Tempt the Devil (The Devil of Ponong series #3) Read Online Free Page B

jabbed a finger toward her, but stopped himself before
he raised his voice. The important thing to remember was that he needed a favor
from her. Pride be damned. He wanted his freedom. He settled back in his chair,
lowered his hand, and tried to look like a hapless civil servant. “I’ve been
busy.”
    Now she’d ask what he’d been busy with and make sharp
comments about how little he’d accomplished.
    Except that she didn’t.
    “Two bodies found mutilated in alleyways in the past week.
Both alleged smugglers. Does that sound familiar?” she asked.
    Now he remembered Voorus telling him about the grisly
findings. “Oh. Those. I didn’t suspect you… much. I’m sure the Devil–”
    “You shouldn’t blame me at all. They were my people.” Her
anger cracked, and pain shone through it so acutely that his breath caught.
    The criminal network in Levapur existed outside the
Thampurian sphere. Kyam had no idea what happened in the alleyways of the
Quarter of Delights. She shouldn’t expect him to know.
    She composed herself. “Are you going to see to it that these
murders are properly investigated?”
    Here was another potential bargaining tile. He could offer
to investigate the deaths in exchange for her help. It seemed to be something
that mattered to her. Maybe this was her real reason for coming today.
    He decided to be frank. “I have limited powers here. I’m
up against every government clerk in this building. They make glaciers look
fast. They demand obscure forms that can never be found. They get offended if I
ask them to do anything, but I can’t fire them. Besides, I can’t create a
police force out of thin air. We don’t have the money. Turyat drained the
treasury. I don’t even have enough to remit taxes to Thampur.”
    There it was at last, the wicked little smile that haunted
his dreams. She was laughing at him, but he thought it was with some fondness.
What a relief that she didn’t seem to hate him.
    “Does the Colonial Government need a loan?” she asked.
    He laughed.
    “You won’t like my terms, but if you’re desperate enough,
let me know.”
    He was desperate, but not for coins. He kept his tone
light. She liked banter. He’d give it to her. “What are your terms?”
    She gave him an appraising look. “Repealing the assembly
act is out of the question?”
    “Yes.” Not really, but negotiations always began this way.
    “What would it take to convince the colonial government to
go through the pretense of giving a damn and investigate the murder of my
lieutenants?” She rose and walked across his office to open the typhoon
shutters. Indicating the marketplace below with a sweeping motion of her arm,
she said, “Show them that you’re the governor of everyone on this island, not
only the Thampurians. Show them that justice is for everyone.”
    “I can’t–”
    “Don’t be such a coward. Anger your own people. Make
enemies. Prompt them to write outraged letters to the papers back in Thampur
and denounce you to the King. After all, when the war comes, you don’t want my
people to side with the Ravidians against Thampur.”
    Kyam jumped to his feet. His hands clenched into fists. He
pressed them against the desk and leaned on them. “You wouldn’t dare. The
Ravidians would enslave you.”
    “The Ravidians swear that putting the Rhi in chains was
Turyat and Cuulon’s idea, not theirs. And after the Ravidians were gone, the
Thampurians tried to keep my people in slavery, so don’t preach to me about
Thampur’s moral superiority.”
    He took deep breaths and slowly sank back into his chair.
Too much was at stake. He couldn’t afford to lose control. He swore she made
him angry on purpose.
    After several false starts, he was able to speak calmly. “How
do you know what the Ravidians said?”
    She sauntered back to her chair and sat down. “I asked
them.”
    “The Ravidians?” She was not to be believed. He couldn’t
even begin to make sense of her thinking. The