Silk & Steel (Spellbound #3)

Chapter 18: Suspects

Cas couldn't remember ever seeing Boreas this shaken by anything. The Spymaster usually took any new twist and turn on the chin and kept going. But this time, the unexpected deaths visibly disturbed him.

"I arrived in the dungeons to interrogate the attackers, only to find them and the two guards outside their cell, dead." Boreas let out a stream of expletives as he paced the floor. "Every time we get our hands on someone who might know about Son of Deva, they end up dead."

A cold sliver of unease travelled down Cas's spine and he stood from the bed, needing to move to shake the feeling. This had happened before. After Queen Shae of Erya was attacked in Messina two years ago, they had captured the woman responsible. She had admitted to working for Son of Deva, but before they could get much out of her, she had been killed in her cell. Much like what had happened now.

He glanced at Isobel. They knew someone who had information about Son of Deva. Someone who had known him intimately. If she noticed his regard, it didn't show. Her deep-blue eyes were fastened on her hands in her lap and her brows drawn. Dark circles under her eyes bore witness to the exhaustion she must feel, but she remained awake. Even after all his questions.

"For every step forward, we take two steps back." Boreas kicked a book lying on the stone floor and it skidded across the room until it hit the wall with a thud.

"I've never seen you like this." Cas dragged a hand through his hair. It was rather unnerving watching someone who was always calm suddenly unravel.

Boreas's eyes bore into his and there was a hollowness to them that hit him like a punch to the gut. "Two of my best agents watched them. Not just anyone could take them on in a fight and win." His head dropped and his shaggy mane of hair fell over his face. "I'd known them both since they were barely out of their britches."

"I didn't realise you recruited them so young," Cas said, not sure how to comfort his friend.

The Spymaster grimaced. Or was it a wry smile? "No one expects a young boy to be an agent. They're more useful than you might think."

Walking over to the other man, Cas put his hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"For once, I would just like to get a step ahead of the bastard."

"We do have one advantage." Isobel's voice reminded them of her presence. She'd moved to the edge of the bed, her feet off the side. Something about her bare feet dangling just above the floor made her look small and vulnerable. Not at all like one of the most powerful sorcerers in the world.

"What's that?"

"We know what he's looking for and we know he has a deadline." She tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder and raised her chin slightly. "And he doesn't know that we know. That gives us an advantage."

Boreas made a face. "Barely. We know he's looking for Godstones, but we have no more information about where they might be than he does. We're all searching for needles in a haystack. Worse! Needles hidden anywhere in the world!"

"True," she admitted. "But we know he's running out of time. It's less than two years until we reach the second millennium of the banishment. He must be getting stressed and he might start making mistakes. So far, he's wasted six years since we retook Messina and, as far as we know, have zero Godstones."

Cas swallowed, remembering the destruction caused by Deva and his followers with a single Godstone. The idea of Deva's son, or anyone without the best of intentions, having access to several Godstones filled him with dread.

"Why would the Gods not simply have destroyed the stones if they are this powerful?" he asked. "They don't sound like anything a mortal should have access to."