Page 25 of Shield of Fire

Lewis certainly wasn’t an elf surname. It also wasn’t the name my captured contractor had given me, so did that mean we were dealing with two different men?

Maybe. And maybe he was just using a collection of false names.

“And his contact details?”

“I’ll have to check.”

“You haven’t already?” Mathi said, in a clearly disbelieving tone. “I’d have thought it would have been the first thing you’d do after being interviewed by the IIT last night.”

“Perhaps it was. Perhaps the details that man gave me are no longer accurate.”

“But you were appropriately paid for your services first, I take it?” I asked.

Amusement touched her lips. “Of course. I also have a voice sample. If he contacts me using an alias, I will know, even if he is using a modulator.”

“And will you tell us?”

“If it is required.”

“It is,” Mathi said.

She nodded but otherwise remained silent.

“What about the Shield of Hephaestus?” I asked.

She raised an eyebrow. “What about it?”

“Has any information about the shield or the rubies that lie within it crossed your desk?”

“The rubies? No, though I am aware of several parties—including your Myrkálfar lover, Bethany—currently seeking them.”

“Who are the other parties?”

“For the most part, they are the usual black-market dealers of godly relics.”

“For the most part?” I asked.

“There was a rumor of a dark mage seeking the Eyes of Hephaestus—which is the official name for your rubies, in case you weren’t aware—but that fell silent a good seven or eight months ago.”

Which was one or two months before the hoard had been stolen, and that made no sense given the shield was supposedly a part of said hoard. I glanced at Mathi, but he shrugged at my unspoken question.

“Do you know whether he was successful in finding them?”

“There were whispers suggesting he was, but I’m unable to confirm this.”

If he had found all three, how had one of them come to be in Gilda’s possession? Even if she was the lover he was avenging, she wasn’t a witch of any kind, and it was doubtful she’d have been given anything as important as this to protect.

“Did you make any attempt to confirm these whispers?”

“Of course. There is always deep interest in any powerful relic that surfaces, be it on the open market or the closed.”

By deep interest, she meant lots of money to be made. “Cynwrig never mentioned either rumor.”

Kaitlyn smirked. “Well, he wouldn’t, would he?”

“Why not?” Mathi asked before I could. “Are you implying?—”

“I am implying nothing,” she cut in. “However, it is a fact that there are those within the darker corners of the underworld who would never deal with the Myrkálfar. They would rather trust one such as me than risk death via an association with them. And before you get too smug, young elf, that can also be said of the Ljósálfar.”

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