Page 6 of The Elven Spymaster's Thief

“I am aware.”

“A female.”

“I don’t see how that is any business of yours.” My magic rose with a flare of lethal sharpness. My irritation added extra power to my demonstration of power. I didn’t threaten him, but I made my position clear.

He transported into the shade of the tree in the conservatory and then through the unspelled door. The spell I maintained on the grounds allowed me to know his every movement.

Blessed silence descended. Well, it would have been blessed except for the fact that she was there—and breathing.

“What did you do with my dagger?” I asked without lifting my gaze from the reports on the table. I needed more intel about what the gargoyles were doing. News from their borders had been too limited.

“Why do some of the shadow elves walk silently and others do not?”

I frowned at the map. “Do I need to have your bedroom searched?”

“Does the difference have to do with their skill level? That one from last night, Casimir, he made a lot of noise when he left.”

“That was because he was disgruntled with me.” I turned to face her. “I want my dagger back.”

She stood against the wall, next to the windows, the only wall that didn’t have a piece of furniture shoved up against it. Gone was the brownie-charmed cloak from the previous night. A thick braid of dark auburn hair fell over her slender shoulder. Her sun-kissed features betrayed that she didn’t always lurk in the darkness. Intelligence enlivened her features, brightening her eyes and making an otherwise unnoteworthy face arresting.

Her lithe form tensed slightly under my scrutiny, but she didn’t retreat. If anything, her response was preparation for a fight. Her dark eyes, a steady brown, studied my features with an unnerving focus. Had they done that last night from the depths of her hood and mask? I wished now that I had demanded she remove her hood then.

“How do I know it is yours?” she demanded.

“I don’t steal.” I extended my hand toward her in a clear request.

“You do. You stole my brother.”

I glared at her. “Your brother volunteered. He signed a standard contract of service in exchange for compensation. I held up my end of the bargain, and he held up his. Give me my dagger.”

She didn’t even flinch. “The dagger is a plaything, ineffectual as a weapon and by all appearances generally useless. Hardly an object worth all this fuss. What is the dagger to you?”

“Better to ask what its value is to the man who sent you to steal it.” I glared at her and flicked my fingers in a clear order for her to hand it over.

Her unnerving eyes narrowed beneath her lowered brows. “Grimore’s attachment is equally as puzzling. He would find it disdainful to claim such a farce of a weapon.”

I snorted. “It was once his most prized possession. Give me my dagger before I am forced to take it from you.”

“You would dare break your word?”

“What are you talking about?” I demanded. My irritation burned at the back of my throat. No one challenged me. Well, no one but Casimir.

“Our agreement, it prevents me from attacking you. That means it also prevents you from attacking me.” She smiled smugly. “You aren’t the only one who gathers intel.”

She was right. Elven agreements needed balance to be binding. Upsetting the balance could nullify the contract. However, there was far more leeway than she supposed. I eyed her person. “Where did you hide it?” I demanded. “It isn’t in your room, or you wouldn’t be so confident a search there would be fruitless. Your cloak from last night had no pocket charm on it.” There was no place for concealment on her person, or at least not room enough for the dagger I sought. That meant she had concealed the dagger somewhere in the house.

I whirled on my heel. “Stay,” I ordered before stalking out onto the landing. Crafting a seek-and-find spell, I released it in the direction of the room in which she had slept.

“I will tell you where to find it—”

I turned to find her standing in the doorway of my study.

“I told you to stay.”

“I am still inside the room.” She gestured to the doorsill, inches from her toes. “Or did you mean for me to freeze in place until your return?” She raised her eyebrows and composed her features into a perfectly innocent mask.

I growled in frustration. The seek-and-find spell returned, whispering its negative results. That left only one alternative. I shoved my way past her, reentering my private domain.

---