“We’resuspects, Avnas. God thieves.” She fluttered her eyelashes, and Avnas puffed up his chest.
“As well we should be,” he agreed. “You do fine work, Delaney Reed.”
“For a human,” Xtelle said.
“For a human,” he repeated.
“But you know we have been in Ordinary for months,” Xtelle said. “With all the alarms you have on this place, you would know if we left.”
That was true.
“Are you saying you didn’t do it?” I asked.
Xtelle shook out her mane. “Yes. Unfortunately, we did not commit this crime. Vacationing here has obviously made us soft.”
“You are as rugged as granite, my Queen,” Avnas said. “As unforgiving as an inferno.”
“You flatter me.” She cocked her hips and swished her tail. “Don’t stop.”
“You know what?” I said. “I haven’t had breakfast yet. Get out of my house.”
“But you think someone used the god spells to break into the gods’ realms and steal the gods’ weapons.”
“It’s a theory.”
“How does my stolen ring fit into your theory?”
“We’re working on it.”
“We could gather information for you,” Avnas said. “Ask around about the whereabouts of the page of spells.”
“Why would we do that?” Xtelle asked.
Avnas was still looking at me, so I pointed at Xtelle. “What she said.”
He shifted his broad shoulders and turned in the limited space to face her. It was good he had decided to take on the form of a very small, very compact bull, otherwise he wouldn’t fit in here at all.
“It would be a way to pass the time. A lark. A balm against the boredom of this dull little meaningless plot of humanity. No offense,” he threw my way.
“None taken.” Because this wasn’t a bad idea. Gathering information from demons would keep Xtelle out of my hair. It might even keep her out of trouble. Maybe. Possibly. Hopefully for at least a few hours.
“You still need to follow the laws of Ordinary,” I reminded them. “No beheading someone to use their spinal column for a demon-y fiber optics network.”
“You have no idea how demon spells work,” Xtelle scoffed. “It takes a least a dozen spinal columns for even a bar of connection, and that’s bound to short out from all the goodie-good built into this place. We’d have to go miles outside town to pick up any kind of a signal at all.”
I was suddenly glad that I knew nothing about demon spells.
“If,” I said, “you can find any information on who might be in possession of the spell page, or where it was last seen, I would be very grateful.”
“And you would owe us,” Xtelle pressed. “A favor for a favor.”
I knew that was the way demons worked. Everything in a demon’s life was transactional. But that wasn’t how things worked here.
“Information is usually a free exchange,” I said. “But if you can get me a solid lead on who has the page of spells, or if you can tell me where the page of spells can be found, I will offer you a finder’s fee.”
“A bounty,” she breathed. “Treasure? Rare items? Jewels?”
“A coupon for the Blue Owl.”
