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"It was good. Probably not as good as yours," William said, smirking.
He rolled his eyes. "Seriously? Not that. We just had a nice time. We stayed up and chatted about some wedding ideas, and she fell asleep reading a book."
They continued outside to the medical center. There were a couple of nurses chatting outside the building. Otherwise, all was quiet.
"Go ask the nurses inside if they have had anyone hanging around or if anyone came in recently with burns."
William nodded, heading inside. He looked at the two nurses who'd stopped chatting and stared at him. He smiled, reading their name tags. "Morning, Bella and Ruth. I hope you are doing well."
Bella smiled. She was older, with laugh lines that showed how beautiful she had been in her youth. "Morning, Your Highness. Strange seeing you here."
"I just came with some questions. I'm sure you heard about the fire at the vinery. I was wondering if you have seen any people come in with burn marks. We are still looking for the person who started it."
They both thought to themselves for a moment before they both shook their heads. "No, nothing like that. Closest we came was a little boy, maybe six, that burned his hands when his mother was cooking."
He scowled. He'd really been hoping that someone had known something. Even the smallest clue would be helpful because he had nothing to go off of.
He was starting to feel defeated. He wanted to keep Taryn protected, but how could he if he couldn't even figure out the culprit?
"Are you okay, Your Highness?" Bella asked. There was a grim expression on her face. "That wasn't the answer you were looking for, was it?"
He shook his head with a sigh. "No, I was hoping to get more answers. I need clarity on who started the fire. I'm worried about keeping my mate safe. The person who started the fire is concerning in more than one way."
Ruth gave him a sad smile. "Well, we hope you catch the person before things get out of hand. We will certainly keep our eyes open."
He thought they already had. This person burned down part of the vinery. They had balls, and he didn't even know whotheywere.
He wondered if he should have told Taryn. Should he keep her at the palace until they figured out who was after her?
She isn’t going to take it well. She isn’t going to be able to handle the fact that you didn’t tell her sooner. And she also won’t be able to handle the fact that someone is after her.
Declan’s thoughts were unhappy as he realized the truth of what he was thinking.
Taryn would be very unhappy that he hadn’t told her. She didn’t like being coddled, and he was being more than overprotective.
You’re lying to her.
He ran his hand through his hair and headed inside, hoping William had better luck than he did.
He entered the med building and inhaled the scent of the antiseptic cleanser that he had gotten used to as a child. Declan had been an active child and had spent a lot of time in the medical center, getting scrapes and bruises patched up.
The scent of the cleanser was almost comforting.
He stopped when he noticed that most of the beds were taken up. William stood next to a bed, talking to a soldier. He walked toward him, hoping it was a good sign.
William saw him and turned. He could see from the look in his eyes that he had nothing either, and his shoulders dropped.
"Nothing?"
William shook his head. "Nothing. Not even a clue. Everyone here says they haven't seen anything or anyone strange. No one has come in with burns or even looked like they needed help from an injury. Everyone here is sick from a virus going around."
He ran his hands through his hair, feeling his heartbeat quicken. This wasn't what he wanted.
"Whoever did this is smart. They stayed out of the public eye, and if they got hurt, they got help elsewhere."
This concerned him even more. He didn't know what to do.
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