CHAPTER 33
THROUGHOUT THE FOLLOWING
day, dozens of Inverni staff had paraded through the Guildhouse
conference room, their faces stoic or apprehensive or annoyed.
Laura had forgotten how large entourages could be. At the start of
the interviews, she had been cordial and conversational, but that
soon fell away in the monotony of reciting the same questions over
and over.
Terryn surprised her by walking in with the last
person on the list, a male brownie attached to the Inverni
administrative staff. She had tried to coordinate a meeting with
him throughout the previous day, but he had remained behind closed
doors with Draigen and her staff.
The brownie sat with poise, unflustered by the
presence of Terryn, whom he had to recognize. Laura picked up the
one-sheet survey she had had all the visiting Inverni fill out.
“You’re Davvi Norrin?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“You’re on Draigen’s staff?”
The man did not move at all. “Yes, ma’am.”
“You wrote down ‘assistant.’ What do you do?”
Davvi tilted his head. “I assist, ma’am.”
Laura didn’t sense any sarcasm or guile. “In what
respect?”
He lowered his gaze as if trying to read what was
in front of Laura. “Schedules, ma’am.”
She glanced at him. “For?”
He leaned away, resuming his stiff posture. “The
Lady Regent, ma’am.”
“Can you be more specific?” she asked.
“No, ma’am,” he said.
Caught off guard, Laura chuckled. “Why not?”
He frowned, his thin, pale eyebrows pulling
together in sincere puzzlement. “I work for the Lady Regent,
ma’am.”
Laura pursed her lips. “We’ve covered that
already.”
Davvi nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
Laura stared at him, trying not to let her
frustration build. He didn’t seem to be paying any attention. “What
do you schedule for the Lady Regent?”
“Her business, ma’am.”
“Can you be more specific on that?”
“No, ma’am.”
Laura closed her eyes. She had been at it for hours
and had no idea what was going on with the man. She didn’t need to
continue with the interview anyway. He was a brownie, and the
signature she was looking for was fairy. His silence intrigued and
annoyed her, as if he had something to hide. “You seem reluctant to
answer my questions, Davvi.”
He looked surprised. “No, ma’am.”
“This agent has my trust, Davvi. You may answer her
as you would me,” Terryn said.
“Yes, sir,” he said.
Laura shot a curious glance at Terryn. “Where were
you when the Lady Regent was fired upon?”
“Here, ma’am,” he said.
“The Guildhouse?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said.
His abrupt responses baffled her. “Where in the
Guildhouse?”
“Here, ma’am,” he said.
“Here?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The urge to snap at the brownie welled up within
her. He didn’t seem to be uninformative on purpose. She reminded
herself that she had been asking fruitless questions all day, and
he hadn’t. She reviewed his answers in her head when realization
struck her. “You mean you were in this room at the time of the
sniper attack, Davvi?”
“Yes, ma’am. As I said, ma’am.” The look on his
face seemed puzzled that he needed to clarify.
Truth permeated his words. Davvi Norrin worked in
an exacting environment and had learned to be careful, if too
precise. She gave up. “I think we’re fine, sir. Thank you for your
time.”
He hesitated, confused perhaps or unsure. He stood
and bowed. “Thank you, Agent Tate.”
Surprised yet again, she cocked her head. “How do
you know my name?”
A subtle shift in his shoulders passed as a shrug.
“I schedule the Lady Regent’s business, ma’am.”
She smiled, sincerely. “Thank you. The Lady Regent
is lucky to have you.”
He bowed again. “Thank you, ma’am.”
Laura swiveled her chair toward Terryn. “I think I
was just trumped in an interrogation.”
Terryn stared out the window, focusing at something
across the way on the Mall. “Davvi’s been with my family for as
long as I can remember. He wouldn’t tell you the time of day if he
thought you would use it against a macCullen. We called him the
Stone when we were children.”
“That’s loyalty,” she said.
Terryn didn’t move from the window. His pointed
wings stood straight up from his back, their pale blue translucence
flickering with shots of white and indigo. Tension wrapped around
him like a veil. “And hard to come by these days.”
She pushed her notes aside and joined him by the
window. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that. I had Jono
stationed in the park as a hidden backup. No one knows that. He
noticed the protection barrier weaken before Draigen came out. It
was subtle and happened twice. That means the shield wasn’t
interfered with by natural means.”
“What are you suggesting?” Terryn asked.
Laura gave him a significant look. “Someone among
the Inverni Guardians might be a traitor. The weakness happened on
Aran’s end of the barrier. Someone who knows Aran would also know
how he builds his spells and be able to interfere with them.”
Terryn pursed his lips. “We’ve already established
that Sean Carr was the perpetrator.”
Laura crossed her arms. “I’ve established he wasn’t
working alone. I have a body signature tag on a possible
accomplice.”
He narrowed his eyes. “That’s why you wanted to do
these interviews in person.”
She gazed into the distance across the Washington
Mall. “It was a bit of a bluff. Davvi was the last on the list.
I’ve eliminated seventy-nine people. We had two no-shows, both
Inverni Guardians. Rory Dawson is attached to Draigen’s house
staff, and Uma macGrath is with Aran. Everyone was told this was
mandatory. I’d like to put out a warrant on them if you’re okay
with that.”
A muscle pulsed along his jawline. “Do whatever is
necessary, Laura. You don’t need my permission.”
It struck her that she didn’t. Besides the fact
that he was on leave, Genda would likely rubber-stamp her request.
Terryn’s emotions rubbed against her sensitivities. He managed to
remain hard for her to read, but she was sensing pain and anger
beyond what she would expect from the attempt on Draigen’s life.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Cress’s car was set on fire last night,” he
said.
Laura’s chest tightened. “Was she . . .”
“She’s safe,” he interrupted. “Her
house-confinement agreement doesn’t allow her to travel. The car
was on the street. The location had been leaked. People have been
gathering outside the building, throwing things and yelling.”
She placed a hand on his arm. “I’m sorry,
Terryn.”
Essence flickered in his wings as his anger built.
“Someone set her car on fire not thirty feet from my front door in
full view of the Guild security agents, and they did
nothing.”
Anger heated her chest. “Terryn, you have to let me
say something to Rhys. This has got to stop before someone gets
hurt.”
He shook his head. “Your position is too valuable,
Laura. I don’t want to see us all destroyed because of Rhys’s
obsession with my clan. I will have Draigen dispatch Inverni
Guardians to protect the building.”
She moved in front of him, so he wouldn’t miss her
serious expression. “Don’t do that, Terryn. Rhys will exploit it.
The last thing you need right now is having the Inverni court seen
as protecting Cress.”
She regretted saying it as soon as she heard
herself. The pained look on Terryn’s face struck her in the
stomach. She touched his arm again. “Don’t misunderstand me. Cress
is my friend. I’ve been arguing her case with Rhys for days.”
He closed his eyes. “I know. It’s still hard to
hear. No one has any idea what she means to me. No one can.”
She crossed her arms and stared out the window. “Of
course not. That’s the nature of any relationship, isn’t it?”
“I need to protect her.”
“Leave that to me. I’ll talk to Genda. InterSec is
the most neutral party we have right now,” she said.
He managed, if not to smile, at least not to look
as upset. “Thank you. I think if we get through the next few days
until Draigen leaves, Rhys will move on to something else.”
She rubbed his shoulder. “We will. In the meantime,
let’s not tell anyone I have this body-signature tag.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “By which you mean my
family?”
She lowered her gaze to lessen the sting of what
she had to say. “You have a traitor among your people, Terryn. It’s
not that I don’t trust your family, but they trust someone they
shouldn’t. We’re working a long shot, and the wrong word to the
wrong person could ruin the whole thing.”
“I know,” he said. “It’s difficult advising you and
my family at the same time.”
She murmured a laugh. “Welcome to my world.”
His face clouded over as he stared out the window
again. “You have my sympathy.”