Ruby Fever (Hidden Legacy, #6)(25)

“Do you remember the brush I stole from Luciana’s purse? I gave it to Cornelius. He took the brush and Gus to Linus’ house and had Gus check the scent signatures. Luciana’s scent is in the yard and in the house, and it’s fresh. As the Speaker, she had unprecedented access to the Warden. They likely had many confidential meetings. He might have added her as an exception to his security system.”

“When did you know?”

“I didn’t. I had a feeling.”

Alessandro wiggled his fingers at me. “Witchery.”

“No, instincts. Once Leon called and told us that the siege protocols were active but there were no bodies, I knew that either the attack never happened, or the attacker got out unscathed. Luciana and Linus, one attack after another. It felt too coincidental. I didn’t suspect her, but it didn’t feel right, so I wanted to cover all of my bases.”

He didn’t seem surprised. Why wasn’t he surprised?

“Alessandro, you have something.”

“I do.”

“What do you have?”

“Would you like to see it?”

“Alessandro!”

Alessandro produced his phone with an elegant flourish and offered it to me. An email from someone named Doc Giordano.

“Who is Doc Giordano?”

Alessandro nodded toward the street. “A retired brain surgeon. He’s lived two houses down from Linus for the last thirty years.”

“I don’t remember House Giordano.”

“There isn’t one. Doc isn’t a magic user. He’s a rich old guy who worked very hard for most of his life to live at this address. He and Linus are friendly. I’ve chatted with him a few times.”

That didn’t surprise me. Alessandro had the uncanny ability to get people to like him without doing anything at all. He’d enter a room filled with strangers and in thirty seconds they would start telling him their life stories.

He was also clearly enjoying dragging this reveal out.

“Give,” I demanded.

“Every day Doc walks his dogs at nine in the morning and nine in the evening like clockwork. He remembers seeing Luciana Cabera walking from the direction of Linus’ home toward her house a little after 9:00 p.m. on Sunday night.”

That fit right into our window. “Is he sure?”

“Very. He’s in his seventies, but he is still very sharp. There’s more.”

“Tell me.”

“There was another person with her. He didn’t get a good look, because they were wearing a large hoodie, but he thinks they were young from the way they walked.”

I leaned back in my seat. “Unless Luciana had hidden talents, she couldn’t have killed Pete with her magic. Not if she was a true halcyon.”

He nodded. “Whoever was with her is likely the killer.”

“If so, why did they leave Dr. Giordano alive? He saw them.”

Alessandro smiled. “Hubris.”

Luciana had been a Prime. She’d dealt with other Primes on a daily basis. Her entire political career revolved around mages, and Dr. Giordano was an ordinary person. She never considered him a threat because in normal circumstances he never would be. An experienced combat magic user would’ve eliminated all witnesses, but Luciana wasn’t used to getting her hands dirty. She walked right past Dr. Giordano, because she was so conditioned to ignore people like him, he might as well have been invisible.

We had to get him out of the city. “Where is Dr. Giordano now?”

“On vacation with his lovely spouse,” Alessandro said. “On the Warden’s dime. I’ve explained the situation to him. He’s onboard.”

I really loved this man.

A dark thought zinged through my brain. “She had a young person with her, Pete was killed by someone with unusual magic, and Kaylee hasn’t taken the trials.”

“Interesting, isn’t it?” Alessandro said.

If House Cabera killed Pete and hurt Linus, I would make them pay.

“I have so many questions.” I tapped my fingers on the dashboard in front of me. “Why would Luciana want to hurt Linus? Why would Arkan have her killed? Did Kaylee help her mother end Pete’s life or was it one of Arkan’s assassins? If it was one of Arkan’s people, did he somehow force Luciana to help him gain access to Linus and did he kill her after they botched it?”

“Let’s go ask them.” Alessandro popped his door open. “Shall we?”

“We shall.”

He got out of the car to open my door.

Normally I opened my own door unless I was wearing a gown that required management, but right now we were on display and Alessandro was in his Count Sagredo persona. He switched identities like gloves, and he was always flawlessly consistent once he assumed them. Today he wore khaki trousers, a crisp white T-shirt, and a seersucker blazer unbuttoned, with the sleeves casually rolled back to mid forearm. His shoes were blue Santoni loafers, his shades were Trussardi, and if you searched the Internet for “young Italian Prime,” you’d see his picture. Probably several of them.

Kaylee was twenty-two, like me. Alessandro was the god of our adolescence, and his Instagram was the altar on which all of us prayed. I was no longer in love with that fantasy. I preferred a different Alessandro, the one who plotted like a Borgia, neutralized his enemies before they knew what hit them, and woke me up in the middle of the night to do things that made me blush when he mentioned them later. But Kaylee wasn’t me.