I gave a mental shake of my head. Why would he want to search me? The only thing of value I held was the amulet he sent me to get. It didn’t make sense for him to kidnap me in order to get what he’d sent me to retrieve. Not unless he knew that I wasn’t about to hand it over without knowing exactly what it was.

‘‘This is a problem.’’ The secretary frowned again, shuffling some paperwork on her desk. ‘‘I’m afraid I can’t disburse the reward if it is being contested. Both your claims will have to go before the committee for settling.’’

Porter swore loudly and extremely profanely, sending me a look that, by rights, should have struck me dead.

‘‘There’s nothing to be settled,’’ Savian started to say, but the secretary cut him off by a lengthy recitation of the rules regarding claims.

Porter swore again and started stomping his way from the room. I moved quickly to intercept him, speaking in a tone low enough that it couldn’t be overheard by the others. ‘‘Just exactly what game are you playing at?’’

His eyes were hooded and wary. ‘‘What’re you talking about?’

‘‘Let’s try the fact that you blackmailed me into taking a dragon’s amulet, and yet you’re supposed to be upholding the laws of the L’au-delà. You’re a thief taker, but at the same time you’re working for a demon lord stealing who knows what.’’

For a moment, his eyes held a startled look. ‘‘You’re crazy.’’

I leaned closer, tamping down the sick feeling in my gut that being so near him generated. ‘‘It wouldn’t be that hard, you know, to ask around and find out which demon lord you work for. I can’t imagine whoever it is would be happy to know you hold a position in the L’au-delà. Nor would the committee be happy to find out one of their own works for a prince of Abaddon.’’

To my surprise, a slow, ugly smile split his face. He grabbed my arm in a grip that made me yelp, pulling me up against his body until his breath stung my face. ‘‘You think you’re so smart, but you’re not even close. You breathe one word about that amulet to anyone, and you’re dead. You got that? If I don’t kill you myself, the dreadlord will.’’

‘‘If you kill me, you won’t get the amulet,’’ I pointed out, keeping mum about the fact that I already had the item in question.

He snarled something anatomically impossible. ‘‘You’ll get it.’’

‘‘And if I don’t?’’ I asked. ‘‘You can hardly expect me to steal something for someone who treats me this way. Frankly, at this point, I’d almost rather deal with the repercussions if you exposed Cyrene’s actions in Nova Scotia.’’