“It would appear you have lost him anyway.” Ruadhán’s voice held the slightest edge of contempt. Which, for him, was showing extreme control.
“Yeah, but I discovered two things. One, his vapor form is not immune to being knifed. And two, he’s definitely a Myrkálfar, and a youngish one at that, if his voice is anything to go by.”
Ruadhán’s eyebrows rose. “You spoke to him?”
“He told me not to follow him. I told him he has a lot to learn about us pixies.”
“Or at the very least,” Mathi murmured, “thispixie.”
I glanced at him. His expression dared me to disagree. I didn’t. Couldn’t, really, though it was a family trait rather than just mine.
“Just to confirm, you did wound him?” Ruadhán said, dragging my attention back to him.
I nodded. “Left shoulder blade.”
“Then I shall contact the Myrkálfar immediately. If he is one of theirs, they will find and hand him over.”
I wasn’t so damn sure about that, because from the little I’d learned about them from Cynwrig, they had their own, rather gruesome, methods of dealing with those who betrayed them. But Ruadhán undoubtedly knew that better than me, so I didn’t say anything.
I watched him walk away then glanced at Mathi. “What did he take this time?”
“They’re not sure yet.” He stepped to one side and motioned me forward. “The place was ransacked, and the owner wasn’t home. They’re currently trying to contact her.”
“I wonder how this event is connected to the bank robbery?” I went through the gate, then stepped to the side as a number of officers rushed past us and headed up the slope. What Ruadhán expected them to find, I had no idea.
“It might not be.”
“You don’t believe that any more than I do.” I watched the officers for a moment, then added, “He’s obviously searching for something specific, so do we know if there was a safe or lockbox in the cottage?”
“They haven’t found either as yet.”
I wrinkled my nose. “He’s obviously got a plan, but going from a bank to a cottage is rather... odd.”
“I daresay when we uncover who he is, we will also uncover his intent.”
I glanced at him. “That’s a big leap of logic right there, because one does not by necessity lead to the other.”
“In my experience, it often does.”
And he had a whole lot more experience than me when it came to dealing with unsavory types. “Are we going to be allowed inside the cottage to have a look around?”
“No. My father has the description of the items taken at the bank, and for the moment would rather forensics be given the time and space to do their thing.”
I resisted the urge to say “I told you so.” “I’m betting he didn’t exactly use that wording.”
“Well, no, but the sentiment is the same.”
Henrick stepped out of the car as we approached and held the rear passenger door open. I scooted across to the other side so Mathi could get in and poor Henrick didn’t have to be in the rain any longer than necessary.
He had, goddess love him, purchased a tea and coffee for us both and placed them in the center console. Beside the tea was a small tube of numbing antiseptic gel—though how he’d known it would be necessary, I had no idea.
I thanked him profusely and dabbed on the gel, then picked up the tea, wrapping two hands around the container to warm them up.
“Are you going to have a chat to the godly library sometime today or tomorrow?” Mathi asked as the privacy screen went up and we got underway.
I nodded. “I have some paperwork that needs to be done, but I’ve nothing on tonight, so I’ll do it then.”
“Let me know what you discover, and we can plot our next move.”
