Darby immediately leapt up from the sofa and ran over to give me a hug. I hugged her back and said, “I’m fine, really.”

She harrumphed. “I’ll be the judge of that, but first, you’d best have a cuppa. I know how grumpy you get if you don’t have a regular intake, and it has been twenty-four hours.”

I laughed. “Luckily for you, I’ve been unconscious all that time.”

“And we all know that doesn’t make a difference.”

She grabbed my free hand and tugged me toward the sofas. There was indeed plenty of pizza left. I grabbed a plate, loaded up three slices, then plopped down and started eating. “What’s happened in the time I was unconscious?”

“Nothing much,” Darby said, though the twinkle in her eyes suggested some inroads had been made on the whole relationship quandary. “Cynwrig got pretty badly burned when he shifted your position to help your breathing.”

I frowned. “I was having trouble breathing?”

Darby nodded. “Your body heat was causing your trachea to swell. Luckily, Beira got there before the ambulance, because they wouldn’t have been able to help you.”

“What about the shifter who kidnapped Alinda? And the one who assaulted me?”

“The latter is being held and questioned. The former threw Alinda at Cynwrig and then escaped.” Lugh placed a tray containing our largest teapot and three cups on the table. “I’ve managed to transcribe the rest of the notebook. It’s basically a family tree with as much detail as he could find on each of De Clari descendants.”

“But nothing on the sword?”

“No, but that is hardly surprising if De Clari did come here under the goddess’s guidance to hide it.”

“Surely someone in the family must know. If not Alinda, then someone else.”

“There is no one else. She’s the last of the family in this generation.”

“Of course,” I muttered. “I mean, why would anything be that simple.”

“Nothing ever is when it comes to relic hunting,” Lugh said. “It takes time and patience to uncover long-hidden clues.”

“Which is why you’re the hunter and I run the tavern.”

Something that would have to change, at least until we sorted out the Claws mess. Neither of us said that out loud, but it was pretty evident we were both thinking it.

I grabbed a slice of pizza and bit into it. “Has Sgott managed to talk to Kaitlyn yet?”

Lugh shook his head. “Not as far as I know. But there is some news on the men who kidnapped Mathi.”

There was something in his tone that had my eyebrows rising. “I’m thinking it’s not good news.”

He poured the tea and slid one cup across to me. “They were found dead in their cells.”

I blinked. “They were being held by the IIT—how the hell is that even possible?”

“From what Mathi said, that’s a question currently under investigation. They suspect magic—”

“Impossible,” I cut in. “All important government buildings—and I would imagine cells—are protected against spellcraft.”