Page 12 of Scars Beneath a Serpent’s Scales

“Yes, Miss DeLeoste.”

Emmeline spun her opal ring around her finger, the tarnished silver smooth and familiar beneath the pad of her thumb. She was very aware of Roremar tracking the small movement, but she kept it up, pretending he didn’t affect her in the slightest when truthfully his unfiltered attention made her feel much too visible. Like a brittle sheet of glass.

“What sort of task?” Roremar asked.

“You both surely have been kept abreast of the rising crime on the isle, correct?” the Temple Master asked, his grey brows rising as he looked between them.

Emmeline stiffened. “Yes, sir.”

Not only did she know of it, she’d been using it to her advantage these past months. It had been steadily growing worse, and while it was certainly a threat to the island and something to be concerned about, it was a convenient cover as she hunted down the men involved with the child trading on the continent.

Had Falliare found out about her illicit activities? Her eyes dropped to her boots, searching for flecks of blood left behind.

“I’ve been informed a bit,” Roremar said, his tone laced with disinterest. “What does it have to do with us?”

“This isle is losing its grip,” Falliare admitted through clenched teeth. “For a while, drugs were the main problem, but lately, the issue has escalated. Rather than the substances running rampant, it’s become a problem of women going missing.”

Emmeline’s blood iced over. “Women?” she wheezed.

No, no, no. It couldn’t be happening here, too. She’d been weeding out the threats, disposing of them one at a time when they didn’t have answers for her about the continent.

“What do you mean?” she added, her palms tingling and chest crowding.

Falliare’s thin lips flattened. “I mean that multiple women have vanished recently from their homes or jobs.”

“How many?” Roremar demanded, tone serious and shoulders rigid.

“Two confirmed so far. A handful of other potentials.”

“Bodies?”

“None.” Their words soared back and forth across Emmeline’s clouded vision.

“Any leads?”

Falliare’s expression tightened. “No.”

This was exactly what she was trying to stop⁠—

She took a breath, nails digging crescents into her palms. There was no guarantee these disappearances were tied to who she was looking for. It was possible, but unless she had proof that the cases were similar, it didn’t matter. Based on what Falliare said, these were grown women going missing, not children stolen for their magic.

She couldn’t get caught up in this mess when she had her own search to conduct. Couldn’t afford to lose focus.

“Is Lyra Isle Guard that incompetent?” Roremar asked, and if Emmeline hadn’t been falling down her own spiral, she would have gaped at how readily he insulted one of the Temple Master’s own programs.

A slight, offended growl rumbled in Falliare’s throat, but he said, “I’ve given them a month already, and they’ve made little progress. If we don’t find whoever is responsible soon, this is only going to escalate. More people missing means greater fear, and I don’t want my isle to become an environment that fosters terror.”

Emmeline’s stomach twisted at how clinically Falliare spoke of people disappearing, but she continued to quietly absorb everything the two men said as she fought off panicked thoughts about the temple traders.

Beside her, Roremar seemed to bite back a retort, swallowing and calmly asking, “You think it’s tied to the drugs getting onto the isle, though?”

“Not necessarily,” Falliare said. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s all related. It’s all a sign of the Constellation Isles slipping further from our control. Starsearcher leaders on the continent already continually forget about us. This would only heighten our disadvantages.”

His control, Emmeline was certain he meant. But she was in no place to correct the Temple Master. On the Isle of Lyra, the temple was the main establishment that kept life thriving and families in business. It was the highest Academy on all seven islands, the scholarship revered and envied. Warriors fought to get a place here.

And he was the head of that network. What he said, went. Which was why Emmeline jolted when he commanded, “I need you two to work together to try to put a stop to this mess.”

“What?” Roremar laughed.