Chapter Twenty-Six

Callum

“C an I ask you something?”

Taking Maddie by the arm, I directed her out of the middle of the hallway so we could talk.

“Of course,” she said, looking up at me with the dark brown eyes that fit her olive skin so well.

There was a hint of tightening in the corners and the tiny button nose that I’d learned she didn’t like being called cute—even if it was—which suggested she expected an uncomfortable question.

“Is it just me, or does it feel like this investigation has been overly difficult to pursue?”

Her face relaxed.

What the heck did she expect me to say? A million different answers came at once in a jumbled mass that would take hours to untangle. In the middle of it, Maddie replied.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, first, the reports are delayed,” I said, eager for the distraction from the Pandora’s box of my mind. “Something that really should not take days to sort out. It’s simply pulling some papers from the file. Now, one of the guards is missing, and nobody is taking it seriously in connection to Noa’s death, and on top of that, it takes us two days to be granted permission to interview his partner?”

Maddie shrugged. “I don’t know how things normally work here, so I can’t be certain. Human bureaucracy is terribly inefficient, so my comparison might not be accurate.”

“Fair,” I said, letting out my breath slowly in an attempt to relax. “Maybe I’m just overthinking it. At least they did arrange for this interview in the end.”

“Exactly. Now we can start digging in earnest,” she said, patting my forearm.

I tried not to show my reaction to the skin-on-skin touch. Things between us were complicated. They were up, then they were down. I was probably partly to blame for that, but I didn’t know what else to do.

What I did know was that I couldn’t just give in to my dragon. The incessant calls of my beast hadn’t slackened. It wanted Maddie. Every minute of every hour, and the calls had only grown stronger since our unexpected hookup. Every time our bodies were even close to one another, I just wanted to pull her close to me and kiss her hard and fast while my hands ripped the clothing from her body to explore its—

“You can do this,” Maddie said, misinterpreting my silence as she gave my arm a supportive squeeze. “I promise you can do this.”

Touched by her concern, I managed to lock my physical desires back away … for the moment.

“Thank you.” I gave her a tight smile, hoping it didn’t look as awkward as it felt. “I know this can’t be the most comfortable thing for you to do.”

Maddie laughed, some of the tension between us evaporating. “Honestly, you’re right. At first.”

“At first?”

“I barely knew you,” she explained. “Now, we’ve spent time together. We know one another a little better. Things are different, and I want to see you get some closure and the person who did it brought to justice.”

It was a passionate speech, and because of that, I didn’t bother telling her there would be no justice for Noa’s killer. They wouldn’t spend time in jail. Whoever it was, I was going to kill them.

“Callum!”

I groaned. Speaking of people I wouldn’t mind killing …

Turning my head slowly, I glared at Cleye as he approached.

“Easy,” Maddie murmured. “We’re in the palace.”

“I know,” I said with my jaw clenched tight enough that my teeth creaked from the pressure.

“Whoa. Hold on,” Cleye said, holding up both hands. He must have noticed the sudden tension. “I come in peace.”

I didn’t bother to keep my eyebrows in place. Letting my disbelief show felt good.

“I’m serious,” Cleye said, taking a deep breath. “My father told me what you found out. About my sister …”

“Someone murdered her,” I said stiffly, still not wanting to spend a second longer than I had to talk with Cleye.

“Exactly.” He grimaced. “I want to apologize. And to help.”

My eyebrows could’ve taken the roof off the palace at that. “What? You? Help?”

“Yes,” he said fiercely, eyes aglow. “I want to make sure the asshole who’s responsible for my sister’s death is punished fully.”

I looked at him narrowly. “So, you finally believe I didn’t kill her?”

Cleye chewed on the heavy question. “I accept you didn’t murder her,” he said at last. “I may still harbor feelings toward you, but I’m willing to put those aside to ensure the investigation is completed properly and the guilty party is properly punished.”

“Well, that’s something,” I said in a slow response, not sure where to go from there. “I think.”

Maddie elbowed me in the ribs, and I glanced down at her, confused. “Accept his help,” she whispered, using a hand to block her mouth as if that would prevent Cleye from overhearing. “It’ll be good. Help mend things between you and his family, if nothing else.”

I stifled a groan. Why did she have to phrase it like that? Now, I couldn’t say no. Not because I liked him but because I knew Noa would appreciate the gesture.

Besides, I could use the help. Maybe Cleye would have better luck with the records department.

“Okay,” I said. “Fine.”

“Thank you,” Cleye said, nodding at Maddie and me. “So, where are we at in the search?”

I glanced at Maddie. “We were actually just on our way to interrogate the guard who found her body,” I said, gesturing down the hall. “Care to join?”

“Yes, of course,” Cleye said as we started walking again. “But I thought there were two guards that day, no?”

“There were,” I said. “Conveniently, one of them has disappeared.”

“ Disappeared? ” Cleye asked. “Suspicious timing, don’t you think?”

“Very,” I agreed. “We’ve been thinking the same thing. Unfortunately, even assuming that this means he’s guilty, we haven’t come up with a breakthrough. The guard is from your hometown, but as far as we know, there’s no other connection. Are you aware of one, perhaps?”

I filled Cleye in on Dyson as we walked, including all we’d learned, but he had no more ideas than we did about what might have prompted such an action.

“Well, maybe our other guard will have more for us,” I said as we arrived at the guard barracks, where Felix was waiting for us to interview him in one of the conference rooms.

“Let’s hope,” Cleye agreed.

Maddie waited outside on her own decision, saying that putting a human in there would distract more than help. It didn’t feel right to exclude her like that, but I couldn’t argue the logic. So, accepting her choice, Cleye and I went inside, where Felix was sitting at a desk, waiting.

“Finally,” he muttered. “What’s this all about?”

“Where’s Dyson?” I asked, feigning ignorance.

“I don’t know,” Felix said of his guard partner. “He’s late.”

“Is he usually late?”

“Never,” came the response immediately. “Dyson is a stickler for that sort of thing. I figured you had him elsewhere. Are you saying you don’t know where he is?”

“Nobody knows where he is,” Cleye said, crossing his arms.

“Nobody?” Felix’s face scrunched up. “That’s not like him. At all. He loves his job.”

“Maybe he stopped loving it after he killed my sister,” Cleye snarled.

I put a restraining arm against his chest.

“Dyson? Kill someone?” Felix shook his head. “I don’t believe it. Who are you anyway?”

I explained to him why he was there. I had him walk us through what he remembered that day, but there wasn’t much to it. Felix and Dyson had been on patrol in the Meadow of Martyrs in the mountain high above the palace. They’d stumbled upon Noa’s body. She was already dead when they got there. A scale-blade had pierced her heart, stopping it instantly. There was nothing they could do.

“You found no evidence nearby? No sign of who’d done it?”

“No,” Felix said. “I’m sorry. I wish we could’ve been more helpful. But she was dead when Dyson found her.”

I frowned. “I thought the two of you found her?”

Felix shrugged. “I mean, technically, it was Dyson who came along first. We don’t walk side by side. He found her, shouted, and I was there in seconds.”

“I see.”

This was new information. Could Dyson have had time to kill Noa before he called over to Felix? The guards did carry scale-blades, swords made from the scales of dragons, a weapon capable of piercing a dragon's skin.

Glancing at Cleye, it was obvious he was thinking the same thing.

We asked a few more questions, but there was nothing more for Felix to add that we didn’t already know.

“We need to talk to Dyson,” I growled as we exited, leaving Felix behind after telling him he was free to go but he should stick around the palace. No unplanned vacations. “Not to mention, we have to get his report. See if he put something different in it that would contradict what Felix said.”

“I agree,” Cleye said. “I’ll see what I can do to get the people moving.”

“Thanks,” I said, grateful for the assistance.

Cleye promised to be in touch before heading off and leaving me alone with Maddie, who was leaning against the wall, looking incredible.

“That seemed to go well,” she said, gesturing with her chin at Cleye’s retreating form.

“Yeah,” I said thoughtfully. “I guess it did, didn’t it?”

“See, aren’t you glad you listened to me?” she teased, pushing off from the wall and walking toward me.

I couldn’t help but watch her walk. She had the prowl of a hunter. The spirit of a warrior and a dragon even if she didn’t have the blood of one. But it was time I treated her like one.

“Come with me,” I said, reaching for her hand. “I have something for you. It’s time you had it.”

“Oh? What is it?” she asked, eyes lit with intrigue, followed by the flicker of tension that always accompanied us touching as our hands came together and fingers naturally interlocked.

“You’ll see,” I promised, smiling broadly.