AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Magic’s unpredictable like that,” I said.
Liam gave a short laugh. “That it is. How may I help you find the artifact?”
“Could you speak to this spirit?” Adam said. “Ask her if she knows about the artifact we’re looking for?”
“I can and will,” Liam answered. “But I don’t know that it will do much good. She won’t always speak to me. She isn’t motivated by the need to prevent the end of days. I’m not sure it would matter to her at all. What is important to her, what is essential to her very nature, is that her springs are a sanctuary for healing and for people fleeing trouble.”
I knew that. I’d been told.
“Too bad for us,” I said. Adam and I weren’t either of those. We were in pursuit.
Liam gave me a twist of his lips. “I think that’s why she and I get along most of the time—our magics align. I take care of my guests—and so does she. You are a problem. You are my guests, but you didn’t come here for sanctuary.”
“Just to clarify,” Adam said, because you always were careful about assuming things with the fae. “You cannot sense an artifact here?”
“I didn’t say that,” Liam temporized. “But I am certain that I cannot sense the one taken from Hrímnir. This is the only one I have felt arrive here in the last month.” He bent down and felt along the floor beside his chair.
I wasn’t surprised when he handed me the walking stick. It was icy cold when I touched it, but quickly warmed to its usual temperature. The carved gray wood felt right as I closed my fingers around it, as if the size not only fit my hands, but that my hands were whole and complete when they held the stick.
Disconcerted, I set it on my lap. It felt ruffled and protective. Had it been a dog, it would have been growling at Liam. I shouldn’t be able to know that.
“What else are you certain of?” I asked.
“There are no magical items of any kind in the possession of the bride’s party—outside of the vampire, if you are one of those who would consider her an object rather than a person,” Liam said.
“What about the people?” I asked. “Someone who knows my brother well enough he’d trust them with an artifact.”
Liam pursed his lips thoughtfully. “There’s just the three of us who know Gary. Hugo has been here since the storm began. He usually goes home at night—he has a place a few miles down the road, I understand. But he said he’d stay here to help.”
“Hugo—the gardener?” I asked.
Liam laughed. “Yes. He holds sway over our greenhouse. He and Gary do get on together.” He paused. “But Hugo is forgetful, the dear man. He is forever leaving things—I found a hoe in the lobby yesterday, and a bucket of fertilizer out by the hot tubs.” He frowned as if he didn’t want to say this part. “He’s a little simple, I think. I wouldn’t entrust him with something I didn’t want to have left in the hallway. And I wouldn’t put him in that kind of danger—and I don’t think that Gary would, either.”
Liam looked at Adam, then nodded in agreement to something he read in my husband’s face. “But I’ll ask him. Please don’t do it yourselves. I can manage without bullying him, and I can tell if he lies to me.”
“What about the girl—Emily?” Adam asked, then added, “I wouldn’t leave her alone somewhere Heddar could find her. He reminded me of a cat playing with a mouse downstairs at breakfast.”
Liam looked unhappy. “Noted. I like to work the young ones in pairs when I can.” He sighed. “At any rate, Emily. Well. I will ask her, too. But I just don’t see it.”
“If not your people, it has to be the guests,” Adam said.
Liam relaxed a little. “Are you sure it was Gary who stole the artifact?”
“Hrímnir is,” I said.
“No,” Adam answered at the same time, but added, “Probably.”
“Gary barely exchanged a word with any of the wedding guests,” Liam observed. “I think that you are on the mark to be suspicious of the hikers. I don’t know them; they aren’t local. But that doesn’t mean Gary didn’t. Maybe they were working together.”
“It’s not them,” I said at the same time Adam said, “I agree.”
My mate turned to look at me.
“What?” I said. “It isn’t them. They said they hadn’t stolen an artifact, and they weren’t lying.”
Adam nodded. “They did say that. But if Gary stole it, he could have given it to them to keep safe. If he didn’t—a goblin might not see liberating an artifact from Hrímnir as stealing.”
“They weren’t afraid,” I said. “The thought of Charles made them freeze in terror—and they weren’t worried about the creature who was capable of causing a storm like this. I think that if they had the artifact, they’d have been more afraid of Hrímnir.”
