“We will,” Hibla said. Green rolled over her eyes. She’d asked for my advice, but she really didn’t like me telling her what to do.

Diplomatic. “Did you tell Lord Megobari about this?”

She raised her chin. “We provide security. It is our problem.”

Right. Someone in the castle was turning into a giant creature nobody had ever seen before and then making off with the guards, but let’s not tell the person in charge about it. Why, that would be ridiculous. In fact, let’s keep him in the dark as long as possible, so when he’s attacked, he will be caught completely off-guard. Kick-ass strategy.

“Glorious lady!” Christopher called from the cage. “You are so kind!”

At least I had made his life easier, if only for a little while. “We need to see the top of the main tower.”

Hibla raised her chin. “I will take you.”

As we walked away, Christopher grabbed the bars. He didn’t say anything. He just sat there and watched us walk away.

“You seem to think that I know nothing,” Hibla said, as we walked through the hallway up to another set of stairs. “I am good at what I do.”

You know what, screw it. “I get it. You probably worked hard to get where you are now. You run this place the way you want to run it, and usually you have no issues. Now you have a castle full of heavy hitters who are at each other’s throats, a human who is stepping on your toes, and some weird creatures that are killing your people. You are trusted and you don’t want to let anyone down. This is your home and your job. I don’t want either.”

She stared at me. I couldn’t tell if I was getting through or not.

“All I want to do is to keep my people safe and go home. We are not opposed to each other. We want the same thing: you want us gone, and I want to be gone. I’m not a threat. I have experience, and together we would be much stronger. You must realize this, because you found us and brought us to your murder scene. But I can’t work with you if every time I suggest something or question something, you bristle like a hysterical hedgehog. You can choose your pride and lose more people, or you can work with me. You still might lose more people, but at least you’ll know you did everything you could to avoid that. Let me know what you decide.”

She studied me. “What’s a hedgehog?”

“A animal with needles on its back.”

“How do I know it isn’t you who is doing this? It started when you came.”