Chapter 17

Ashley went back to his room, he wasn’t that hungry but he’d ask for a breakfast tray to be delivered. Jack was sitting on his bed when he arrived.

“I’m sorry for storming off.”

He sat next to him, relieved Jack had shown up. This was on Ashley, not Jack, and he should have been a better friend. “No, you don’t need to apologise. I’m sorry for being an arsehole. I should never have suggested we mess about, but more importantly I’m sorry I was such a self-absorbed prick not to realise what happened when we split up.”

“It’s not your fault you didn’t feel the same way. Honestly, it’s a long time ago now and I’m over it, but you know I’ve found it difficult to hang on to a partner. Any partner.”

Once people found out about his siren heritage Jack had been treated pretty badly. Not just by lovers, but by individuals he’d considered friends. Sirens had never been seen in the best of lights and he’d helped hide Jack’s past so it didn’t keep coming up when he was engaged for work. “You’ll find someone perfect for you, Jack. It was never me, you’re worth someone better.”

“I know that. We’re great friends, but nothing more.”

He noticed Jack had the book from the spell box in his lap and tapped it. “You’d have got annoyed at me spending hours over a cauldron.”

“I was looking at this. It’s Evelyn Howes, I don’t think it has been published yet.”

Ashley had been too worked up over Ben when he first opened the box, the name had registered but not much else. “Pre-release copy?”

“It’s not finished, there’s annotations throughout and there’s a couple of pages which look like placeholders.”

Jack was right. The book didn’t look finished, it had a cover but the pages were only loosely bound, and he saw there were corrections in many places. He held it carefully and felt the residual tingle of Alex’s magic. “Ben’s secretary put this together, it’s not a final version. Do you think Alex is Elvyn Howes?”

“No, Ashley, I don’t. Think about it, this is someone’s prize possession, and that’s the point of a spell box to keep it safe, an elf wouldn’t need a box for that. And who is the person in this house who loves playing with potions?”

Ashley stared at one of the pages, the handwriting was familiar. He gasped. “Evelyn Howes is Ben Redbourn.”

“Wasn’t he Ben Howes before he took Charles’s name?” Jack said. “Not sure who Evelyn is though.”

He stroked the page, it was a complex potion for removing patches of lingering dark, a particularly nasty infection some houses got when a troublesome entity or malignant magic had been removed, but there was an echo remaining. No one had yet to perfect it, but this potion was about to change that. “He really is brilliant.”

“I wonder why he kept it to himself?”

“It’s hardly in keeping with being an evil bloodsucker. Can’t imagine his reputation would be enhanced if it was known he created potions for removing moles or soothing dishpan hands.”

“Hmm. Do you think him that shallow?”

The details Ben had poured into his potion work weren’t the act of a superficial man. He’d curated a set of potions that were in general useful and with detailed instructions so there was something for every skill level. “You’re right, I don’t think he is. Maybe he didn’t think he’d be taken seriously under his own name.”

“His reputation isn’t that of an intellectual, he’s not stupid, but when people hear the name Benjamin Redbourn they think charming and sophisticated, not up to his elbows in swallow spit.”

“Oi, swallow spit is a delicate ingredient. It takes skill and a light touch to use it correctly.”

“I know, you tell me often about the weird stuff in potions. Just think of all the fun conversations you could have with Ben that aren’t ‘oh yes, fuck me harder’… your pillow talk might turn out to be the dullest in the land.”

“You’re getting ahead of yourself there. I’m trying to get him out of my head not further in.”

Jack stared at Ashley, it was one of those looks that told Ashley Jack wasn’t going to drop whatever he was about to declare. “Y’know, he gave you this. I think that’s a pretty big sign that he might like you for more than just the sex. It’s obvious to me that you feel the same, so what’s stopping you?”

“I… well… he’s a vampire, and I’m investigating him.”

“So? That didn’t stop you shagging him so the blood-sucking undead thing doesn’t seem to be a problem, and I can take over the lead role if you want.”

“He could still be a terrible individual with a dark secret that’s so bad even the vampires would find it awful enough to stop him from taking his seat.”

“Of which we have found no evidence.”

“Not yet. Catlin said we hadn’t seen inside his real office. We don’t know what he’s hiding.” Somehow he couldn’t bring himself to believe Ben was more terrible than the average bloodsucker, and he’d never been the type to discriminate based on species. Admitting that meant admitting he was wrong and he could be a stubborn arse at times.

Jack frowned. “When did Catlin tell you that?”

“She asked to speak to me while I was looking for you. Says Harry is actually a blood relative of Charles, and Charles now regrets making Ben the viscount, so Harry triggered the investigation and she said once Ben’s secret is revealed he’ll be disbarred and Harry will step up.”

Jack shook his head. “No, that can’t happen. The House of Hewel forbids it.”

“I’m sure they can change who is viscount.”

Jack summoned a stack of papers from his desk. He sorted through them and showed one of the pages to Ashley. “They can change who the successor is right up until they leave their seat, what they aren’t allowed to do is put a blood relative in the line of succession. Charles is on record saying Harry is not nor ever will be considered as an heir to the Dark Earldom of Crofton.”

“I didn’t know it wasn’t allowed,” Ashley said, more confused. “Charles never gave a reason for disallowing Harry but just said he wasn’t suitable.”

“It’s not public knowledge. But when it came up I went back and put in a query and I was given access to various original documents from Sebastian Hewel’s own collection, I had permission to make notes but not copies and I spotted that little gem in the governance oaths of the Duke of Marchent, Earl of Crofton and Viscount Whetford must sign before they take their seat.”

“Maybe Harry doesn’t know. Catlin claims he arranged for a DNA test, but who’s to say she’s telling the truth? So perhaps he’d set all this up for nothing.” Ashley suggested.

“I did some more digging, and it is mentioned elsewhere, and I would have thought anyone who had been capable of finding out the protocol to investigate Ben anonymously would have been able to find out that too.”

Ashley shrugged. “Not necessarily. But say Ben is removed, and Harry makes a claim what happens then?”

“Harry can’t take the seat, and it would come out that Charles turned a blood relative—in theory he should also step down and that would leave?—”

“Catlin. Who is absolutely sure there’s something that’ll trip Ben up.”

Jack wrinkled his nose. “This isn’t adding up. Why would Harry risk his comfortable position in the House of Hewel? He’s never vocally said he wants to be earl, yes, he has supporters and he’s got a nasty streak if you listen to rumours, but he’s never done side work for the Council which, if he wanted to become earl over Ben, you’d think he’d have shown some willingness to do so.”

He could sense Jack’s mind running through ideas. “So?”

“We should speak to Ben, mention that we’ve new evidence about who might have been his accuser and ask him to show us his secret study, as we have been led to believe he may have other things hidden.”

“What if he says no?”

Jack went quiet for a moment, his gaze resting on the potions book. “Hmm… maybe there’s more than one game going on here. How much work do you think this needs to be finished?”

Ashley flicked through another couple of pages. “A few months—maybe a little longer. Depends on if he had a potion lined up to fill in the blanks. But what has this to do with Harry?”

“Nothing whatsoever. This is about Ben. Imagine you’re a dedicated researcher, potions your speciality, mere months away from publishing another great triumph in your field. How would you feel if someone suddenly came along and told you most of your free time is about to disappear into Council meetings and you won’t be able to continue your passion?”

Ashley wished his mind worked as quickly as Jack’s because he was a bloody genius. “You think Ben set himself up to buy himself some time to finish his labour of love?”

“Yep, it’s why he’s not worried we’ll find anything, and if you think about it, when we’ve tried to speed up the investigation, he’s put roadblocks in place like the spell box and being uncooperative for no reason.”

It made a lot more sense than Catlin’s theory about Harry. “What about Harry, though?”

“Let’s see if you can get Ben to confess what he’s done, maybe after you’ve shagged him when you’ve admitted you know he’s Evelyn Howes and you go at it like two brewers in love.”

Ashley spluttered. “Jack, that’s… I…”

“Don’t get all pissy with me. We will be able to close this investigation and I can go home and my scales will disappear.” Jack huffed. “Surely you’d want it done and dusted, then you two can bonk like rabbits with impunity.”

“But then it would come out what Ben did, and I imagine he might get in serious shit from his Head of House.”

“Yeah, you’ve got a point. Y’know if he did do this, I bet he missed the part about the Vedette and the Invigilators. But we can work something out. Go talk to him.”

“On my own?”

Jack slid off his bed. “Yes, I’m not about to be caught in the middle of you two desperate to bang. Now I’m going to try a different salt bath. I got a second outbreak of scales, and it’s really starting to piss me off.”

Ashley sat on his own on Jack’s bed, staring at the potion book. Ben was a great fuck, attractive and intelligent, he ticked so many boxes it was ridiculous. Maybe it was time to stop being stubborn and enjoy the gift he’d been presented.