“I don’t believe so. I think he left the vault via the back wall, but to be sure, I need to—” I stopped. With my aunt and cousindead, there were probably only five people—aside from the gods themselves—who knew about the triune and its power, and I really wanted to keep it that way. Especially when we were damn sure the IIT was riddled with people working for the other side. “To use my focus stone to see what second sight is trying to tell me.”
“Do you think it wise when you’ve spent three hours in Liadon’s domain and are still suffering the side effects?” Mathi said.
“Wise? No. Necessary? I think it is.”
He half shrugged, as if it was of no matter, despite the fact that even from where I was standing I could feel his disagreement. He didn’t show it, of course, but I’d known the man for a long time now, and could generally read him pretty well.
I sat on the chair, drew the second knife, and placed both on my lap. I took off my glove then pressed that hand on top of them and wrapped the other around the Eye. I didn’t have the Codex—the third part of the triune and basically a doorway through which I could access a godly library holding all manner of information about all manner of relics—with me, but unless I was intending to visit said library, I generally didn’t need its physical presence.
With a bright flare of purple, the knives and the Eye combined, and my mind’s eye was swept away so damn fast, it was briefly disorientating.
For several seconds, there was nothing more than darkness, then light speared through it, so bright it made me blink. The shadows lifted, revealing the vault’s innards and a dark figure standing in the middle of it. The vision shifted position, giving me a view from above and to the front of the figure. He was almost fully cloaked in black, wearing thick gloves, a ski mask that covered his face, and ski goggles over his eyes. It was hardto see the shape of his body because his clothing seemed overly large, but the bottom part of his pants was black and crisply ironed, and he was wearing dress shoes. They definitely weren’t the type of shoes I’d have thought ideal for thievery—unless, of course, our thief believed it was only proper to dress well when you were targeting the security boxes of Deva’s upper echelon.
He pulled off a glove, revealing dark skin, and began to murmur softly, making quick gestures with a hand that was free of lines or spots or anything suggesting age. A heartbeat later, the security boxes ripped free from their places and formed a line in the air in front of him. He touched something at his neck with his right hand and briefly closed his eyes; his left hand and arm became invisible. One by one, he reached into the boxes, withdrew their contents and examined them, then dropped both the items and the box to the floor and continued on. He was three quarters of the way through the line when he found what he was obviously looking for—an old-fashioned and rather ornate key, and several rolled up scrolls. My view shifted again, this time giving me a direct look down the line of boxes, allowing me to catch the number of the one he’d just raided as it bounced onto the pile and was covered by the remainder. He tucked the key and scrolls into his pocket, placed both hands on the pectoral, and became black smoke. The light went out and I was torn from the vision.
I gasped and leaned over the knives, my body trembling as I sucked in air and fought the blackness that threatened to sweep me into unconsciousness. When my pulsed rate eased, I dragged the chocolate out of my pocket and broke off another row.
Daniel frowned at me, something I felt more than saw. “I do not think that?—”
“If you want fucking answers then you’ll let me consume this slab of chocolate,” I growled without looking up. “Otherwise, you’ll be taking me to the hospital and talking to me there.”
He sucked in a breath, as if to argue further, but another figure pushed him out of the way then knelt in front of me. “Here,” Mathi said softly. “Drink this.”
“This” was my tea. I handed him my knives and accepted it gratefully, but my fingers were shaking so badly, bits of tea splashed up through the lid. I quickly sipped it, not wanting to waste a drop, and alternated between it and the chocolate. It still took a good five minutes before the threatening blackness retreated.
“Better?” Mathi said eventually.
I nodded. He rose, offered me his hand, and helped me up. The room spun briefly, and pain stabbed through my brain, dragging tears to my eyes. I really had overdone it this time.
“Did you uncover anything?” Ruadhán said from the doorway.
I squinted at him. “The thief unveiled himself in the vault but was covered from head to foot in bulky black clothing. He did take off his left glove to spell, which revealed dark skin. He pocketed the contents of Box 369. The rest he simply threw onto the floor.”
“Any identifying features aside from dark skin?”
I shook my head and winced. “I did get the impression he was young though.”
“Define young?”
“Looked to be in his twenties rather than fifties. It was impossible to tell if he was human or not.”
“Most of those who are magically gifted tend to be,” Marjorlaine commented from behind me.
“The Myrkálfar can spell,” I replied. “It’s part of the reason they guard the Annwfyn gateways.”
“I doubt the Myrkálfar would stoop so low as to raid a bank,” she said, “especially when a good portion of them use it.”
“If you think that,” Mathi murmured, “then you do not know the Myrkálfar.”
Ruadhán cast him a warning look before returning his gaze to me. “And our thief left through the rear wall, as you said?”
I nodded, though I hadn’t actually seen that thanks to the plunge back into darkness. “Can I go now? Because unless you want me to vomit all over your pristine crime scene...”
Ruadhán immediately stepped back. Mathi wrapped an arm around my waist and helped me out of the vault, but once we reached the stairs, swept me into his arms and carried me up. He didn’t set me back on my feet once we reached the street, but continued on.
I leaned my head against his chest and wished I could let go, but there were lots of little questions buzzing around my brain and I just had to ask a couple of them.
“Tell me,” I said, “was there any particular reason the council meeting was attended by so few people?”
