Page 18 of The Dragon King’s Claw (The Dragons of Serai #17)

I twitched at the interruption. “I don't think so.

But I can't rule out the possibility. Paper . . . paper. Royal paper. Bad luck. Tomorrow. Not fast enough. Missed dinner. Paper.” My stare shifted back and forth on nothing—doubtless, this was the twitching the King had noted.

The King. No, don't think about him right now.

“Royal paper. The General's son. If it is him. Why the General? The last one was a tanner. Before that, a jeweler. But they were necessities. He was setting up the board. These are the true targets. Hallaxgral has moved his first piece. The game has only begun. Paper.”

The carriage stopped.

This time, the King didn't prevent me from dashing out of the carriage.

Still, Sir Vasren beat me to the front door of the General's home.

We were in a nice neighborhood. Of course.

But I only glanced at the street. All was quiet.

It was late now. So the pounding on the door echoed like thunder.

Ominous. And yet the shadow of the King, cast upon me by the streetlamps behind him, felt even more sinister.

Good thing I didn't hold with such nonsense.

“Are we under attack?” A Ricarri man growled as he flung open the door.

He was big, even for a Ricarri, with more muscles than one man should have, and he hadn't bothered to pull on a shirt before answering the door.

The streetlamps glinted off his gray skin, pulling out the sheen of mineral deposits that all Ricarri were born with.

I saw the toy in my mind again, gleaming silver.

Then the gold on the uniform. Yes. The toymaker had used this man as his model.

That toy was a special order for the son of the General of the King's Horns.

“General Batan.” The King stepped around me.

“Your Majesty?” The General gaped at him, then cursed. “Who's attacking us?”

“Not us, General. You. Your family. Where is your son?”

“My son?” the General whispered. Then he spun on his heels and ran for the staircase behind him.

The King followed, and I rushed in before the knights could.

I was getting damn annoyed at being pushed aside in my investigation.

But annoyance had become an understudy to my fear.

I didn't like this. I shouldn't be afraid while on a case.

Not for myself or others. I always kept a distance between my emotions and the victims. It shouldn't matter that this was a child. It shouldn't, but it did.

I took the stairs two at a time. When we reached the landing, a wide-eyed Ricarri woman stepped into our path.

“Check on Nulei,” General Batan said to her as he passed.

The General's wife didn't hesitate. She ran in the opposite direction. I followed the King and her husband down a hallway to a door. The General burst inside and then stopped short. A sound came from him. A horrible sound. Part whimper, part whine, and part gasp. Then he fell to his knees.

I swept around the King, who stood near the General but didn't dare to touch the man. I didn't need to look further at General Batan. I needed to secure the scene. Because I was certain it was a crime scene.

The bed was empty. The window open. And a note lay on the pillow.

“Out!” I pointed at the door. “Get him out. Now!”

The King nodded at his knights. They helped the General to his feet. Surprisingly, the man didn't protest. He went with them into the hallway as passive as a kitten. And I got to work.

“You too!” I pointed at the door. I didn't have the patience or self-control at this point to deal politely with the King. “Get out! Summon me a team! Have them secure the house.”

The King left, but he didn't go far. I heard him passing on my orders to his knights. Then came a woman's voice. Her scream was next. Weeping. More weeping. A child crying. I shut the door.

That helped a little. Then I stood and looked, just looked. Cracked my neck. I wouldn't rush this, despite what had happened with the Brujai woman. I had until the next night. The boy would be fine until then. If I wanted to save him, I had to do this properly.

So I got on my knees and processed the scene.

I left the note for last because I knew that once I read it, I would be rushing out of that house. And I couldn't leave without fully investigating the boy's room. Normally, I would have searched the entire home, but I would leave the rest to the Talon team. I didn't have time for that.

I found nothing despite my thorough search.

Still, I didn't regret it. I had to know that there was nothing there before I could move on.

At last, I stood beside the bed and picked up the note.

Before reading it, I turned on the bedside table lamp and held the note over it. The watermark appeared. Pruleng.

Then I read the note: Getting quicker, Tekhan. But the clock is ticking. Tek, tek, tek. The hourglass has been turned. Sand is running out.

At first, I grimaced at the note, wondering why everyone wanted to reduce my name to a sound. Then it registered. Not only had he used the same nickname the King had given me, but he had also used my response to it.

“Dear Gods,” I whispered. “He's watching us. Listening . How the fuck is he listening?” I looked at the window. My inspection of the sill and the roof outside had revealed nothing. But I went to look again. Not at the window, but out of it.

The street was empty. The windows of homes across the way were dark. He could have been watching from the shadows, but I didn't think so. Not Hallaxgral. Maybe an underling. But not him. He'd be with the child.

“Tek, tek, tek,” I whispered. “When did I say that?” I thought back. Remembered. “The restaurant.” I nodded.

At least it was a public place. If it had been in the carriage or castle, it would have been more difficult and upsetting. Granted, it would have narrowed down our suspects, but it would have also put the King in jeopardy.

I went to the lamp and turned it off, then the overhead sphere.

With the room dark, I went back to the window.

Standing to the side, I peered out. There.

Movement in the alley. We were being watched.

I watched back. Waited. A face appeared, mostly shadowed, but enough that I could tell it was an Eljaffna man.

I didn't take it personally. There were criminals in every race, including mine.

Most claws would have chased the watcher or tried to follow him.

I didn't bother. I had chased the Brujai because I thought I could catch him.

I wouldn't catch that Eljaffna. He'd be gone before I got across the street, and he'd leave no trace behind.

But I couldn't have him following me while I tried to find the child.

So, I would have to be as stealthy as my watcher.

Done with the room, I left. That’s when the silence registered. With my focus so intense, I hadn't noticed when the screaming and weeping had stopped. The General and his family had vacated the corridor, but the King stood there with Sir Gilhu.

“He's got someone following us,” I said. “There's an Eljaffna man in the alley across the street, watching the house.” I held up a hand. “Don't send a knight after him. He'll be gone. We need to evade him instead.”

“Evade?” King Tor'rien narrowed his eyes. “That sounds like running away.”

“I am not running away. I am running toward something while tricking a spy. Now, it would be helpful if you and your knights returned to the castle and drew his attention away from me.”

The Dragon King narrowed his eyes.

“You must have other matters to attend to. Go and be the King. It will be easier for me to finish this alone.”

“And what will you do when you find Hallaxgral?”

“I will arrest him.”

“What if he overpowers you?”

“He will not.”

“You don't know that. He could be a Dragon.”

That gave me pause.

“You are dealing with a murderer holding a child captive. You cannot do this alone, Tekhan. Let me help you.”

I sighed. “Then you must move quickly and follow my every instruction.”

“I can do that.”

“And you'll have to leave your knights behind.”

“No,” Sir Gilhu said.

The Dragon King looked at his knight.

Sir Gilhu grimaced.

“What's the plan?” the King asked.

“We leave here in your carriage and head toward the castle. When we turn a corner, we will jump out and the carriage will continue without us.”

The King nodded while Sir Gilhu groaned.

His nod was all the confirmation I needed. I headed for the stairs. At the bottom, I found Sir Vasren standing just outside a sitting room. The General was inside, comforting his family—his wife held in one arm and his daughter in the other. I didn't interrupt them.

The King did.

King Tor'rien went inside and said a bunch of comforting words.

I didn't pay attention. I was at the narrow window beside the front door, peering around the curtain.

Our watcher was still out there, waiting.

And he was a fool. Several times, he angled his face into the light of a street lamp.

I filed his face away in my mind. I would not forget it.

At last, the King joined us, and we went out to the carriage without looking around.

The knights did, of course. It would have been odd if they hadn't, so I didn't advise them otherwise.

As they took their positions on the carriage, the King and I climbed inside and pulled the window panes up, then closed the curtains.

We were off in seconds, heading toward the royal castle.

This time, the King didn't try to touch me or make any kind of romantic advance. He was doing what I was—peering around the curtain on his side of the carriage, waiting for us to take a corner.

“Soon,” he said.

“I know.” I grabbed the door handle. The carriage turned. “Now!” I jumped out of the carriage and shoved the door shut behind me.