Clint’s face was ashen as he stared at Vas. I had a new appreciation for the demons’ torture methods. Shove their suspect in one of these cells, show them just how otherworldly they were, and they’d be willing to sing like terrified little birdies. I bet they hardly ever had to clean these cells after interrogating humans.

Other than the piss, of course.

“Okay, I’ll tell you,” Clint burst out. “I have a friend– a guy who works for the fae. He heard they were moving some important sword. He hates the fae— his wife left him for some light fae dude and he wanted to make them pay.”

“So he stole the sword.”

Clint nodded.

“What’s your friend’s name?”

He clamped his mouth shut. I stared at him and waited.

“Look, he’s not a bad guy, okay? He just kind of snapped.”

“Name.”

“Mike Brown. I don’t think he knew quite what he had taken, he just wanted to get rid of it.”

The name was familiar. He’d been on Aubrey’s list— one of the guys who hadn’t turned up to work for at least a couple of days in the past week.”

“So you helped him with that.”

He nodded. “I know a guy who authenticates these kinds of things. His name’s Durin and he’s seelie— barely any power, but he can read artifacts. He said it was the real thing. I was going to sell the sword at auction, but then this woman got in touch with me. I guess Durin ran his mouth.”

“Who was she?”

He shrugged. “Said her name was Cassie. She offered me more money than I could ever dream of, even splitting it with my buddy.”

“Then what?”

He gave me a ‘duh’ look. “I sold it to her. She told me to keep an eye out for anything similar. Said it would be worth my while.” He wrinkled his nose. “She got all creepy. Wanted to know who else had known about the sword. I told her to mind her business.”

“And the bracelet?”

“Durin had a deal go wrong a few months ago. This guy brought the bracelet to him. Durin told him the bracelet was the real thing, and then the guy tried to kill him. Obviously, he didn’t want anyone who could tie him to the bracelet. Durin may not be powerful, but he’s strong. He killed the bastard and took the bracelet, then handed it off to me to sell.” He sniffed. “I was going to leave the country after the auction tonight.”

“Life’s tough. Tell me about Cassie.”

He let out a weak growl. “I don’t know nothin’, I swear.”