely attract attention.
He signed and slumped in the chair. Soon he’d have answers.
Sven almost jumped when Lars burst into the room without knocking. His dark eyes were serious, more so than usual.
“We’ve got a situation.”
Sven let out bark that sounded nothing like a laugh. “Don’t we always?”
“First off, Alitta has arrived unexpectedly early. And the guards are reporting a woman creeping around the gate. She’s alone, and she’s an outsider who keeps moving in and out of the blind spots of our surveillance cameras, like she knows where they are.”
“Bryn?” Sven’s heartbeat spiked, but he forced his expression to remain neutral.
Lars shrugged. “That’s my guess.” He helped Sven out of the chair despite a stringent protest and led him to thesurveillance room. Lars rewound one of the cameras and pointed at a shadow that slipped along the tree line.
And then she looked straight up into the camera, just for a moment.
Sven’s breath caught.
Bryn.
