Page 48 of Dragon My Crazy

She frowned at me, finally meeting my eyes. “That’s not what I’m disappointed at. I thought you actually cared about thiswoman.” She turned to the children. “Who wants to go visit Kai the Kraken?”

Dak and Nizzi immediately raised their hands. “Me! Me! I do!” They piled into a wooden wagon.

Melly, not quite understanding what was going on and too young to respond, ignored her to waddle after a butterfly. Dizzi scooped Melly up and placed her inside the wagon as well. Then she disappeared out the door to the moat.

Great. Now I was even more confused.

Unable to stop myself, I checked my phone again. Elana hadn’t replied. I blew out a breath, a stream of smoke trailing out of my nostrils in frustration. If it wasn’t the attack itself, then what could it be?

I wanted to find those ifrits and ask. They’d probably know, but I didn’t have access to them. I didn’t even know how to contact them. But Cassian might.

I went back inside the castle, but instead of heading back to my office, I continued down to the gym and the entertainment room. He was probably there playing his guitar or lifting some weights. Sure enough, I found him playing some chords in the lounge with Puck the centaur, my general handyman and electrician, and my satyr groundskeeper, Alder.

Puck was on the drums, and Alder had an electric fiddle. Puck was also an awesome shot with a sling and had clocked several goblins right in the noggins the other day, .

The music stopped when I walked in.

“Don’t need to stop on account of me. That sounds good.”

“Thank you, your lordship,” Puck said.

I waved my hand, thinking of the townsfolk. “You can just call me Emmett. Let’s leave all that in the last century.”

He looked uncertain. “What brings you to this part of the castle…Emmett?” He frowned. “How about boss? It feels weird to call a dragon just by his name.”

“Sure. Boss is fine. I was hoping to speak with Cassian for a moment.”

Cassian stepped forward, his electric guitar still around his body. “We’ll use the next room, boss.”

That was for the best. I wanted some privacy.

Cassian did not know why Elana had left, but he did have contact with Flame and Blaze. So I sent him on a quest to look for the reason.

“Before I go, I must tell you that I have been spelled to report anything important you do to Leroy. Something like this would trigger the spell.”

I frowned. “But you owe your debt to me, not him.”

“I do. But after my bindings transferred from Sena to him, he started adding little conditions here and there throughout theyears. At this point, I’m not sure I’ll ever be free of him, even after repaying my debt to you.” There was both fury and sadness in his eyes.

“Why did you not tell me?”

“I could not. I’ve tried several times. To be honest, I’m surprised it even worked this time.” He looked pensive. “Leroy’s magic must be weak right now. Or he’s distracted.”

“His wife is injured. And she’s his source of magic. Let’s go remove some of his control on you.”

The demon brightened momentarily—and by that his dark red skin turned a little redder—but it only lasted a moment. “How? You can’t prove that he’s released his binding on me. He could trick you. He could trick us both.”

“I have my ways.” At least I hoped I did. I understood now why Sena had prepared so many of her spells for me. She’d known I’d need them.

We made our way up to my office, and I set up all the needed spells before calling Leroy in. He looked rather surprised to see Cassian there, and I wondered what was going through his head.

Technically, I still didn’t have irrefutable proof that he’d had a hand in Sena’s demise. I also had no proof he’d been part of the attack. Was that even the plan that the ifrits had hinted about? What was the final outcome he wanted? I didn’t have any of these answers, but I would soon.

“My lord, what have you called me for?” He eyed Cassian suspiciously.

Unlike with Puck, I didn’t tell him to use my name.

“Cassian here has finally paid me back his debt in full. Today is the day he becomes a free demon. Release and free him from every spell you’ve placed on him.”