Shattered Spirits by C. I. Black Read Free Book Online

flirtation hadn’t lasted. It hadn’t even really manifested. Nothing about Grey seemed right, but she couldn’t put her finger on the how or why.
    Of course, maybe it wasn’t Grey. Maybe the mess of her emotions was making her see things. Which didn’t help her avoid the need to report.
    She strode through the maze of desks, partitions, and office equipment to Tobias’s small office at the back. A quick check through his open door assured her he wasn’t on a rampage. Not that the former pirate rampaged. He was too slick for that. He’d more likely knife you in the back or while you slept.
    He leaned over documents spread out on his desk, his wild black pirate hair, similar to Gig’s and yet more sophisticated on his muscular frame, veiling his face. She crossed the threshold and before she could make a sound to announce her presence, he glanced up.
    “Report.”
    “What, no small talk?” Even for him this was terse.
    “It’s been a busy day, about to become a busy evening.”
    He had a point.
    “The hideout wasn’t as deserted as Diablo thought. We ran into a bit of trouble. One mage is dead, another is in the wind, along with who-knows-how-many more.”
    Tobias pursed his lips. He didn’t look happy. Of course, he hadn’t looked happy when she’d entered, so perhaps it wasn’t her news pissing him off.
    “We did find a cell phone that they seemed to have come back for. Gig’s got it, and he’s working his magic, although it did sustain some damage.”
    “Damage?”
    “It got shot.”
    Tobias raised an eyebrow. “How does something so small take gunfire?”
    In a complete disaster of a gunfight, that’s how. If Miller hadn’t distracted her, she would have gotten the phone and everything would have been fine.
    “You don’t want to know.” She rubbed her temples. “Hopefully, he’ll have something soon, and we can track the others down. Perhaps get a handle on how many remain.”
    “Wouldn’t that be nice.” Tobias flashed a hint of teeth, revealing his displeasure.
    Yeah, well, she was displeased as well, but she wasn’t going to draw attention to it. The Chamberlain’s troubles were better left alone. Particularly right now.
    “Are there any other leads?”
    “No.” And finding leads wasn’t her job. It was Diablo’s. Something else she wasn’t going to point out to Tobias.
    “I’ll talk to the Dugga of the Asar Nergal and have him assign Diablo to your team for the duration. Maybe that will get something done.”
    Capri’s heart skipped a beat. “You’ll what?”
    She couldn’t have the leader of the Asar Nergal commanding Diablo to hang around while she investigated the decapitations in secret. Well, she supposed she could, since it wouldn’t mean much to Diablo. But the idea of him poking his nose in her business—business she didn’t even want Tobias to know about until she was ready—didn’t sit well.
    “Is there a problem?”
    Shit, she’d waited too long to answer. She rubbed her face with her hands, playing up her exhaustion. “No, I just doubt Diablo will agree. He’s very much a lone drake.”
    “That’s his problem.”
    “Actually, it will become my problem if you force him onto my team.”
    “You can’t handle him?”
    “Oh, I can handle him fine. I just hate wasting the bullets.”
    Tobias sighed and closed the folder on his desk. “Try not to shoot him.” He opened another folder. “At least not too many times. There’s more than enough politics to go around right now. I don’t want any of it from you.”
    “Aye aye, Captain.”
    Tobias flashed his teeth, this time in pleasure, and she left. She needed to get back to Gig. Hopefully he’d found something about this Andy Reynolds, and she could figure out if his murder was connected to Court before it became a public problem—and before Diablo could show up, making things even more complicated.
    She headed back down the Greater Promenade to the gateroom and rounded the corner. More than a