But they’d known that she was more than what she appeared.
I wasn’t surprised.
“Was it seven million or—” The pretty little doll sounded faint.
“Seventy-one, smols,” Lucian corrected. “If it makes you feel better, I still have more.”
“It seems that there are other accounts at your name,” the banker stated.
“Well, yes,” Silver managed, still shaken. “I have an account—where my Guard salary gets paid.”
“It’s rather surprising your primary account was not attributed to you when you opened it. Which branch did you use, may I ask?”
“I—” She bit her lower lip. “Right here—well, up in the Vale. They didn’t do any spell on me. They just took my ID and opened a new one.”
The banker narrowed his eyes. “Hm. It seems I need to have a talk with our upper counterparts. Miss, I see you’re rather disturbed at the moment. Would you like a second before we talk about the third account?”
“Third!” she screamed, jumping to her feet.
My eyes returned to the wand, resting quietly again.
The page had three lines now.
IV¯DCXII. 71243203
Edith Silver. 88AFR6. 573
Edith Silver. 16TCN3. NA
“Not applicable?” Kleos asked.
“Yes, it’s rather common when the contents of the vault aren’t of determinable monetary value.” The banker shrugged. “It could be worthless or priceless.”
“I haven’t opened a second account,” she assured us all. “What’s in it?”
To think she’d tagged along to work out my secrets.
“One moment, if you please.” The man slid a slender device before him, opening it up before letting its fingers dance across its surface.
A computer, my mind supplied, though I wasn’t certain what it was supposed to compute. I concluded this was theoretical knowledge that I possessed on the object, without any practical experience with it.
“Ah. This was opened last week. It contains deposited holdings. I’ll happily take you to visit it at your leisure.”
“Yes, please,” Silver stated, resolute. “Right after we visithis.”
She pointed straight at me, narrowed eyes dark.
I considered my options before shrugging. She would persist in mistrusting me unless I let her tag along, of that I was certain. And something told me the safe would be of no help whatsoever, past what it already revealed.
It was thousands of years old, just like hers.
“Whatever pleases you, doll.”
She glared like what would best please her at the moment was my head on a spike. Wasn’t she precious?
8
SILVER
