“He sent me a great deal of money.”
“Mister Draconis has paperwork claiming it was used to buy artwork. We’ve been to his condo, and there are canvases everywhere.”
“They’re very ugly,” Skeleton Lord Brynnius Daray threw in.
The wizard’s eyes narrowed. “We spoke on the phone several times. Surely you can see that no one from the Council would just be calling up anyone in the Consilium. Our governments have nothing but animosity between them.”
“We might be able to use the number from your phone to trace it back to something. But my guess is, Wizard, that he purchased a prepaid phone in cash somewhere that probably has no cameras to catch him in the act. Mister Draconis has been the office manager for the Office of the Emperor for centuries. He’s intelligent and knows enough about our criminal system that he has covered his tracks well if your allegations are correct.”
“Lich Sentinel, is it?” the wizard asked to which Alaric nodded. “What purpose would I have in lying? Iwanthim to get caught. He needs to pay for what he’s done. I’ve done simulation after simulation, and there’s likely zero way to fix this. His Majesty is slowly being torn apart. This potion will invade every cell and alter his DNA. There’s no way to save him. For eternity, his mate will be alone. These aren’t small things to me. I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
“The Prism Wizard doesn’t understand why you simply didn’t close the spell,” Eduard stated.
“Prism Wizard,” the man across from Alaric muttered. “Silly title and not one picked by Fate. The wizards are ruled by the Arch Wizard.”
“We couldn’t give a shit less about your Arch Wizard. I understand Arch Wizard Egidius was an asshole, and so is your new leader. Why didn’t you create a potion that couldn’t be misused?” Cassius demanded.
The wizard jumped to his feet. “I never considered it. You don’t misuse magic. Everyone knows that. When you don’t follow directions, people get hurt. It’s this dragon who has messed everything up.”
“Then you tell us how to make sure he pays for it.”
“I have given you all that I have. It’s not my fault you’re unable to connect the dots.”
“How did the dragon know to contact you? How did you two get each other’s phone numbers?”
“I’m afraid I cannot divulge that information.”
“Wizard, you do not want to piss me off,” Alaric warned.
“I have a name, dammit. Oklin Mivorn. You can call me Oklin.”
“I asked you several times to tell me your name. If you’re going to get irritated over me calling you wizard, you only have yourself to blame.”
“You are a very annoying man, Lich Sentinel.”
Alaric’s grin was wry. “I prefer determined to annoying.”
“If you’re so determined, why can’t you find the evidence you seek?”
“Oklin, you must have something to help us.”
The wizard’s face grew pensive, and his gaze hit the table next to him. For several long minutes, he sat there muttering to himself while Alaric looked over at his men who were just as clueless as he was. Then Oklin broke the silence. “Lich Sentinel, are you truly a man of your word?”
“For most of my existence, my honor was all I had. I do not take it lightly.”
“I needed dragon blood to make the potion. Wesley Draconis sent me his. That was the deal. I’m willing to tell you the location of the vial I have in my possession, but I need your word that you’ll only take a single drop. It’s near impossible to get the stuff, and I have no idea when I’ll get the chance to replenish my supply.”
Alaric wanted to do a dance of joy. Blood could be easily traced back to the culprit, and it wasn’t the sort of evidence a person could dispute. How else would a Consilium wizard get his hands on the blood of a dragon unless it was voluntary? “Skeleton Lord Albrecht will return to your home and take a single drop of the dragon blood if you give us the location of the vial. What you do with the remainder of it is your business.”
“And I will be free to go?”
Alaric nodded. Though it went against the voice inside him that wanted the wizard to pay for creating the potion, the Council couldn’t keep Oklin. They weren’t ready to start a war with the Consilium, especially not with one of their emperors trapped in his dragon form. “I’ll remove the cuffs as soon as Skeleton Lord Albrecht returns.”
Oklin stared at him intently as he instructed Albrecht where to find the blood. It only took about two minutes for Albrecht to return with a tiny vial that contained a single large drop that belonged the culprit. Alaric set Oklin free and disengaged the nullifying aura in the interrogation room. A second later Oklin shimmered away.
“I’m going to D’Vaire,” Alaric stated, then teleported to just outside the boardroom that was slowly filling with ancient texts as Sorcery D’Vaire searched for an answer. Several exhausted sorcerers turned to look at him. “I have a drop of blood that needs to be analyzed as quickly as possible.”
After explaining why and how he obtained the sample, Alaric saw the first genuine smile on the Arch Lich’s face since Ellery fell ill. He raced over and yanked Alaric down for a fast kiss as he snatched the vial from his grasp. “Grigori can take care of it.”
