‘‘Exactly. I guess he figured I needed a little push into stealing the phylactery back for him.’’

‘‘You should have told me about this from the first. I would have taken care of him for you,’’ Gabriel said with smug self-assurance that grated.

The look I gave him should have, by rights, left him babbling in apology. ‘‘Certainly not! I’m insulted you think I’m so feeble I can’t deal with one little blackmailer on my own. I didn’t mean you should actually slay him for me, you know. I can take care of that all right.’’

Gabriel grinned at the annoyed expression on my face. ‘‘Such a fierce little bird.’’

‘‘I may be little, but I pack a hell of a punch,’’ I said, nodding toward my ankle where the dagger was strapped.

‘‘I have no doubt of that, just as I have no doubt that so long as I am around, you will never have need to prove that. What do you plan to do about the thief taker Porter?’’

‘‘I hadn’t thought beyond making sure Cyrene is safe. I guess we’ll have to deal with him now.’’

‘‘I will take care of him for you,’’ Gabriel said calmly. ‘‘We will rescue your twin, and then see to it this thief taker does not bother you again. After that, we will be free to move on to more important matters.’’

‘‘About that . . .’’ I took his hand in mine. ‘‘I can’t begin to tell you how much it means to me that you’d be willing to forgo the phylactery in order to help my twin, but there’s a little problem—’’

He brushed his thumb across my lips. I bit it.

‘‘There is no problem. I am not giving up the phylactery.’’

‘‘You’re letting Drake go off to Paris without you. He’ll get to it first—hopefully—which means he’ll probably keep it. I know he won’t use it against you like his brother would, but I assumed it would rankle somewhat that Drake would get it rather than you.’’

‘‘It is not yet noon,’’ he answered with a smile.

‘‘What does the time of day have to do with it?’’

"The vault of the L’au-delà lies within Suffrage House, the same building in which you were imprisoned. It is closely guarded, as you might expect, but there is added protection during the day in the form of all the employees who conduct routine committee business.’’

‘‘Ah. So you weren’t going to try breaking in during the day?’’

He shook his head. ‘‘It would be folly to even try. We will attempt it this evening—which means I have a few hours that can be spent taking care of the problem with Cyrene.’’