“He seems pretty upset,” I mused, folding the missive. “Should we just swing by now?”
“Can’t hurt. I’m not excited about staying any longer than we have to.”
“Me either.” Agreed, we strode through the halls to a different wing, where Lug’s much less ornate office was located.
The hallway was deserted when we got there, no assistant waiting to let us in. There was a messy desk for an assistant, though, with quite a bit of unopened correspondence in the disarray. As Lucien knocked on Lug’s door, a plan began to form.
“Come in!” the goblin called, so we let ourselves in.
His office was perfectly tidy, but unique, if we wanted to put it politely. Everything looked like it was made from junk, bits of metal and scraps of reclaimed materials bolted together to make furniture. The chairs were mismatched fabrics, all in loud colors and patterns. Lug himself wore simple clothing, much like we’dseen in the wilds of Canada, instead of the refined suits most of the council wore.
To put it plainly, he was a different creature entirely.
And at his side, an irritated-looking pixie woman stood, her lips pursed and her expression stormy. “Councilman, I understand this is how you’re used to things happening, but I simply cannot be expected to work in these conditions. I’m taking my lunch break.”
She turned and stormed out, pinning us with a scalding glare as she brushed past. Despite her more diminutive size, she shoulder checked me in the process, making my wolf snarl and giving me the chance to spot the thin, silver anklet she wore.
Bingo.
A mind-controlled assistant who was clearly doing a poor job for the councilman? That wasn’t suspicious at all, and it was all the confirmation I needed to put my plan into action.
Lug stood, gesturing for us to take the overstuffed seats across from his desk. “Thank you for coming, and I apologize for not having someone to greet you properly. My last assistant was suddenly called home to care for a sick relative a few months ago, and finding a proper replacement has been impossible.”
“Good help is hard to find,” Valens agreed blandly, casting a glance toward the door through which the pixie female had so rudely exited.
“Truer words were never spoken. I don’t believe in beating around the bush, so I’ll dive straight into it. I’m deeply concerned by the reports I received from the local clan. Disappearances, harassment, and property destruction are the least of what was relayed, and yet I’ve not received a single report.”
“That is distressing,” I murmured, not wanting to get sucked in as an active participant.
“Indeed.” Lug seemed weary with his small shoulders sloped, his eyes saddened by what he’d learned.
“Have you noticed any patterns? Anything that might give us a lead to investigate?” Valens asked.
Lug started listing off the individual reports of trouble he’d been given, but my ears were tuned to the hallway. All was silent, and I knew my time would be limited.
“I’m sorry to interrupt. I’m just going to slip out to the little girls’ room. Please, don’t wait for me. My companion can fill me in on anything I’ve missed when we move forward with our investigation.”
Valens glanced my way, one eyebrow raised in question. I nodded slightly, just enough to let him know I was fine. I moved toward the door, walking casually with my hands in my pockets.
But the second I slipped through, I was on the hunt. A quick glance to confirm there was no one in the long hallway, and I started sorting through the mess on the assistant’s desk. And boy, was it a mess. There were unopened letters at least three months old at the bottom of one pile, probably about the time that Lug’s last assistant had left.
But most of it seemed inconsequential. Nothing that would indicate foul play. I moved on to the drawers, but after shuffling through the third one of random office junk but not much else, I started to lose hope. The last drawer, though? It was locked tight.
“Promising,” I muttered under my breath as I shifted a single fingertip, using the claw to pick the lock. After a few tense seconds of concentration and a softclick, the drawer popped open.
I froze, anticipating a magical booby trap, but none came. Whoever had locked this drawer was either unconcerned about discovery or certain enough no one would come looking to put more advanced measures in place.
Inside was a neat stack of letters, all opened with a letter opener. I pulled the first one free from the envelope and read. Then the next, and the next. The news was worse with every one, but footsteps down the hall meant I was running out of time.
The pixie assistant, coming fast.My wolf warned me. I shoved the last letter back into its envelope and tucked it back into the pile, and didn’t even try to relock the drawer. Hopefully, by the time she noticed, we’d be long gone. I slipped back into Lug’s office, the door shutting behind me just as the assistant came into view.
Chapter 38
Valens
We left Lug’s office an hour later, with more general reports but no leads on the pixie king or any plots he might be hatching, just a very frazzled councilman who had no idea what was going on.
As soon as the door to our suite closed behind us, though, Elodie was nearly bursting with news. “I snooped through Lug’s assistant’s desk. Ninety-nine percent of it was what you’d expect, but I found a locked drawer. There were twenty or thirty letters hidden inside, each and every one a report. A few were about more kidnappings, but that wasn’t the worst of it.”
