Chapter Thirty-Four

Callum

“M addie?” I called when there was no reply to my knock. “It’s me. Cal. Can you open up? I need to talk to you.”

I looked up and down the hallway while I waited, fighting back the urge to tap my foot, rub my fingers, or just fidget in general.

Play it cool. Stay calm.

That was far easier said than done, and as the wait stretched on, the desire grew ever stronger. What was taking her so long?

Knock. Knock. Knock.

I rapped my knuckles on the wooden door in quick succession, making sure there was no possible way she couldn’t hear me.

“Maddie, come on,” I called, pressing my head to the crack between the door and the frame so my words would carry through better. “Please. Just … let me say what I have to say. Then, if you want, I’ll leave you alone. I promise.”

I backed away from the door, running my fingers through my hair, trying to make sure it was all in place and didn’t look a mess. In my rush to get there, I hadn’t taken the time to ensure I was fully put together. My focus wasn’t on that. It was on Madison.

Tracking down which room she was in had taken long enough. Cleye had told me Maddie was in the guest section of the palace, but he’d neglected to mention which one. Finding him would have taken longer than finding the quartermaster, the dragon who oversaw this area.

Even that had taken longer than I’d wanted. I needed to see Maddie and tell her. The knowledge was burning a hole in me now I possessed it. I had to tell her. Show her she wasn’t a second choice. That she mattered more than that.

However, I couldn’t tell her if she wouldn’t answer the door.

“Maddie,” I called, pressing my ear to the door and listening. “Come on. Please.”

If she were on the other side of the wall, I would hear it. Breathing, moving around. Cursing me under her breath. Anything.

But all I got was silence.

Maybe she wasn’t there? Or maybe she was ignoring me.

Deciding it would be better to tell her and be kicked out than it would be to leave important words left unsaid, I tried the door handle. It swung open smoothly.

I smiled. Maybe I had a chance after all. If she hadn’t locked the door, then maybe—

The room was empty.

My smile faded as I looked around, noting the perfectly arranged furniture, towels visible in the bathroom hung with perfectly creased sides. A look into the bathroom revealed sheets that hadn’t been touched since the last time the bed was made up.

Standing in the center of the room, I took a long, deep breath in through my nose.

All I smelled was sterile cleanliness. Absolutely no trace of Madison. It was as if she had never been here.

But the quartermaster was under the impression she was …

Leaving the room, I jogged down the hallways, looking for the quartermaster.

“She’s not there,” I said.

He frowned. “Then maybe she’s out.”

“No, you’re not following me,” I growled. “She was never there.”

“What?” The older dragon looked visibly surprised.

“The room is perfect. Untouched. Nobody has been in that room in days.”

He shrugged. “I was told the human woman would be staying there. What do you want me to say?”

I bit back a snarl of anger. “Did you ever see her? Talk to her or come across her? It’s been three days. She’s human. You would notice that.”

“I’m sorry, but I didn’t. I’m only one dragon, and I don’t make it a policy to intrude on guests. Many of them are important people visiting from other places in the Isles. They value privacy.”

That time, I did snarl. It wasn’t the quartermaster’s fault. He was just doing his job. If he’d been told she was there, why would he think otherwise? There had been no reason to suspect Cleye of lying.

Why did Cleye lie, then?

“Thanks for your time,” I said, abruptly taking off down the hallway, my booted feet pounding on the stone floor as I headed back to the area of the palace where the guards’ quarters were.

Cleye had lied to me, and I needed to find out why. There didn’t seem to be any good reason for it. In fact, I could come up with one very, very bad reason.

I prayed I was wrong, but something told me I wasn’t.

The hammer-blows I levied against his door shook the heavy wood loudly in its frame.

“Open up, Cleye!” I bellowed, bits of wood splintering. “Right now!”

Doors began opening up in the hallway, heads poking out.

“Who knows where Cleye is?” I roared. “Is he on duty?”

“No,” someone answered from three doors down. “We just got off shift.”

I didn’t wait to hear more. Trying the door, I found it locked.

Not for long.

My boot shattered the lock, the door flying inward, with me right behind it. In the hallway, guards exited their rooms, and shouts of surprise followed the commotion.

It was empty. Nobody was where they were supposed to be.

“What’s going on here?” someone said from the door with authority in their voice.

“I’m looking for Cleye,” I said, moving from room to room. “He has something that belongs to me.”

A hand landed on my shoulder, spinning me around. I found myself facing Jair, head of the sovereign’s personal guard. “Why are you breaking into his quarters, Callum?”

“My mate,” I growled, meeting Jair’s eyes and not letting go.

“I don’t mean to be callous,” he said, eyes softening. “But isn’t Noa dead?”

“My new mate,” I said, shrugging free of his grip. “Now, get out of my way. I will find him, no matter what it takes.”

Jair sighed. “You can’t break into other people’s quarters, Cal.”

“He has her!” I roared, catching Jair off guard with the ferocity. “And I don’t know why. But I intend to find out. Now, either help me or get out of my way.”

“We’ll find him,” Jair said. “But you can’t go around breaking down doors to do so. Come on.”

“I haven’t finished searching the rooms,” I pointed out.

Jair rolled his eyes. “He’s not in the kitchen, Cal. Come on.”

I knew that, too. But I still intended to search it.

“I’m going to look in the kitchen,” I said coldly. “Then I’ll go.”

Jair shook his head. “No,” he said sternly. “You’re leaving. Now .”

I pushed him aside and strode toward the opening. Jair grabbed me by the shoulder once more. I spun and swung at him, all in one move.

The guard commander saw it coming from a mile away and dodged. Then he hit me in the chest. Hard.

I flung backward into the wall—

And went right through it.

Stone crumbled all around me, dust and debris raining down.

“What the fuck?” Jair’s voice could be heard through the surprise.

“There’s a secret room in here,” I said, coughing as I got back on my feet.

That was when the stench hit me. Only one thing smelled like that, and anyone who’d ever smelled it would never mistake it again.

Death.

Spinning around, I called flame into my palm, lighting the darkened room.

“Jair,” I growled as I found the source. “You’d better get in here.”

In the flickering light of the flames in my palm, the swollen, bloated corpse of Dyson stared back at me.

We’d found the missing palace guard. He hadn’t run away after all.

Cleye had killed him.

My fear for Madison’s well-being had suddenly turned scarily accurate.