“I hadn’t actually thought that far ahead.”

“Realizing you’ve been played for a fool by a family member does tend to short-circuit plotting capabilities, even if only momentarily.”

And he’d know, though his cousin’s actions were far worse than Vincentia’s. Presuming, of course, Sgott was right, and she was simply after the Eye rather than being deeply involved in the search for the Claws.

“That being the plan, why don’t we leave the van where it is and call your car? If we’re still being watched, it’ll be safer.”

He immediately rang his chauffeur. Five minutes later, the car arrived, and we were quickly driven across to the tavern.

To say it looked as if a tornado had hit my living quarters was something of an understatement. Obviously, when Tia hadn’t found the Eye in the storage cavities, she’d opened all the dresser drawers, wardrobes, and even the linen press, and basically just tossed everything on the floor. The kitchen hadn’t escaped the messy search, but it was interesting to note that all the mugs remained on their hooks. If she’d checked them, she wouldn’t have bothered putting them back given she hadn’t done it anywhere else, and that suggested my hiding spot was a good one. I was nevertheless thankful I’d shoved the Eye under my bra rather than giving in to temptation and leaving it behind. And until we were able to make a jewelry cage for it, that was probably my best option going forward.

I picked through the mess, found an overnight bag, and packed a couple days’ worth of clothing in case things went wrong in Ireland and we had to stay longer.

Once we were back in the car, I put the phone on speaker and rang Lugh to update him.

“As much as I’d like to confront Riayn with you,” he said when I’d finished, “I agree it would be better if Darby and I concentrate on unravelling Alinda’s clues and see if they help to find that old church you saw. We can’t risk losing another relic to these bastards.”

“They only got ahead of us last time because they had the tavern bugged and heard what I’d said about the cave. They haven’t got that advantage now.”

“No, but they might not need it if Vincentia is working with them. Her second sight was as strong as Mom’s.”

“Without the Eye to focus it, though, she’d be of no use to them.”

“There are other means of focusing the gift, Beth. She could be using one of them.”

“If she was, she wouldn’t have torn the tavern apart looking for the Eye.”

“That’s presuming she was looking for the Eye and not the knives. They’re possibly even more useful to someone involved in relic hunting.”

I sniffed and changed the subject. Until we caught up with Vincentia, this was all nothing more than conjecture. “Even if they do beat us to the sword, it appears they’re intending to wait until they have all three Claws before they unleash. They haven’t used the crown yet, and it can extend or retract the shadows of dawn and dusk.”