Page 4 of The Silver Spider
Chapter Two
This was supposedto be her wedding.
Kailigh eyed her daughters, watching for shenanigans, since her husband was busy drinking and carousing with his youngest son. After a quick romp in an antechamber, he’d thrown himself into the festivities with a pat on her rump to enjoy herself. She liked that about Maddugh—he wouldn’t be a man, who clung to her skirts, or thought she didn’t have the head to entertain herself.
Nothing worse than a clingy man.
She had plenty to entertain herself, especially with the way Amnan thought he was subtly stalking Sere. She just hoped her girl didn’t poison the princeling—that would be a poor way to begin their life as a blended adult family together.
“Kai, are you even listening to me?” the Constable asked.
She sighed, and sipped her water. No foolishness for her, she had girls to keep an eye over and couldn’t do that inebriated.
“I’m listening,” she said. “It’s a bit rude to discuss business at a wedding.” With a bride. At herownwedding. But they were decades-long friends, and he could get away with it.
Hatcher sighed, tugging at the tight neck of his suit. At least he’d had the courtesy to change out of his uniform, though Kai probably wouldn’t have cared either way. He walked like a cop, watched the room like a cop—changing his attire didn’t change the man.
“I don’t know how else to get anyone’s attention.” He swore under his breath, forgetting he was in the presence of a lady. “Look, Kai. I’ve asked Lord Maddugh. He keeps saying no.”
“Well, what am I to do about it, then? He is Lord here, not I. If he wants to deny you access to the prisoners, that’s his business.”
Hatcher stared at her, scowling. “Can’t you see that we need access to the information they can provide. We don’t have a single lead, Kai!”
“Maddugh is taking care of it.”
“Law enforcement should be taking care of it. He’s a Lord—he isn’t the law.”
They both knew that wasn’t true. Maddugh ruled both the human and dragon populated small towns in this county because he owned the mines and employed eighty percent of the adults in the area. The town businesses were all profitable, resting on land leased by him. He did rule—and the fact that he allowed human law enforcement to remain on his territory and enact some type of control over humans was testament only to the fact that he didn’t want to be bothered.
The constable changed tactics. “We need to work together on this, Kai. We can’t allow any more traffickers to think our town is easy pickings. The more we know about Adjrius’ backer, the better we can make sure it never happens again.”
She considered him. People were often shortsighted and unnecessarily territorial, and, while she hadn’t planned on getting involved, Hatcher was right. Maddugh needed to share information, not hoard it.
“Fine. I’ll talk to him.” She paused. “Why don’t you go say hello to Serephone? She’s quite an expert on the castle now—she could give you a tour.”
Constable grinned, then wiped the expression off his face and bowed, all courtly like. Kai snorted as he walked away, and as a chorus of male voices rose in revelry, decided her husband had hadquiteenough to drink.
* * *
Her mother had been keepingsecrets.
Sere hadn’t known the prisoners were being kept in the castle, but the content of the conversation Kai just ended with Hatcher was clear. She shifted her hearing back to normal, suppressing a grimace. She couldn’t keep up the amplification without giving herself a headache. The wedding crowd was getting to her as well. She hated crowds. At least a fair was in the open, under the sky, with plenty of room to maneuver in an emergency. But being in the ballroom made her feel almost trapped. She gritted her teeth against the sensation and positioned herself to intercept the Constable. He wanted information? She wanted information. Had been trying to get information for weeks now. But Maddugh had managed to conceal the location of the men he’d snatched from Cinvarra’s kidnapping attempt weeks ago, and later from the gunfight that killed Ruthus Adjrius. Men, who possibly knew where their ultimate employer was located.
Sere intended to find out, and pay the fiend a visit. Because she agreed with the Constable. The best way to protect her sisters was to cut off the snake’s head, at the neck.
“Constable,” she said when he passed her.
The man stilled, and turned. Impressive—he’d likely wanted to squeak like a mouse. Sere had long ago perfected the art of fading into a darkened corner—suspected it was another talent gifted her by her mysterious magic.
“Mistress Serephone.” He paused. “Lady Serephone. Your mother—”
“I know. Come with me.”
She’d spent several days exploring the castle—it wasn’t a large castle, considering the occupants were dragons. The ballroom/throne room was the only part of the place where the ceiling went up all two stories. But there was a basement, accessed through a simple trap door in the cellar located in the kitchen pantry. She’d seen it, and decided not to descend to the depths because she hadn’t been nearly curious enough to do something as clichéd as trap herself in a dark, dank dungeon because she wanted to explore.
Wasn’t that how all the gothic mystery heroines wound up in trouble?
“Where are we going?” he asked when she’d led him out of the ballroom into the hall. A few people lingered, glancing curiously as they passed, but Serephone gave them no reason to gossip. She was simply the Lord’s new stepdaughter, strolling down the hall with a companion.
