Page 51 of The Dragon's Captured Heart
There was a hint of tightening in the corners and the tiny button nose that I’d learned she didn’t like being called cute—even if it was—which suggested she expected an uncomfortable question.
“Is it just me, or does it feel like this investigation has been overly difficult to pursue?”
Her face relaxed.
What the heck did she expect me to say?A million different answers came at once in a jumbled mass that would take hours to untangle. In the middle of it, Maddie replied.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, first, the reports are delayed,” I said, eager for the distraction from the Pandora’s box of my mind. “Something that really should not take days to sort out. It’s simply pulling some papers from the file. Now, one of the guards is missing, and nobody is taking it seriously in connection to Noa’s death, and on top of that, it takes us two days to be granted permission to interview his partner?”
Maddie shrugged. “I don’t know how things normally work here, so I can’t be certain. Human bureaucracy is terribly inefficient, so my comparison might not be accurate.”
“Fair,” I said, letting out my breath slowly in an attempt to relax. “Maybe I’m just overthinking it. At least they did arrange for this interview in the end.”
“Exactly. Now we can start digging in earnest,” she said, patting my forearm.
I tried not to show my reaction to the skin-on-skin touch. Things between us were complicated. They were up, then they were down. I was probably partly to blame for that, but I didn’t know what else to do.
What Ididknow was that I couldn’t just give in to my dragon. The incessant calls of my beast hadn’t slackened. It wanted Maddie. Every minute of every hour, and the calls had only grown stronger since our unexpected hookup. Every time our bodies were even close to one another, I just wanted to pull her close to me and kiss her hard and fast while my hands ripped the clothing from her body to explore its—
“You can do this,” Maddie said, misinterpreting my silence as she gave my arm a supportive squeeze. “I promise you can do this.”
Touched by her concern, I managed to lock my physical desires back away … for the moment.
“Thank you.” I gave her a tight smile, hoping it didn’t look as awkward as it felt. “I know this can’t be the most comfortable thing for you to do.”
Maddie laughed, some of the tension between us evaporating. “Honestly, you’re right. At first.”
“At first?”
“I barely knew you,” she explained. “Now, we’ve spent time together. We know one another a little better. Things are different, and I want to see you get some closure and the person who did it brought to justice.”
It was a passionate speech, and because of that, I didn’t bother telling her there would be no justice for Noa’s killer. They wouldn’t spend time in jail. Whoever it was, I was going to kill them.
“Callum!”
I groaned.Speaking of people I wouldn’t mind killing …
Turning my head slowly, I glared at Cleye as he approached.
“Easy,” Maddie murmured. “We’re in the palace.”
“I know,” I said with my jaw clenched tight enough that my teeth creaked from the pressure.
“Whoa. Hold on,” Cleye said, holding up both hands. He must have noticed the sudden tension. “I come in peace.”
I didn’t bother to keep my eyebrows in place. Letting my disbelief show felt good.
“I’m serious,” Cleye said, taking a deep breath. “My father told me what you found out. About my sister …”
“Someone murdered her,” I said stiffly, still not wanting to spend a second longer than I had to talk with Cleye.
“Exactly.” He grimaced. “I want to apologize. And to help.”
My eyebrows could’ve taken the roof off the palace at that. “What? You? Help?”
“Yes,” he said fiercely, eyes aglow. “I want to make sure the asshole who’s responsible for my sister’s death is punished fully.”
