“No, it means that we are protective of those who belong to us.” As Haru spoke, he edged closer to Adrian, positioning himself between his mate and the stranger.
Adrian’s answering growl set butterflies loose in Haru’s stomach. He was too adorable when he was irritated. “Why don’t we sit and talk? I’m assuming that since this is your room, it’s safe to talk.”
Vitor nodded and motioned for them to join him in the small parlor area of the hotel room. It was a pleasant space that had a separate seating area, as if the person renting the room would be entertaining guests.
At Caelan’s direction, they’d returned to Bellcairn and taken up a cheap motel room in Pinepass Heights. It was far nicer than any place they’d stayed in Little Stip and Black Water Gate, though it lacked the charm and simple coziness of Voxmore. It had taken Vitor only two days to find them. However, Haru could have sworn he’d felt eyes on them far sooner than that.
“How long have you been in Damardor?” Adrian inquired. He settled into one of the chairs, and Haru perched on the arm. Haru held his breath, waiting for Adrian to push him at the sofa or just away from him, but it never happened. The breath slipped silently from his lungs. Caelan might trust this man, but Haru couldn’t fully relax. Yes, he was very plain and ordinary in appearance, but there was an aura about him that screamed that he was not to be taken lightly. He was deadly, and Haru did not like dangerous things getting too close to Adrian.
“I arrived a few days after you and Haru. If I had known that you were having such troubles, I would have reached out to you. Unfortunately, my attention was on gathering all the bits of information my spy network here in Bellcairn had cultivated.”
Adrian snorted. “Erya has spies in Damardor?”
Vitor smiled. “Erya has spies everywhere.” He huffed a near-silent laugh and lifted his gaze to Haru. “Nearly everywhere. The Isle of Stone has proved to be a tough nut to crack.”
Haru sneered and lifted his chin. Of course it was. Outsiders didn’t land on the shores of the Isle of Stone. No one approachedwithout a dragon’s knowledge. There had been some limited trade over the years, and some people were shipwrecked on the Isle of Stone, but all outsiders were closely watched. They also never escaped the chasm. If there were spies in the chasm, they had no access to the inner workings of the clans.
Adrian scooted to the edge of the dark-blue cushion and leaned toward Vitor, who sat opposite him in a matching navy armchair. Only a low, dinged coffee table separated them. A hint of pine cleaner and old coffee lingered in the air. “If we have spies here, you must know what’s going on and where Shey is.”
“No.”
“You’re shitting me,” Adrian scoffed.
Haru frowned. He expected better of someone who worked for his cousin. “How is that possible?”
“Like the Isle of Stone, spies are hard to keep undercover and alive in Damardor. Until recently, New Rosanthe had a powerful presence here. They were good at sniffing out spies.” Vitor’s nose wrinkled and he slouched a bit in his seat, his hand clenching in his lap. “In addition, the elite of Damardor have been in lockstep with New Rosanthe because the Empire has always been good about feeding the rich and stomping on the poor.”
Adrian grunted. “I get that. I’m more accustomed to working the underground scene. Usually, you need to spread a bit of cash around and make some friends in the homeless camps to get the scoop on what’s happening.” Adrian made a noise of disgust and flopped back in his chair. “Just a lot of fear and suspicion. They all believe every newcomer is a secret police agent or a spy for New Rosanthe. No one talks.”
Haru was at a loss, but he wasn’t sure if it was a dragon versus human problem, or if the life he’d led with the Omari Clan on the Isle of Stone was sheltered. He’d had more than his fair share of scuffles with the other clans and even done some spying of his own, but gathering intelligence by pretending to besomeone else wasn’t possible. He was sure everyone knew his face on the Isle of Stone.
“My time in Bellcairn hasn’t been fruitless. My people spotted Shey on several occasions while he was in the city, but we lost track of him about two weeks ago. When the news reached me that we needed to pull him out, all signs of him had evaporated. I’m confident he was abducted by one of the roving squads that’s working through Bellcairn and some of the larger cities.”
“Shit!” Adrian pounded his fist on the arm of the chair and lurched to his feet only to throw himself down again.
“These squads, they’re gathering up political dissidents? Is that what they believe of Shey?” Haru asked.
Vitor’s smirk returned, and there was a new glitter in his brown eyes. “That’s what they want you to think.”
“Huh?” Adrian grunted, and Haru almost echoed him.
“In the past, Damardor has used secret police to round up people who advocated for more freedom from New Rosanthe and policies that didn’t align with the Empire. The government was always very flashy about walking those people through fake trials or conjuring up nonexistent evidence of evil misdeeds so they would have an excuse to imprison or execute these people.” Vitor sat up in his seat and leaned forward, lowering his voice. “Now, people are simply missing. No trials or executions. Just disappearing as if they had never existed. People leave for work and never arrive. Entire families evaporate in the night.”
“And this is new?”
“Six to eight months new.”
Haru’s brows snapped together over the bridge of his nose, and he shook his head. “Eight months ago, New Rosanthe was still a powerful country. Their emperor has been dead only six months, correct?”
Adrian turned his head to gaze up at Haru, wearing the same puzzled expression. “Eight months ago…I was in Brightspire with Cael and the others. No! We were preparing to leave…” He trailed off, but Haru knew what he was going to say. Adrian, Cael, Drayce, Rayne, and Eno had all been preparing to leave the Isle of Stone after meeting with the Goddess of Fire.
They looked at Vitor to find that his smile hadn’t wavered one bit. “Because my hands were full in Brightspire and the rest of Ilon, I didn’t pay too much attention to the early reports of strangeness happening in Bellcairn. Damardor’s government has been rotten to the core for decades, but from Erya’s standpoint, most of its rottenness was directed at its own people. There wasn’t much we could do.”
“But have you gotten enough info to find out what the fuckisgoing on?”
Vitor nodded. “At least a faint idea. We don’t know all the details of who is behind these activities. It’s not exclusively the government running this show, but it appears that these squads are rounding up anyone suspected of having magic abilities.”
“Bullshit!” Adrian launched out of his chair yet again, and this time he stomped across the room. “That’s…that’s…no!”
