Page 69 of Shield of Fire

My stomach briefly clenched. Damn it, I’d forgotten I hadn’t exactly been truthful when it came to the events around the explosion. I should just fess up and be done with it—if only to save further awkward moments like this—but instinct was saying don’t. I had to trust her, even if I had no idea why.

“I gathered it from that conversation I overheard,” I replied as casually as I could. “They were arguing about the scroll.”

He studied me for a moment, then returned his gaze to the box. I had a suspicion he didn’t believe me and no idea why that worried me. Was it simply a matter of knowing lies, no matter how small, always caused problems further down the track?

Or was guilt making me read things into his expression that weren’t there?

Probably. It wasn’t like I lied all that often or was very good at it.

“We should get these back to the museum where they can be stored in optimal conditions and make it easier to study them,” he said.

“In an ideal world, yes we should, but the museum will want them catalogued and preserved before it lets anyone near them, and right now, we can’t afford to waste any time. We’ve two madmen out there desperate to find the shield, so the sooner we can find and destroy it, the safer everyone will be.”

“One does not necessarily lead to the other when those same two elves are armed with the rubies.”

“Yes, but without the shield, their power cannot be amplified.” I placed the lid back on the box, then picked it up and rose. It was heavier than it looked. “We’ll take them to Lugh’s. His workshop is kept cool by ultra-thick walls, so they should be okay there for a little while.”

He lifted the second box and followed me out of the container. “If Lugh has no objections, I’ll help the two of you sort through the scrolls.”

“I’m sure he won’t.” After all, it was part of his “revenge” plan to see me married off—or at least, happily settled—with Eljin. That’s why he’d handballed me the assignment of picking him up at the airport when he’d first arrived. He’d been hoping we’d click. And we had. Whether it would go the full distance was anyone’s guess at this point.

Though it would definitely help if I stopped the lies, however minor they might be.

We dumped the two boxes into the trunk of his car and then made the long trek home. Once we were near Deva, I called Lugh.

“Hey,” he said, by way of hello. “Sgott tells me you ran into trouble up in Swansea.”

“Just a wee bit, as he would say. Got the information we needed, though.”

“Meaning you found the witch who made the Eve token?”

“I did. Unfortunately, he was the victim of a hit-and-run.”

“That was no accident, I’m gathering.”

“No.” I gave him a quick update on everything we’d discovered without going into too much detail or mentioning the Ninkilim, wary of confirming Eljin’s suspicions about my lies.

“Well, at least the mystery of the token has been solved, even if it has led to further questions.”

“Which we may well find answers to in Kaitlyn’s scroll, which we found this morning.”

“Actually,” Eljin said, “we found a good dozen of them.”

“And you need them translated ASAP, I’m guessing,” Lugh said.

“Yes indeed. We’re heading for your place as we speak.”

He grunted. “I’m at the museum right now, but I should be able to finish up and get there within the hour.”

“Eljin’s going to help us translate.”

“You might want to call in Mathi and Cynwrig too, given speed is of the essence.”

“Cynwrig is still dealing with the fallout from the building collapse, but I’ll ring Mathi. I need to update him anyway so he can make a report to the council.”

Even if Cynwrig hadn’t been busy, putting him in the same room as the competition was not a good idea. The tension alone would be fierce enough to ignite a forest, at least on Cynwrig’s part. Hell, he bristled at the mere mention of the man.

“Coward,” Lugh said, obviously not buying my excuse. “Cynwrig is civilized. He’d behave himself.”

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