Something glimmered for a fraction of a second to the left of the Liquor Hepatis. I jerked my hand back, narrowing my eyes at it.

‘‘Did you remember to cover the camera?’’ Cyrene asked suddenly. ‘‘You don’t want them seeing you when you decloak.’’

‘‘I’m not a Klingon bird of prey, Cy,’’ I said absently, scanning the shelf holding the glass vial. There was nothing else visible. Had I seen just a reflection from the vial, perhaps? A bit of light creating a prism from the glass? Or perhaps the mage had done something to the vial that was beyond my experience?

‘‘No, but you can be seen when you do anything requiring concentration. Or so you say—I couldn’t see you when you juggled at the party we gave in Marrakech.’’

‘‘The discussion about you using me as a party trick is going to have to wait for another time,’’ I murmured, shaking my head at my foolish thoughts. The owner of this house might be a mage, but he had a misplaced confidence in his ability to keep his Liquor Hepatis safe. I reached for it again, catching another momentary glimpse of something tantalizingly just out of the range of my vision. ‘‘Agathos daimon!’’

‘‘What?’’

‘‘Agathos daimon. It means—’’

‘‘Good spirit, yes, I know. I’ve heard you mutter it often enough. Why you can’t swear like any normal person is beyond me. What are you agathosing about, anyway?’’

I turned my head to the side, my peripheral vision catching the sight of a small lavender stone box sitting behind the vial. The second I tried to focus on the object, it vanished.

‘‘There’s something else here. Something . . . important.’’

‘‘Important how? Can I come down out of this tree yet? I’m getting eaten alive here.’’

‘‘No. Stay there until I’m out of the house.’’ I removed the vial, securing it in an inner pocket of my leather bodice as I gave the case another look, but nothing was there. I turned my head again, my fingers groping blindly along the slick glass of the shelf. They closed on a small, cold square just as the lights in the room burst on.

‘‘Agamemnon’s tears!’’ Cyrene squawked in my ear. ‘‘Someone’s there! There’s a car out front and lights just went on in three different rooms—’’

‘‘Thanks for the warning,’’ I whispered through my teeth. Voices outside the room heralded someone’s imminent approach. I glanced quickly around the room, desperately hunting for a dark corner where I might hide, but the room was far too bright for that.