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My cock reacted to the display of affection, and I wanted to smash my fist into my groin. I was not jealous of the love Peter, Neil, and Magnus shared, I was not! And seeing how openly affectionate they were with each other did not make me randy, dammit.
Hayk inched closer to me and slid his arm around my waist. “They’re cute,” he said, pressing his fingertips into my side.
“You use that word too much,” I said. I wanted to shrug out of his hold and storm off…somewhere. But once again, I didn’t know where I was or where I could go. Or what I was going to do about…everything.
“Oly, did you know there are rumors all through the city that you and I are responsible for Gregorius’s death?” Lefric said, walking up to give his lover a quick hug and kiss. “We were attacked by four men who accused us of being murderers!”
Lefric made the statement as though it was the most fun thing that had happen to him all week, but Olympus and Magnus had a very different reaction.
“Attacked?” Magnus seemed to clutch Peter and Neil closer.
“Who was it?” Olympus growled, glancing to the gate as though the attackers had followed us up to the estate. “I’ll have them arrested at once.”
“We don’t know who they were,” Billie answered him. “Not even Hayk or I had ever seen them before.”
“And they weren’t wearing family colors,” Hayk added.
“I think they must be working for whoever really did kill Gregorius,” Lefric said. He then suddenly brightened. “Oh! We should ask Eneko! I bet he knows who they are.”
“Eneko is dead,” Olympus said with a scowl.
Even I reacted to that, and I didn’t really know what was going on.
“What?” Lefric gasped so hard I was surprised he didn’t choke himself. “Isn’t he on Captain Andreas’s boat? Isn’t he waiting for Vikhrov to decide what to do with him?”
“Unfortunately, someone stole aboard our boat at some point in the middle of the night, broke into the cabin where Eneko was being kept, and slit the man’s throat,” Magnus said. “Captain Andreas has quite a bit of cleaning up to do today.”
Fingers of dread shot down my back, making my hands and feet numb. Dmitri had disappeared at some point in the night. He knew where Eneko was being held, and since the crew of the boat already knew him, they would have let him aboard without question.
“It was Dmitri,” I muttered my thoughts aloud. “It had to have been him.”
I spoke loud enough for everyone to hear me.
“Why do you think it would be him?” Magnus asked. He wasn’t doubting me, I could tell, he was just asking for evidence.
I focused on him and said, “He was gone when I woke up this morning. I have no idea when he left. He knew where Eneko was and why he was being held.”
“But why would Dmitri have any interest in killing Lord Vikhrov’s steward?” Sebald asked. “He didn’t even know the man. They can’t have spent more than five minutes in each other’s presence.”
“Oh!” Lefric held his arms out, his eyes wide. “What if…what ifDmitriis one of King Julius’s spies? What if everything that happened to Anton was just a set-up to get him into our ranks and to bring him to Good Port so he could silence Eneko? What if all this talk about having the key to King Julius’s plans for the frontier and the southern mountain pass is all a bunch of lies and Dmitri is really just here to do away with failed spies?”
“His name wasn’t in the book,” Neil pointed out uncertainly.
“That doesn’t mean anything,” Jace said, scowling as though he might believe Dmitri were guilty. “I’m sure Hadrian’s notebook was only a drop in the bucket of the spies King Julius has in the frontier.”
“I agree,” Magnus said, still looking at me, as though working out for himself what he believed and didn’t believe. “Has Dmitri said anything to you about why he was outside of the estate?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Just now is the first time I’ve seen him since I poured his drunk ass into bed last night.”
“I bet he wasn’t really drunk,” Lefric said, his eyes alight with conspiracy. “I bet he just faked being drunk so he could sneak out of the estate and kill Eneko.”
Lefric’s words had the opposite affect from what he probably intended.
“He really was drunk,” I sighed. “I could smell it on him. And he fell asleep almost immediately. He vomited several times too.” I let out a breath. “So he probably wasn’t in any shape to kill anyone. I don’t know what time he left our suite either.”
“It still makes him a suspect,” Olympus said. He shoved a hand through his hair and glanced out around the estate yard. “Unfortunately, it makes everyone else in the compound a suspect too.”
“Might I suggest that you freeze all entrance and exit from the estate until the matter is resolved?” Magnus asked. “Including trusted members of the household and members of our party.”
