Page 58 of Shield of Fire

“I am far more than a mere medium,” she retorted. “Mediums are limited by time. I am not.”

“Meaning you’ve spoken to the man who wrote Loudon’s scroll?”

“I don’t speak to them as such. I use them more as a...” She hesitated. “A speaker, I guess you could say. Or perhaps an amplifier. I can see the wisps of their spirits and, through that, their memories. But it is their resonance—the timbre of their being, which I hear in much the same manner you pixies can hear the music of wood and trees—that enables me to trace particular items or relics. A maker’s resonance always sticks to their creations, and it is a song I trace if still exists in this world.”

That was one hell of a talent. No wonder Mom had been willing to pay her fees. In fact, a grand was probably cheap considering the possibilities. “Wouldn’t the resonance fade over time? Wood song does.”

“Only if its nature has been severely compromised, is that not true?”

“Yes, but—” I stopped. I guessed if an old building could hold its song after centuries of human use and alterations, then a scroll created by human hands could certainly hold a resonance, however faint it might be. “I take it this talent only applies to things created by humans, not gods?”

She nodded. “But man—human or fae—has a long history of writing things down. Even the elves, who have guarded the relics for eons, made long lists that can be tracked all these centuries later.”

“I take it that’s how you found the ruby in France?”

She nodded again. “I tuned in to a bibliothecary once responsible for recording artifacts. He had a love of precious stones and often handled the ruby Keelakm commissioned us to find.”

“Only that one?”

“Unfortunately, yes. I had no sense of the others, so I do not know whether he simply didn’t risk handling the others or if they were already missing by then.”

“I take it you have been searching for someone who might have handled either the other rubies or even the shield?”

“Yes, but it’s a bit like spitting into the wind. You never know exactly where it’s going to land.”

“It” being her talent, obviously.

So where had Gratham found the ruby he’d presumably sold to Ka-hal? And where the hell had Gilda’s come from?

“When did Keelakm commission Gannon and Loudon to find the ruby?”

She wrinkled her nose. “Three or four months ago.”

Before Gilda had been murdered, then. “What about the other two? He never mentioned them?”

“No.” She paused. “When he arrived to pick up the ruby, there was a man—an elf—with him. I remember him because he had red hair, which is unusual in an elf.”

It certainly was. It also meant my guess that Keelakm and Ka-hal were partners in crime had been spot on. “Did he touch the ruby? You mentioned hearing its song once before.”

She nodded. “It didn’t respond to him, though, only to Keelakm.”

Which suggested the rubies were capable of picking their wielders—but was that any surprise? We were talking about items made by a god who delighted in destruction—he’d surely ensure only a mind with similar aspirations could wield his weapons.

“Is Keelakm someone you’ve dealt with before?”

“No, but clients such as him come recommended via a vetting source we trust.”

“I take it you have Keelakm’s contact details but said details are now as destroyed as that building.”

She smiled. “Yes, but I can give you the contact details of our vetter.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Why would you do that? What happened to protecting your sources and all that?”

“May I remind you that someone just tried to blow me up? Cherry did the background checks on him, so any loyalty I have to her is now null and void. And it’s not like I’m feeling very charitable toward Gannon right now, either, given he basically hung me out to dry along with his partner.”

To be fair to Cherry, elves could be mighty persuasive when they wanted to be and could certainly work any human system of checks and balances to their favor. Gannon, however, was another matter. Although it had to be asked, why would he waste a talent like Margaret? As far as I knew, her tracing skills were rare, and it had obviously made both him and Loudon a good chunk of change over the years.

“I don’t suppose you know who made that call to Gannon, do you?”

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