Page 326 of Night's Fall
“How about your techs?”Tanasked. “Theyget anything?”
“The self-destruct on the disk eliminated anything of use.Andas far as they can tell, all traces erased themselves in the system within milliseconds of the code doing what it was written to do.They’veexhausted all efforts and haven’t found anything.”
This didn’t makeTanynlook happy, then again,Alekseifelt the same.
“More fromArnaud?”Tanasked.
Aleksei shook his head. “Hemaintains his innocence.Sayshe had nothing to do with the trolls, didn’t even know they existed.Sayshe was framed for the murder, and he’s heartbroken atLongshot’sloss.”
“I saw the vid on that,Lex, and it fucks me to say this, but his grief seems genuine,”Tanremarked.
It fuckedAlekseito think it, but he agreed.
“He says he found her like that, noted his detail had disappeared, realized something was very wrong, and took off,”Tanynshared somethingAlekseiknew. “Deniesany communication or knowledge of an agent embedded inErrol’sorbit.Statedhe came toNight’sFallto go to theMasque, foundTulaas she was, tried to get in touch with his detail, they were gone, so he saw the writing on the wall, took the only one left, his aide, and headed back toSky’sEdge.”
“I’ve had questions from the minute we locked onto thatUtiliSport, and there was no security craft flying with it,”Alekseishared.
“Same,”Tanynagreed.
“WouldTatraset up her own son to take the downfall if her bid to keep him in power failed?”Alekseiasked.
“Tatra has already sold her soul to theHellGodto languish in the deepest depths of eternal flame to get whatever wealth and power she can amass.Iwouldn’t be surprised at anything she did.”
At this, both males looked unhappy.
AsAlekseihovered over the landing bay atSpikeback,Tanynfinished it.
“That’s allI’vegot for now.”
“I appreciate the update,”Alekseireplied, then to alleviate the heaviness of their conversation, he added, “LauraandI’llbe up there for the coronation, whenever that’s planned.”
Tanyn frowned.
Aleksei laughed. “It’sa bunch of ceremonial bullshit, but beings love it.”
“Right.I’llsee you andLaurathen.”
“You will.Later,Tan.”
“Later,Lex.”
He descended into the bay that had opened behind the castle, and once he was in and powered down, the bay doors above him slid closed.
Before he exited the craft, he stared at hisPalm.
“Fuck it,” he muttered, engaged hisPalmand commedAllain.
“Your highness,”Allaingreeted.
“Quietly,I’dlike you to get word to the magistrates that will be hearingTernMakepeace’scase, and let it be knownI’dconsider it a personal favor if they waive prison time.”
There wasn’t even the slightest tick inAllain’sexpression. “Thiswill be done.”
They disengaged andAleksiexited the craft, went to the lift and took it up to the first floor.
Once he was there, he tuned into his creature to find her.
And he walked through the grand hall, the waning light streaming through the tall, narrow windows and glinting against the stone columns burnished by dragon fire until he hit the parlor on the first floor.
