Page 32 of Seas the Reckoning

The others murmur agreement, the tension beginning to break.

I’m not focusing on them, though.

Jackal’s hand landed just above the pin on Claude’s chest.

I can see it clearly now.

A crest, with a pen crossing it, and a dragon wrapping its claws around a shield. The same symbol Leon used at Ivyrn Works.

Claude frowns at Jackal, stepping back and dusting himself off.

“Just to ensure there are no hard feelings, might I have your hand in the next dance, Carolina?” Claude asks.

I’ve had hand after hand offered to me this evening.

I want to take this one least of all.

“I would love to,” I say, accepting the warlock’s offer and following him to the dance floor.

15

SPOILED FOR CHOICE

The five of us are squeezed into the car we’ve rented for the night, headed back to Zyra’s house so Starla and I can collect our bags. Then just the two of us will return to the manor for the duration of the festivities.

It was clear that Councilman Taylor was trying to watch us as we left, but Ji-hwan smoothly suggested to someone that the end of the evening was the perfect opportunity to approach the warlock regarding a political conversation, and we snuck away while the other party was blathering on about “Fae interference.”

“All right, team, let’s put what we’ve got on the table,” Jackal suggests once we’re outside the estate perimeter and can see there are no cars following us.

All five of us begin to speak at once, until Ji-hwan howls. The Were’s head is thrown back, but he keeps his hands firmly on the wheel and the car doesn't veer.

I slam my hands over my ears.

“Sorry, but I know that’s an effective way to draw attention. Now then, perhaps it’d be best if we go one at a time, and then we can discuss the sum of our information once we’re back at Zyra’s house?”

“So long as it’s quick. Leena and I have to return in time to get some sleep. My father has a breakfast planned for me, and I don’t think I’ll be much use to anyone as a private eye if mine have bags under them from exhaustion. I’m as tired as a kindergarten teacher.”

“Where’s the rest of that statement?” Exos asks, used to her longer descriptors at this point.

Starla scoffs.

“No need. That’s plenty tired.”

Jackal and I share our information regarding Claude and his family. Both the symbol he was wearing and Lillian’s words about Starla.

“Claude Soloman has always been a braggadocious pain, but he’s smarter than his sister in how he conducts himself, as you saw this evening,” Starla says.

I nod.

“I wasn’t able to get much more out of him during our dancing, although he was keenly interested in my siren abilities. Not that it makes him stand out; that’s what most of the men Councilman Taylor introduced me to wanted to discuss. Although Claude was more subtle about how he might plan to use it to his own advantage,” I say.

“He’s clever, and the fact that he asked you to dance signifies he’s interested in courting you, old-fashioned as that may sound. Claude is choosy when it comes to the ladies he associates with,” Jackal volunteers, eyes smoldering like embers even though his voice remains neutral.

Starla pulls out her phone.

“I’m jotting all these bits down. It would make sense if the Ivyrn Works symbol was a crest from a family here. An old-fashioned supernatural one, obviously. My father wanted me to study the crests at one point, and now I regret to say that I shirked that particular assignment.”

“If we can confirm it is the Soloman family crest, it’s highly likely they’re the ones who worked with Leon on his experiments,” Jackal says. “Claude being more suspect than Lillian, although we should keep our options open.”