dragons breath 02 - dancing with flames

by Illene, Susan

  “If you believe that, you are as crazy as my brother.” Phoebe shook her head. “The clan is going to banish you both when they find out.”

  Aidan crossed his arms. “You are not going to tell them.”

  “I don’t know what I’m going to do. If anyone finds out I knew and didn’t say anything, I could be punished right along with you.” She paced in front of them, muttering expletives under her breath in the dragon language. At least she’d had the sense to speak English in front of Bailey—that had to be a good sign.

  “I’ve kept many secrets for you. Such as that dragon from the Faegud clan who you were …” Aidan began.

  Phoebe spun around and pointed a finger at him. “Don’t you dare say another word!”

  He smiled smugly. When relations between their clan and the Faegud broke off all those years ago, Phoebe had continued seeing one of their members in secret. It wasn’t until the Faegud lost the section of territory where their borders met that she was forced to end the relationship. He suspected it was part of the reason she had never seriously courted another male since then. She could very well still be pining for him, and it would also explain why she monitored Aidan’s task so closely.

  “Very well, but I only point out I’m not the first to see the so-called enemy in secret. If you would give Bailey a chance, you would see having her on our side is to our advantage.”

  Phoebe gave Aidan a rueful look. “You do realize the irony of this when I’m in charge of the next Judgments Day? I should be the one punishing you for this crime.”

  “And?” He shrugged. “You’ve got more important matters to attend. Such as a murder investigation.”

  “A murder?” Bailey interrupted.

  “One of our members was killed last night. I’m helping my sister find out who did it,” Aidan explained, glancing down at her.

  “Speaking of which,” Phoebe said, keeping her eyes on him and avoiding looking at the slayer. “I found the garrote used to kill Nanoq. It was in a gutter near the bathhouse with his blood still on it. The reason I came to find you was I wanted you to take a look at it and see if you had any idea who it might have belonged to.”

  “A garrote?” Donar frowned. “What a strange choice of weapon.”

  Aidan agreed. It was something a human might use, but shifters usually preferred swords and daggers. Aidan couldn’t imagine any of the humans murdering the Captain of the Guard—he was always quick to protect them—which made the case even stranger. It had to have been a shifter, but who? He still didn’t rule out Ruari as a suspect, but if his brother had been injured as much as Bailey had described, it was doubtful he would have been up for killing anyone until he recovered. That would take at least a couple of days, not hours.

  “I’ll take a look at it,” Aidan said, then gestured at Bailey. “But my continued assistance depends upon you keeping the secret about her.”

  Phoebe stepped closer and studied the slayer. “How many dragons have you killed?”

  “Eight,” Bailey answered, lifting her chin.

  That was two more than Aidan knew about. She’d said she had been hunting them when she ran into Ruari. He could only guess that she found two of the pure dragons after that and took her aggression out on them. Aidan didn’t like the idea of her fighting on her own now without him, but the fact she could spoke to her increasing skills. She would need to continue training on new weapons, especially the crossbow since she needed something with range. But before long, he expected she would become a formidable warrior any dragon would fear.

  Phoebe’s brows drew together. “When was your first kill?”

  Bailey glanced at Aidan, then back at his sister. “About five weeks ago.”

  “The first was Mirrikh,” Aidan added.

  Phoebe’s expression registered surprise. “If she could take him down…yes, she might be useful after all.” She directed her attention to Aidan. “But we must be careful that our toriq does not find out. Maybe someday when the right time comes, but not now.”

  “Agreed.”

  “And you.” She pointed her finger at Bailey. “Hurt my brother and I will kill you.”

  The slayer narrowed her eyes. “In case you missed it, I have no intention of hurting him—no matter what.”

  “Good. Keep it that way.”

  Aidan had allowed this conversation to go on long enough. “Phoebe, why don’t you return to the fortress? I’ll finish up here and meet you in an hour.”

  It would give him time to question the slayer further about the attack on his brother.

  Phoebe ran her gaze across Aidan, Donar, and Bailey. “Fine, but do not take too long. We have more important things to do.”

  His sister stalked away, smart enough to shift out of sight of the slayer.

  Chapter 16

  Aidan

  Aidan found his sister in the pendragon’s office, sitting at Throm’s massive stone desk. Phoebe appeared like a child studying her lessons behind it as she stared at piles of notes with a frustrated expression on her face. While she had been doing that, Aidan had taken the murder weapon—now washed clean—to each of the five weapons makers they had in the fortress to see if any of them recognized the work. None of them knew its origins. The garrote had not been protected by the second dragon fire, and its material wasn’t even suited for it. Without the alloy being at least fifty percent zaphiriam, the slim metal string could not hold up to the hardening process.

  “The answer is here somewhere,” Phoebe said, brows drawing together. “I am just not seeing it.”

  Aidan settled in a seat across from her and set the garrote on the desk. “Unfortunately, the murderer killed the man who usually does these investigations.”

  Nanoq hadn’t only been an excellent Captain of the Guard, but also quite good at solving crimes. Few of them went unsolved under his watch, and he had always given Throm a roster of wrongdoers for Judgments Day. He would have made a fine pendragon if he had been given the chance to compete. Regardless, the clan would feel the loss of him for a long time to come. The regular guard was still deciding who to elect to take Nanoq’s place. Throm had given them a week to settle it among themselves.

  “I still don’t understand why they used this,” Phoebe said, picking up the garrote. “What did you learn?”

  Aidan gave her the details of what he’d discovered, or rather not discovered, finishing with a shrug. “It must have come from outside the fortress.”

  Phoebe scowled. “That is going to be almost impossible to trace.”

  “What about the witnesses? Did you learn anything useful from them?” Aidan had sat through a few of the questionings yesterday evening, but he’d also had to meet with his father and prepare for the treaty negotiations with the Faegud.

  Phoebe set the garrote down and picked up several pieces of parchment. “As you know, it was Nanoq’s private time at the bathhouse, so no one else was there. Only two people entered when his time was up—one of them being a human servant who had come to do a cleaning. The other one, a male shifter, found him first and called for help. Every other witness worked or shopped near there, but they all said they didn’t see anyone else enter.”

  “Do they know how long Nanoq lay there before he was found?” Aidan asked.

  His sister nodded. “The healer believes it must have been between thirty to forty minutes. Even for a shifter, it’s a miracle he survived that long.”

  “The captain was tough, but I’m surprised the killer didn’t finish him off.” That had been bothering him. Why stop at cutting his neck part way if you mean for the person to die?

  “I have my suspicions about that.” Phoebe sat back in her seat. “I wasn’t allowed to see his body before the burial ceremony, but the healer informed me Nanoq did fight back. His knuckles were red, and the cut in his neck was ragged like he’d jerked around a lot. Maybe he injured his attacker and scared them off.”

  “Why didn’t they let you examine the body?” She might have been able to get a sce
nt off of it.

  Phoebe’s lips thinned. “Our father decreed that no one should see the captain’s corpse because Nanoq was too honorable to be remembered like that.”

  It was too late to do anything about it now. The burial ceremony had been last night with most of the Taugud in attendance. Nanoq’s body had been fully shrouded in black, and he’d been placed in the fortress cemetery. While pure dragons disintegrated to dust within forty-eight hours, shifters returned to human form—if they weren’t in that state already—and decomposed the same as any normal person or animal would upon death.

  “Let me see the list of who was near the bath house.” Aidan reached out his hand.

  His sister gave him several sheets of parchment, and he began skimming her report. She listed each name, their activities an hour before and after the attack, and anything they saw. Most of the people were low-born or human and had absolutely no reason to kill Nanoq.

  “Do you think Ruari could have done it? Somehow gotten in and out without anyone seeing him?” Phoebe asked, worrying her lower lip. “I don’t think he’d be above doing such a thing, though I hope he didn’t.”

  Aidan paused his perusal. “As much as I hate to admit this, I don’t think our brother was in any shape to be murdering that night.”

  “What do you mean?” she asked.

  He set the parchment down. “A group of humans over in Thamaran territory attacked Ruari earlier that day. They shot many of their bullets into his belly.”

  “How could you possibly know that?” She gave him an incredulous look. “Our brother hasn’t mentioned it to anyone, and I doubt he ever would, considering the embarrassment it would cause him.”

  If it wasn’t pertinent to her investigation, he might not have told her, but she needed to know why Ruari was likely innocent. “Bailey told me. The humans had tethered him with hooks and ropes when she arrived. Her initial instincts forced her to push the humans out of the way and attack our brother, but she managed to gain control long enough to let him escape. She said he was badly wounded when he flew off.”

  Phoebe’s jaw dropped. “How bad?”

  “I think Bailey only struck him twice with her sword, but she said the hooks did some damage to his hip and mouth and the bullets struck his belly. She saw a lot of blood on him, but if he could manage to return home that afternoon when our witnesses placed him in the market, then the wounds couldn’t have been too grave.”

  She let out an exasperated breath. “This is why you shouldn’t have gotten involved with the slayer. If Ruari ever finds out you’re working with the one who attacked him, you could be executed for it.”

  “I’m aware.”

  It was one of the reasons Aidan was careful about when he met Bailey and for how long. The less time they spent together, the lower the chance they might get caught. If she wasn’t so important to his plans—ones that no one other than Kade and Donar knew about—he might have had to abandon her. Of course, his inner dragon might have had something to say about that. He growled every time Aidan even thought about it—not that cutting ties with Bailey would be much easier for him. He’d grown to care for the slayer more than he liked to admit.

  “Brother.” Phoebe stood and leaned her hands on the desk, giving him a heavy look. “I don’t warn you of the danger to give you a hard time. I do so because I care for you, and I do not want to lose you. Before you were born, all I had was Zoran and Ruari. Both of them could be quite cruel until I grew strong enough to fight back and even then they never took me very seriously. Then you came. You were so different than them—bright, compassionate, and full of curiosity.”

  She paused and took a shuddering breath. “Please don’t do anything that would result in me being left behind alone with them.”

  Aidan was surprised to hear his sister’s heartfelt plea. With shifters, they rarely allowed their emotions to show outwardly. It was considered a sign of weakness. The only exception was when they truly trusted someone enough to give them that sort of power.

  “I love you too, sister.” He reached out and cupped her cheek. “But I assure you I do nothing that is not for the greater good of the clan. One day, you will understand why the slayer is so important to me.”

  She squeezed his hand before lowering it. “And your dragon? It is almost unheard of for the beast to communicate with a human, much less a slayer.”

  “Almost?” Aidan lifted a brow. “I didn’t know it was possible at all outside of mates.”

  “When I was younger and hiding from our older brothers, I used to spend hours reading scrolls from the archives. I found a few mentions of it happening, but those instances occurred before we were banished to Kederrawien.”

  “Could you find those scrolls now?” There could be all manner of helpful information in them. Aidan had perused a few of the ancient texts before, but there were thousands stored in the oldest corner of the library. He’d lacked the patience to go through them all.

  She shook her head. “That was nearly two and half centuries ago. I can’t begin to remember which shelf they were even on now.”

  “I know you’re busy now, but if you find some spare time, please look. Anything that might help me with Bailey could be useful.” Aidan would also have to find a chance to sneak back there again sometime soon to speak with his uncle. Kade would want to know about the latest developments, and perhaps he could find some information to help as well.

  Phoebe lifted her chin. “You’re going to owe me for that kind of favor. I find dust a lot more irritating now than I did in my youth—not to mention attempting to read scrawled, faded print.”

  “Anything you need,” he promised.

  “Then help me figure out where this garrote came from before you return to the Faegud tomorrow,” she said.

  Aidan smiled. He had already formed a plan before coming to her office.

  “Just a moment.” He walked to the door and opened it, beckoning Kayla inside. While he couldn’t give away all his secrets to Phoebe, he trusted her with this one as well.

  The teenage girl came in, keeping her head ducked low. She always did that with shifters except for Aidan and Donar. Her slight form appeared so subservient and inconsequential that she almost blended with the stone walls.

  “Phoebe, meet Kayla. This is one of the human servants who lives in the fortress,” Aidan said, gesturing at the girl.

  His sister’s brows furrowed. “Why have you brought her here?”

  “Kayla, look at me,” he ordered, waiting until the teenager lifted her head. “You are aware of the murder of the Captain of the Guard, yes?”

  “Y-y-yes,” she answered. It was the oddest thing, but if she wasn’t comfortable with someone it could reduce her to stuttering. He couldn’t figure out how she could be so brave except when around strangers.

  “You are safe.” Aidan put a hand on her shoulder where her tunic protected her skin. “My sister would never harm you. We just need you to answer a few questions to help with the investigation.”

  Kayla swallowed. “Yeah, okay.”

  “Were you anywhere near the bathhouse two days ago?” Aidan asked.

  She jerked her chin. “About…an hour or so before the captain was killed.”

  Aidan had noticed Kayla was not on Phoebe’s list. Either no one noticed her there, or it was too long prior to the murder to consider. “Did you see anything strange or out of place?”

  Kayla shot him a worried look. “Um.”

  “You’re scaring the poor girl to death,” Phoebe said. She smiled at the teenager and softened her voice. “It is okay. I promise that nothing you say here will get you into trouble.”

  “Trust my sister as you would me.”

  “Alright.” Kayla straightened, some of her confidence returning. “After I followed Ruari back to his room in the fortress where I’m fairly certain he stayed the rest of the night, I came back out and walked around the market. About two hours before the murder, I caught Ember walking down the main thoroughfare. Then
she turned and headed toward the east end of the keep. She kept looking back so I couldn’t get too close and then she disappeared. It wasn’t too far from the bath house. I waited around for a while, but she never showed back up.”

  Aidan turned to Phoebe. “Ember isn’t on the list, is she?”

  “No.” His sister frowned.

  Kayla gasped. “Wait. What if she had a way of getting out of there without anyone seeing her?”

  “What do you mean?” Aidan and Phoebe had walked the whole area. There were no back alleys or places to hide. At least, not without help from the shopkeepers who were unlikely to assist anyone that would kill the captain.

  “You know that tunnel underneath the keep?” Kayla waited until they nodded. “Well, there are small passageways down there that I’ve never figured out where they go. Maybe one of them comes up near the bathhouse.”

  Phoebe’s eyes widened, and she looked at Aidan. “Where have you been hiding this girl and why am I just noticing her? She’s brilliant.”

  “I know.” He crossed his arms. “And you better consider yourself lucky I’m pointing her out to you now.”

  His sister paced the room, her energy renewed. “I’ve got to check those tunnels and Father will know more about them. If we can somehow tie Ember to the murder this way, we will have it solved. There’s just the matter of the garrote that I still can’t figure out. Where could she have gotten one from that was strong enough to cut a shifter’s neck?”

  Kayla spoke up. “There is a place in the city where she could have gotten it.”

  “What place?” Aidan asked.

  The teenager’s gaze dipped down. “Um, well, I haven’t been there, but I’ve heard about it. There’s a sorcerer who has claimed downtown Norman for himself. He’s really picky about who can get near the area, and he has a protection spell blocking anyone—including dragons—who he wants to keep out. A couple of people here tried to get in and check it out, but something made them turn back. They barely remembered they’d even gone there.”