AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Yes, come in. Door's un?—"
The door slammed open, and the bedraggled investigator strode in, bright yellow eyes scanning the room as if for threats.
Had he always been so intense? I mean, I didn't know him all that well. But we'd worked together a few times and he'd never been quite this wound up. And that anger in his eyes when he saw Kaiya in the hall …
"Kaiya Maderoth," he said, voice tight as he turned to stand directly in front of me. His hands were tense at his sides, pale nostrils flared below that frenzied yellow gaz. "Is. She. Forsaken?"
I let out a dry laugh. Straight to the point. At least that hadn't changed.
Pasting on my most innocent smile, I shrugged. "Not that I'm aware of. Why do you ask?"
It was a lie, of course. Kaiya was absolutely a mage, and a bond mage at that. But revealing her secret was not an option. And technically, she wasn't actually Forsaken, since her magic wasn't corrupted.
But I highly doubted Tye would see that distinction. He'd made it his life's work to find and capture all mages.
Growling, he ran his hand through that bright white hair of his and stalked to the window beside me, close enough that I could smell the subtle shift in his scent. A vague sense of sunshine and stone twisted in my nostrils, and I doubled back.
Why did he smell like Kaiya?
"I think she did something to me." The words sounded as though they were torn from him, and I lifted my eyes to meet his tortured gaze.
Well, fuck.
When Kaiya said he'd acted strange after their assignation, I'd assumed it was something normal. Maybe she'd been more adventurous than him in bed or something.
But there was more going on here, and it wouldn't surprise me if the ever-troublesome Princess was somehow at fault.
"Look." I made my voice soft, calming. "I'm not sure what you think she did —"
He ground his teeth together and stalked closer, nostrils flaring. "She's been here for what — two years? And she's already earned the Arbiter Medal for relic hunting. That's suspicious, is it not?" He ran his hands through his messy white hair. "I used to think her success was Frexin playing favorites, but every single mission she's sent on, she returns with some insane relic. And she does it while working alone, attributing it all to 'hard work and luck'. Ha!"
He scoffed.
"I don't buy it — any of it. She was even at that cult ceremony in Gleyma two years ago!" He ran his hand through his hair again and slumped into the chair beside me.
"Worst of all, I can't get her out of my fucking mind, no matter what I do. I can't eat. Can't sleep. I can't even fuck!" His frustrated gaze met mine. "You can't tell me any of that is natural."
I stared at him, sympathy twisting in my gut as I debated my next move.
He'd always been a little wild off duty, but while on duty, he was like those machines he loved so much — methodical and consistent — always in control and focused entirely on following the rules. As Lead Hunter in the Investigation Division, he caught nearly every uncollared mage he set his eyes on — save for those few who I and the other Rogues smuggled away first.
This, though … his emotions were out of control — raw and wild.
Frexin's words in the meeting earlier echoed in my mind. What if removing him meant something more than firing? I'd heard the stories about Lady Frexin's ruthless side —the side she kept hidden.
I took a long sip of tea and tried to ignore the guilt twisting in my stomach. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't assuage his worries by revealing Kaiya's secret.
Saints alive.
What I needed to do was get him to drop the issue entirely.
My charisma reserve was already low, but if I could soothe him, it would at least let Kaiya and me get away without issue in the morning. And buy me time to see if there was anything I could do to help his situation.
"Look," I said, leaning forward. "Kaiya and I are leaving on a mission tomorrow. How about I keep an eye on her while we're gone? You know I can sense when people use magic, and if I see anything, it's my duty to report it." I sat down my tea. "In the meantime, you try to get some rest. You don't look so great. Maybe even go see someone in the medical ward?"
"No." His voice was quiet, but hard. His whole body tense, as he ran a hand down his face, palm scraping the stubble along his jaw.
"She's taken everything from me, Jaiel. Everything. And I'm so close to proving it." His fists clenched in his lap. "King Torsten has already discharged me from the Investigation Division, and Lady Frexin has given me a week to move out of the city before I'm thrown into prison." He lifted his eyes to meet mine and my chest twisted at the pain in them. "I need to solve this now."
