Page 54 of Shield of Fire

I sighed. “Yes.”

“Then it was made for Loudon so he could distract a collector up Ben Nevis way.”

My pulse rate leapt again. “Biran Gratham?”

“That’s the man. We’d discovered he’d gotten hold of a ruby with almost the same energy signature as the one we’d sold.”

“Almost the same?”

She nodded. “Ours felt... heavier, if that makes sense. Like it was weighted with steel and iron rather than the fierier touch I felt today.”

Suggesting it might be the stone that gave the power of the smith rather than the one that turned the earth liquid. Whether that was a good thing or not very much depended on what Keelakm intended to do with it.

That they hadn’t yet called it into action was rather ominous, however.

“According to my sources,” I said, “none of the shield’s rubies have ever hit the black market?—”

She smiled. “I never said we purchased it, and it certainly never hit the market, black or regular. In fact, I doubt the collector is even aware the ruby he so proudly displays is nothing more than a synth.”

Meaning they’d somehow magicked the real one out, which would have taken time, effort, and some serious spell work, as most collections—private or public—usually had a thick weave of spells in place to counter any prospect of magical theft.

“I take it Loudon’s efforts to distract Gratham and steal the second ruby were unsuccessful?”

She nodded. “Loudon found some records that said the ruby had been purchased three days before he got there.”

Meaning he’d likely been responsible for the utter mess we’d found Gratham’s office in. “I don’t suppose either he or Gannon mentioned who purchased it? Or perhaps even their contact details? Loudon obviously wouldn’t have left that information there.”

“He didn’t, but neither he nor Gannon gave me the records to trace.”

“And they never spoke about it?”

She grinned, revealing stained teeth. “Not within my hearing. Not as far as they were aware, anyway.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Meaning they did speak about it?”

“Yes, in truth, they never mentioned the name, only a location—Deva.”

I guess that wasn’t so surprising, given Deva seemed to be ground zero when it came to their revenge plans. “I don’t suppose you overheard an address?”

She hesitated. “No, but he did say something about it not being far from the Fae Museum, so he might pop in and see what he could find out about the shield.”

“It wouldn’t have been much, I can assure you of that.”

“Not much would have given us more than we currently have.”

A metallic squeal rent the air. I glanced around and lightly spun the wind toward it. She came back filled with whispers of voices and movement coming from the top end of the laneway. A number of people were attempting to move the metal bin and gain access. I had to hurry things up if I wanted to avoid another round of tedious police questioning.

I glanced back to Margaret. “What was the package Loudon was sent here to retrieve?”

“Gannon never said anything about a package, though we are waiting on the arrival of a scroll. He just said to keep Loudon here as long as I could.” She sniffed. “That bastard set me up to die, didn’t he?”

“Seems like he might have.” I paused briefly as another metallic squeal echoed. “Look, I need to go, but?—”

“You’re not going anywhere without me, young lady. You ain’t the only one wanting to avoid chatting to the cops.”

I motioned to her arm. “You’re not going to get over the wall with that.”

“Don’t need to, do I? You think a man like Gannon hasn’t got an escape route built into all his premises?” She made a “come here” motion with her good hand. “Help me up.”

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