Page 104 of Courting the Dragon King

“Not that.” Gerard then paused, as if considering. “Has he been interacting with other necromancers recently?”

Konrad was glad Gerard could still think, because Konrad could not. All he could do was wonder if Wraith had actually managed to trick him so completely.

Elias stared at the guards. Not that long ago, Elias had tricked everyone, Gerard included. They’d all thought Elias a foppish fool, incapable of magic. They’d thought him completely harmless. Elias had not been planning to betray or harm Gerard or them, but they had all been completely wrong about him.

Could they be wrong again? Could Wraith have done the same thing Elias did?

Konrad tried to think of his past conversations with Wraith. Was it possible that Wraith’s family hating him had just been part of an act to gain Konrad’s sympathy? Perhaps Wraith’s father was really the shadow king and he’d lied about being illegitimate.

Konrad’s hatred of necromancers had not been hidden. If Wraith wanted to manipulate him, telling Konrad that he did not get along with other necromancers would definitely gain him sympathy.

And he could have intentionally not told Konrad about the dread knights. Instead, he’d pushed stories about him being a reaper, which had made Konrad believe he was different from the other necromancers.

Was the reaper thing even true? Konrad could not see the ghosts. Maybe Wraith had just made it up. Perhaps he had made everything up. All the odd and unusual behaviours could be faked. Had it all been a facade?

He stared at the skull on the locket.

“He spoke to his mother at the ball last night,” the female guard said.

Konrad knew that.

“He also visited the Necros royal family quarters the other day,” she said.

Wraith had visited them after he’d gotten that letter from his mother. Supposedly, she’d said she no longer needed to speak to him. But had they actually been discussing their plans to kill and bring back Konrad as one of their undead?

“Then yesterday, he visited some other rooms assigned to Necros, but not to the royal family,” the female guard finished.

Konrad’s head snapped up. “What?” He didn’t know that. What reason would Wraith have to go there? He didn’t get along with anyone from Necros. That was what he had told Konrad.

“He seemed a little nervous,” the female guard said.

“What did he do there?” Elias asked.

“He spoke to a servant, and they went into another room,” the male guard said. “He asked us to remain outside.”

Little by little, Konrad’s doubts grew and multiplied.

Dragon gods. Am I really so gullible?

“Was it just the servant in the room with him?” Elias asked.

“We are not sure,” the male guard said. “We could not see into the room.”

Konrad closed his eyes. Fire and fucking flames. The proof that Wraith was working against them was adding up.

So far, they had his cousin’s report and the locket in front of him, and now he knew that Wraith had met with necromancers yesterday, and Konrad could not fathom why.

Konrad did not want to believe it. He wanted to scream that Wraith had never lied to him and that he would not betray Konrad. But they had actual proof now that Wraith, along with other necromancers, had been plotting against them. They’d been planning to kill Konrad. And then perform necromancy on him.

Bile rose into his throat. Were they going to bring him back as a bone dragon? Wraith had said he’d not believed such a thing to be possible, but Konrad did not know if he could trust Wraith’s words anymore.

“I need to speak to Wraith,” Konrad said. Maybe there was some explanation. Something that would make this make sense in a way that did not involve Wraith betraying him. But part of him didn’t believe that to be true.

When they’d met, he’d assumed Wraith would be evil because he was a necromancer. Since then, he’d come around and changed his mind completely. But it seemed that Konrad might have been right all along.

Necromancers were evil. They could not be trusted. He’d believed they were working against the peace treaty from the start. And that included Wraith.

But instead of him feeling vindicated that he’d been right all along, it just broke him.