Tiri nodded. “You will not resign as Ducblanc.”
“Someone else might have—”
“You will not resign as Ducblanc.”
“Tiri—”
He squeezed Zane tighter. “No one is going to let you, anyway.”
One brow lifted. “I don’t know, Tiri. I think they might not be as stubborn as you.”
“We are well-suited if we compare our levels of stubbornness.”
“We are well-suited in every way.”
“Yes, and I need to take care of my mate, which is why Ellery needs to be back in elven form. I cannot wait forever.”
For the first time since this crisis began, there was life in Zane’s dark eyes. “Going to heal me with sex?”
“It’s a proven method of caring for one’s other half.”
Zane’s grin flashed, then disappeared. “I wish we could do more to help him.”
“We’re here for him if he needs anything. It’s all we can do. I too wish we had more knowledge of spells and such, but we must leave our trust in Sorcery D’Vaire. They’ll unravel this mystery and when they do, we’re going hunt down whoever did this and rip their heart from their chest.”
“Bloodthirsty little thing, aren’t you?”
“He is my second-best friend in the whole world and he didn’t deserve this.”
“No, he didn’t.”
Unwilling to allow Zane to start beating himself up again, Tiri leaned up to kiss him. He was going to stick to Zane’s side like glue and keep his spirits up until they were ready to return to their lives. Tiri didn’t know if Zane had truly given up his desire to resign, but he was sure it was a role no one was going to allow him to walk away from. It was his destiny, and his family loved him entirely too much to permit him to run off and hide. They also weren’t going tolerate Zane blaming himself for this fiasco, and Tiri was going to be his staunchest supporter.
Chapter 11
As night fell, the Reverent Knights and the Lich Sentinel emerged from the house. Chrysander didn’t want to leave dragon form knowing it was helping Ellery stay calm, but he needed answers. He rubbed his head against Ellery’s for a moment, then pulled his large body up from the ground. Once he was on the other side of the changing room, he closed his eyes and changed back into a man. His scales smoothed into skin and his bones shrunk. It was a process he’d gone through perhaps a million times.
After completing his shift, he strode into the small space and grabbed a pair of sweats and a T-shirt, both imprinted with the D’Vaire logo. Dressed, he stalked to where the once-dead men in charge of law and order were waiting. Ellery rose from the dirt and traipsed up behind him. Chrysander lifted a hand to smooth it over the gold mating marks that were visible on Ellery’s elegant face, even as a dragon.
“Gentlemen, I assume you have news,” Chrysander stated as Ellery sat down next to him.
Conley’s countenance was grim. “Thanks to Damian’s extensive security measures, we know exactly who has been in and out of the office area all day. We’re still waiting for the logs for the entrances and exits at Draconis Enterprises as there’s a small chance someone may have bypassed the card readers that separate the two buildings, but so far there’s not a single unusual person to track down.”
“So someone or several people we know are likely directly involved?” Damian asked.
“Too soon to say, but we certainly can’t rule that out,” Drystan replied. “Zane, have you remembered anything new?”
Zane shook his head, and Chrysander hated the guilt written on his face. “I wish I could say yes. I don’t remember a damn thing that was unusual.”
“I’m unsurprised,” Alaric stated. “Whoever did this would have to know the way the Emperor is protected. For their plan to work, they needed to make everything appear as normal as possible. It’s the only way to slip through your defenses.”
“Well, it fucking worked,” Zane growled.
“It’s not your fault,” Chrysander said unequivocally. Zane wouldn’t meet his eyes, so he knew his youngest brother didn’t agree. The first step was to get Ellery back in elven form; then he could address Zane’s state of mind. Fury burned through him at the thought that it was his own staff who might have hurt his greatest treasure. He’d trusted them around his mate, and the idea that they could’ve poisoned him made his dragon blaze with the need for vengeance.
“We’re working on getting the phone records for all the numbers used on the floor of your office,” Drystan commented after several minutes of silence. “We’ll also need the personal cell phones for your employees, but I’m hoping we can knock some people from the long list we have—otherwise this is going to be mountains of stuff to wade through.”
Alaric nodded. “At this point, we have too many directions to focus on, and we have made little progress. We’re growing increasingly anxious to find a single fucking clue.”
