Lugh laughed and tugged the woman’s hands behind the chair. “I’d love to say ‘don’t ask,’ but in truth, I have no idea if he and Dana were into dominance games. Knowing Nialle, I wouldn’t have thought so.”

“So why are they here? They don’t look that old.”

“They’re swing cuffs from around 1912, and he found a storeroom filled with them years ago, when he was on the dig of an old prison from that period. The museum wasn’t interested in taking them all, so he occasionally sells them online.” He locked them onto the shifter’s wrists, then placed the key in his pocket and moved back around the table. “There’s a scrub and sink area down the far end—do you want to grab a bucket of water so we can wake our captive?”

At the mention of water, said captive suddenly gained consciousness. “Don’t you fucking dare.”

I glanced at Lugh. “She was foxing? How did you know?”

“Felt the jump in her pulse just as I locked the final cuff.” He crossed his arms and added, in a voice that was flat and cold, “Give me one good reason why we shouldn’t just leave you here to rot.”

The shifter snorted. “Because it would be against the law, and everyone knows you two are law-abiding citizens.”

“Given I’m an antiquarian who steals for a living, it would be fair to say ‘everyone’ who told you that is wrong.” Amusement filled his voice but didn’t reach his eyes. “You attacked—and injured—my sister. To repeat, give me one good reason why we shouldn’t just leave you here.”

She didn’t answer, instead wasting time twisting and tugging at the cuffs, trying to break free.

“You won’t succeed,” Lugh said. “They may be old-school, but they were designed to counter the strength of shifters.”

She swore and glared up at us. “What’s it going to take for you to release me?”

“Well, for a start you can tell us why you attacked,” I said. “As a rat, you could have hidden anywhere and simply waited for us to leave. Why attack?”

Surprise flickered through her eyes. She hadn’t expected us to know what brand of shifter she was. “Thought it was a trap.”

Lugh frowned. “Thought what was a trap? Us leading you into this basement?”

She nodded. “It was all a little too easy, wasn’t it?”

I shared a glance with Lugh. He looked as confused as I was, which made me feel a little better. “Why would you think that?”

“Neither of you reacted, even though you obviously suspected you were being followed. Then the minute I’m inside here, you attempt to lock me in.”

“Replacing the flagstone could hardly be describe as locking you in, especially when pixies have no control over stone and couldn’t have fused it as we can wood,” Lugh said. “Besides, as a rat shifter, you could have lifted it with a pinky finger.”

Her gaze ran from Lugh to me and back again. “You’re pixies? Well, fuck.”