Mariam was sitting behind a commanding wooden desk. My gaze skipped the rest of the room and got stuck on the desk. The grain of the wood swirled in a way that made it almost look like marble.

The polished wooden floors gleamed, while the walls were done in crimson. The furniture was solid, clearly expensive, and mostly wood. For all their love of the ornate, the fae preferred to surround themselves with natural textures like stone and wood whenever possible.

Mariam smiled at me and gestured for me to take a seat. I wasn’t sure what kind of powers she had, but she’d always smelled of salt water to me. Her blonde hair had been pulled back in a simple braid, highlighting her impeccable face and sharp cheekbones. Her eyes were so blue they appeared almost violet.

“Nice place you’ve got here.”

If she heard the sarcasm in my voice, she didn’t respond to it.

“The seelie king occasionally uses this home when he visits. Thank you for meeting me here. I appreciate it. The subject we are about to discuss is… delicate.”

Delicate and clearly confidential. I was officially interested.

The fae male left, closing the door behind him. Mariam took a moment to examine me, and then finally let out a long breath.

“Over the past few weeks, we have had some incidents.”

“What kind of incidents?”

Mariam hesitated and it was clear that she wasn’t thrilled about disclosing these incidents.

“I can’t help you unless you tell me what happened.”

“First, I need your word that you are no longer associated with the Mage Council.”

I raised my eyebrow. “I thought you said you saw the video.”

She stared at me silently and I heaved a sigh. “I am no longer associated with the Mage Council. I’m officially fired.”

Mariam’s gaze dropped to my hip. The Mistilteinn Dagger was in my belt sheath, and I hadn’t bothered pulling my t-shirt over it. Mariam had just used my own lie-detector against me.

Sneaky. I could respect that. My opinion of her increased a notch.

“Okay,” she nodded. “Several light fae artifacts have gone missing recently.”

“What kind of artifacts?”

She went silent again. I waited her out. This was like pulling teeth.

“The kind of artifacts that should have been kept in the fae realms,” she said finally. “However, some of their owners are both overconfident and stubborn.”

“Lay it out for me.”

“Three weeks ago, the first artifact was stolen. It’s called the Belt of Thor.”

“What does it do?”

Mariam’s lips twitched like she was holding back a sneer. She clearly thought I should know all about the fae and their most valuable artifacts.

In my mind, I got to my feet, told her to go fuck herself, and walked out the door. Then I woke up in a week or two to find my electricity was shut off.