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Demon’s Snack

Page 116

by Celeste King

“You have a face,” she whispers.

“I usually do.”

“No, you have your murder-accounting face.”

“I have never murdered anyone with accounting.”

“You wounded Talen pretty badly this morning when you called him administratively inefficient.”

“He survived.”

“Shame.”

I press another page flat, smoothing the edges so they lie naturally over the hidden compartment. “That was almost bloodthirsty.”

“I am evolving.”

“Try not to do it loudly.”

Mira glances toward the door, then back at me. “How many packets?”

“Three.”

“Syrenya?”

“Yes. Lady Syrenya receives the ritual lattice proof and Vaerith’s bait-channel memorandum.”

“Because she likes gossip with teeth.”

“Because she will know where to bite.”

“And the others?”

“Lord Kairven receives the shell vendor trail. He has been trying to undermine Vaerith’s district authority for years and will recognize financial leverage. Lady Othrel receives the soul-energy intake discrepancies because her family lost ward contracts to Vaerith last season, and she will be personally offended by theft disguised as civic maintenance.”

Mira stares at me for a moment, then shakes her head. “Remind me never to irritate you with access to my household accounts.”

“You have no household accounts.”

“Exactly. I am safe through poverty.”

I seal the first false-bottom case and stamp the top page with the routine auditing mark Vaerith’s guards have been trained to ignore. The stamp is dull brown, deliberately unimpressive, and reeks faintly of vinegar from the cheap ink pad. That is part of the disguise. Important documents smell of wax, resin, and threat. Ordinary documents smell like someone else’s tedious afternoon.

“Bren’s route can take two,” Mira says, accepting the first case. “The third?”

“Estate courier.”

Her eyes widen. “You cannot be serious.”

“I am very serious.”

“That is our enemy’s messenger route.”

“Yes.”

“You intend to use Vaerith’s own guards to deliver evidence against him.”

“They are less likely to question a case leaving through approved audit transfer than a kitchen runner slipping through a rain grate with a suspicious bundle.”