Chapter 6
Chapter
Six
“But not our Eljin,” I said automatically. “They look nothing alike.”
“It could be his father or even grandfather, although you’d think there’d be some genetic resemblance,” Lugh said. “You could ask the man.”
“I’d rather not at the moment.”
Lugh raised an eyebrow. “Why not? Problems in paradise?”
“Just a vague notion he’s not being completely honest with me.”
His eyes narrowed dangerously; big brother mode had just been engaged. “In what way?”
I hesitated, not wanting to destroy his relationship with Eljin without any justifiable cause. “It’s just a vague feeling, and if I’m being honest, it might be based more on Cynwrig’s absence than Eljin himself.”
“Hmm,” was all he said. He did relax a little, though I suspected he’d be keeping a closer eye on Eljin from now on.
“What about doing a search of his place while he’s in London?” Mathi said. “You’ve a key and the code, haven’t you?”
“Yes, but if I disengage the alarm, he’ll be sent a notification.”
“So?” Darby said. “Send him a text beforehand, saying you left something there and ask if it’s okay if you go in and get it. Worked for me with past lovers when I wanted to suss out if they had any dark secrets.”
“I am shocked and appalled you would do such a thing,” Lugh said, even as amusement twitched his lips. “Luckily for me, I have no dark secrets.”
She patted his knee. “Even if you did, Beth would have told me them a long time ago.”
“That is totally true,” I agreed. “There are no secrets between us.”
“Apparently even when it comes to sex.” He glanced at Mathi. “Don’t be surprised if you were the topic of many conversations over the years.”
“I have no fear when it comes to sex and my performance.” His voice was pure royal elf arrogance, but amusement danced in his eyes. “We are renowned for end game satisfaction, and I more so than many.”
“Nothing like tooting your own horn.” Lugh tapped the printout. “Any chance you can use your IIT access to run a search on this Eljin? I can grab his full details for you, as the museum should have them on file somewhere.”
I frowned. “Why would they be on file there?”
“He worked for our museum for a couple of years, and they keep passport information of all active antiquarians on file to make it easier when they’re booking flights for hunts or digs.”
“He’s not active though,” Darby pointed out.
“No, but it should still be in the archived records.”
“Legally, they should destroy all personal information when the antiquarian retires,” Mathi pointed out. “But to answer your question, it might be better if Sgott does the search. It would appear we have a serious leak in the day division.”
“Him searching might still raise the wrong eyebrows if this Eljin is somehow linked to ours and both are up to no good,” I said.
“Yes, but he has off-site access. I do not.”
My eyebrows rose. “Since when?”
“Since my father revoked my access.”
“I thought that was just to this case.”
“No. It was all access.”
“Well, that’s inconvenient.”
“Indeed. I will be discussing the matter with him.”
“Eljin told me he was getting back in tomorrow evening,” Lugh said. “So that gives you more than enough time to do a thorough check of his apartment.”
“Unless our thief jumps into action again,” I said.
“Thief?” Darby asked. “That got anything to do with the Tylwyth Teg break-in?”
“Yep. He used a hoard artifact to get in.”
“Much stolen? I have an account and locked box there, but the bank hasn’t contacted me as yet—”
“Which means,” Mathi said, “that yours is safe. They’ve already contacted the owners of the twenty involved.”
“Only twenty? That sounds targeted,” Lugh noted.
“It was. Thankfully, we do have a means of finding him—”
“One that involves finding a convergence of two rivers, a ruined castle accessed by stepping stones over one of those rivers, and a dark tunnel whose entrance is hidden in a stone wall.” Mathi’s voice was dry. “Simple, really.”
Lugh laughed. “Have you googled it? It’s usually pretty good at pinning down that sort of thing.”
“We have,” I said. “There’s a short list.”
“Of twenty,” Mathi added. “We haven’t the time to physically search each and every one.”
“Then don’t,” Darby said. “Use Google Earth.”
I blinked. “I never thought about using that.”
“I’m not just here for my good looks and healing ability, you know. Hang on while I get my laptop.”
While she rose and headed into the bedroom, Mathi dragged out his phone and brought up the search list he’d saved.
“Right,” she said, sitting back down beside Lugh. “Hit me with the first address.”
Mathi did so, and after a few minutes she turned the computer around so I could see the castle. I shook my head, and she said, “Next.”
That continued on for the next twenty minutes. It wasn’t until we’d hit the nineteenth option that I recognized the castle I’d seen in my dream. “That’s it. That’s the one.”
“And naturally it’s one of the farthest away,” Mathi noted. “Given we’ll be heading underground, I’ll contact Cynwrig and ask him to recommend a guide.”
“Wise, given we have no idea what condition those tunnels will be in.” I studiously avoided Darby’s gaze when I said that and was totally surprised she resisted the urge to mention the fact I could ask him myself.
“We’ll also need a blow-up boat of some kind.
The lake that surrounds the altar seems to have life in it. ”
“Which is never a good thing when it comes to godly artifacts,” Lugh said. “I’ll come with you and bring Jack and Jill with me, just in case.”
Jack—made of cold iron—and Jill—silver with an iron core—were the rather incongruous names he’d given the hefty, foot-long metal stakes he’d had made to deal with the wide range of hellish ghouls that often hung around ancient relic sites.
“Good idea,” Darby said. “I’ll stay above ground and provide the medical assistance that will invariably be needed, given said nasties in the water.”
Lugh glanced at her. “That isn’t necess—”
“It is, and I will be taking no protective nonsense from you, Lugh Aodhán. I have the next two days off, and I’ve not been to that part of Wales.”
“You could be sitting in the car for ages,” he tried again. “I really don’t think—”
“There will be no car sitting, either, because that would be far too obvious to anyone who might be keeping an eye on the place. I’ll check out the ruin and then wander over to the cake and coffee shop that’s not even five minutes away.”
He grumbled something I couldn’t quite catch, but Darby smiled and patted his leg. “Yes, you are indeed lucky to have two stubborn women in your life, and no, we will not be discussing it later.”
“That being settled,” Mathi said, a smile twitching his lips, “shall we aim for Monday? It gives us time to procure everything we need.”
Lugh nodded. “I’ll drive, given I’ve all the necessary caving gear in—”
“It’ll be quicker and easier if I arrange the use of a private plane—”
“Which will be the Dhār-Val private company jet, because he can charge the costs back to the council for a wee profit,” I cut in.
“There is no ‘wee’ about it,” he said. “It’s not like they’re offering me a retainer for my services, so inflated expenditure claims are to be expected.”
“Meaning you’ll also hire the car?” Darby asked, amused.
“Indeed. Shall we say a 7:00 am start?”
“Only if we must,” I said, with a slight groan.
“You’ll just have to get yourself to bed early, won’t you?” Darby said, a twinkle in her eyes.
“Yeah,” I replied dryly. “I guess I will.”
Lugh’s gaze shot between us. “I have a vague feeling there’s something Mathi and I are missing right now.”
“I find it best not to ask when women are being deliberately vague,” Mathi commented. “It generally only gets you in trouble.”
“It does depend on the reason for the vagueness. There is one other thing.” I rose and retrieved the scrolls and the little black book from my purse. “We found these in a house the thief was targeting, and we’re wondering if they make any sort of sense to you.”
“In other words,” Lugh said, “can you please transcribe them.”
“Yes,” Mathi said. “Though I would suggest it be done here rather than at the museum, given we are unclear as to where Eljin’s loyalties lie.”
Lugh rose, washed his hands, then carefully unrolled the first scroll, keeping his fingers to the edges to lessen the risk of contaminating the old vellum with skin oil. He studied it for several minutes, gaze narrowed and expression thoughtful.
“It appears to be based on hieroglyphs, with a few other random ancient languages thrown in.” He let the scroll roll back up and opened up the black book. “And this contains the means of deciphering them. Handy.”
“How long will it take you?” I asked.
“A couple of days, most likely. Glyphs can be tricky even at the best of times.” He glanced up. “And if I’m honest, tracking down the truth about both the article Eljin and ours is more of a priority right now.”
On that we both agreed. I glanced at the clock and saw it was close to ten. “I should go. I promised Ingrid I’d help her close again tonight.”
Darby cleared her throat and gave me a pointed stare. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”
“Oh, yeah.” I waved a hand. “I had another dream. Apparently we’re on the clock and this godly game will be over in nine months.”
“Well, it’s always good to have a timeframe to work with,” Lugh said. “But I’m thinking the result is not currently guaranteed to go our way.”
“No, but we now have Beira and my father on our side, so that’s got to swing things a little in our favor.”
“When it comes to gods, nothing is ever guaranteed.” Mathi’s phone pinged. He glanced at it, then pushed to his feet. “We can share an Uber. I need to get back to the office.”
“Neither of your drivers working tonight?” Lugh asked, expression surprised.
“Henrick’s vehicle was bugged. We found one tracer, but until both vehicles have been fully swept and cleared, they cannot be used.”
“Competitors? Or something else?”
“Unknown at this stage, but I intend to find out.”