Page 37 of Bargain with Fate
“Only that they were written by ancient fae. According to the auction house, the stone was broken off a monolith that formed a treaty between the fae and the gods.”
Some knickknack.
“Do you know which treaty?” Vale asked.
“I assume it was to do with the Old War, but I wasn’t very interested in history.”
“You have a lot of books for someone uninterested in history,” I said.
“Don’t let the leather bindings fool you, Maya.” She plucked a tome from a nearby shelf and handed it to me.
I opened the cover to find another cover inside.Lady Chatterley’s Lover. “Point taken.” I closed the book and returned it to the shelf.
“How did you find your buyer for the stone?” Vale asked.
“Online. I didn’t see any issue with it since I used an anonymous handle and a private courier service. Expensive, but very discreet.”
Technically, it didn’t violate any Neighborhood rules or regulations, of which there were many, but there was an expectation that Neighbors wouldn’t engage in off-island transactions unless they took place through official channels. It was the best way to maintain the island’s secrecy.
“And the courier returned with payment?” Vale asked.
“Yes, everything seemed to be in order until the next day, when I went to store the money in my safe.”
“And discovered it was no longer money,” Vale said.
“Precisely. It had turned to a pile of dust, as though the money had dissolved right on my kitchen counter.”
“I thought the money was wired to you and had disappeared from your account,” I said.
“Well, I wasn’t about to put in writing that I keep a safe of valuables and currency in my home, was I?”
“Accuracy is helpful during an investigation,” I said. “What else can you tell us about the buyer? Anything you withheld or modified in your report?”
“Only that they responded to the listing immediately, almost as though they’d been scouring the web for it. I didn’t think much of it at the time. I was happy to find a buyer so quickly.”
It was possible whoever bought the stone had an internet alert set for certain keywords.
“Did you mention the stone’s alleged provenance in the listing?” I asked.
“Yes, with all the usual disclaimers, of course.”
“If you’re not interested in history, why buy the stone?” Vale asked.
“Because it hummed, and the vampire I was involved with at the time had a fondness for oddities, so I added it to my collection of treasures. Obviously, when I relocated to Evermore, I was forced to downsize. I’d forgotten about that little nugget until I discovered it in a box at the back of my closet.”
Only a vampire as wealthy and out of touch as Stella would consider her Evermore mansion as downsizing.
“Next time you want to sell something, please go through the proper channels,” I said. “The island was designed to protect you.”
Vale’s eyes sharpened. “Protect them or imprison them?”
“If the next generation hopes to thrive in modern society, then the older generation has to move along. It’s the only way.”
“You’re putting them out to pasture like cows,” Vale argued.
My cheeks grew warm. “Iam not putting them anywhere. I just work here, remember?”
“Yes, and you seem to have put yourself out to pasture right along with them.”
