57. Kian

57

KIAN

K ian leaned back in his chair, his fingers steepled under his chin as he listened to Onegus's report.

"The thefts have stopped," the chief said. "The sabotage as well. It seems our increased surveillance has scared off the culprits."

Kian shifted his gaze to Jade. "Your opinion?"

"They're just biding their time," she said. "The moment we lower our guard, they'll be back at it, probably in some new form we haven't anticipated."

"Did your interrogation of Borga and her group yield any clues?"

Jade shook her head. "They deny any knowledge of the incidents. I used my modest compulsion power to force them to tell me the truth, but my ability was limited. Perhaps someone more powerful should interrogate them."

Onegus cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable, which wasn't like him. "Did you speak with Drova?"

Peter had reported that Kagra suspected Jade's daughter and her friends of being involved in the so-called pranks, and Kian could just imagine how Jade had taken it.

Jade's posture stiffened. "I did, and she also denies having anything to do with it."

Kian felt a surge of frustration. He could deal with enemies from without, but enemies from within were a different story. He hated policing his own people, and even more so, he hated investigating them for committing crimes.

"We need answers, and we need them now. I'm tired of tolerating saboteurs in our village."

Onegus shifted in his seat. "What do you suggest we do? Question everyone who lives here?"

"That's precisely what I'm going to do. I asked Toven to come over, and I'm going to ask him to help in the investigation. He can question each resident of the village and use his abilities to force them to tell the truth. We'll start with the Kra-ell and then move on to clan members."

"What about the humans?" Onegus asked.

"You can assign them to any of the guardians. Arwel, with his empathic abilities, would probably be the best choice. He should also assist Toven when he's compelling the Kra-ell and immortals to answer him truthfully."

"That will take forever," Jade said.

"Not necessarily." Kian leaned back in his chair. "He will ask each person two simple questions." He lifted one finger. "Did you take anything that didn't belong to you from the mailroom or anywhere else in the village?" He lifted a second finger. "Did you deliberately cause malfunctions of our security shutters, garbage incinerators, or any other equipment?"

Jade nodded. "That's good. First, find the ones who did it and then find out why."

"Precisely," Kian said.

Onegus shifted his gaze to Kian. "Have you spoken with Toven about this?"

"He's on his way here now," Kian said. "I have no doubt he'll offer his help."

Jade leaned forward. "Do you need me to stay for the meeting with Toven?"

Kian shook his head. "No, you and Onegus can go."

A short while after the two had left, a knock on the door announced Toven's arrival, and Kian rose to his feet to greet him.

"Good morning, Toven. Thank you for coming."

"You sounded like you needed me urgently. What's going on?"

Kian felt a twinge of guilt for causing the god to be unnecessarily alarmed. "We are not under attack, and for now, the situation is under control, but I need your help to prevent it from escalating." He walked to his desk and opened the drawer where he kept his cigars and cigarillos. "How about we take this to the roof? I could use a smoke, and it's a nice day out there for now. Later, it will get too hot to venture out there."

Toven shrugged. "I'm not much of a smoker, but the last cigar I had was on the cruise, so why not."

After climbing the one flight of stairs, Kian opened the door to his rooftop oasis. A large umbrella provided shade, and two comfortable lounge chairs flanked a small table.

"Please, take a seat." Kian motioned to one of the lounges and sat on the other one.

"Nice setup you have here," Toven commented, looking around. "Do you often entertain up here?"

Kian opened the cigar box and offered the selection to Toven, and then picked one as well. Once Toven had lit his, Kian shook his head as he lit his favorite Opus X. "Usually, it's just me, and occasionally I bring a guest over, but I'm trying to cut down on the smoking. Allegra makes a face when she smells it on my clothes, so I have to shower and change before I can play with her. That kind of puts a damper on the fun."

Toven chuckled. "Ah, the sacrifices we make for our children." A shadow passed over his eyes. "I didn't know I had children, so obviously I wasn't involved in raising them. I hope Mia and I will have a child someday, and I will experience being a father."

"It's the best thing in the world," Kian said. "Challenging, terrifying at times, but absolutely worth it. Watching Allegra grow, getting to know her as a person is a joy and a privilege. I hope Syssi and I will be blessed with more children, but I don't want to be greedy and anger the Fates, so I leave the decision up to them."

Toven tilted his head. "So, no more fertility potions for you?"

"Not unless my wife demands it." He frowned. "Are you and Mia taking them?"

"Not yet. Mia is eager to have children now that she is all healed, but I want to show her the world first. We have eternity ahead of us. We can afford to take a couple of years just to enjoy each other."

"I agree." Kian paused as he savored another flavorsome mouthful of the blue smoke. "Syssi and I were married for a while before we were blessed with Allegra, and I think that it was good for our marriage."

After they'd spent some time in quiet companionship, enjoying their smokes, Toven put his cigar down. "So, what's the story? What's got your panties in a wad?"

Kian laughed. "That's such an old phrase that humans would say it dates you. The joke would be on them, though, as it really doesn't."

The god smiled. "All the more reason to use it."

"Yeah, you are right. Anyway, I don't know if you've heard, but we've had a wave of petty thefts and sabotage in the village." He continued to tell Toven about the suspects that they had investigated so far and the lack of results they had gotten.

Toven's eyes narrowed. "What exactly are you expecting me to do?"

"I want to question everyone in the village, and I need you to compel them to tell the truth. We'll start with the Kra-ell, and if the culprit is not one of them, we will move on to clan members."

Toven was quiet for a long moment, his cigar forgotten. "I'm not going to win any popularity contests after something like that. I would rather not do it."

"I know, and believe me, I wouldn't ask if I saw any other way. But this needs to end."

Toven sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "I owe you, so I won't say no, but I want it on record that I'm not happy about it."

"If you have a better idea of how to deal with this, I'm all ears."

Toven shook his head. "I wish I did. The only thing that comes to mind is assembling everyone in the big assembly hall, giving them a speech about unity, solidarity, integration, etc., and offering them a way to voice their grievances without fear of retaliation. Maybe an anonymous letter or something like that."

"I can try it, or you can stand before the assembly and compel the saboteur to come forward. That will save us time asking each person separately."

"I can't," Toven said. "The purebloods are incredibly difficult to crack, and I need to do it one-on-one with them and involve Mia to enhance my power."

"Right. I forgot that. It's such a nasty business when it has to do with my own people, and I include every resident in the village under that umbrella. But I can't allow this to fester. Right now, it's a small cancerous growth that can be cut out easily without much damage to the body. But if we neglect to address it, the cancer will spread until there will be nothing left to save."

Toven took a puff of his cigar. "Many of the decisions a leader must make are unpleasant. But someone needs to make them." He smiled. "I'm just glad that this someone is you and not me. When do you want to start?"

"I'll have Onegus prepare a schedule, starting with the Kra-ell."