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  The short goblin led them through the back alleys of the city, in and out of places that Wyatt tended to avoid unless he had to go there for a job. The smells that wafted up to him were pungent and made his stomach churn. In many of the alleyways, there were goblins, trolls, and humans living in filth and despair. It was awful to see, and it was no wonder that many of them were leaving the city. This was no way to live.

  The goblin led them on a long and tiring trek through the city. Almost as if she was trying to get them lost and confused. Wyatt was able to keep up with all the changes and just barely recognize the section of the city they were in.

  “Where are we going?” Cat asked. “I’m lost.”

  The goblin laughed. “No worries. I’m not. It won’t be much longer.”

  Wyatt wanted to tell Cat that he wasn’t lost but thought better of it. Goblins might not be as strong or fast as humans or elves, but they had some of the best hearing of all the races.

  Another ten minutes of walking and they stopped next to a building that Wyatt didn’t know. It was dilapidated and had boarded-up windows. “This is it,” the goblin said.

  “Are we supposed to go inside?” Cat asked.

  “Duh,” the goblin said. She appeared to be happy that they’d arrived and excited about what waited for them inside.

  Wyatt didn’t like the idea of just entering a building without knowing who was inside. “What is your name?”

  The goblin snorted. “Like I’m going to tell you that.”

  “I won’t enter if you don’t,” Wyatt said. “I’m sure whoever is in there wouldn’t be happy.”

  The purple-haired goblin crossed her arms. “That’s not part of the deal, mage.”

  It didn’t surprise him that she knew he was a mage. “Then I guess I’m out of here.”

  “No,” she said. “You can’t.”

  “Sure, I can.”

  Wyatt took Cat’s arm and begun to walk along the dirt alley.

  “Fine, my name is Octavia,” she said.

  “Will you be here when we leave?”

  “Yes.”

  That was a good sign and gave Wyatt some confidence that this wasn’t a giant trap by the king to have him killed. It still might be, and that was a concern. With that in mind, Wyatt reached out for his mana; he wanted to be ready to cast any spell that he might need to.

  “Just me or both of us?” Wyatt asked.

  Octavia shrugged. “I guess both.”

  That wasn’t a very clear answer, but it was all Wyatt was going to get. He turned to Cat. “You ready?”

  “I am beginning to regret agreeing to work with you.”

  This wasn’t like most of his jobs, and she had to know that. She was already looking into the same stuff as he was. If she wasn’t prepared to do some crazy shit like this, Cat wasn’t going to get to the bottom of this mystery.

  Taking a deep breath and holding Cat’s hand, Wyatt walked into the building.

  12

  Mysterious Adventure

  Wyatt didn’t know what to expect. In truth, this wasn’t the first time he had done something like this for a job. In his years working in the city, he’d learned to take a leap of faith. It helped him get stuff done and earned him a reputation for being willing to do whatever it took. So long as he didn’t harm another being. That was the one thing he would not do. Unless he was going to be killed by a bad dude. That didn’t count.

  “You think Gareth got back to us already?” Cat asked. Her hand was sweaty in Wyatt’s. She was even shaking a little and appeared to have trouble just saying Gareth’s name.

  “He’s fast, but I doubt it’s him.” Wyatt was trying to work out who was behind this. If it was a bad guy, it really didn’t matter if he found them dead or alive. Just more fighting and running for their lives if it was the latter. Wyatt actually wouldn’t mind some of that. It made him feel alive and was almost as good as sex. Almost.

  Once they went through the door to the old building, they were greeted with a blinding light. One that wasn’t natural in any way. Magic. A mage other than Wyatt had to be here and was doing their best to blind them.

  Wyatt knew of only two other mages in the city at the moment. There was a good chance this was Francis, but why he didn’t just go talk to Wyatt didn’t make sense.

  With his own mana already flowing through him, Wyatt cast a spell that would remove the blinding light from their faces. Neither of the spells was hard, and in a second the light was gone. That didn’t mean he could see. It would take a moment for his eyes to adjust.

  “What in the world was that?” Cat asked.

  “Magic.”

  “I hate magic.”

  Wyatt groaned. “You do know that I’m a mage. That hurts.”

  A moment later, his vision returned. The building was just a nasty on the inside as it was on the outside. The floors were dirt, and the walls were falling apart. Rodents had been the most recent occupants of the place. As they went deeper into the building, they saw it had debris everywhere. Some of the more impoverished people in the city had used it for shelter at some point. Wyatt still didn’t know what the building had been used for when it was operational.

  The next room held equipment for forging armor. This must have been part of the king’s guard’s blacksmith in the past. Wyatt didn’t know where that was now. Much of that was moved to the outer edges of the city since it was dangerous work and created a smog in the air with all the fires for the smithy. Sure enough, the next room had the forges in it.

  That was where Francis was waiting for them. The mage leaned against one of the large brick forges.

  “Francis,” Wyatt said. “Why all the cloak and dagger?”

  The earl rushed at Wyatt and Cat with fear and anger on his face. Never in all the time that Wyatt had known the man had he seen him behave in such a way. His face was hardened and laced with panic.

  “What did you do?” Francis asked. He was right in Wyatt’s face and holding Wyatt’s collar.

  “I don’t know what you are on about.”

  “My estate was ransacked by the king, and I’m under investigation by the king's guard.”

  “That wasn’t me,” Wyatt said. “Although a gang of ruffians attacked me and said the king sent them.”

  Francis let Wyatt go. “It was your fault.”

  Wyatt gulped. “If you say so. I’m just trying to figure this out.”

  “Well, I can’t help. You nearly ruined my family and me.”

  The earl had to know that Wyatt didn’t want to cause him any harm. This was bigger than both of them and could involve the whole country or more. Wyatt didn’t like that the one mage that trusted him was on edge and going to this extreme now.

  “Francis,” Wyatt said. “After I talked to you, a young woman hired me to steal from the king and filled in some of the holes I had when talking to you.”

  “Tell me more.”

  Wyatt told his old friend all he could about what he’d learned from both the mystery hire and his talks with Gareth Stone and Victor.

  “You going to talk to the dwarves?” Francis asked.

  “That was the plan,” Wyatt answered. “Most likely tomorrow.”

  “Okay. I can have Octavia help you out. She’s loyal and might even be able to get you in touch with some of the goblins.”

  That might be useful. “You sure about that? She didn’t seem to like Cat or me.”

  “I don’t know,” Cat said. “She was looking at your ass as we entered.”

  Francis laughed. “That sounds like Octavia. She does like a good butt.”

  Wyatt groaned. “Not the time.”

  “It’s always the time,” Cat said.

  Letting that all go, Wyatt focused on what was important. “Francis, did you learn anything?”

  The man shook his head. “I haven’t even been able to start. As soon as you left the house, I was summoned to the palace.”

  “That can’t be good,” Cat said.

  Earl Richa
rd III shrugged with the grace of a noble. “Not the first time. Being an earl and a mage, I have talked to King Martin more than most. But the timing did put me on edge.”

  Wyatt had to question the timing of it all. Not to mention him being hired by the attractive woman to look into the king. It all made him wonder how it was tied together, if it was at all. This all could be one big coincidence, but it didn’t feel like it.

  “What did he say?” Wyatt asked.

  “The king was on edge and about to put out that proclamation. I tried to talk him out of it, but he was set in place, and then he wanted to know why I hadn’t forced out my goblins or elves.”

  “He wanted you to force them out?” Cat asked.

  “He did. The king is under the impression that he made them leave.”

  “That wasn’t the impression I got.” Wyatt was lost as to what in the world was going on. “None of this makes any sense.”

  “You’re telling me.” Francis ran his hand through his hair. “I thought the king was behind it, but now I’m not sure. Maybe he’s being played. They all are.”

  “Someone is scaring all my contacts,” Wyatt said.

  “That very well could be the king,” Francis said. “But I don’t think he’s the one behind it all. Just doesn’t go with what is best for Urgan.”

  “I know,” Wyatt said. “But who else could be doing all this. Who could turn a king into a puppet?”

  “Fuck if I know,” Francis said. “Look, maybe Gareth can help you figure that out. I’ll see what I can do, but for the time being, I have to tread carefully.”

  “What are you going to do?” Wyatt asked.

  The other mage was silent for a moment. “I think I might travel to the Brotherhood and talk to the elders. See if they know anything.”

  Better Francis than Wyatt. That was the last place on the whole rock that Wyatt would want to visit, ever. Even with all the strange things going on, he had no desire to travel there and see what they thought on the manner.

  “Okay,” Wyatt said. “They might be able to help, but I doubt it.”

  Francis laughed. “They do have their heads up their asses for the most part. Yet, they are very powerful mages, and some have the sight.”

  “Do they really?” Cat asked.

  “That’s the rumor,” Wyatt answered for Francis. “None of that has ever been proven.”

  “Still worth the risk,” Francis said.

  “You talk to Mage Black?” Wyatt hadn’t seen the other mage in the city for a very long time, but he was sure he was still here.

  “No, and I don’t plan to. Black is a hack and not worth our time. Last I knew he was doing stuff for the Kent family.”

  “Okay,” Wyatt said.

  “I’ll get back to you if I learn anything, and be safe. Send in Octavia and wait for her to come back.”

  They exited the building and sent the goblin in to talk to Francis.

  The wait for Octavia took close to thirty minutes. As they waited, the pair talked it all out. “You trust him?” Cat asked.

  Wyatt nodded. “I do. He might be a mage, but he’s one that doesn’t try to force his ways on people. He’s loved by all the races in Imlay.”

  “Okay,” Cat said. “I just don’t trust you type, normally.”

  “Hey.”

  “You’re different. That much is clear, and you have some rather pleasant attributes.”

  “So do you,” Wyatt said. His mind drifted back to the lovemaking and her body. He hoped they would have round two tonight. It was needed after the long day they were having. So much was going on, and yet no progress was being made. More and more questions were being created with no answers.

  A throat cleared behind them. “You’re right. He does have some nice assets.”

  Wyatt turned to see Octavia standing there with a smirk on her face.

  “Uh, thanks.”

  “No problem, hot stuff. I’m told that I have to work with you, but don’t get too comfortable, mage.”

  “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

  “Same for you, elfy.”

  Cat’s eyebrows narrowed and she gave the goblin a strange look. If Wyatt had to guess, she had never been called that before. “I think I’m going to like you, Octavia.”

  The goblin groaned. “Don’t be so sure.”

  With that, they headed back to his office and home to plan out what to do next.

  13

  The boring planning part

  Back at his place, Wyatt sat on the couch in the office. Cat took up the seat next to him, and her body rubbed against his. He wanted to just take her then and forget about all the other problems of the world.

  Sometimes he got lost in a woman, and right now, he wanted that. But he knew better, and focused on the problem at hand. The way her body felt against his own, even through the clothes, was enough to make his cock hard. She radiated a heat that he never felt before. The way she sat next to him, and the rise and fall of her chest making her breasts appear even bigger than they were. It was hard not to just stare at them. He had to shake his head and focus.

  “Francis didn’t tell me much,” Octavia said. “What am I supposed to do?”

  Cat told the goblin what they were doing and who they were trying to stop. The story took the better part of an hour. By the time Cat was done telling it all to Octavia, Wyatt was ready for another meal.

  It had been a long day since they had the bread and cheese for breakfast and they never did get lunch, with Octavia taking them on a trek around the city. His stomach rumbled.

  “I swear, all you do is eat,” Cat said.

  Wyatt ignored her. He knew full well that she too could use another meal. As far as Wyatt knew all the races had to eat the same amount of food.

  “Anyway,” Octavia said. “I’m not sure what I can do to help. I haven’t talked to any goblins recently. Though come to think of it, I do know a dwarf.”

  That would be useful. Wyatt had a lot of contacts, but none of them were dwarves. They had to get to the bottom of it all. Talking to Francis just created more and more questions. This was unlike anything that Wyatt had ever done in his time working as a PI. This was ridiculous, and he wondered just what he had gotten himself into.

  The king could possibly be behind it, or someone else making him do what he was doing. The elves were looking into it, and then maybe even the mages. None of it added up to Wyatt, and he just didn’t know what he should do next. Though he definitely wanted to get into the palace and see what was going on there.

  For now, Wyatt would settle for some food and seeing if Octavia could get them in touch with some of the city dwarves. They were hard to get ahold of in the best of times, and that wasn’t now.

  Cat and Octavia went back and forth as to what dwarf to talk to and when to approach. Both seemed to know way more about the dwarven culture and customs than Wyatt did. He stood and left as they debated it all.

  He needed to eat and to think. Wyatt knew that he did some of his best work as he walked and thought. He could do that in his own office and had done that more often than not. Pacing back and forth, looking at all the angles, but with the pair in discussion, Wyatt needed to leave. Part of it was that he just couldn’t stop thinking about the pair, not to mention the lady that hired him.

  In all his years working, he hadn’t come across so many attractive women this close together. It wasn’t that there weren’t any in Imlay or Urgan in general, but not in this neck of it. Now he was turning into a raging hormone-filled man, and that wasn’t good for his life expectancy in such a dangerous job.

  Out in the city of Imlay, Wyatt walked. The streets were eerily empty as he strolled through the section nearest to his house. Again, at this time, there should have been more people out. Imlay was the largest city in Urgan, and the people were almost always out doing something. Either they were working, or off to have fun at a tavern or some other form of entertainment. Wyatt didn’t like seeing so few people out. The king was getting what he w
anted. Keeping people in and creating fear in them.

  Wyatt had to put a stop to this and let the people go back to normal. He made his way to one of the best little grocers in the city. The owner was a short troll that could have done a lot of different things in his life but a chose a path he loved. “Wyatt,” Sigmund said. “What can I get for you?”

  “You wouldn’t happen to have some traditional goblin and elven food?”

  The short troll eyed him. “I do, but that isn’t like you.”

  “I know,” Wyatt said. “I have some guests and want to make them feel at home.”

  Sigmund nodded. “I see. Let me get what you will want.”

  Wyatt let the man work his magic. Sometimes it actually felt like he was using magic, but it was just a knowledge that no one else had. The troll knew food and what a person would like just by looking at him. It was why Wyatt came here for his groceries if he wasn’t getting that bread.

  It didn’t take the troll long before he had a bag full of goodies, and Wyatt paid him. What was inside smelled good, and he hoped that Octavia and Cat would appreciate what he got them.

  When he opened the door to his office, the pair were sitting on the couch. They stood when he entered. “Good,” Cat said. “We settled on a plan.”

  That was nice to hear and meant one less thing he had to do. It wasn’t that Wyatt was lazy and didn’t like to make decisions. He just wanted to let others do what they could since it allowed him to focus on what he could.

  “Is that pickled ham I smell?” Octavia said.

  Wyatt wished he had looked inside to see all he had. “I guess so. I asked Sigmund for food that you both would like.”

  “You went to Sigmund, wow. I hear he’s amazing.” Octavia appeared to be impressed that Wyatt had done that.

  “I did, and he is.”

  “I don’t know who you are talking about, but I’ll have to pass on ham. Especially pickled.”