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The guard flinched a bit. His jaw flapped wordlessly before he managed to say, “I…I suppose so.”
I almost couldn’t believe my eyes. That was all it took for Jace to send one of Lord Vikhrov’s guards away from his post.
Hayk seemed to share my astonishment. “He’s certainly got balls,” he said, grinning slyly at Jace as he leaned toward the gaps in the gate to speak to Ox.
“Don’t get any ideas,” I warned him, surprised that I could joke about Hayk showing an interest in someone else.
Hayk evidently caught the significance of my joke as well. “Anton the Jealous,” he murmured, elbowing me in the ribs as we all gathered around the gate.
“Not me,” I said. “Gennadi.” I nodded to Gennadi with a mock serious look.
To my absolute astonishment, Gennadi glanced to Hayk and growled playfully.
We all burst into laughter—except Jace, who was all business. It was completely inappropriate for the moment…and yet it felt right and natural. I was so grateful to be with the Sons that it made me want to be silly and reckless.
“What did you find out in the city?” Jace asked Ox and Katrina, who was standing with her, ignoring our antics.
“Not much,” Ox said. “Word about Eneko’s murder hasn’t gotten out yet. People haven’t realized the Hakobyan estate is under lockdown yet either.”
“We should keep it that way,” Jace said with a nod. “The less people know about what’s going on up here, the smaller the chance that someone will try to interfere with the investigation.”
“Speaking of that,” Katrina said. “We spoke to the investigators Lord Vikhrov hired to find the secretary, Gregorius’s, murderer.”
“And?” Jace asked.
“All they’ve been able to tell me is that as obvious as it was that Gregorius was murdered, whoever committed the crime hid their involvement well,” Katrina said. “Which is why they believe it is someone Gregorius knew, and that they were able to take him to a dark, quiet corner, and he went willingly. No one else saw him that evening, though, not even his wife.”
“Didn’t Lefric tell us on the boat at some point that Mrs. Ali said her husband never came home from work that day?” Sebald said.
“He did,” Katrina said with a nod. “Honestly, Lefric knows as much about Gregorius’s murder as the investigators.”
“And what about Eneko? Have you discovered anything?” Jace asked on.
“Again,” Ox said, “it had to be someone Eneko knew well. At least, that’s what Captain Andreas thinks. He was asleep when the murder happened, and no one else from the crew saw or heard anyone come aboard.”
“Are you certain it wasn’t suicide?” Billie asked, her eyes wide with intrigue.
“Are you certain it wasn’t a member of the crew?” I asked, my insides going numb at the idea. I wouldn’t have been surprised if King Julius had spies everywhere on the frontier, including the Wolf River Kingdom.
The others looked at me as if they had the same idea, and as if it had caused the same sense of dread.
Ox laughed humorlessly. “Funny you should say that. One of Captain Andreas’s crew has gone missing. A man named Yarik.”
“Let me guess,” Jace said. “He was a quiet man who always kept himself to himself, and he had the watch at some point last night.”
“Yes,” Katrina said. “You should let Magnus know as soon as possible.”
“Magnus probably already knows,” I said, thinking aloud. “He knows everything.”
“And now we know something of value too,” Ox said. “We know that King Julius has spies everywhere, including in the Wolf River Kingdom and close to Magnus.”
“Yes, well, I’m not sure the spies are going to matter soon,” Sebald said with a frown. He seemed to be thinking the whole thing through.
“King Julius’s spies don’t matter?” Katrina asked. She sounded offended at the concept.
Sebald snapped his head up and glanced to the rest of us, as though he’d spoken out of turn.
“We’ll tell you later,” Jace said, taking charge of the situation once more. “Do you think you can head back out into the city to search for Yarik?”
