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“Murders,” he growled, lip curling up to show fangs.

Gideon took after Uncle Leo, not his dragon mother in most things. He was easygoing, laughed readily, and had his dad’s golden blond looks and deep tan. His skin was rather tougher than the average person’s, but he couldn’t shift. That said, when pissed—which was extremely rare—his teeth could extend into fangs, and his nails, into sharp, deadly claws. I’d even seen him get beautiful blue-white glowing scales like his mother’s beast form once or twice.

The dark look was gone in an instant.

“Three so far, one per week,” he said. “It was on the inquisitor’s plate until the third, but it’s starting to worry Mom.”

Fuck. “The same killer?”

“Looks like. It’s ritualistic.” Gideon opened the file on top of his pile on the left and slid it across the desk to me.

I was surprised at first, but after all, I was officially part of the Guard.

“Actually, I meant to ask you to look at this. Only this page, Kleos. I don’t want you to get nightmares.”

Too late.

I stared at the page in horror. It was filled with runes.

The same senseless runes underneath my blazer, from too many different cultures, with no clear logic. All in red.

“What’s this?” I couldn’t recognize my voice.

“The three bodies—two guys, one girl. They were all covered in these. Hundreds of them. The inquisitor got a specialist from the archives to take a look, but they said it made no sense, that the runes didn’t belong together. You’re good at runes, so I wanted you to look.”

Murders.

With these runes all over.

This could have been me.

This would have been me if I hadn’t been able to stop it.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

I needed to think. I needed to get out of here.

Logic dictated that I immediately strip down to my tank top and explain what happened to me, but with Timothee in the room, I couldn’t. If I did, my parents would hear about it, I was certain of that. And they would make everything even worse.

“I don’t understand them,” I tell him honestly. “But I’ll look into it.”

I already was researching them.

“I need to talk to you later. Can you come to mine for dinner?” I asked lightly, hoping he wasn’t alarmed enough to make me spill the beans.

“I don’t need a formal dinner to give you my approval, Kley. He’ll be great to you. Far more than the endless line of suitors your mother makes you date.”

“What?” I practically screamed.

He frowned. “So, you’re not buttering me up to tell me you’re banging Lucian?”

I gaped. “No, you bloody idiot. I don’t even know the guy.”

“Damn.” He scratched his head. “I was so certain I felt a vibe. Too bad. You guys would fit.”

I rolled my eyes. “Doesn’t he have a girlfriend anyway?”

Lucian shrugged. “Since you mention it, that never came up. Who knows? Would be nice to have him in the family, though.”