Page 53 of The Dragon King's Assassin

Chapter Twenty-Four

I changed my clothes, put my assassin vest back on, and went to speak with Captain Vettan. We had a brief argument about the lack of stationary guards, during which I pointed out all the weak points on a palace map, areas that I had designated during the weeks I had worked on improving palace security. I had thought those improvements had been made but after my little jaunt earlier, I wasn't so sure. I needed to know if this was just a momentary lapse because the palace guards were still getting reorganized after the attack or if those changes had never been implemented at all.

Captain Vettan was vague in his answers, leaving me to believe that my weeks of work had been for nothing, and he hadn't done more than put up a few lampposts in the gardens. But now that palace security had failed again, he was forced to heed my advice. This time, I stuck around to witness him give the orders to add stationary posts for several guards, including four lookouts to be set in towers. He also ordered the locks changed to the type I recommended, and the spikes removed from the outer walls, then replaced with smooth, rounded caps. I knew I may have been making things harder on myself, but Taroc had to let me out of the palace sometime and after this new attack, I had the perfect reason to leave.

I just had to find him to make that argument.

By the time I did locate the King—in a meeting with some visiting silk merchants—I was getting really annoyed. He didn't want me to leave the palace because he said he needed me to guard him, but then he went off without me. He had Ren with him, so I wasn't worried, but that was my point. And I suppose he'd just proved it.

I slipped into the room and stood along the wall, watching the well-dressed men the King was speaking to. Three were Neraky and one was human. All four of them cast me curious looks, but the King didn't offer an explanation for my presence, and they weren't stupid enough to ask.

“Enjoy the city,” Taroc said as he stood.

The merchants hastily got to their feet as well and bowed to the King as he left the room, Ren and me trailing after him. I didn't say anything to Taroc, his mood was too strange, I just followed where he led. Then he turned down a hallway that had an unknown Dragon in it. The Dragon was dressed too finely to be a newly hired knight, and he wasn't one of the visitors who had come to the city for the rite. Not that I could recall every Dragon I'd seen the day before, but this guy had a face I would have remembered.

Striking, stunning even. He had golden-blond hair, but it was an old gold, one that could use a good polish. His skin was fair, though in Dragons, that didn't necessarily mean that he hid indoors; their rapid healing included sun damage. Which meant that Dragons with tan skin had either been born that way or spent so much time outside that their healing couldn't keep up. The Dragon was too far away for me to see the color of his eyes, but I could tell they were focused on the King. He started for Taroc aggressively, shoulders hunched and expression determined. The King went still while Ren stepped in front of him and growled. The other Dragon didn't even glance at the dog, just kept coming.

I stepped in front of Ren, “Stop and declare yourself! Who are you?”

“Get the fuck out of my way, human,” the man growled.

“Stop right there! I'm warning you.” I withdrew a lightning glove, pulled it on, and rubbed it down my pants to charge it.

“You're warning me? Oh, you've just said the wrong thing to me on the wrong day.” The Dragon put on speed but now he was focused on me.

Just as I'd done with the palace knights, I charged him.

“Lock!” Taroc shouted and reached for me, but he was too late.

I dove for the man's stomach, intending to flat palm him there. Instead, he smacked my arm aside with a blow to my forearm, grabbed my waist, and tossed me upward. Taroc started cursing as Ren leapt to help me. My momentum carried me in an arch that I assume the Dragon had intended to use to fling me down the corridor, but he suddenly had a metal-toothed vanrussa flying at him. He had to abruptly let go of me to defend himself, and I fell straight down behind him. His forearm bashed into Ren's head as he flat-palmed her stomach, sending her into the wall, but she rebounded instantly.

As I fell, I slapped the man's ass and shouted, “Heel!”

The Dragon probably thought I was talking to him, but it was Ren who pulled up short at the command and went running back to her master, just as I'd intended. Meanwhile, lightning jolted through the Dragon, sending him to his knees. As I jumped to my feet, the Dragon turned to look at me with wide eyes. He bent forward and went into spasm . . . but stayed conscious.

“Oh, fuck,” I whispered as the Dragon staggered back to his feet. His eyes—they were a beautiful shade of green—narrowed at me.

“Cease!” Taroc roared.

The other Dragon spun to glare at Taroc. “What the fuck kind of welcome is this?”

“This is my assassin, Locrian, and he did warn you,” Taroc said smoothly.

“You know him?” I asked as I got to my feet.

“This is Prince Racmar of the Zaru Kingdom,” Taroc said to me. “I'm impressed you were able to send him to his knees; that's more than most men can do.”

“It's because that damn dog helped him.” The Prince waved at Ren. “When did you get a dog?”

“Recently. I was told that I needed protection.”

“Your assassin isn't enough?”

“It was his suggestion since he wasn't my assassin at first.” Taroc stared at him meaningfully.

Racmar blinked. “Fuck.” Then he looked at me. Back at Taroc. “Why the fuck is he still alive?” Then he sniffed, turned back to me, and sniffed more. “Oh. I see.” He swung to face Taroc once more. “Are you fucking out of your mind?”

“Do not presume to speak to me about intimacies, Racmar.”

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