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Greg nodded. ‘We can’t accuse her of the theft because we have no real evidence she was involved. Even if it was one of her Hunter family that stole it, we have no proof that she ordered the acquisition.’
‘Theft,’ I interrupted. ‘Call it what it is.’
He ignored my input. ‘And besides, even after everything she has done to him and even though Emory is head over heels about Jinx, Geneve still has a place in his heart. He wouldn’t let us go after her, he’d want to wade in and investigate first. He’d need to be certain of her culpability.’
I snorted. ‘With respect, this has nothing to do with Emory, not any more. He’s not even the Prime.’
Greg winced. ‘Ouch. Kick a man while he’s down.’
‘I just mean this isn’t really Emory’s business.’
‘No, but he could have been a resource we could have used. You’re right, it’s nothing to do with him but we can’t let him or Jinx know what we suspect. Emory’s honour is a millstone around his neck and he’d want to deal with it. And if we tell Jinx, she’ll tell him and we’ll end up with the same problem.’
‘She wouldn’t tell if I asked her not to – but I wouldn’t ask her to do that.’
‘Okay, so we’re agreed. Until this is done, we can’t mention our suspicions of Geneve to either of them.’
‘Agreed.’ I paused. ‘So, whatcanwe do?’
He slid me a sidelong glance. ‘Firstly, we need to verify that Geneve still has the orb.’
‘And how do we do that?’
He grinned. ‘The Hunters have always loved their drink. Perhaps it’s time for me to make a social call.’
‘You think they’ll spill it when they’re drunk?’
‘Iknowthey will. A brethren’s favourite drinking game is “my dragon’s hoard is bigger than your dragon’s hoard”.’
I raised my eyebrows. ‘That doesn’t seem particularly discreet.’
‘We onlyplay it with brethren,’ he assured me. ‘It’s not a drinking game we’d play in a pub.’
‘So how are you going to get yourself invited to a private drinking session with one of the Hunter family?’
He licked his lips and his hands tightened on the steering wheel. ‘You’re not going to like this bit.’
Uh-oh. ‘Tell me.’
‘You remember I had a … friend called Mindy?’
Bloody Mindy. How could I forget? Half the reason I’d been in hot water with Mark Oates’ death was because of Greg sneaking out to see Mindy. Consequently, I’d had no alibi and neither did he. At the time it had burned thinking of them together, and the jealousy still raged.
Do you trust him?Esme asked quietly.
Of course I do!
Then there is nothing to be jealous about. What is done is in the yesterdays. He would not harm us now by mating with her.
Oh to see the world so black and white. I forced a smile. ‘You’re going to go drinking with Mindy and you’re going to see if you can get her to admit she’s seen an orb in Geneve’s treasure trove? Is that right?’
‘In a nutshell. If a brethren relative of Geneve’s stole it, Mindy will know. We all tell stories about ourcontributions to the hoards. She’ll know,’ he repeated confidently.
Being a Queen sucked; I hated having to choose duty over my sanity. ‘Fine,’ I huffed. ‘Call her.’
‘I’ll call her when we’re home.’
I nodded but fell silent and looked out of the window. I was feeling uncomfortably amped up; I was emotionally and physically tired but my magic was full to bursting and almost buzzing beneath my skin. A recharge in Common was like a trickle charge, but a recharge in Third was like hooking yourself directly into the grid. I was full of power and it was spilling out of me.
