Her eyebrows shot up. “You know the librarian’s name?”
“Well, it seemed rude not to.”
She chuckled. “It must like you, Bethany, because it has not shared that information with anyone for eons.”
“Because no one has gone there for eons.”
“Humanity, no, but gods do still use it as a resource. Perhaps you should ask next time what godly figure has accessed the library recently.”
“To what end?”
She shrugged. “Information never goes astray. But to answer your question, no, he has not moved on, and he closely guards his relics. If his pectoral has been tossed into the gaming ring, it will be as a countermeasure to some other development.”
“Seems to be a bit random to me.”
She took a long drink. “It isn’t. As I said, Aamon rarely plays the game, so if he is involved then it will be with reason.”
“Whose side is he on? Do you know?”
“He has never been fond of Ninkil, so in this case, it will be ours.”
Suggesting our thief getting hold of it was no accident. Now we just had to figure out thewhybehind it. I sipped my tea. “I don’t suppose you can ask him what the intent was, can you?”
“I don’t suppose I can, and you know this.”
“One has to try.”
“One has to try a lot harder. Time is a-ticking, my dear.”
I just about choked on my tea. “Really? You had to remind me?”
“Well, if the hot poker doesn’t work, one has to try other methods of ass movement.”
I rolled my eyes. “And the pectoral? Does he want it back, or shall I destroy it?”
“Return it to Liadon. She will ensure he receives it.” She thrust to her feet, drained her glass, then exchanged said glass for the bottle. “I shall be taking this with me, of course.”
“You only come here to replenish your whisky supply, don’t you?”
“And who can blame me if that were true? You do keep a mighty fine stock.” She skirted around the sofa I was sitting on and clomped down the stairs. But as she neared the door, she added, “Find the harp, find the thief, find the blade. The trail lies at your doorstep, Bethany.”
“Yeah,” I muttered. “Because it’s that damn easy.”
“If it were easy,” came her retreating reply, “the game would be no fun.”
“For the gods,” I shouted after her. “We humans could do without such fun.”
“You are neither human nor fae, my dear.” Her reply floated around me on a soft breeze. “Never was, never will be.”
And aside from the ability to read the wind and use storms as a weapon, what advantage had being a godling given me? Godlings could still die—the fact my father’s very first daughter had found her death in these goddamn games proved that, not to mention the fact I’d barely escaped the death my aunt had planned for me—but what if the divine blood that ran through my veins provided me with an advantage I hadn’t yet tested? What if it gave me a greater means of escaping death’s grip? Perhaps I’d survived my aunt’s poisoning for the very reason that Iwasn’tentirely fae. What if my godly blood had dramatically slowed the poison’s progress through my body, thereby giving me that chance? What if it could also keep my brain active for longer, meaning Darby would have more time to reach and save me?
If thatweretrue, then there was hope of life beyond my father’s proclamation, and damned if I wasn’t going to hold on tight to it. Which also meant, of course, that I needed to get a magical tracer sooner rather than later.
I glanced at the time, saw it was close to twelve, and swore. I hastily drained the rest of my cup and rose, quickly collecting my bag and coat before heading down the stairs after Beira. Despite the fact there was little more than a minute between her departure and mine, she was nowhere in sight. But then, she was goddess of winter and storms and reallycouldmove like the wind when she wanted to.
It was starting to drizzle by the time I got outside, so I zipped up my coat, tugged on the hood, and shoved my hands into my pockets. I didn’t bother calling a cab. Eljin’s wasn’t all that far away, and I’d never really been averse to walking in rain anyway—an inclination no doubt due to who my father was.
I was at the end of Eastgate Street when my phone rang. I hit Answer and said, “Hey Mathi, what’s up?”
