“And you didn’t wake me? We should have gone after—”

“You were running on empty, Beth. That’s always dangerous in this sort of situation.”

“Yes, but if they get the sword—”

“You found the crown in that cavern, despite the Looisearch getting there first. Vincentia might know the island on which the sword rests, but she didn’t see where it was, and it’s very possible she won’t be able to find it.”

I knew he was right, but letting them get ahead of us again didn’t sit well. “I take it you know all this because you arranged to have her followed?”

“That’s a pretty safe assumption, given I’m not psychic.”

I gave him a rather unamused glare, and he laughed. “My family has contacts in multiple locations, across multiple countries, and two hours is plenty of time to arrange a trace and clone.”

“I take you don’t mean cloning her.”

He laughed again. “One of her in this world is more than enough. I meant her phone.”

“She would have noticed someone stealing her phone.”

“To clone a device these days is simply a matter of sitting close and using the right app. And even if her contact list proves unusable, having the clone means we can activate the tracker dot on the crown and find it, even if they move it again.”

That would definitely be handy, especially if our presumptions were wrong and they did grab the sword. We needed to keep control of at least one of the Claws to thwart their overall plan—though I daresay each object in and of itself could cause plenty of damage if used by the wrong person.

Of course, I wasn’t sure there was a right person when it came to the darker, more deadly godly relics.

“What’s the range on the dots?”

“If it’s in Deva, we’ll find it.” He glanced at his watch. “I did organize a private jet to take us back there this morning, but I’ll contact them now and get the route changed while you grab your things.”

I gulped down the rest of my tea, then rinsed the mug and headed back down the hall. Once I’d shoved on my still-damp boots, I grabbed our replacement coats, then opened the bottom drawer and pulled out a wooly hat. Not only was it highly likely the other cottage was still crawling with investigators, the Looisearch probably had people on watch here too. Vincentia might have left with two men, but that still left three unaccounted for.

Of course, they might well have been taken out—either permanently or temporarily—by the second explosion.

My borrowed coat was a little tight across my breasts, but the other jacket was an XXL, which would swim on me but definitely fit Cynwrig. I returned to the kitchen, tossed the new coat across to him, then pulled a hundred and twenty pounds—all the cash I had—from my purse and placed it on the counter to help cover the cost of us being here. It wouldn’t cover the stolen coats, of course, but something was better than nothing.