Page 45 of Keran's Dawn

“Jakar!” Tagar called out, interrupting me, his voice filled with tension.

He hurried to the dais from the side of the room where he’d been keeping an eye on potential trouble. A single look on his face confirmed I would hate what would follow.

He stopped next to me and showed me the interface of his bracer displaying a single sentence.

“New hybrid corpse found.”

Chapter 13

Dawn

Ipaced restlessly while waiting for Keran and his men to return. Night had fallen over two hours ago, although it felt like much longer. Of all the ways the meeting could have ended, I never foresaw this outcome.

As expected, Vintor had gone out of his way to be a complete douchebag. To my pleasant surprise, Keran had risen to the occasion and kept his cool despite Vintor’s best efforts to rile him up. It had not gone unnoticed by the men, which had earned the prince their begrudging respect. His wonderful promise to have a Veredian healer come and mend the wounded had blown us all away. I couldn’t believe he hadn’t given me the heads up about it.

All in all, it had been turning out a success until Tagar dropped the horrible news.

My heart ached for Marug, the latest victim. When nine, ten, and then eleven days had gone by since the last murder, I had genuinely begun to think Keran’s presence had scared away the murderer. It had been foolish wishful thinking. But that it happened today, right in the middle of the meeting felt far too convenient to be a coincidence. Obviously, it was pure speculation on my part. I hated feeling this helpless, which only spurred my imagination into running wild.

I nearly jumped out of my skin at the beep from the perimeter security system going off. Pressing a palm to my chest, I hurried around my desk. I dropped into my seat and brought up the camera feed. My heart soared at the sight of Keran’s shuttle approaching. I raced out of the building, reaching the landing pad as Tagar completed his descent.

The ramp lowered, and the door parted to reveal Keran. I had never seen him looking so grim and tired… almost defeated.

“That bad?” I asked softly when he stopped in front of me.

“Worse,” he replied in a tired voice. He took my hand and led me inside the building, his guards quietly following. “Those extra days before this killing wasn’t the murderer delaying the execution for fear of our presence. He needed more time to push the torture on his victim even further.”

“Further?” I asked, horrified.

Keran nodded with a disgusted expression. “Orin isn’t done with the autopsy, but he confirms that on top of finding even more eggs laid inside the victim, there were visible signs of extensive attempts at healing him, far more than the previous victims. The murderer tried to prolong his life likely so that he could drain even more of whatever fluid he is after.”

Angry tears pricked my eyes at such gratuitous cruelty. Why would he subject such a sweet soul as Marug had been to this type of horrific torture? Nothing justified the slow agony he had endured.

“What could that son of a krillik possibly want that he couldn’t simply ask for it instead of killing us?” I asked, my anger audible. “Marug never hurt anyone!”

“I don’t know. But now I’m not even sure anymore that it isn’t a pureblood after all,” Keran said dejectedly.

I recoiled and jerked my head left to look at him. “What? Why?”

“The Xeldar seal, the arms of my family, has been carved on Marug’s forehead,” Keran replied with hatred in his voice. “He’s taunting me, letting me know that he’s well-aware of my presence, and that it will not deter him from his current course of action. But worse still, I fear that branding the victim the way he did is his way of signaling that I am—or my family is—responsible for this specific killing.”

“But that doesn’t make sense! You don’t even know these men!” I exclaimed. “How would their deaths benefit you or harm you?”

He shook his head, a frown creasing his prominent brow. “I doubt it’s specifically about me, Keran, but about my bloodline. The Xeldars have been ruling Braxia for five generations now. My father took things in a completely different direction, one I intend to pursue and push even further. Whatever is going on, I believe it is part of a greater scheme to make sure no Xeldar will ever sit on the Braxian throne again.”

A shudder ran down my spine as I reflected on the situation. “Could it be that hybrid Vintor implied would replace you? Gavin Aldriss?”

Keran snorted and shook his head. “No way! Gavin is a good kid. He would never commit gratuitous murders, and certainly not out of ambition. His grappa claims that the boy doesn’t covet my throne. But if he does, there’s no question Gavin will challenge me in a fair and honorable duel. Whoever is behind these killings is insane and bloodthirsty.”

As we reached the entrance of the shelter, Keran opened the door to let me in first. I smiled gratefully and entered, struck once more by how wrong my assumptions about him had been. His simplicity, unpretentious behavior, and genuine care for people blew me away.

“The timing of these murders, only a few months from my ascension and my family seal on the victim are no coincidence,” Keran continued pensively. “But we have no trail to follow. The assassin is doing too great a job of covering his tracks. We couldn’t even find the smallest trace of DNA to hint about who we’re dealing with.”

He rubbed his face with both hands, looking discouraged. My heart constricted for him. I understood all too well that sense of hopelessness.

“I must return to Braxia in two weeks at the latest. But the way things are going, it could very well take us a month or more to catch that son of a krillik.”

My stomach dropped upon hearing those words. Obviously, he couldn’t stay here indefinitely. But his departure had been a distant thought. Having the number of days quantified struck me harder than I’d ever admit. Shoving down those somber thoughts, I gave him a sympathetic smile.

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