Hunter's Season: Elder Races, Book 4 by Thea Harrison Read Free Book Online Page B

that you become commonplace, a fact of life like an armchair or a side table. Then no one questioned you when you came close. No one saw as you slipped the stiletto between the ribs, or dropped the poison in the drink.
    Or attacked a man in a small neighborhood park.
    She looked down at the noble face of the man who lay so quietly, his black hair spread on the pillow. He did not look peaceful. He looked worn and deeply ill, his closed eyes bruised with dark shadows. The coverlet had been pulled up to his bare shoulders. Sometimes when the injuries were so severe, a physician simply had to stop healing because an abused body could only take so much Power coursing through it. This must have been the case with Riordan, for she could see the uneven bump of bandages underneath the covering.
    No one was watching, and it was, after all, such a simple thing she needed to do. She reached out a hand and touched his temple, feeling the pulse of life underneath the pads of her fingers. Then, tenderly, she stroked the silken black hair from his forehead. It was the most audacious thing she had ever done, stealing this one moment.
    Some extra sense made her turn her head. Niniane stood a few feet away, staring at her. The Queen’s gaze was very wide and startled, and far too perceptive. Xanthe snatched her hand back and cleared her throat. Turned away. Turned back again. She was in an agony of embarrassment.
    Niniane stopped her by simply putting a hand on her arm.
    Meanwhile, Tiago saw the doctors out the door and closed it firmly on everybody else again. He turned back to join Niniane and Xanthe, looking down at Riordan.
    “We’ll have to investigate everybody,” he said. “That includes everyone in his household, of course, and his staff at the palace. The neighbors will need to be canvassed.”
    “I know who did this,” Niniane said through set teeth.
    “You think you know who instigated this,” Tiago corrected as he slanted a dark look at her. “It could have actually been carried out by almost anybody.”
    Xanthe said, “We came through the park where his servants found him. It is a small neighborhood space, with a few trees and benches, and a little shrubbery around the edges. There is almost no place to hide. If someone lay in wait for him there, they would have looked out of place. And there would have been the sounds of the attack. No one heard or came to help him, so it is likely the inhabitants of the neighboring houses were out at some function. His attackers probably watched and waited for just such a time.”
    Tiago and Niniane both regarded her with thoughtful, set expressions. “There were any number of dinners and parties this evening,” Niniane said.
    “I’ll track down who received which invitations, and which ones they attended,” Tiago said.
    “Sir, your grace, please give me leave to investigate this,” Xanthe said between her teeth.
    “No,” Tiago said. “This hunt is mine.” He looked at down Niniane as he rubbed her back. “He cannot remain here while I investigate. We will need to move him to the palace where we can guarantee his safety, at least until I clear his servants.”
    Niniane remained focused so intently on Xanthe, she had to control the urge to twitch. It was impossible to tell what the Queen was thinking. Would she say anything about Xanthe’s inappropriate behavior? Perhaps Niniane might even dismiss her. Xanthe braced herself.
    Niniane said to her, “You have a cottage, about an hour’s walk outside the city.”
    Whatever she expected, it hadn’t been this. She blinked, and said, “Yes, your grace.”
    “It is quiet there? Away from major traffic of any kind?” When she nodded, Niniane looked up at Tiago. “What about neighbors?”
    He tilted his head, considering her. “I got a good look at the land when I flew out there. There aren’t any neighbors in sight of the cottage. The nearest one is a farm some distance away.”
    “I think we should take Aubrey there,”