Page 106 of Wild Flame

I quickly relayed all that had happened in the alley with Leif, save for my realization that he was in love with me. We really didn’t need to discuss that right now. I ended by explaining that Leif had left and that neither he nor his dragon had harmed me. “Leif did mention a way for me to contact him if I ever needed to, though,” I said. I explained to Malik that as children whenever we were in trouble we had always talked about running away to hide out in Halstaff—a small town just on the border of Halmar and Zehvi where we believed no one could find us. Somehow, I just knew that’s what Leif had meant when he said, “You know where to find me.”

It was also convenient that since it was located in Halmar, Malik couldn’t arrest Leif without permission from my father. So Leif was safe from any repercussions that way. At least until my father found out about what had been happening here. I once again prayed to all the Nine that my father wasn’t somehowinvolved in all this. Leif had mentioned that someone powerful was pulling Nilfren’s strings. I prayed it wasn’t him.

When I was finally done speaking, Malik didn’t immediately respond.

“At least now you know for certain that something was done to Ramin . . . that he’s innocent,” I offered.

“Hmm,” Malik grunted. “So Nilfren has been overseeing shipments of Fleshfire from Halmar to Zehvi. Then it’s likely that the drug is being made there and shipped here. Did you notice any other correlation between the dates?”

I shrugged. “No, nothing,” I said, “except that one of the ships he used,The Sea Dragon, was the same ship I traveled to Zehvi on—"

Malik stilled. “What did you say?”

I looked at him. “What?”

“What was the name of the ship?”

“The Sea Dragon,” I repeated.

Malik’s face turned to stone. “That’s one of Salim’s ships.”

I blinked. “Priya’s father?”

Malik nodded.

“Do you think he could be involved?”

Malik contemplated for a moment. “You said Nilfren seemed intimidated by this man he is working for. So they must be influential, and Salim is a Rajar and a dragon rider.”

My mind raced as I considered the possibility. Then another connection popped into my head. “The Obsidian Mines are located in Salim’s territory,” I said, thinking aloud. “We wondered if Fleshfire and the theft at the mines were connected. And wasn’t he a member of your father’s Fangdar? It’s possible your father told him about the Moonstone, and he guessed you were the one who stole it. So he would know to question Ramin for its location while he was under the influence of the drug . . .”

“It’s possible,” Malik agreed.

“Are you going to confront them?”

Malik shook his head. “It’s not that simple. Even though what you heard is incriminating evidence against Nilfren, and by extension Leif, I will have to be careful in how I approach this. They are still representatives of Halmar. And we still don’t know for sure if Salim is involved, other than that one of his ships was used by Nilfren. I can’t accuse him of anything until I am certain.”

“We need those shipping logs,” I said. “The ones on Nilfren’s desk.” Guilt for not nabbing them in the first place ate at me.

Malik looked at me. “I’ll send Taj to retrieve them.”

I nodded.

“Once those are in our possession, we can investigate this more thoroughly and make the arrangements to confront them. All of them.”

Chapter Thirty-Nine

“You can’t be serious, Astrid. He’s a Zehvitian warrior. He’ll break your heart.”

I sat before my vanity the next morning, my mind still very much on the discussion between Malik and me the night before, when Hilde’s words registered.

She was speaking with the younger maid as the two of them fitted the bed with new sheets.

“But he—he said he cares for me,” Astrid defended.

“Of course he said that,” Hilde scoffed. “All men say that when they want something. Do you want to end up with a Zehvitian bastard in your belly? It’s bad enough that we have to stay here. But if that happens, you’d never be accepted back in Halmar. Your family is noble, low-ranking though they are. They would cast you out and never let you return. Then you would be stuck in this awful place for life.”

“Then go, Hilde,” I said.

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