hawk & sable

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO,

HAWK & SABLE | THIRTY-TWO

"LET'S RECAP EVERYTHING that has happened," Ryan told them all, surveying the full room.

"You do that," Irina yawned. "I just want to sleep." Ryan responded with a look of universal suffering, shaking his head. Cass looked on, a small smile on her face. Besides her, Marcus combed his fingers through his light blonde hair and leaned forward.

"We have guests, Irina," Justine pointed out, giving said guests a pointed, apologetic look. "It's rather disheartening for them to see you acting like a three year old who missed naptime."

Irina let out a small huff and sat upright. "Fine. Let's recap. We captured a mole and he died in our care."

Asteria blinked. "What in the world got you in such a bad mood?"

Io answered. "What do you think?"

Irina had been summoned off to a meeting with the Emperor and his advisors earlier today, according to the others. Was that it?

Irina glared. "Fine. Myrina?"

"Within the past month, Ai guniang was first murdered. We located the paintings that were used to smuggle information out of Arecia, to Sai, and then presumably to Melique in her apartment." Myrina ticked that off her fingers. "Next, we linked the crime to the murder of Du guniang. After interviewing her parents, we were able to find the paintings as well. We noted a connection between the two and who we believed was Lord William Hua Lin.

"We were later informed that a Huang guniang was murdered, but further investigations suggested a different culprit. The younger Miss Diao was attacked by the Panther—" that caused Cass's eyes to snap to her sister's, to which Ciri returned with a look that said I'll explain later— "who admitted to being hired to kill Huang guniang. We managed to deduce that the one link between all of the victims was Lord Hua. Hence, resulting in his capture. While in his cell, someone got in and he was murdered. It's assumed the killer has Meliquean ties due to the weapon left behind."

Irina casted her cousin a look of irritation. 'That detailed enough for you?"

With a startling amount of politeness, Ryan said, "Thank you, Lady Mai. Miss Diao, I see you have questions."

"The Panther was here? And attacked Ciri?" Cass jabbed her finger in Ciri's direction, expression clouded.

"He didn't mean to kill me," Ciri murmured. "He actually ended up offering quite a bit of information."

Her sister just looked flabbergasted. "Should I be concerned that the Panther has been linked to both our injuries now? I'm assuming you were injured anyways?"

"Don't worry, Miss Diao." Irina leaned forward. "We had an Iron Wolf heal her. She's perfectly fine, just got a hard knock on the head. Still functioning properly though, that brain of hers, thankfully."

Cass didn't seem convinced, but she kept her worries to herself for now. Ciri prepared herself for an onslaught of questions and reprimands later in the day.

"Rather eventful," Danna mused. "Successful, if you overlook the casualties. Not fond of the casualties, really."

"Let's be optimistic," which were words Irina never said. "We caught the mole. He's dead now, but we caught the mole, and are on the hunt for more. Rhys? Dominic?"

"We have a few trails. We'll begin investigations tomorrow." Dominic tilted his head, hand on the back of Ryan's chair. Rhys leaned against the wall behind him, offering a smile.