Page 5 of Grave Affairs

“As in your profession?”

I nodded, although I would call it his win if he guessed I was the child of two rather reclusive dragons who rarely sprouted their wings and scales. “You have three guesses. On my honor, I swear I will tell you the truth should you guess.”

Cedrick considered me, tilting his head to the side as though seeing me for the first time. “And you will count my guess correct if the idea is correct but the name is wrong?”

Poor Cedrick. For a dragon-kin, he couldn’t handle certain occupations. I’d caught him near a brothel once, and his ears had turned red from embarrassment. “Yes, I will count your guess as correct in that circumstance.”

“I’ll play your game.”

“Make your guess, then.”

“You were a librarian. You know more than you should about things that you, perhaps, should not.”

“Hardly.” I wondered what he thought I knew. Whatever it was, I had played dumb enough about the nature of dragons and their kin to trick him. “I was not a librarian.”

“That’s a pity. You would have been a spectacular librarian.”

“Alas, I am not nearly as well schooled as such honored beings, be they dragon, dragon-kin, or human. Or other.” Some others lurked in the world, but unlike the dragons, they remained secret—and safe.

Cedrick’s eyes narrowed. “A veterinarian, perhaps? You care for the animals you bring in, and you become gloriously angry over the fate of the conjured. Even the ones that try to bite you in an attempt to inject you with their venom.”

That damned toad would never fail to make me laugh. “He tried to bite my hand off at the wrist. He just would not let go. He was so determined. You have to respect that. I thought about keeping that little shit, too. That’s just what I need in my life. A pet that wants to kill me.”

“Now the stakes are exceptionally high. What could you have been, Kinsley? Who might you have been? Were you a spy, then, fleeing from those you had spied upon?”

Damn. What did Cedrick do with his spare time? Daydream about the strange and interesting things I’d done in some glorious past life?

“I was a homicide detective.”

His eyes widened. “Excuse me, but did you say you were a cop?”

“Specifically, a homicide detective, but yes. I was a cop.”

“You?”

I scowled and crossed my arms, leveling a glare his way. “What part of that is so unbelievable?”

“Everything. Everything about it is unbelievable. Nowadays, you scrape pennies together for rent and pick up dead animals off the road for cash. You could do so much more here as a cop. Dragon Heights is always in need of cops.”

Torn between offense and amusement, I engaged him in a staring contest. “I used to be a homicide detective, Cedrick.”

He blinked. “Oh.”

“Nobody deserves to be murdered for taking a long and difficult path to change their situation. Maybe a dragon created through a pilgrimage is dangerous, but this person killing innocents is far worse. They are a clear and present danger. The pilgrimage is an uncontrolled possibility. If you can show me the evidence, maybe I can help you solve your mystery.”

“We would owe you far more than mere favors,” Cedrick replied, and his expression turned thoughtful. “But why would you offer? We have done nothing for you, not to justify the risk you would take involving yourself with our problems.”

“Without you and your wretched rains, I wouldn’t be able to pay my rent. I am grateful for that. When I had nothing, you dragon-kin and dragons gave me opportunity. I came here with nothing, as nothing, and you made it so I can survive.”

“That does not feel like a debt owed to me, not in letter nor in spirit, but if you are willing to help, I am willing to accept your help. But many who go to the shrines are attacked, and most die. Those who do not die are left empty shells, alive in body but departed in soul. Then they ultimately die, because a body without a spirit cannot survive for long.”

That sounded like necromancy to me. “This is quite the grave affair, then.”

“That it is.”

I checked the time on the wall clock. “I need to pay my rent tonight. Next week, I will be on the lookout for the next rain. Bring me all the paperwork you can on this killer. If you need me before then, you’ll find me at the library.”

“The library?” Cedrick blurted.

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