“I understand completely. How’s Ellery doing? We’re all just sick about this.”
“He’s stuck in dragon form. That’s how he’s doing.”
“I heard. Sorcery D’Vaire will fix him. They’re amazing. Your messages are on your desk.”
Chrysander left Wesley and went straight for the space he shared with Ellery, though he refused to look at his empty chair. He snatched up the stack of messages. “Is there anything else we need from here before we head to D’Vaire?”
“Aleksander has set up an office for us in the building with Sorcery D’Vaire while we were in session. We can do everything from there,” Damian responded.
“Good, let’s go.”
“Wait,” Costas said. He was working his thumbs quickly over the screen of his phone. “The Reverent Knights and Lich Sentinel want to know if you can meet with them for a few minutes.”
“Tell them to come here. I’d prefer to keep the criminal side of this investigation away from D’Vaire as much as possible.”
“Elf isn’t going to like being left out,” Damian commented.
“I have every intention of giving Ell all the details. I’m trying to keep it away from Zane. He doesn’t need to have any more excuses to beat himself over the head. Like Ell, he will get a rundown afterward and that’s it.”
“They’ll be here in a minute,” Costas said.
“Zane’s driving me insane,” Damian growled.
Chrysander didn’t get a chance to respond as he had to answer his ringing phone. It was Wesley informing him of his guests. Seconds later, the three men walked into the room. Fatigue or any other emotion on their faces were nearly impossible to decipher. They were resurrected to deal with the harsher side of life, and Chrysander wouldn’t have wanted anyone else on the planet charged with going after the culprits. Their skills were beyond that of dragons, and their desire for justice was unrivaled.
“Shut the door,” Drystan told Costas as they grabbed seats.
“Update me,” Chrysander ordered.
“We have been through every security log and card reader in Draconis Enterprises. Damian and your guys have an enviable system,” Conley said. “We compared it with the cameras you have positioned at the doors. There was no one unaccounted for. No one snuck in. None of your dukes set aside a single rule or procedure.”
“It was an inside job,” Damian snarled.
“Why does history always have to repeat itself in such ugly ways?” Costas demanded.
“Not precisely,” Drystan countered. “In 1369, Imperial Duke Bernal Draconis and nearly every other duke under his command conspired to kill myself and Conley. This time around, we’ve already been able to clear every single Draconis duke. Not one of the men you’ve chosen to protect you has broken that vow.”
“No guests. No strangers. None of the staff from Draconis Enterprises. No dukes. That leaves us with the administrative staff on this floor,” Damian stated.
Alaric nodded. “Yes, it had to be one or more of them. There have not been any confessions. None of the questions we’ve asked have shown any large spike in dishonesty. The office phone lines are being waded through, but it doesn’t appear at this point that it’s going to provide us with any leads.”
“Their private lines?” Costas asked. “Cell phones? Home phones if they have them?”
“It took us longer to get those. Some of those companies were less than accommodating,” Drystan replied. “It’s a problem we run into often, and while we do respect the consumer’s right to privacy, it frustrates the hell out of me when we have to dick around with a phone company. In this case, we have no evidence pointing to a particular party, so we had to request a judge file a court order.”
“I guess the only saving grace we have here is that we reduced the number of our staff,” Chrysander remarked as his blood boiled. He would not stand for treachery in his own office. It had taken him a century, but he and his family had executed each man who’d contributed to Drystan and Conley’s death. For the first time since joining the Council, he felt oddly bitter that he couldn’t unleash his own personal justice for the people who’d hurt his mate, but at least he had the best people on the case in his stead.
Drystan rose. “I wish we had more for you.”
“I know you’re working your asses off,” Chrysander responded as he too stood. The other men in the room followed.
“We need to get back to work,” Alaric stated.
“I have one thing to do, and then I’m headed to D’Vaire. By the way, Alaric, your mate says hi,” Chrysander said.
Alaric’s grin flashed for a second. “I’ll call him. We’ll be in touch.”
The three resurrected men strode from the office and Chrysander lifted his chin. With the meeting done, there was nothing stopping the rage from filling his belly, and he allowed it to flow freely into his veins. For over a thousand years Chrysander had waited for his mate, and he’d only had a few months with him before someone or several people decided they should be separated. It was something he would not wish on a hated enemy, and Chrysander would not allow them to continue to walk through the hallowed doors of the Office of the Emperor. The entire staff had lost the right to ever be near Ellery again. He and his dragon could accept nothing less than their removal.
