12. Remy

12

REMY

I glare into the interrogation room. The teenagers on the other side of the glass match their photos and are identical to each other, but their bearings are completely different.

“They don’t seem too disturbed to have been held overnight,” I say.

The first twin, Caleb Leonid, has been full of mirth and jokes, balancing his chair on the back two legs as he whispers to his brother.

Andrew Leonid’s face doesn’t crack a single smile. He’s dour in his seriousness. I’d place him as being the strategist of the two, but with how tight his shoulders are with frustration, I doubt the plan of stealing our luggage was his.

Silas hums next to me. “It’s as if your regular strategies are ineffective for people who have already faced certain hardships.”

I grit my teeth. Silas disparaged the pit fighting last night before I even stepped into the ring.

“I was merely covering our bases,” I say. For most groups, showing strength and might as a new leader provides the security their instincts seek. But not with this territory.

“You were blowing off steam.”

He’s not wrong. It’s frustrating to speak and try to secure the safety of the people here, only to be met with fear and suspicion. The investigation yesterday had not born useful fruit. Today, a select number of guards will continue to interview people to try and get a count of how many have disappeared and when it started.

People may be more willing to speak to them, or even Fiona, rather than me. I usually appreciate my reputation, but it’s working against us here.

The pit fighting wasn’t completely useless. I was patched up by the demon I’m wanting to lure in and was able to get metaphorically close enough to Stella to invite her to play without resorting to her hate from our wedding night.

Perhaps I should get injured more often. That impulse has me suppressing thoughts about the two of them. This seduction is a game that serves a purpose, not something to cause distractions.

I nod toward the glass. “We’ll start with them together and then separate, if need be, but I don’t think we’ll glean much.”

“I’m leaning toward this being just a prank.” Silas sounds tired. “It fits with the clownish one’s behavior.”

But not his brother’s.

We’re in the basement of the Firefly where we’ve installed a few holding cells and rooms like this one. In other territories, we’d utilize a section of the local police precincts for such needs, but Lorenzo Leonid has never involved humans in his affairs. Only time will tell if we make arrangements with the humans of this territory who know about our existence, but until then, we will be as independent as he was.

I refuse to make use of the compound he set up outside the city even if it would have saved on the cost of installation. The place had served as a home for the Leonid family and a security center, spelled to only allow those in of Leonid descent and those invited.

It had emptied out shortly after his death. I assume the walls there hold secrets that no one wants to remember.

I make a mental note to diffuse the magic at the location and find a different use for the building, but it’s hardly a priority right now.

Both boys look up when we enter.

“Looks like we’ve caught the eye of the devil.” The jokester of the two, Caleb, elbows his brother.

“Shut up,” Andrew mutters. The hard glint in his eyes doesn’t waver. “You know what we did already. What else do you need?”

“I’d like to know why.” I sit across the table from them as Silas stands next to the door with the guard.

“Do we need a reason? It was a stupid prank,” Andrew says.

Caleb’s grin is wide. “Not that stupid. You had really good security.”

Andrew rolls his eyes.

I imagine he’s always been pulling his brother out of trouble.

“I’m tempted to exile the both of you and call it a day.” I shrug. “Keeping troublemakers, even young ones, is a drain on our resources.”

Caleb’s chair legs come down with a clatter, and his eyes widen in alarm, but Andrew’s shoulders only tighten in on himself.

“That’s hardly a fair judgment from someone with your reputation,” the serious twin says. “Exiling two harmless boys seems like something that will sway the people of the territory in a bad way for you.”

Both of them are pale even with Andrew’s sure-sounding reasoning.

“I have bigger concerns to deal with than the feelings of the people in the territory,” I say. Which is both true and untrue. There are whole families who have vanished. At least five that we’ve been able to discover so far. I don’t want to be dealing with pranksters.

But how people feel about their security is as large concern.

The boys share a look, and intuition scratches suspicions free. They know something .

I make a gesture and the guard comes forward. “Silas, I think Caleb may have some other things he’d like to fess up to while I speak with this one.”

“But—” Caleb doesn’t finish his objection as the guard leads him and Silas from the room. They’ll be in the room next to us, but it’s soundproofed enough that it won’t matter. I don’t think this will take long either way.

Andrew swallows. He’s smart and obviously cares for his brother. He’ll tell me whatever secrets are on the tip of his tongue because he has something he values to protect.

“I want assurances,” he says without pause. He was waiting for this moment.

I frown. “What type of assurances?”

“No punishment for my brother and me. It was a stupid mistake.” His caustic words add to my certainty that he didn’t come up with the plan. It probably was just a prank his brother started, and Andrew couldn’t risk it going awry. A desperate light comes into his eyes with his next request. “And I want your promise that our sister has your protection. She’s only six.”

Fuck . These people think I’m going to go after children.

What the hell were you up to, Lorenzo? If Kalos hadn’t already eaten him, I’d be planning on a painful assassination.

“And you think what you know is enough to grant all that?” I try and keep my disgust from my face. They should be confident that their leader would at the very least keep children safe without having to secure it with intel, but I won’t turn down information.

“I’m pretty sure Frank is in the fae realm.”

My blink is long. Fae . That’s a hell of a complication, but one we were leaning toward. If our missing persons are being trafficked, the fae are the most likely suspects. Or at least, them ending up with the fae is.

“What makes you think that? And why should I believe that you’d give me information that would betray your own father?” I ask.

Andrew practically spits. “Let’s just say we don’t see eye to eye. He’d go there for business trips all the time, bringing Leo with him for Lorenzo. It wasn’t a secret.”

My blood beats as cold as the stone my father’s people become.

“Why would Lorenzo be dealing with the fae?” There are many legitimate reasons to trade with the fae. Magical artifacts and raw materials make for good economic opportunities.

There’s also drugs and weapons untraceable by witch magic.

Trade with the fae is regulated for a good reason.

Only recently has their ruling body started the arduous process of creating laws to protect sentient beings from barbaric practices such as being eaten or harvested for spell parts. Indentured servitude will probably remain legal for the rest of my life span with how slow they enact change.

Andrew’s eyes shift to the mirror behind me, but he keeps talking, as if the truth has been clawing to escape. “Uncle Lorenzo had a lot of bad habits. Gambling was the worst. I’d be surprised if there was any money left in the Leonid coffers.”

No need for him to be surprised. We’d assumed that Frank and Leo had somehow figured out a way to squirrel away the territory’s funding, but Lorenzo being that much in debt would explain the desperation that led to his end.

“Do you know who he was associated with?” I ask.

Andrew shakes his head, and I shrug, that would have been too easy.

I lean back in my chair. “Is there anything else?”

Andrew looks lost for a moment. “Isn’t that enough?”

It’s plenty. “You should have secured my promise before you started talking.”

His face whitens, the fear that he had been suppressing breaking through for a moment. He’s so young, and even if he’s seen troubling things, he doesn’t have the experience to be brokering such a deal, as shown by his slip up.

“I will do all you’ve requested on one condition,” I say, not leaving him in suspense for a moment longer. “You come work for me.”

The whiplash in his expression from relief to confusion is quick, “Why would you want me to work for you?”

Because children who cause problems need to be given more responsibility, and he has traits I want working for the good of this territory. His brother may be as smart, but he’s missing the concern Andrew displays and is more of a risk to take on. We’ll keep an eye on Caleb, but I would predict the close call he had may be enough to have him turn his troublemaking ways elsewhere.

“Are you rejecting the request?” I make a gesture as if to call forward the imaginary guard behind the mirror, but it’s enough for Andrew to forget his question.

“No! I’ll do what you ask.”

“Good. Welcome to the team.” I flash my fangs and Andrew flinches.

And now to discover what other secrets Lorenzo left behind.