King's Gambit by Ashley Meira

no more than sixteen or seventeen, I’d wager – if his looks were anything to go by. He kind of looked like Tamlin. His nose was pointier, his chin thinner, and his blonde hair was slicked back, but otherwise the two of them could have been brothers. They better not actually be related – the last thing I needed was to add vampires to my family tree.
    He was staring out at the city when I entered, his hands crossed behind his back. As I approached his desk, he turned to greet me. “Miss Maxwell, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person.”
    “You too.” We shook hands and he gestured for me to take a seat in front of his desk. “I’m here to talk about Robert Franklin, but first, allow me to congratulate you on becoming king.” Hey, I may be helping to overthrow him, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t kiss his ass a little. Just in case.
    “Thank you.” His smile was beautiful but dead. “The inauguration party was busier than I thought. My apologies for not ‘chatting you up,’ as they say. Now,” he said with a single clap of his hands, “about the sudden and unfortunate demise of Mister Franklin. With all due respect to your job, Miss Maxwell, the affair is vampiric. So, while your concern is appreciated, we are more than capable of handling the matter internally.”
    “I just wanted to let you know that my assistance is always available if you need it.” Yeah, that’s why I’m here. Not because I want to size you up or because I’m too much of a wuss to go home.
    “How generous of you,” he said. “Actually, perhaps there is something you could help with. People remember you going off with Mister Franklin shortly before he was killed.”
    “I wasn’t feeling well – too much wine – and he was taking me to a private room so I could rest,” I said, keeping a neutral expression.
    “That explains why you didn’t stick around.”
    “Yeah, I could barely keep my eyes open, much less give a coherent statement. Sorry about that.”
    “No, no, it’s perfectly understandable…” He peered down at me. “Tell me, did you see anything?”
    I shook my head. “I remember there were three of them, but not much else. They were moving too fast. One second, Franklin was leading me to a chair, then he was ash. One of the attackers grabbed me and I kicked them away. My heel stabbed them. They ran off. The commotion attracted attention… That’s all.” Hopefully, that didn’t sound as fake to him as it did to me. “Do you know who may be behind this?”
    “I can’t speak to having any knowledge of such groups,” he said as I tried to keep the skepticism over his not-denial off my face. “There was magic involved, however, so I’ve tasked the investigation to my arcane advisor: Mistress Zhen. Have you two met?”
    The image of an imposing Asian woman standing among the other parliament members during Flavius’ inauguration speech came to mind. “I saw her at your party, but we’ve never spoken.”
    “Mm, yes. She excused herself shortly after. Mistress Zhen is not what you would call a ‘fan’ of social gatherings. She’d much rather spend her time researching than networking. Then again, I did choose her for her magical know-how, not her social skills.”
    “We all have our strong suits,” I said. “A lot of people have been asking questions, actually.” Lie. “There’s a cloud of mystery surrounding her.” Truth. Bam, karmic scales balanced.
    That faux smile came back with a bit of life this time. “I’m sure. There’s nothing people love more than a good mystery.”
    “Have you known her very long?” Do you happen to have a sample of her blood I could steal? Preferably next to a vial of your own.
    “Long enough to know she is an excellent addition to my parliament,” he said. “Right now, I’m more interested in learning about you.”
    Uh-oh. “I’m really not that interesting. You’re a much more intriguing topic.”
    “Is that so?” He raised a single