Page 38 of Truthfinder’s Promise

Meredith took a sip of said tea. Say what you wanted about the Queen of Death, but she knew her tea. “Did you want to talk about entrepreneurship, Julian, or did you want to talk about why you put a sword through my wards last night?”

“At the moment, I’m more interested in where you got that.” He pointed at Jensen.

“Monster? I picked him up in a charming little holding of Elijah’s called Blackthorn Manor. Of course, I wouldn’t have had to spend the last few months tracking them all down looking for him if you hadn’t stolen him from me in the first place.”

Julian’s eyes narrowed. “So you did know what your little contractor was when you were fucking him.”

“Was he actually a contractor?” Meredith gave a breezy laugh, to Julian’s obvious annoyance. “How delightful. You know, I can’t decide if I should be annoyed with you, or grateful. On the one hand, I wasted a month fucking him, as you so charmingly put it, only for him to be stolen out from under me right when I was getting somewhere with him.

“On the other hand, sometimes it is nice to just send a dog off to the trainer and not have to dirty your own hands with the work.”

Julian appraised her. “I can’t decide if I buy it,” he said finally.

“Buy what?”

“This.” He waved a hand at her. “I always suspected you weren’t as empty-headed as you made out, but suddenly wanting to play on the dark side? You’ve spent all your time of late cozying up to the new Council.”

She shrugged. “They have their uses. Like my little Monster does. The question is, Julian, are you useful to me?”

He leaned back in his seat. “I think we can be useful to each other. Especially if that—” he pointed at Jensen “—is as tame as you say. Unfortunately, given your association with Siren, we do have a trust issue.”

“If anyone has a right to a trust issue, it’s me. Why do you want onto my property?”

He didn’t give her a direct answer. “Have you ever heard of the Oddities Auction?”

“No.” But she had a very bad feeling she knew just what sort of “oddities” were up for bid.

“It takes place once every decade and deals in rare magics. Old magical items, mostly, and—” his eyes flicked to Jensen “—other things of interest.”

“Things like Monster?” she asked casually.

“Perhaps. My employer runs the auction.”

She’d known it wouldn’t take him long to find a new master to serve.

“It’s in two days. I want you to attend it with me.”

“Flattered though I am by the invitation, magical artifacts aren’t my thing. And what does any of this have to do with you shoving Elijah’s sword into my wards? Wouldn’t you have been better served selling that at your little auction?”

He smiled indulgently. “That wasn’t me personally, for the same reason the sword wasn’t worth selling. Elijah and Valkyrie were the only ones capable of handling it without causing themselves irreparable damage. I’m sure you’ve sent it back to her, but I am curious. How did you break it free? Once activated, it should have been unstoppable.”

She’d gotten under his skin, then. Good. “If I tell you, will you finally answer my question?”

He inclined his head.

“Valkyrie sucks at birthday presents. She’s obsessed with weaponry, so to her, the best possible gift is a throwing dagger personally imbued by her for strength and true aim. I had it lying around, so I gave it a go at pushing out the sword.”

“I see.” He almost looked disappointed. What had he been hoping she would say? “To your question, then. The items for the auction are often curated years in advance and delivered to various caretakers. Your mother was one such caretaker. We are missing the items that should have been in her repository, and Analisa has made me personally responsible for finding them.”

Analisa. Meredith didn’t think she knew anyone with that name, but she would double-check with Siren and Valkyrie. “And if you don’t find them before the auction?”

“Analisa will be displeased.” The tone of his voice left no doubt that Analisa’s displeasure wasn’t something to be taken lightly.

“And you’ve waited until two days before the auction to become serious about finding them?” That didn’t make any sense.

“Oh, I’m quite serious about finding them. But they should have passed into Elijah’s possession after her death. It wasn’t until he died that Analisa realized he hadn’t chosen a successor of his own, and the location of the items was lost.”

Meredith decided to poke the hornet’s nest. “Sounds like your mistress needs to keep a better watch on her underlings.”