“The one thing body shifterscan’tdo is alter their skin color.”
I frowned. “Well, that makes no sense, especially given they can alter just about everything else.”
“It has something to do with the skin being the largest organ in the body, with three layers that have different anatomical structures and functions.” He shrugged. “Body shape and features take far less energy, although even then, they are restricted to those with similar heights.”
“Which is rather odd when you consider their animal counterparts can switch from a human to something as small as a rat. I would thinkthatmore difficult than changing skin color.”
“Different magics have different restrictions.” He shrugged again. “If itwasCarla, do you think she was attempting to bring you under control via Bia’s Blade?”
“Who else could it be? I don’t think I’ve pissed anyone else off of late. Besides, the visions I’ve had do suggest they’re extremely annoyed at the time we’re taking to find the Harpe, so maybe they’ve decided to exert a little more control over matters.”
Mathi snorted. “If they want it found sooner, then perhaps they should throw a few clue scraps in our direction. Or simply order one of the councilors they have under their control to move the Harpe up the list.”
“They can’t dothatwithout raising the suspicions of everyone else.” I bit into the butty again and blissed out for a few seconds. “Was their anything useful in the rest of the stuff Macsen stole?”
“There was a recent building purchase I thought we could check out once we’ve finished breakfast. It’s the most likely to hold something of interest.”
“And, therefore, more likely to be the most secure.”
“No doubt, but I can get around most alarms.”
“And if you can’t?”
“I shall employ Locryn’s services again.”
We didn’t have the time Locryn would need to tunnel... and I had no idea why I was so certain of that. I frowned. “I need to take the pectoral back to Liadon first.”
“The council want it returned. They won’t be happy if it’s taken elsewhere.”
“Do you care?”
A smile tugged at his lips. “No, but we are being employed to find and retrieve, not find and destroy.”
“You’re not being paid, and I’m there as a form of punishment. They’re getting the service they’re paying for.” I finished my butty and licked the grease from my fingers. “Where is the building?”
“It’s over in Sealand.”
My eyebrows rose. “The industrial estate?”
He nodded and picked up his coffee, taking a sip. “It’s a former church building, going by what Google says about it.”
“Why would she be buying an old church? Especially one in an industrial estate? She can’t live there unless she applies for change of usage, and I doubt that would be approved. Not for an area like that.”
“Given we don’t know what any of her other identities do, that is a question that cannot possibly be answered.” His phone binged and he glanced down at it. “The council want an update within the hour. I’ll do that while you drop in on Liadon.”
“Sounds like a plan. I’ll just go change?—”
“Before you do, I need to inject a bio tracker in you.”
Bio trackers were a type of miniaturized internal medical scanner adapted to use the body’s natural electromagnetic field to fuel a constant, low-level but unique signal that could be tracked almost unerringly—something I knew because I’d had the things implanted in me previously. Once by Sgott so he could trace me on the off chance that a meeting with the idiot who’d kidnapped Mathi went wrong, and once by a foe who’d basically wanted me to find a relic for him.
My gaze narrowed. “How big is the needle?”
“It’s absolutely tiny. You won’t even feel it.”
“Doctors say that all the time when they’re injecting you. They lie.”
He chuckled. “Perhaps. But this needs to be done, because none of us wants to go through the hell of having you going missing again.”
