“I have no idea.”
“Neither do I, yet, but Seven says Adam Barker was a geology professor who came here to give a presentation to a Bailiwick’s class on formations specific to the Appalachians. I’m going to go to the school tomorrow and ask around, see who invited him and how the presentation went. Maybe there’s something we’re missing.”
River takes the stone from my grip and weighs it in his hand. “It’s heavy for its size.”
“I thought the same thing.”
“I wonder… Have you thought about having it analyzed? Maybe whatever it’s made of will give us a clue.”
Smart. “I bet if I take it to Elderflame University, someone there could tell me what it is.” I turn and slip the food I brought into the fridge. An idea comes to me just as I’m closing the door. “What if it’s not what’s in the rock but the spell on it? Barker was human… maybe he got his hands on a stone that makes up the wards around the park.”
River scratches his cheek. “Do you think someone on the outside wants in?”
I shrug. “I’m not sure. Even if they could deconstruct the magic, which humans can’t because they’re human, what would they hope to accomplish?”
“An undetectable way in and out,” River says simply. “Maybe the murderer is a thief.”
Possible, but the idea still isn’t coming together for me. “I’ll get someone to analyze it.”
We stand there in the tiny kitchen, the weight of the past week settling on our shoulders. “I am going to figure this out, River. I’m on it.”
He glances down at his toes. “I’m not meant for this kind of life, Sophia. I appreciate you coming. I do. Without you, I’d be out of my mind. I just need to be back in my restaurant. I need to see the people I love.” He leans a hip against the counter. “Do you think…? Can you at least tell Patrick that I’m not in Ashgate anymore? I’d hate for him to try to visit me there only to find…”
“Yes,” I say immediately. “I’ll find a way to let him know.”
“Good.” He scrubs his face with his hands. “I bet when you were on your way to confront Chance Delaney over that pixie’s murder, you never expected it would lead to this. I know when I heard you’d caught him, I believed it was over.”
River is one of the only people in Devashire who knows Seven and I were behind Chance’s capture. The public believes Godmother is to thank for the raid and his arrest. Fine with me. I never wanted to draw any more attention than I had to.
“Actually, we didn’t think he’d be there, at the cabin. Seven suspected we’d find something inappropriate, something he was trying to hide, but we were convinced someone was blackmailing him over a fetish. No one was more surprised than us when Chance walked in.”
“I thought you caught him at his hunting cabin?”
“We did, but he was supposed to have a meeting that afternoon. He wasn’t supposed to be there.”
“Hmm. What tipped him off?”
I blink at River. It’s been a long time since that fateful night, and I blocked out some of the details. I had to in order to feel safe and to heal. But now his question makes me look back on that night with fresh eyes. When Chance caught us in the dungeon under his cabin, he was dressed in a suit and tie… dressed for the office. Seven confirmed he was supposed to be in a finance meeting at that hour. So how did he get to the cabin so quickly, and how did he find out we were there?
I think I know the answer to the second part—we tampered with the fairy ring in the front yard. We thought we’d dismantled his protective wards, but the one we could see must have been a decoy for one we couldn’t.
How he got there as fast as he did is still beyond me. The man was incredibly powerful, the luckiest fae in Devashire aside from Godmother, but that didn’t mean he could teleport. That trick is beyond even Godmother’s abilities as far as I know. So how did he make it to the cabin so quickly?
“You know, I’m not sure,” I tell River honestly. “I’ve been so busy recovering from that night and trying to get you out of Ashgate, I never even thought to ask Godmother.”
“Understandable.”
I jump when my phone rings. Hoping it’s Seven, I yank it from my back pocket, then frown when I see it’s a call from Evangeline. “I have to take this. It’s my new boss.”
“Go ahead,” River says softly, then adds with a chuckle, “Tell Evangeline I said hello.”
“I wish I could. She’s been worried about you.” Everyone misses River, but his freedom is predicated on maintaining the illusion that he’s still in Ashgate. I might be able to trust Patrick with a vague version of the truth, but I can never risk telling more people.
He gives me a nod and points toward the living room, leaving me alone to take the call.
“Sophia? Are you there? I can hardly hear you.” Eva’s voice sounds shaky, as if she’s been crying.
“I’m in the mountains. The reception is bad.”
