“You call her starlight?” Anubis asked before I could answer.
Gello, my husbands, and I stiffened.
“I don't believe it's any business of yours, Grandson,” Re's voice took on the resonant tones of power.
Anubis glanced around, his gaze lingering on his wife. “No, it isn't. Of course not. I was just curious.”
“I'm a star god, and she's my star,” Viper said proudly as we entered Thoth's domain.
I cleared my throat. “This really is lovely, Thoth.”
“Thank you.” Thoth glanced at Anubis and then lowered his head.
Thoth had a thing for Anubis. Most of his animosity toward me stemmed from his jealousy. And yes, I think he was even jealous of Anubis torturing me. Love can make you crazy.
As for Thoth's wing of the palace, I wasn't lying. We passed rooms decorated with obsidian, gold, and deep jewel tones. The lack of clutter and bright colors was calming, and the scent of sandalwood lightly rode the air. More masculine than I had imagined Thoth's home to be, it was still beautiful. There was art from every century adorning walls and shelves, includingprimitive tools and sculptures. It was part museum, part spa, and part home. There was an indoor pool, a room with a black lacquer bar, and a two-story library.
It was the library into which Thoth led us. It was three times the size of mine, with free-standing bookshelves soaring two stories, rolling free-standing ladders to get at the books, library tables with little gold lamps, display cases full of antiques, and lecterns with priceless books on display. The spellbooks alone had me salivating.
Thoth pulled a bookshelf out from the wall with a secret handle.
“Aw.” I made a disappointed face. “A handle? Bookshelf doors are supposed to open when you pull a secret book-lever.” I mimed sliding a book out, but not removing it from the shelf.
“You've been watching too many movies.” Thoth rolled his eyes.
“And you haven't watched enough. You can make anything with territory magic. Hiding the lever in a book would be just as easy as hiding a handle.”
“I cannot believe we are having this argument.” Thoth shook his head as he led us into a secret room with a central table and display cases covering the walls.
“A treasure room!” I clapped. “Nice.” I hurried to peer into the glass cases, wondering what Thoth valued more than the antiques he had on display.
There were a few books I couldn't read, but mostly the cases held treasures. There was a gold Aztec mask, a diamond tiara, turquoise statues, Norse torques, Japanese tortoiseshellhairpins, and even Hawaiian weapons made of wood and shark's teeth. I made my way down the line of glass cases, grimacing when Thoth glared at me. He was standing before the cases lining the far wall. It had a giant empty spot in the center of the middle shelf.
Thoth waved at the space. “They were there.”
I slipped past him and opened the glass door. I didn't see any scent trails, but I still checked for a note. Nothing. Only the stands where the tablets had been displayed remained. I peered around the room, expecting nothing, but checked anyway. Then I went still.
“Holy cannolis,” I whispered. “It's Ty.”
“Ty?” Kirill hurried over. “He vas here?”
“Right there.” I pointed to a spot. “But it's just a spot of his scent. The trickster must have released him briefly. Or maybe Ty wandered out of the range of magic. Whatever happened, he was here. Damn it all, it is the trickster!”
“Ty?” Thoth asked. “Who is Ty?”
“My brother-in-law.” I looked from him to Anubis. “Trevor's brother. He fell in love with the trickster before he knew who they were. Now he's disappeared. We assumed he went with the trickster since he didn't leave a trail.”
“Now we have proof that the trickster is behind the thefts,” Viper said.
“But that doesn't prove they're behind the missing souls,” Re added. “This could still be unrelated.”
I looked from the space to where Ty had stood. I hadn't been sure this was the trickster's work, but now I was. Did that mean they were behind the missing souls? I wanted to say yes. It had to be them. And yet, it didn't seem like something they'd do, or could do. Even with this additional evidence, I was leaning toward it being the Inter Realm. I just couldn't be sure.
“Can't you track this Ty person?” Thoth asked. “They'll lead you to the trickster.”
“Oh, damn. Why didn't we think of that?” Viper rolled his eyes.
“There's no need to be sarcastic.” Thoth grimaced.
