Page 50 of Veiled Justice
I rubbed a hand across my face. ‘I know.’
Krieg undid his seatbelt and turned to face me. ‘You told Loki to search for a dryad.’
I froze. Fuck! He’d heard that? I tried my best to keep my face blank but I failed miserably.
‘Your brother was distressed,’ Krieg continued. ‘And then very angry at you.’
I said nothing.
‘He was angry because you slid into the dryad’s mind to find the face of her killer and you nearly died with her.’ He kept studying me like I was a puzzle that fascinated him. ‘You’re an unregistered subterfuge wizard.’
Fuck. Fuck. Fuckity-fuck. This was as bad as it got. Krieg was the High King of the Ogres, a powerful and deadly figure in the Other society – and now he knew my most closely guarded secret.
I tried to keep my breathing even and the panic off my face. I could deny it but he hadn’t been asking a question because he was already certain. In my experience when someone was certain about anything, no matter how wrong they were, they weren’t going to change their opinion regardless of how much evidence you showed them to the contrary.
Panic thrummed through me no matter how hard I tried to push it down. If he told the Connection what he knew …
Krieg was still studying me, no doubt watching the rapid breathing I couldn’t quite quash and the terror in my eyes. Something rippled across his face that I couldn’t decipher. ‘You don’t need to fear me,’ he said softly. I recognised the moment he made a decision of his own. He blew out a breath and continued, ‘I’m an unregistered piper.’
A piper is a magical creature who can speak to – and even control – creatures like phoenixes, unicorns and even ogres and dragon shifters. Like subterfuge wizards, they are almost universally distrusted and hated.
‘What?’ I blurted.
‘I’m half-piper, half-ogre. That’s why I don’t really have the distinctive physical abnormalities of an ogre – my mother was a piper and I’m a half-breed. My mostly humanoid appearance has been a problem my whole life because it marks me out as a halfling. I’ve had to fight to be accepted as an ogre. If my people learned thatthe other half of me ispiper,they’d rip the crown from my head and smash me to smithereens.’
My mouth dropped open; I was gobsmacked that he was entrusting me with this. There was flirting – and then there was this. And what the hellwasthis?
Krieg smiled. ‘You can relax now. I have your secret, Stacy Wise, but you have mine, too.’
‘What game are you playing?’ I asked. What was I missing?
‘No games, Inspector. Not between us.’
I shook my head. He was many things but naïve wasn't one of them. The denizens of the Other realm always played games. The only question was whether I was the pawn – or the Queen.
Chapter 27
Emotionally wrung out, I all-but crawled out of Krieg’s car. Loki sat quietly on my shoulder as I walked up the stairs to my flat, for once not offering any backchat. Instead, he pressed himself close to my neck and his warm, soft body offered surprising comfort as my chaotic thoughts swirled in a torrent of panic in my brain.
Krieg knew what I was.
I knew what Krieg was.
He could have held his knowledge about me over me for years; he could have easily used it to bribe a Connection officer – and I would have let him do it. I would have hated myself but I’d do anything to keep Mum from the chopping block. Yet Krieg had told me about himself and levelled the playing field.Why?
He barely knew me; sure, there was chemistry between us but you didn’t risk your life and crown for a little sizzle between the sheets. I was missing something and I didn’t like it one bit. I needed to find out about the story about the witch and potion – the one he wasn’t telling me yet.
I unlocked the door to my flat, flipped on the light and went in. Then I pulled out my phone and rang Kass. Her voice was groggywhen she answered and I realised it was late. ‘Sorry,’ I said before she could speak. ‘Didn’t mean to wake you.’
‘S’okay,’ she murmured through a yawn, but I could hear pain in her voice. Kassandra had fibromyalgia and today obviously hadn’t been a good day for her.
‘Flare up?’ I asked.
She sighed. ‘Yeah. Some. It’s fine. What do you need? ’Cos I know you’re not ringing in the middle of the night to arrange a movie marathon.’
‘Did you manage to get anywhere on the Imbarum thing?’
‘Sorry, no, but I’m still working on it. It’s highly illegal. Someone mentioned that they’d seen paperwork from a company requesting a review of its status – apparently they want to use it for medical purposes – but it was knocked back.’
