Page 36 of Wild Flame (Wild Bond #2)

Chapter Thirty-Six

M oving silently, I was careful to stick to the shadows as I ducked down in the alley. The heat thankfully wasn’t too cloying tonight in my tight-fitting outfit.

After I dug my suit out of its hiding place and donning it, sneaking out of the palace had taken longer than I expected—thanks to the Talonar now watching the gardens more closely. Finding The Red Scale had taken forever, and by the time I located it, I was afraid I might have missed Nilfren altogether.

I had been surprised to note it was the very same establishment where I had seen the addict sprawled out on the stoop my first night exploring Taveran.

When I brought up investigating the drug dens to Malik, he explained that his men had already searched most of the well-known spots and found nothing. I hadn’t told him about the Nilfren conversation that I had overheard. Perhaps because at first, I had convinced myself it was nothing, but the longer I thought about it, the more I was convinced that the ambassador was up to something. Or maybe it was that he was Halmarish and represented my country and I felt a personal stake in discovering what he was involved in. And since Fleshfire was our only possible connection to everything that had been going on . . . I knew it was a long shot, but I had to do something.

So, after dinner tonight, I had urged Malik to take some time to go deal with the many issues that needed his attention. We had been enjoying each other so thoroughly the past few weeks that he had been neglecting his kingly duties. I was thankful when he finally left that Azrun hadn’t stayed to guard me since he was out hunting.

Now, as I hunkered down in the alley with my eyes on the entrance to the tavern, the strong smells of burning incense, unwashed bodies, and something bitter drifted down from the broken slats of the small window above me. I was glad my mouth and nose were covered by my mask and hood. Even so, I nearly gagged.

I had been waiting for nearly an hour and knew I didn’t have much longer before I would need to return to the palace, when a man with a familiar mincing gait turned down the alley. I recognized Nilfren instantly, even despite his attempt at covering his features with a cloak. He didn’t hesitate as he stepped into the establishment, and I quickly rose to my feet to watch through the broken slats.

I had a mostly unobscured view of the main room. A scantily clad woman was performing a hypnotic dance at the center, and long flat cushions and low tables filled with people—mostly men—surrounded the space. Most of the eyes in the room were on her and so glazed over and red from using that it was no wonder they failed to notice as Nilfren strode purposely toward a set of stairs in the back.

They were being guarded by a man in a turban who sat nearby. He was trying to blend in with the patrons, but he wasn’t doing a very good job. His posture was too stiff, his eyes too alert.

Nilfren gave the not-so-subtle guard a nod before ascending the stairs without a word.

A spike of adrenaline raced through me. Was the person Nilfren was meeting already here? After all, I didn’t know what they looked like. They could have already entered while I waited for Nilfren.

Cursing, I spun and dashed down the alley. The space between buildings was narrow enough that I was able to leap partially up the wall and push off with my feet to the opposite building and grab onto the short brick jutting out from the stone. Then it was the work of a few moments to climb the rest of the way up the wall until I was situated just under the window I had seen there.

I shifted my hand grip on one of the jutting sandstone bricks and adjusted my foothold, so I was now right beneath the window. Silently, I sent up a prayer to The Maiden or The Assassin or whichever of the Nine was listening that the shadows of the night were enough to conceal me should anyone decide to take a nightly stroll on the street below.

I listened for several seconds. No sound came from inside, so finally I peered over the sill. It was empty. I cursed. My mind spun. The establishment was small, so there couldn’t be more than two or three rooms on the upper level. I pulled myself up and planted my feet on the windowsill, reaching to grip the lip of the roof. Towing myself up and over, I darted across the roof to the opposite side.

Another small window was close enough to the top of the roof that I simply laid flat on my stomach and bent over the edge. Slowly, I gripped the top of the window frame and peeked inside.

I jerked back out of sight when I saw Nilfren was indeed inside. He was standing behind a small desk, his thinning hair mussed as if he had been running his fingers through it. His brow was pinched as he glared down at some papers before him.

I itched to get inside and see what he was staring at so intently. I knew it couldn’t be anything good if he was keeping it here rather than in his rooms in the palace.

Just then, footsteps sounded, and I heard the door to the room open. Whomever it was did not bother to knock.

“All right Ambassador, what is so important that you had to drag me down here to see it?”

My entire body froze as I recognized the voice. No! It couldn’t be. What was Leif doing here? Daring to peek back down, I saw I was right. His back was to me, but it was definitely him.

“This,” Nilfren said, showing Leif something on his desk. Leif stepped forward, moving so I could now see his profile. Whatever Nilfren was showing him, Leif looked unimpressed.

“None of this matters,” Leif said after a few moments. “Why haven’t you shut it down?”

I had never heard his voice sound like that before, so low and deadly.

Nilfren took a slight step back. “I don’t answer to you. And I told you, it’s more complicated than that.”

All my hopes that Leif wasn’t mixed up in whatever Nilfren was involved in went out the window with his next statement.

“When I figured out what you were doing, I held my silence only so that Halmar would not be implicated in your scheme after the attack on the city.”

“I told you he didn’t tell me what he intended on Unari,” Nilfren said, sounding slightly desperate, while still trying to maintain his normal haughty bluster. He straightened his cloak. “I had no idea the drug was even capable of something like that.”

From his unsettled expression, I actually believed the horrible man. And who was this man Nilfren had mentioned? Another conspirator? But I was barely even focused on that. I couldn’t believe that Nilfren had just confirmed what we suspected, that Fleshfire had had something to do with what had been done to Ramin and the attack on the city. And that he was not only involved, but so was Leif.

“That doesn’t matter,” Leif growled. “Do you think the Zehvitian king will care if you knew or not? All that will matter is that the Halmarish ambassador is behind the operation to import Fleshfire into his country. And that Fleshfire was used in an attack on his capital. If this gets out, it could spark another war.”

“He’s not going to find out,” Nilfren huffed.

“Not if you shut down the whole operation, like I told you to.”

“But he—”

Leif gripped Nilfren around his throat, and the older man’s eyes bulged. “Shut it down,” Leif ordered. “Now. I don’t care how you do it. I don’t care about whoever is pulling your strings. Just get it done.” He leaned closer. “And if any of this comes back on our king or our princess, I will have my dragon burn you alive.”

Nilfren nodded frantically before Leif released him. Just then, Leif’s gaze darted in my direction and I jerked back out of sight.

Realms!

My eyes closed for a moment as I turned motionless, trying to meld with the shadows around me, willing myself to be invisible, willing Leif not to have seen me or feel the need to investigate.

There was a pause where no sound came from within. I waited. Holding my breath.

Then the sound of a door opening and footsteps receding.

I breathed a sigh of relief, thanking all the Nine gods that Leif hadn’t had Wormoth with him tonight. Otherwise, my hiding spot would have never held up. Most likely his dragon was somewhere nearby, but Leif wouldn’t have wanted anyone knowing he was here, and dragons were too easy to identify.

I didn’t dare move as I waited to see if Nilfren would leave as well. Thankfully he only stayed a few more minutes. No doubt regaining his composure before he too left. I stayed hidden for a while longer until I knew for sure he wasn’t returning.

I was sweating under my clothes as I twisted around. Then it only took a few seconds to climb down onto the sill and drop inside. The room boasted nothing but a large desk and chair and a small bookcase. Large wooden beam rafters crisscrossed the ceiling.

Adrenaline hummed in my veins as I wasted no time in silently making my way over to the desk. Letters and correspondence that had obviously been written in code covered the top. Careful not to disturb anything from its place, I picked up a document that caught my eye. Dozens of lines of neat script filled the page, carefully cataloging all sorts of goods and supplies and the times and dates the shipments had arrived. I quickly realized it was a shipping manifest or log of some kind. But what was odd was that a small asterisk had been noted by several shipments, all of which sailed from Nevgard to Taveran specifically. Those had to be the Fleshfire shipments. Then something else caught my eye. One of the marked shipments had the same date as my voyage to Taveran. I looked at the name of the ship, and sure enough, The Sea Dragon. That had been the ship we sailed from Halmar. Scanning down the list, I saw that name appear several times. I had no way of knowing what it was Nilfren had brought Leif here to see—the thing he had been so dismissive of—but this information was incriminating enough.

I heard a noise outside in the hall and dropped the paper as I darted for the window and back up to the roof.

As I made my way back through the city, my mind was consumed with the thought that Leif was involved, however reluctantly, and that he had known all this time about who was truly behind the attack on the city, but hadn’t said anything. Hurt and anger warred inside me at the realization.

I needed to tell Malik that we were right about the connection to Fleshfire, and that it was somehow used to control Ramin in the attack, and that Nilfren and Leif were involved. I wasn’t sure how I was going to tell him without letting him know I had snuck out, but I would worry about that later.

I was only a few minutes from the palace now and I quickened my pace as I turned down an alley and nearly walked straight into Leif.

“Hello, Leida,” Leif greeted.

I froze, then scrambled back several paces. Shock ran through me, followed quickly by the instinctive need to flee. Leif—Leif was here. But he couldn’t be here—couldn’t see me— I thought briefly about running, escaping back down the street I had just come from, but then I noted Wormoth standing at Leif’s feet and I knew there was no use. I couldn’t run from a dragon.

Still, I forced myself to straighten and face Leif head on.

“When I realized someone was listening, I sent Wormoth to investigate. Imagine my surprise when he told me it was you. He would recognize you anywhere, just as I would, even if you have no scent.” His sharp gaze took in my outfit in the dim light. “You’ve been keeping secrets, Leida,” he observed darkly.

“I’m not the only one,” I replied, trying and failing to keep the accusation from my tone as I did.

He tensed, but his expression was almost tired. Resigned. “What you heard . . . it’s not what you think.”

“It’s not?” I challenged. “So I didn’t hear that you are working with Nilfren to help him cover up his involvement in the Fleshfire trade? And that Fleshfire had something to do with the attack on Unari?”

Leif shook his head. “Leida, there are things you don’t understand. Nilfren is working for someone. Someone powerful. I haven’t been able to find out who, but—"

“I understand plenty,” I said, cutting him off. “I understand that you knew. You knew all along and said nothing. Why? Why not just come to me or Malik the minute you discovered what Nilfren was doing?” I couldn’t stop the small note of hurt in my tone.

I knew he heard it by the slight twitch under his eye. “I had no other choice,” he finally admitted, more emotion in his words than I had ever heard before. “I was protecting you, protecting Halmar. When I discovered what Nilfren was doing, I wanted no part in it.” Leif’s face hardened and his dragon shifted agitatedly at his feet. “I helped him cover it all up so our country—your father—wouldn’t be implicated. So you wouldn’t be implicated. I knew there would be no forgiveness, especially not after the attack. Not when Fleshfire or at least some form of it was to blame.”

“He’s not the man you think he is, Leif. Malik would have listened. I would have listened.”

Leif looked at me with pity. “Your husband would not have shown mercy. He would’ve blamed Halmar for all of it. There would be another war. I couldn’t take that risk.”

“Do you truly believe he is so merciless? There would have been repercussions and severe and probably violent retribution,” I allowed, “but against those responsible. Malik is rational. He would not blame Halmar if they were not found to be behind it.” I stared at Leif. The man who was—or that once had been my friend. “Why are you so determined to hate him?”

Leif didn’t respond, but he didn’t need to. He finally met my eyes, and the raw emotion in them nearly halted my breath. My next words died before they could reach my lips. For the first time, I saw that Malik had been right. Leif was in love with me, or at least he cared for me enough to act rashly. My heart panged at the realization.

“You know why,” he finally murmured.

“Leif—“ I began, not even sure what I was going to say.

“Don’t, Leida,” Leif cut me off, releasing a bitter laugh. “Just . . . don’t. You’re in love with him, and what I feel for you doesn’t change that.”

I bit my lip as my eyes stung with tears and my heart broke just a little.

“Does he know about this?” Leif asked, gesturing to my clothes.

I shook my head.

“It was Silvanus, wasn’t it?” Leif stated coldly, as if he was just now putting the pieces together. “All that time. He wasn’t just training you, was he?”

I didn’t respond.

We just stared at each other. There was so much happening behind his eyes. So much he wasn’t saying—that we weren’t saying.

Finally, I could take the silence no longer.

“Come back with me,” I pleaded. “We can talk to Malik. Explain. You can help us.”

Leif shook his head emphatically. “It’s too late for that now.”

“I’m not keeping this from Malik,” I told him. “So, unless you are planning to silence me, you’ll have to run—"

“I would never harm you.” He looked angry that I would even imply such a thing. “You know I wouldn’t—”

“Do I?” I countered. “Apparently, we don’t know each other as well as we thought we did.”

We were silent again, the distance between us growing into what felt like a chasm.

“I’m sorry, Leida. I wish things could have been . . . that they were different.” His eyes were sad as he regarded me. “If you ever need me—for any reason . . . you know where to find me.”

He turned and left, his dragon at his heels.

The room was completely silent when I finally climbed back through our bedroom window. Only a single lantern lit the shadows. My mind was still racing with what I had overheard. Straightening from my crouch, I reached up to pull the hood and mask from my head when something shifted in the shadows.

I didn’t even have time to reach for a weapon before I was grabbed from behind and a knife was pressed to my throat. I jerked my head back, and as he moved to dodge the blow, I pushed his arm away and ducked under it. Stepping back, I spun to face my attacker, pulling the assassin’s blade from within my suit. It was only then that I recognized the faint, familiar outline of my assailant in the darkness, and I froze in shock.

Malik.

He tackled me to the ground. I landed on my back, his hands gripping my wrists, his weight pinning me.

“It was very foolish of you to come here tonight,” Malik purred in a harsh, unforgiving tone that I had never heard from him before. He yanked the dagger from my hand.

His threat was followed by a woosh of air and the low rumbling growl of a dragon behind me.

Azrun.

Since I had taken the scent canceling potion before I left tonight, he wasn’t able to scent me, and Malik obviously hadn’t recognized me yet either.

My mind whirled, trying to come up with some scenario in which I could escape and flee before Malik realized who he currently had pinned to the floor.

Curse the Nine!

Before I could even begin to form a plan, Malik reached down and yanked the hooded mask from my head.

Our eyes met, and he stilled in surprise. “Leida?”