Dragon Blood (Reclaiming the Fire Book 4) Read online

I slept fitfully that night, but it was needed sleep, and after breakfast Davril and I consulted with Commander Gleamstone to find out if there was any new intelligence gathered overnight. There were a few odds and ends, and we discussed these privately, out of Gleamstone’s earshot. The Queen’s cousin or not, we couldn’t be entirely sure he was on her side. He could just as easily have been a secret agent of Jereth, for all we knew.

  “Weird to think we can’t trust the Commander,” I said.

  Davril nodded. He looked as if he hadn’t slept at all. “For me as well. But until this business is concluded we can trust no one. Except the Queen.”

  Suddenly I understood. “That’s why you came back, isn’t it? I mean, why you wanted to oversee the investigation personally? You couldn’t trust anyone else.”

  “That’s true.”

  I smiled widely. “Except me! You can trust mee-eeee,” I said in a singsong voice. “You can trust meee-eee.”

  “Knock that off.” He glanced back down at the papers and photographs on the table of the consult room. “This is serious business, Jade.”

  “I know,” I said. Who knew that murder could be such a buzzkill?

  Davril tapped one particular note, this taken from one of the witnesses—that was, someone who had been in the area. No one so far had admitted seeing the actual murder take place.

  “Lady Sunheart,” he said. “She was closest to the event when it happened.”

  ‘The event’. Is that what we’re calling it now? I straightened my spine. “A former queen, and a villain, no less. That would be our first official interview.”

  “Let’s not waste any more time, then.”

  “Yeah. Let’s talk to her before my better sense takes over.”

  Without wasting any more time, we left the barracks and set out across the grounds toward the huge bungalow Mia Stoneheart and her entourage occupied. Morning sunlight washed the splendid lawns and magnificent trees in golden splendor, and the smell of fresh grass and sap hung thick in the air. Gone were the cold winds from last night. The sun stroked my skin with warm fingers. It all would have been lovely if the sight and stench of Lord Therin Strongwall’s mangled corpse hadn’t been so sharply etched in my memory.

  “Do you think … ?” I started.

  “Yes?”

  “Do you think it was human? Whatever did that?” Hastily I added, “Or Fae. I meant, do you think it was human or Fae … or something else? Some monster?”

  “Good question. And I knew what you meant.”

  Whew. That was something, at least. He wasn’t acting all cold and remote. On the other hand, he was acting just a little too … well, professional. I was his partner, his cop partner, and no more. End of story.

  Only if that had really been the end of the story he wouldn’t be so pissed that I slept with Nevos, would he? Mm?

  Coming out of the ornate forest onto broad lawns, we arrived at Mia Sunheart’s bungalow. It rose, white and graceful, from the splendid greenery it nestled amongst. Little blue birds chirped and flew about one of its little towers, drenched in sunshine.

  Guards in green armor, Jereth’s knights, stopped us. “Halt! Who goes there?”

  “Did he really just say that?” I asked Davril.

  Ignoring me, Davril said, “It is I, Captain Davril Stormguard, Knight of Her Majesty’s Court, and this is my partner, Jade McClaren.”

  “That is no name for a Fae,” said the knight.

  “Guess you didn’t hear about me,” I said. “I’m an honorary Fae.”

  The guard sniffed. I couldn’t see his face past the green visor, but I could smell his disapproval. “The Prince’s mother does too much honor to the unworthy.”

  “Can we just get on with this?” Davril said. “The Queen sent out word to all that an investigation was to begin this morning and to expect interviews from her agents, which she will have named. You know who we are and what we’re here for. Let’s proceed.”

  The guards didn’t belabor the point. They ushered us across the grounds and into the stately bungalow. With its soaring white walls and spacious rooms, it was really more of a mansion, not much less in stature than the Big House, really. It had indoor pools that flowed under walls to become outdoor pools, and both linked pools had fully stocked bars. Abstract modern art adorned the walls.

  We found Lady Stoneheart on the rear patio overlooking a little lake with swans languidly cutting across the silver water. Wearing nothing but a chic red bikini (instead of her red armor) she sprawled on a lounger while one of her male consorts rubbed her feet with scented oil and the other massaged her shoulders. Both wore only the Fae equivalent of Speedos. And both were … er, impressive.

  Feeling myself grow hot, I switched my focus to Mia. She was a queen in exile and a rebel, and she appeared every ounce of both. Her long red hair spilled over her white shoulder, the other being bare to accommodate the ministrations of her consort. None of them seemed in the least embarrassed or inconvenienced by us catching them like this, and I imagined she often held court in such circumstances.

  Sounded kind of fun, actually.

  “Welcome to my home,” Mia said, and I was reminded of Dracula. He’d had red armor, too, in that Keanu Reeves movie.

  “Thank you for having us,” Davril said graciously.

  I wanted to tell her that I had a pinched nerve in my shoulder and that one of her shirtless guys could probably help, but I resisted. I think I should get some credit for that.

  “So a king is playing detective, is that it?” Mia asked.

  “We’re not playing,” I said. “Someone died.”

  “Oh, I know. I’ve known Therin for a long time.” For just an instant, a trace of sadness clouded her eyes, then passed, so briefly I wasn’t sure if I had imagined it. She was all heart, this one.

  “What was your relationship with the deceased?” Davril said. He sounded like a proper cop now. I wondered if he’d been watching CSI. I had never seen a television in his castle, and it might not even work with magical interference and all, but who knows? He could have been a closet Iron Chef fan for all I knew.

  “I knew him very little back home,” Mia said, meaning the Fae Lands. “I was a queen of one realm and he was prince of another. At the time the war began, I was nearing my five hundredth year, while he was only two hundred, so we were of different generations. But once we were driven through the last gateway into this world, and that gateway closed, trapping us here …” She rolled a shoulder, currently being oiled and massaged by one of her shirtless guys. They both had swimmers’ bodies, but they were also deadly warriors. I guessed they had been among those to help us fight off the demons the day before.

  “What then?” I said.

  “We both lamented being trapped in this mundane world. We missed the feel of magic flowing on the wind, rising from the earth. And when Prince Jereth spoke of returning to the Nine Thrones, of reclaiming our land and freeing our people, we both responded well to the idea.”

  “You didn’t hear Prince Jereth talk about this publicly,” Davril said with a frown.

  “Oh no, he was much too careful. He approached people he thought might be sympathetic. I don’t know what it was about me or the Strongwalls that gave us away. Maybe it was the mist in our eyes when we spoke of home. Who knows? But Jereth sensed it and came to us, privately. Therin’s father had been a big advocate of the Queen, but when she made the decision to seal the final gateway he grew wrathful, and his mood permeated through his entire House.”

  “And you?” I said.

  “Me? I’m a survivor. But I do miss home.”

  I tapped my chin. “So all the gateways are sealed? There’s no way back home?”

  “None that we know.”

  “Then how did you think you could return?”

  “Jereth said he knew a way, that we should trust him. I suppose we did.”

  “But you still don’t know what this method for returning was?” Davril said. He sounded honestly intrigued, or maybe t
roubled. I couldn’t tell for sure. I guessed that after the attempted uprising the rebels had been either driven away or under siege, and none of them had ever undergone a questioning like this before. All this time, Davril and the others on his side had never really known why the rebels had acted like they had.

  “That’s right,” Mia said.

  “Back to Therin’s murder,” I said. “You were seen not far from where it transpired.”

  “Yes, I likely was, but if so your witnesses should confirm that I was headed the opposite way—that is, in the direction of the murder, not away from it. If I’d been the killer, I would have been going away from it, wouldn’t I? Fleeing the scene of the crime?” She lowered her voice. “And I would not have been seen.”

  “You could have summoned a creature,” I said. “A magical construct. We don’t even know if the killer was Fae, or human, or whatever.”

  “Then I wouldn’t have even needed to be in the area at all, would I?”

  “Unless it was vicinity-dependent,” Davril said. “You know as well as I that some spells require the weaver to be nearby.”

  “Unless you have some evidence of this, I would advise you to keep such nonsense to yourself.” She paused, then slipped on a slow smile. “Besides, I know who Therin was meeting last night.”

  Unable to help it, I leaned forward. “Who?”

  She smiled wider. “Neva.”

  “Lady Coolwater’s daughter?” Davril said. “Why were they meeting?”

  She stroked the forearm of the man rubbing her shoulder, obviously delighting in the sensual pleasure, and stretched her voluptuous body as she did. I was both impressed by her physique and annoyed by the sudden jerking of Davril’s gaze.

  Seeming to feel my silent rebuke, he cleared his throat and said, “Well?”

  “Why do you think, sweetheart?” Mia said. “Why do you think?”

  Chapter Seven

  As we walked away from the bungalow, I could still smell the scent of the massage oil in my nostrils. It hadn’t been of human make but of Fae, and it had been delightful. “Do you believe her?” I asked.

  “I don’t know,” Davril said. “At the moment, we have no reason to disbelieve her.”

  “I think she’s hiding something.”

  “Like what?”

  “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.” I glanced back toward the bungalow, then felt my cheeks burn.

  “What is it?” Davril said.

  “Nothing.” Oh, just spit it out, girl! “Well, do you think they’re doing it right now?”

  Now it was his turn to look abashed. His face didn’t redden, exactly, he was too stoic for that, but it did turn a little pink. “Jade, she is a queen, or was. We don’t discuss such things.”

  “Oh, come on. Aren’t you curious? I wonder if they do it as a threesome.”

  “Jade!”

  I giggled. “Okay, fine. I didn’t realize Fae were such prudes. But whatever.” Putting my game face back on, I said, “So I guess we interview Neva Coolwater next, right?”

  “That is where the facts are leading us.” As we started in that direction, he added, “We’ll have to speak with Lady Coolwater first. She’s the matriarch. We’ll have to get her permission to interview her daughter.”

  Twenty minutes later saw us draw up to the bungalow where the Coolwaters were residing. The chief guard stationed there told us that they’d actually gone exploring the resort and that they could be found under the Tea Tree. Davril and I knew the area from our scoutings and we went straight to it.

  Along the way, Davril said, “There’s something you should probably know about the Coolwaters.”

  “Yeah?”

  “They were the one royal house that didn’t choose a side in the fighting.”

  “Damn.”

  “After they helped pursue and besiege Jereth’s supporters, so ostensibly they can be said to be on the Queen’s side, but they did not come to her aid when Jereth and his allies were storming the Palace. She has never trusted them since.”

  “Well, no wonder.”

  We may have been there before, but it was still a wonder, and when we came out into the enchanted glade bobbing with fragrant pink blossoms and with the great crystalline Tea Tree rising from it all I had to gasp all over again. The tree was of transparent crystal, and it glowed with a soft pink-white light. Reddish leaves sprouted from its long, stately limbs, and these could be plucked and ground to make tea, hence the name. Bubbling springs on one side of the glade provided the water.

  Lady Gaia Coolwater, her lord consort and several members of their house lounged near the hot springs, some sipping tea. Steam poured from their cups, wreathing their handsome and beautiful faces. The tea smelled of peach and honey, and my mouth watered instantly.

  Wearing a prim but form-fitting blue dress, Lady Gaia herself lay upon the grass, gazing up at the tree. Its pinkish lights bathed her serene, indifferent features in warmer hues than she probably deserved. She was well named, I thought. A brutal murder had just been committed, and here she was leading her family on some sort of picnic.

  “Lord Stormguard,” she said as we approached.

  “Lady Coolwater. I hope you don’t mind if we intrude.”

  “Carry on. It is your duty, I know. I was informed of the likelihood of your arrival.”

  “And you left your bungalow?” I said, unable to help myself. “That was your response, to run away from us?”

  “Jade …” Davril warned.

  I waved it away. “She knew we needed to question everyone, and she made it more difficult. And we’re on a timeline!”

  Gaia looked unmoved. Her consort, who was nearby, frowned at us. He was a handsome Fae Lord in dark blue breeches and tunic, and he looked only marginally more passionate than his lady. He wasn’t a husband, exactly, but he was more than the boy toys of Mia Stoneheart. He had been a great lord in the Fae Lands, Davril had told me.

  For their part, the other family members only raised their eyebrows at us, then went back to their tea. Well, it did smell good.

  “Can we get on with this?” Gaia said. “I was enjoying a nice morning out. Believe it or not, I had never been here before.” She sort of smiled, wryly amused with herself. That was the only thing that could move her, I saw—herself. She was a classic narcissist.

  “Actually, it’s not you we wish to speak with—not yet,” Davril said. “Can we interview your daughter Neva, in private?”

  “Neva? Really?” The idea seemed to interest Gaia, if vaguely. The notion that someone could want to speak with her daughter instead of her probably offended her. At least, that was my take. To one of the girls near the hot springs, she said, “Neva, please come over.”

  The pretty young woman, who like her mother wore a prim but tight dress, this one of white, set her tea cup down, stood and approached, careful to keep her face tilted toward the ground. Studying her, I saw tear tracks running from the corners of her eyes. She wiped at them impatiently as she came to stand beside her mother. She didn’t speak.

  “Well?” Gaia said. “Here she is.”

  “Alone, my partner said,” I reminded her. “We want to talk with her alone.”

  “You may want to do that, but she is my daughter, and I will hear whatever you have to say to her. And,” she added with a sharp look to Neva, “whatever she has to say to you.”

  “This isn’t right,” I said.

  Davril cleared his throat. “It will be fine, Jade.” To Neva, he said, “We have a witness that says you went to see Therin last night, shortly before he was murdered.”

  “What is this?” asked Lady Coolwater. Then, more sternly: “Neva, is this true?”

  The girl opened her mouth to speak, but only a squawk came out.

  “Speak, child!” her mother demanded.

  Neva spoke, but so low and with so much stuttering I couldn’t make out the words.

  “Speak!”

  “Lady, may we please interview Neva privately?” Davril
asked. “She might feel more comfortable—”

  “No!” Now wearing the first signs of real passion I’d seen yet, Gaia said, “Neva, speak your mind right now or so help me I will throw you into those springs!”

  Neva glanced at the steam rising from the pools and paled. I didn’t blame her. I half thought Gaia might be telling the truth.

  The girl, who looked like she was about eighteen but was probably older than my late grandmother, said, “Y-yes. I … met him.”

  “What was the nature of your relationship?” Davril said.

  Neva swallowed. “Well … not much. Lately. But … in the Nine Thrones … we were betrothed.”

  “Say again?” I said.

  Lady Coolwater sighed. “It’s true. They were engaged to be wed. But then the war broke out and all such plans dissolved. Both my house and the Strongwalls lost their thrones, their kingdoms.” She analyzed Neva closely. “You got to know him well during your engagement, didn’t you?”

  Tears welled up in the girl’s eyes. She nodded.

  Softly, I said, “You loved him?”

  Again, she nodded. Her lips trembled.

  “What else can you tell us?” Davril said.

  Neva wiped at her eyes again. “We wanted to be with each other. His family has been under siege by the vines for the last three years, but a couple of times he was able to sneak out. He had sent me messages, and I met him.”

  “What?” gasped Lady Coolwater.

  Now the other members of her family were openly watching and listening.

  “I’m sorry, Mother, but … we wanted …”

  “Oh, I know what you wanted, damn you. Did it not occur to you that his house supports Prince Jereth, and that by carrying on with him you could be endangering our standing with the Queen? My standing?”

  Wretchedly, the girl said, “I’m s-sorry, Mother.” To Davril, she added, “May I be excused, my lord?”

  He started to nod, but I said, “Hang on. Is there anything else you can tell us about last night, about your meeting with Therin? Anything or anyone suspicious that you might have seen, or heard, or felt?”

  She formed the word “No”, but then seemed to think about it.