CHAPTER 69 I’m a Very Nice Grimalcat

CHAPTER 69

I’m a Very Nice Grimalcat

Rufus

The door opened in the middle of the night.

I raised one eyelid to peer out into the darkness as a small figure walked closer. It stopped just within reach.

Glowing green eyes met mine, and I lifted my head slowly, careful not to wake the half giantess leaning against my stomach. There was a moment of stillness, and then the grimalcat sniffed. “The room stinks of dog.”

He turned and walked back to the door. In the doorway, he paused to look over his shoulder as if expecting me to follow.

I really, really didn’t want to go … but I wasn’t a fool.

It was short work changing back into my usual beastman self, and I caught Bronwynn in a princess carry midtransition. She grumbled and cuddled into my embrace as I walked over and placed her gently on the bed, but she didn’t fully awaken. I tucked her in with the blanket she’d been holding and had to stop myself from kissing her on the forehead at the last minute. My fingers lightly brushed a stray curl from her cheek instead.

Bronwynn was displeased with the cold bed substitute, curling in on herself. I sighed and dragged myself away to follow the grimalcat. Once we were in the hallway, I gently closed the door and asked Slake, “Can you relock the door from out here?”

“Of course,” Slake scoffed. “It is done.”

“Thank you.”

I followed him down the hallway and into my room. The inn was silent, as even the nightlife of the city had settled down in the dark hours before dawn .

Slake jumped onto my bed. “Commander General. I had my party members search for the Blackfog spies that attacked you in Servalt, and I believe we’ve found something.”

“Go on.” I sat beside the grimalcat, frowning. It wasn’t that I was ambivalent about being attacked by a band of Blackfog spies, but I wasn’t in such a rush to hear about this in the dead of night when I could be cuddling my bard.

I didn’t mention this to the grimalcat, of course.

“The spies had an order to permanently kill most of the Dark Horde, as well as fifty other people from around Valaria; Their Royal Highness Rowen, Regent Havork, Grand Duchess Calisto, Countess Julia, and the entire Oakley family, to name just a few.” Slake frowned. “None of the spies were carrying molten ash vane on their person, but that means nothing.”

The grimalcat touched a paw down on the bed and a piece of paper appeared. It was a copy of the list of names. “For your records.”

“I see.” The evidence was incriminating, though it left many questions unanswered. The rash of assassination attempts across the continent could be the work of the Blackfog spies … but if so, why had they been caught without any molten ash vane when the Assassin’s Guild master had a bag full of it? “You are sure —”

“Lina is a good girl.” Slake’s tail whipped back and forth menacingly. “She might unalive people for a living, but being an assassin is a perfectly respectable career option. Her recent misadventures are a direct result of that fiend , Duke Lector. When I get my claws on that elf …”

“He should already be behind bars, no?” I raised an eyebrow. “Duke Wyldon would surely have already arrested him by now?”

Slake bared his sharp teeth and flexed his claws in the blanket. “While we were uncovering Duke Lector’s schemes with the guild, the elf made an appearance at the castle and announced his intentions to visit the Silver Star Festival in the Hollow next week. He left the birthday celebration before Duke Wyldon received Jack’s report, and no one has seen him since.”

That wasn’t ideal—for Duke Lector . Anyone sane would choose the full weight of the law over an irate grimalcat. There was an old nursery rhyme my mother used to sing when I was a very young pup that I still remembered clearly.

If you ever bring back, a winged horned cat,

Then you lived to escape your ill fate.

The grimalcat favors the young and the bold

But chooses the death it will sate.

Its eyes are as bright as the stars in the sky,

Its heart is as dark as the night .

Beware what you promise and keep to your word

For a grimalcat’s strength is by spite.

So never betray you a grimalcat’s trust

And never a lie pass your tongue.

The creature will hunt you until the blue moon,

And the damage returned or undone.

There were so few grimalcats, but everyone knew they were not to be trifled with. Guild Master Lina would’ve been a fool not to listen to Slake.

And so would I.

“Then I’ll let you know if I see the duke. In the meantime, we still don’t have all the pieces.” I yawned and lay back on the bed. “Is there a reason we couldn’t discuss this in the morning?”

“Minstrel Brownie is a suspect in the case, and not a member of the investigation team.” Slake stretched and let out a tiny yawn.

“And you are?”

“Of course.” Slake straightened and sauntered over to the vacant spot beside my head. I considered getting up and properly pulling the quilt over me, but the cool night air was refreshing. The nights were getting warmer with summer right around the corner. The grimalcat circled once, twice, thrice, and then lay in a ball. He said, “I offered to go when Their Royal Highness brought up sending an envoy to the investigation.”

“Really?” That would explain why we’d never run into the Peldeep representative … We had and just hadn’t realized it.

Slake continued. “It isn’t something I would normally be interested in, but when I learned that Lina was throwing away the life I gave her, I was very disappointed.”

“So you do save children.” I smiled into the darkness, knowing Slake could hear my amusement.

“Sometimes. I’m a very nice grimalcat,” Slake answered, deadpan. “I’ve got three lives roaming around right now.”

I wasn’t sure how to take that. I hummed a bit of the grimalcat song, and Slake snorted in amusement. Sleep was reclaiming me, and I regretted for a second that I wasn’t still in front of the banked fire in Bronwynn’s room. I would apologize for slipping away in the morning.

“I’m happy you’ve joined us, Slake.” My words had grown soft. I pet the grimalcat once, and he kindly didn’t maul me when I brushed my hand over his fluffy tummy.

The last I heard before sleep claimed me was a confident purr and, “Of course you are.”