Chapter 157

Gavin would make her pay with her life for the insult and making a fool of him, but he only had a certain amount of time to do it. Based on his sources, Adolph wouldn't be back for a while yet, but how long wasn't clear.

He had to be quick.

With any luck, the man he'd made an appointment with would be on time.

"Sir, your appointment is here."

Gavin looked up as he entered. He'd arranged for them to meet in this squalid little townhouse on the worst side of town for the sheer ease of it. No one would suspect that he would meet anyone here and as it didn't belong to him, it would never be traced back to him.

The man entered, hooded, and didn't sit. He was taller than Gavin and rather broad beneath his cloak. He wanted to see the man's face, but as he didn't plan to reveal his face, he couldn't ask an assassin to reveal his identity.

No smart man would have agreed anyway.

"I hear you're someone who can get rid of a problem for me."

"Depends on how much of a problem and what you're willing to pay."

He slipped a piece of paper across the table. The directions were coded with old, obscure terms. Someone might have been able to crack the code, but the language wasn't particular to any level of society. A devout peasant could have written the note.

"Quite a problem," the man said. "And how do you propose this to happen?"

Gavin smirked. He'd set it up easily enough. Luring Laurel out of the castle was easy. In two days, there would be an attack on the orphanage and the hospital would lure her out to try and fix the damage as there wouldn't be enough hands around to get people to safety or to treat people.

In the middle of the chaos, he'd have ample opportunity to murder her and escape.

"A good plan. I'll need your seal and double what you're offering."

"Double?" That was ridiculous! He could find a cheaper assassin. He was sure of it.

"You're asking me to not only do this but to disappear from the kingdom. Do you think I want to end up like the last man who had managed to get away with it?"

Gavin's stomach turned. The sight of the man's rotting flesh, attracting carrion birds, and sliding from the pike he'd been impaled on haunted him and turned his stomach. Fine. He could perhaps find a cheaper assassin, but not one in the timeframe he'd locked himself into. If this remained undone and Adolph returned, he'd be screwed.

"Fine. Double."

"Half up front."

Gavin smirked pulling out an old seal that he very rarely used for anything. It was so old no one would be able to recognize it. He melted a candle, poured the wax, and stamped it firmly. The guard he'd brought with him handed over the money easily. It was a hefty fee, but he would make it back soon enough.

"We'll meet here when it's done."

The man took the page and tucked it into his robes before leaving as silently as he came.

A few minutes later, Gavin left out another entrance and headed back to the Mirabelle estate under the cover of the fading light.

The man entered the palace and drifted through the halls until he reached the parlor. He removed his hood and bowed. Raven smiled at him. He'd been a handsome young man before entering service and had only grown stronger with training.

"He took the bait?" Irene asked, shocked.

Armina, another of their cousins, grinned, "Of course, he did."

Armina's pack was known for some of the best fighters and stealthy operations against vampires and rogue werewolves. Gavin hadn't been able to resist a man with that sort of reputation in the city. It had only taken a few pointed whispers in the right ears from the right people to make sure the information got to him and he requested a meeting.

The young man set the bag of gold on the table with a distasteful grunt.

"He didn't want to double the fee."

Armina laughed, "Well, I'm glad you held your position. You shouldn't be cheated for conspiring to commit treason!"

Double the amount would put Gavin in the firm line of some other charges that would ensure the ruination of the entire Mirabelle line and a lot of the noble packs. She'd be ushering in an era of real peace by weeding out all the corruption now.

She wondered how Adolph would feel when he came back and nearly two-thirds of his noble packs were on trial for various crimes against the crown.

Laurel was glad everything had gone off without a problem. At least, this way. It would make it much easier to get Gavin and his accomplishments in the end.

"From here, we weed out whoever he's using to make his plans work."

"Two days isn't a lot of time."

Raven nodded, "But the impatient will always show themselves early. I suggest we start with the far away packs first, anyone with known connections, then move on"

Laurel listened to Raven in a little bit of awe. She knew that Adolph had to be a great tactician to have won the battle he'd won, but seeing it in his sister made her wonder what kind of people their parents were.

Irene grinned, "I would hate to make an enemy out of you, Rae'."

Raven grinned, "I'm flattered."

She turned to the young man, "Now, tell me everything."

Laurel sat back listening to the young man describe his meeting with Gavin in the little townhouse that didn't belong to him. It wouldn't take much time to figure out who it belonged to with little trouble.

"He never showed you his face?"

"No, and he used a seal I've never seen before."

Raven looked at the page skeptically. She didn't recognize the stamp immediately, but she knew that a lot of the old noble families had more than one stamp they used for paperwork that they would rather not have attached to their name formally.

It would take a bit of work to find the origin of the stamp, but it wasn't impossible.

It would be enough to have someone who could certify that they'd seen the stamp with Gavin before.

Laurel gasped as she remembered a moment when she was Laura. She'd been speaking to Basil. It had been such an off-handed remark that she hadn't thought anything of it.

He'd told her about the safe in Gavin's house and seeing a seal being used on his paperwork for his tutoring fees.

If she was right, that paperwork should still be filed in the castle, and if not, Basil would recognize the seal easily.

He might even be able to find it in the Mirabelle estate.

She grinned, "I need to write to Prince Basil."

Raven's eyes widened, "Basil?"

"About the seal."

Raven narrowed her eyes, "What do you mean?"

Laurel swallowed, scrambling for something plausible to say when it came to her.

"Prince Basil's tutoring fees were reserved for that purpose, only to be drawn out to pay his teacher. How then did Gavin get around the protocol without anyone noticing all these years?"

Raven frowned and she gasped, "You think he used the seal to sign for the paperwork."

Laurel grinned, "And if not, he's seen it. Gavin doesn't think Basil is smart enough to comprehend what he was doing all these years. He wouldn't have hidden it!"

Raven chuckled, "You're right Send Luna's order."

Laurel grinned. She hadn't ever had a reason to send one as Laura, but the fact that she would be sending one to Basil was entertaining beyond belief.

"Basil."

Basil lifted his head at the call of his name. For the first few days, it had grated his nerves not to be called by his title, but he soon realized there was a freedom to just being another recruit. It took some of the pressure off his shoulders to be as great as his father had been and allowed him to get better at the drills. When he'd beaten his sparring partner for the first time, he'd been beside himself with joy.

He went to the general and took the page from him.

"You've been summoned by the luna. Get packed. The envoy will escort you back."

Basil swallowed a bit of nervousness before looking at the letter. There was no indication about what Laurel could want with him or how long.

"What about my training?"

The man laughed and waved him off, "You're done. Not too much different than your father in that regard. You've got the Raymond warrior blood in you. Get packed."

His heart swelled with hope and he hurried back to his tent to pack his bag.

"You're leaving?"

The voice was tentative, trying to be nonchalant. He turned to her and nodded.

"I'll be back."

Her eyes narrowed and she turned away, "Safe travels."

Basil blew output a

*Go talk to her, his wolf urged.* *Now!*

"As soon as possible," he called after her, stopping her with a hand on her shoulder. Their gazes met.

*And?*

"To you."

Her eyes widened and her cheeks flushed before she turned away sharply, "That makes no sense. Safe travels, Prince Basil."

Basil sighed watching her walk away. To think, he once thought himself charming! He'd botched that completely. Maybe he should ask his father about what to do.