At this point, it was not a matter of running or hiding. Right now, it was a matter of playing the game. Of winning. That was all that mattered. Maybe all that ever did.
“I can’t explain how I know…I just do. It’ll take me killing him. If you guys want to help, help me do that.”
He paused at the door and pushed it open wider, his arm high. He waited until she ducked under it to go in first. “Okay,” he said to her back.
The soft light of battery-powered lanterns placed sporadically on the ground illuminated small areas of the vast, airy barn. A large network of weathered wooden beams rose to the ceiling high above, connecting with the rafters. Rough-hewn wooden planks jutted out from the carcasses of old horse stalls, silvery gray with age. Cracks and gaps let the light from the other lanterns seep through the other side and join those nearer her. Compacted dirt and traces of soiled and soggy straw lay underfoot, some areas scuffed away from heavy traffic down the center of the space.
In the middle on the right, however, everything changed. Metal shelving gleamed in the diffused illumination, pushed back against glossy white particle board to block off the old plank walls behind it. That same style of board closed in the shelves on either side and bedsheets, the fitted kind, draped down the front. Odd choice of cover.
Daisy drew near, knowing this was what they were looking for.
“Looks like it definitely wasn’t Mr. Whiskers,” Donovan murmured as he pulled back the sheet.
“Let her through.” Zorn put a hand on Donovan’s arm, moving him out of the way. His eyes were on Daisy as he took over pulling the sheet back, hooking it on the corner of the setup.
She frowned as the others, even Lexi and Kieran, pushed away to the sides, giving her plenty of space.
“I’m no expert,” she said, but her curiosity continued to propel her forward.
“You’re the only one who’s seen what the fae is looking for.” Zorn followed her gaze to the shelves, six in all, somewhat like a metal bookshelf. Items of all shapes were spread out on various colored towels. She bent to look at the bottom, seeing stone textures with jagged edges. Some items appeared like geometric shapes, angling up at a diagonal, resting on the only flat surface. Others looked like rocks out of a decorative garden, shades of brown or gray or sand but with streaks of another color or smoother texture runningthrough. A couple had the gems Rutherford’s notes had mentioned, though from here they looked more like smooth or bumpy rock. Their colors ranged from deep crimson, to twinkling periwinkle, to soft jade… All the colors of the rainbow, it seemed, and not something that would fetch any sort of decent price with a jeweler. She knew precious stones. These weren’t fit to be sold. Not as anything someone might affix in a ring or necklace, at any rate. No, their value probably lay in a different market.
The next shelf had smoother surfaces, like colored glass. Each was in a kind of block, clear on the outside but a moving, writhing set of colors within, twisting and turning around each other, and sometimes bubbling to the surface. At least, that was the impression they gave Daisy. None of the insides actually moved at all.
Next were the crystals, the most populated shelf. Most of these one might find on a Tarot deck. The colors here also varied, with a cloudy violet, a splotchy sky blue, or a streaked and hazy white nestled in a rough, rock-type base. The other shelves held an odd assortment, none of them really going with each other or anything else. The strange, gem-looking rock things were stuck in a few items, as though hammered there.
Daisy stared, transfixed, as one on the top shelf started to visibly vibrate. The air above it turned hazy, like heat rising from hot concrete on a blisteringsummer day. She reached out and felt it, the smooth surface slick and cool.
“Is that…” Jack put a hand on her shoulder and leaned over her, easy with their size difference. “Is it moving?”
She pulled it off the shelf, feeling the hum crawl through her fingers and up her arm. The inside started to flicker and then glow a pale blue.
“Oh wow,” Thane murmured, pushing in as well. “That’s magical. I wonder if the Chester sergeant could tell. He probably would’ve put nicer towels under them if he could.”
“Well,thisChester can tell,” Jack said as she handed the item back to him. He took it and stepped away, content to look at his new toy and give her more space.
“That is true,” Thane said, each word clipped, basically calling himself an idiot.
Daisy grinned as she went back to looking at the items. If she waited long enough, they’d show themselves. That seemed to be how they worked.
Another glowed, this one a vibrant chartreuse, flickering from the middle of one of the twisty glass blocks.
“Ooh.” Dylan pushed in, reaching around her to grab it. “It’s vibrating. Here, Lexi. Feel this.”
It was a crystal, the glow not much more than a dull throb of chocolate brown but ending with a little light show, like a disco ball catching and throwing thelight. Three more, their glow or interaction all different, but no less special. No less obviously magical.
“It makes sense why he hid these away,” Kieran said, hefting a stone item cut through with rings of blue that glowed like the deep recesses of the ocean, blue-black. Or so Kieran had said when he nearly shoved her out of the way to get at it. He was no more immune than anyone else to how cool these various items were.
Daisy looked over the rest of them, waiting, seeing if any more would show their magical ability.
“That might be it,” she said, straightening from her lean. “They kinda call to you when they kick off.”
“Yes, they do.” Thane hefted an item with a mournful cherry glow, the longest-lasting performer of those they’d found.
“Take them all.” Kieran glanced at the door. “Jerry, grab the duffel bags.”
“Not like Mr. Whiskers’s less impressive name-cousin really needs them.” Donovan turned to go help Jerry.
“Where is Bria to tell you how stupid you sound right now?” Jack asked after him.
