Page 65 of Villains Never Die

A fresh grin curled my lips at the memory of Rook smashing Charles in the face and how crude I’d thought the whole thing was.

“No, you’ve done well,” I said. “If you think of anything else, don’t hesitate to call me. Thank you, Charles.”

“Okay, thanks. Bye.”

The call ended and I closed the book in front of me. That was enough work on this today. I had pressing matters to investigate, and I needed food first. I shot off a text to Rook.

Juicy news about the murders. Come over after the fights?

Rook: Sounds good.

I caressed my fingers over the buttons.

I miss you.

Rook’s reply was immediate, and my heart squeezed around his urgency.

Rook: I miss you too.

I drove back to my penthouse, dropped off the car, and walked to the diner to gorge myself on home fries in the middle of the afternoon. Halfway through polishing them off, my phone rang again.

“Austin here.”

“This is Wesley Lake,” he said, and I sipped my tea as I waited for him to go on. “There was an attempt on Emmett Graves’s life last night, right in his Council office.”

“Interesting,” I said. “What happened?”

“From what we can gather, he was alone working late when a man in a mask entered the room and attacked him. He doesn’t remember the attack, just waking up groggy in his office. No traces of magic again, but the attacker dropped the next message, so he must have left in a hurry. We don’t think it was intentional. He was interrupted.”

“What did the message say?”

“I’ll text it through to you.”

I tapped my fingers on the table. “Not to be rude, but doesn’t it help you if your opponent is dead? Perhaps you shouldn’t be sharing helpful information. Why are you sharing it with me?”

“You have the most resources to find the killer,” he said, “even more than the Council.” His slick politician's voice crept in. “If he’s dead, it takes out all the challenge for me. Look into it.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

A few moments after he hung up, I received his message.

Wesley: and 1nce the sword of justice appears

What do you think the masked man wants?

Wesley: My guess is he wants to derail the election.

That means you’re on the list.

Wesley: I’m not worried.

No, he was remarkably calm—too calm for someone who might cross paths with a killer at any moment.

Unless his path and the killer’s were the same.

***

“I call bullshit,” Rook said as we stood, shoulders brushing, staring down at the killer’s message on my kitchen island. I had written it all out together on a scrap of paper.