by Lisa Shearin
I didn’t know if it was that thought or something else, but the center of my chest, right below the first button of my shirt, was starting to itch like crazy. There was no way I was going to stick a finger down there and scratch myself. Something shifted and I quickly glanced down.
And bit back a squeak.
I had Sebastian du Beckett crumbs down the front of my bra.
It wasn’t plaster dust. I could tell myself that it was until the cows came home, but that wouldn’t make it true. This was grit, coarse grit, like pulverized stone.
Pulverized, petrified Sebastian du Beckett.
I tried slow, calming breaths. I couldn’t lose it, especially not here. Excusing myself to Rake Danescu’s bathroom and ripping my clothes off wasn’t going to happen. It wouldn’t surprise me if Rake had cameras in his home bathroom just like he did in the ladies’ room (and probably the men’s room) in his club. I hadn’t gone in the men’s room. The leprechauns I was after had opted to do their illegal smoking in the ladies’ room in a stall that could have easily held ten people doing Lord knows what.
“You had an appointment at seven this morning with Sebastian du Beckett.” Moreau wasn’t beating around the bush. Good for him. Better for me. The quicker I could get out of here and into yet another change of clothes, the better.
Ian nudged me.
At least no one had just asked me a question.
“I met with Mr. du Beckett this morning from seven to seven twenty,” Rake freely admitted.
“May I ask why?”
“You just did, but I don’t have to tell you.”
“Do you have something to hide?”
“I am a goblin; there are many aspects of my personal and business lives that I prefer to keep private.”
“Monsieur du Beckett was murdered this morning.”
Rake Danescu’s only reaction was the raising of one eyebrow. “How unfortunate for him, and how inconvenient for me. But you didn’t magic your way up to my home merely to inform me of Bastian’s untimely demise. To save you from having to be so gauche as to ask me directly if I killed him, my answer is no. And again, keeping you from the social discomfort of questioning my integrity, yes, that is an honest and true response. I did not murder, harm, or in any way threaten Sebastian du Beckett—at least not this month. Does this answer the questions that brought you here?”
“Yes.”
“I am glad to hear it—”
“And no.”
“My, aren’t we the curious one this morning.” His words were playful, his expression anything but. “You’re not the only one with questions. How was Bastian killed?”
“Gorgon.”
Rake Dansecu’s expression told me that one had come at him out of left field.
“That’s unexpected,” was all he said.
“I’m certain Monsieur du Beckett felt the same way.”
“I seriously doubt that Bastian was too terribly surprised. He was not, as humans say, a Boy Scout. Pay him enough and don’t ask too many questions, and there was nothing that man couldn’t acquire. Vivienne knows this only too well. There are any number of individuals who have taken enough issue with Bastian’s practices to put him ‘out of business’ permanently.”
“Do you know of one who would have employed a gorgon to do so—or a gorgon who would have felt wronged?”
“First you accuse me of murder, then you want my help. Will you be making up your mind anytime soon?”
“I merely need explanation of a coincidence. You had an appointment with Monsieur du Beckett, and he was killed soon after you left.”
“From the dusty appearance of the usually fair Makenna, your own visit to Bastian’s was more eventful than you anticipated.”
“Harpies,” I said. “From last night.”
“Those girls have been busy for the past twelve hours,” Ian told Rake. “They stole the Dragon Eggs, then attacked a SPI vehicle last night in an attempt to kidnap the young man who tried to stop the robbery. He’s a diamond appraiser at Christie’s. Sebastian du Beckett was his client. Apparently one of du Beckett’s clients—or even du Beckett himself—wanted in on Viktor Kain’s auction. Mr. Sadler went with us to du Beckett’s home this morning, and somehow the harpies knew he’d be there. He’s been kidnapped.” Ian paused meaningfully. “We are not happy.”
“You’d already flown the coop when all hell broke loose at the museum,” I told Rake. “Thanks for that, by the way.”
“I saw everything, my dear Makenna, and had deemed you perfectly capable of handling the incident. I merely removed myself from what was sure to become, at least for me, an incriminating situation.”
“Now, why would anyone think you had anything to do with a priceless diamond heist?” Ian drawled.
“Yet another benefit of being me, Agent Byrne. If an exotic or daring supernatural crime is perpetrated, my name lands near the top of each list every time.”
“Naturally, you’re innocent.”
“Sometimes, yes; other times, no. Regardless, I’ve always found it prudent to remove myself from situations in which I do not wish to become entangled. Last night was one such example. No doubt, Viktor Kain is upset, as are the Dragon Eggs’ potential buyers.”
“Yourself included—along with Marek Reigory.”
Rake Danescu leaned back in his chair, smiling. “Ah, I’d wondered when my countryman was going to be brought into this.”
“You knew he was at the exhibition?”
“Naturally. Aside from a nod in passing, I had nothing to say to Marek, nor will I. Let’s say we don’t see eye to eye politically. I’m rather fond of our new king, who is a vast improvement over the rule of his insane—and now thankfully dead—older brother.” Rake’s dark eyes softened as if at a pleasant memory. “That assassin’s crossbow bolt through his chest was the best accessory I’d ever seen him wear.” Then pleasant memories went bye-bye. “I enjoy unpredictability and games as much as the next goblin, but His late-and-not-lamented Majesty’s favorite guessing games included which noble would he accuse of treason that day, followed by the ever unpopular what would he choose as this poor unfortunate’s punishment for an imaginary crime: torture, prison, or immediate beheading? Marek—for some inane reason known only to him—prefers his kings insane. He made his choice, was rightfully banished for it, and I do not wish to sully my reputation by association. As to my interest in the Dragon Eggs, I did not keep it a secret. However, rumor had it that Viktor had no intention of actually selling the diamonds, or he had a buyer already lined up and merely announced the possibility of an auction to drive up the price. The Queen of Dreams belongs to the goblin crown. My government will not pay for something that was stolen from us.” The goblin’s expression darkened. “If anyone should fund its reacquisition, it should be the elves, seeing that it was an elf who stole it from us in the first place.”
Now, that last, snippy tidbit was interesting; I hadn’t heard that part of the story.
“I want to find the thief just as badly as you, if not more so,” Rake continued. “My government has authorized me to obtain the Queen of Dreams by any means necessary before it can be illegally purchased as stolen property and vanish for another hundred years. The rapidly shifting situation dictates that I remain flexible in my acquisition methods. I’m a direct sort. I never would have thought of harpies. I must admit it was ingenious, though the way the robbery was executed suffered from an excess of convolution.”
Ian snorted. “Direct? Since when?”
Rake’s dark eyes flicked ever so briefly at me. “When there is something I want quite badly, I have been known to dispense with games.”
“Why the sudden need to do your civic duty?” Moreau asked.
“For the most part, my government leaves me to my own devices in this dimension. I would very much like for their disinterest to continue.”
“What level gem mage is he?” Rake looked at each of us in turn. “Oh, come now, the boy didn’t even have to touch those diamonds last night. He grabbed the harpy that held them and the stones lit like tiny suns.”
“Our assessment team has evaluated him as a level ten,” Moreau said.
“Merci, Monsieur. Direct talk will serve you well over the coming hours. You may not have time for much else.”
“Then, like yourself, I will be very direct,” Moreau continued. “We have information on the Queen of Dreams, but anything else you can tell us concerning what it’s capable of would be greatly appreciated. It is documented that it was stolen from your people. We will do everything within our power to see it returned to you.”
Rake Danescu’s expression went from surprise, to suspicion, to cautious acceptance, finally settling on reserved gratitude. “If you accomplish this, you will have my thanks as well as the gratitude of His Majesty, King Chigaru Mal’Salin. Aside from being part of the goblin crown jewels, the Queen of Dreams cures disorders of the mind and diseases of the body, an ironic ability I’ve always thought considering its color.”
I was confused. “But isn’t the Queen of Dreams the pink diamond?”
“It is.”
“But pink’s a nice color.”
“Not for goblins. Pink is the color of pure evil.”
I had a flashback to shopping for one of my nieces in the all-pink Barbie aisle at Toys “R” Us. I had to admit, it had creeped me out. I nodded. “I can see that.”
“If you’re familiar with our royal family,” Rake continued, “you know that insanity is a problem every few generations. We’ve been fortunate for at least half of this generation, but fate is one lady I do not wish to tempt.”
“A diamond that heals,” Ian noted. “That’s certainly motive enough for a theft. Perhaps our thief needs someone’s disease cured—or needs healing themselves. Does it only work with goblins?”
“It has been found to work on any supernatural, from any dimension.”
“Making it even more valuable,” I said.
“Indeed.”
“As to why the thief took all of the diamonds, maybe they didn’t want to risk Viktor Kain splitting up the Dragon Eggs and auctioning them off separately.”
“What about the elf diamond?” Ian asked Rake.
“The Eye of Destiny is said to enable the seeing of the truth in all things and expose that which is hidden.”
Oh, wonderful. A rock that did my job. I was glad the boss had already assured me that she wasn’t interested in owning any of the Dragon Eggs. “How does it do that?”
“By negating magic,” Rake said.
Those three words hit our collective pause button.
Depending on who was throwing the magic around, and what kind they were tossing, that could be a very good—or an exceptionally bad—thing.
“How wide of an area would be affected and for how long?” Moreau asked.
Rake shrugged. “That would depend entirely on the strength and control of the gem mage using it.”
And the thief had just kidnapped a level ten—a level ten with no control whatsoever. I wondered if the thief would let Ben Sadler go once he found out he’d snatched himself a loose cannon. As soon as I thought the question, I knew the answer. They may have gone to a lot of trouble to kidnap Ben, but getting rid of him would be easy. There were endless ways to kill someone.
“The other five diamonds came from this world,” Rake was saying. “Any gem that appears to possess any kind of supernatural power, humans usually refer to it as cursed. Stones typically don’t bring bad luck by themselves. That’s simply what happens when a stone’s power is activated, but not controlled.”
“Like a car that gets put in gear on a hill and turned loose,” I said.
“A more accurate analogy would be the parts to a particularly large bomb,” Moreau said. “Each isn’t necessarily dangerous by itself, but once combined and activated . . .”
“When would it be set to go off?” Ian asked.
“The veils between the dimensions are at their thinnest twice a year,” Rake said. “The summer solstice and what mortals call All Hallows’ Eve. The goblin and elven diamonds will be at their strongest, equal in strength to the others. At any other time of the year, the Queen of Dreams and Eye of Destiny would be weaker than the diamonds from this dimension. But tonight at midnight, the power of all will be able to unite equally as one.”
“But to do what?” I asked.
“Unknown, my dear Makenna. But regardless of the seemingly benign capabilities of the elf and goblin stone, no one steals, murders, and kidnaps, then turns around and begins bestowing gifts.”
“The first time all seven diamonds were together was when they were owned by Nicholas and Alexandra of Russia,” Moreau said. “The stones were split up again and lost during the Russian Revolution until Viktor Kain found them and brought them together again.”
We all pondered that for a moment.
“To release those harpies from stasis required proximity,” Moreau continued. “Other than Agent Fraser and Ben Sadler, you were closest to that statue when the spell holding them immobile was dropped.”
A faint shadow of a smile creased Rake’s lips. “You of all people know what I’m capable of, Alain. Have you ever seen me petrify a living creature, much less keep them in stasis for how long?”
“Six days,” Ian said. “That’s the length of time the ‘statue’ was in the Sackler Wing before last night.”
“Six days. Not an inconsequential length of time, and then release them, immediately bringing them back to full awareness, so they can carry out my evil and brazen master plan?”
“I am not accusing you personally, Rake,” Moreau said.
“But you believe I am involved in some way.”
“I believe you know more than you are telling us.”
The goblin smiled. “Always, mon ami. But were I to attempt such a feat of criminal daring, I would be much more circumspect. Less truly is more. The successful theft of what are at this time the seven most famous diamonds in the world would be enough of a coup even for the most inflated of egos. It would be wise to carry out the theft when there are the fewest people around. The more people, the more unknown elements. Even though he—or she—was successful, they should consider themselves the luckiest person in this world, or any other, because they now not only possess the diamonds, but a master gem mage to wield them. The persistence in the abduction of Mr. Sadler tells me that the thief knows what the Dragon Eggs are capable of,” Rake was saying, “but didn’t have a gem mage, or not one who would be willing to risk his life activating those diamonds. You must admit that Mr. Sadler gave a dazzling audition. He activated the stones without even directly touching them, and if that harpy hadn’t hit him, he would have been none the worse for wear for the experience. In less than twelve hours, not only was this individual successful in acquiring the Dragon Eggs, but their persistence with their harpies paid off handsomely with the capture of quite possibly the most powerful human gem mage in this world. Since five of the diamonds are of this world, the thief would need a human to do the heavy lifting, so to speak.”
“Which brings up the question of why Sebastian du Beckett wanted Ben in the first place,” I said. “He’s a junior-level diamond appraiser, and Ms. Sagadraco said that du Beckett had a good eye for magical talent. He had to have known what Ben could do. Heck, he even had a gem of power in his office. Ben used it on one of the harpies.”
Moreau sighed in frustration. “Unfortunately, Monsieur du Beckett is in no condition to answer that or any other question we have.”
&nbs
p; “I can’t imagine you not knowing who your competition was in Kain’s auction,” Ian said to Rake. “Especially the powerful ones who preferred to fly under the radar.”
“They, or their representatives, were all in attendance at last night’s rudely interrupted gathering. These individuals are like myself in that they value their privacy. They form an intricate network, a web, if you will. The slightest touch at any point sends a tremor down every strand. Were I to give you names, Bastian’s fate could very well be mine.”
“Afraid of a little gravel in your hair?”
“Merely the annoyance of having to add another individual to the list of those already queuing up to kill me. Eventually someone’s luck will triumph over my skill. Though being immortalized in stone does have its appeal.” He eyed me. “Unless a clumsy harpy obliterates the masterpiece. I do not wish to be reduced to dust.”
The corner of my left eyelid began to twitch.
“Would you like to avail yourself of my shower, dearest Makenna? I’m certain these two gentlemen could think of more rudely invasive questions. I can assure you my bath has everything you could possibly desire in your hour of need.”
The slightest emphasis he put on “desire” and “need” elevated the twitch to a spasm. I had to put my finger on my eyelid to make it stop.
Everyone noticed.
Rake smiled.
I resisted the urge to flip Rake the bird.
“Thank you,” I told him. “I’ll be fine.”
Alain Moreau stood. “And we need to be going. I have asked the questions that needed to be asked.”
“I trust my answers were to your satisfaction?”
“They were what I expected.”
“I’m always glad to be what SPI expects.” The charming banter vanished along with Rake Danescu’s smile. “Though if you want to get all the answers, you’ll need to ask the one creature who has them. Viktor Kain.”
11
IT was noon on Halloween. Twelve hours until midnight on Halloween, and we were no closer to finding where the harpies had taken Ben and the diamonds.
