16. Peter

16

PETER

T he mailroom was a bustling place, with clan members, Kra-ell, and Kalugal's people all coming and going throughout the day. Seeing the three groups interacting in such a mundane setting was actually reassuring. They might not be one cohesive community, but they were cordial to each other as they collected their packages.

Kian was convinced that the theft and sabotage were symptoms of a deeper problem and that the lack of meaningful integration between the groups was a ticking bomb that, if not addressed, could trigger a real conflict. But what if they were not dealing with a global issue afflicting the community? What if this was all the doings of one troubled individual?

"You know." Peter shifted his gaze to Kagra. "Maybe we're looking at this all wrong. All of that malicious mischief might be the actions of one unhappy individual. Maybe it's an attempt to get attention or vent frustration."

Kagra turned to him, her eyebrows raised. "That's an interesting theory. What makes you say that?"

Peter shrugged. "Look at what was taken—small items mostly, nothing of real value. It's like whoever's doing this wants to shake things up."

"If it were only the thefts, I might have agreed with you, but the sabotage is dangerous. Light seen at night might draw attention to the village, and none of the three groups wants that to happen."

"None of the sane people want that, but teenagers often don't think rationally, and sometimes adults don't use their brains properly either. Still, I agree with you that it's most likely the teenagers."

Kagra stopped the replay and leaned back in the chair. "So, we both think it's the teenagers, and you think it is a cry for attention?"

"People do crazy shit to be noticed, and many times it's not positive."

Kagra was silent for a long moment, considering his words. "It's a dangerous game to play just to get attention. If it's one of ours, they will be flogged."

Peter winced. "Yeah, we have the same brutal way of dealing with unruly immortal teenagers, but the difference is that ours heal in hours while yours heal in days. So, yours is a more severe punishment in a sense."

"We are tougher people, and our tempers run hotter. We need to be stricter to control our youth." Kagra smiled coldly. "I've gotten flogged and beaten by Jade even before we were captured by Igor, and I was her favorite, the one she chose as her second." Kagra took a long breath. "She's not nearly as strict with Drova, and she's doing the girl a disservice. She's much too strong- willed, and given who her father was, letting her run wild is dangerous."

Drova was Igor's daughter, and Igor was an incredibly strong compeller. If Drova had inherited his power, she could cause much more trouble than stealing from the mailroom or sabotaging window shutters.

Peter frowned. "Do you think it's her?"

Kagra nodded and turned back to the tablet. "Let me show you something." She rewound the replay and then ran it forward until she found the timestamp she'd been looking for and slowed it down to half speed. "Watch her."

Drova was in the mailroom, checking the labels on the stacks of packages like everyone else. The Guardians who brought the mail from the keep just dumped the packages on the tables, so there was no discernible order to them, and the only way to find what you were looking for was to estimate the size of your package and then check the labels on each one that matched more or less. Sometimes, though, shippers put small items in large boxes, so eliminating by size didn't always work.

"She's just looking for her stuff," Peter said.

"She's doing more than that." Kagra rewound the recording a few minutes back, let it play again, and then stopped and zoomed in. "Do you see that expression?"

Drova was slanting a glance straight at the hidden camera as if she knew it was there, a conceited little smile playing on her lips.

"I see that, but it's not proof that she's the culprit."

Kagra put the tablet on the desk and turned toward him. "It's not proof enough, but it's a hint. Just think about it. She could have heard Jade and Phinas talking about the mailroom and the need to install cameras there. After that, she knew not to take anything that didn't belong to her, but she was curious to find the hidden camera, so she pretended to be looking for a package and reading all the labels while inconspicuously searching for the camera's location. When she spotted it, she couldn't help the satisfied look on her face."

Peter shook his head. "So, this is all about getting her mother's attention?"

"I didn't say that." Kagra crossed her arms over her chest. "Drova and Pavel hang out together a lot, and it doesn't seem to be a romantic thing. Pavel is much older than her. Maybe they are working together on this. Pavel is just the guy who does the small sabotages, and Drova steals small packages."

Peter nodded. "Perhaps, but to what end?"

"I don't know." Kagra sighed, running a hand over her long ponytail. "They might have more accomplices. We need to keep investigating and assign watchers to them."

They'd already had Borga followed, but so far, she hadn't done anything suspicious. Assigning two more Guardians to Pavel and Drova was a waste of resources.

"Do you have people you trust?" he asked.

"There are many, but none that I would trust to follow Drova and Pavel. No one will want to be the betrayer of our people."

"What if Jade's commanding them to do this?"

Kagra shook her head. "I don't want to tell Jade my suspicions yet. If I'm wrong, she will never forgive me for accusing her daughter."

"Good point." Peter smoothed his hand over his goatee. "I'll talk to Onegus and see who we can spare."

'You do that." Kagra picked up the tablet. "Let's watch the rest of the recording. Perhaps someone else will start acting suspiciously."

As she brought the replay to where she had stopped it before they had discussed Drova, the two of them lapsed into silence again, their eyes scanning the screen for signs of suspect activity.

A few minutes into the replay, Peter's mind started to wander, and he thought about his date night with Marina at Atzil's bar. Perhaps he should also make reservations at Callie's, but the waiting list was so long that it was harder to get a table at her restaurant than at By Invitation Only.

Perhaps he could cook dinner for Marina for a change. She insisted on cooking and was great at it, but after long days working at the café, she could barely stand.

"What are you thinking about?" Kagra asked.

"Cooking dinner for Marina."

She chuckled. "You never cooked for me."

"That's not true. I made you breakfast plenty of times."

"And I baked you muffins."

Kagra sounded like she missed those days, but Peter knew she didn't.

"We had fun, but it wasn't meant to be," he said without looking at her.

"No, it was not." Her eyes remained glued to the screen.