“Well, Rendor may have helped a little.”

“Uh-huh. Where are the others staying while they wait?”

He shrugged. “Don’t know. But I’m sure it’s safe. Rendor knows all the places the guards check.”

While she wished they’d all returned, overall it was good news. And she hoped that the other members would start to look at Rendor in a new light.

“Thanks,” she said.

He nodded and joined the others. Shyla then relaxed—a mistake. Her adventures caught up to her and fatigue threatened to topple her. Before going to rest, she filled her water skin. Jayden did the same. He set the swords down.

“Do we have people who can fight with those?” she asked.

“Yes, most of the Invisible Swords can handle one. We prefer knives as they’re easier to conceal and to fight with in a confined space.”

Good to know. “Give me the rest of the torques. I’ll take them to the monastery later. Plus I can check on the baby.”

Jayden pulled them from his pack. “At least we reclaimed four more.” Jayden inspected one in the druk light. The Invisible Sword symbol was etched into the metal along with other glyphs and symbols. Jayden turned it over. He ran a fingernail along the back, then squinted closer. A strangled sound escaped his lips.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“This…” He held up the torque. “Is new!”

Not sure she understood, she said, “New as in—”

“As in somehow the Heliacal Priestess is making more. As in, she might have hundreds instead of the dozen original ones.” Jayden slumped against the wall.

Seven hells. That was bad.

“Let’s not panic.” She guided him over to a table. “Sit.” After fetching a couple rolls of jerky, she handed him one. “Eat.”

As he chewed on his, she dug into her pack and removed the torque she’d taken from the Arch Deacon. She laid the four of them on the table. “Obviously the Arch Deacon I interrogated back at the old headquarters didn’t know about these new torques or they didn’t have them at that time.” She considered. “Platinum is rare and expensive. If a large quantity was recently purchased, one of your contacts in Zirdai will know how much. Right?”

“Yes. It’s hard to keep things like that quiet.”

“Good. Once we know how much the priestess purchased, we can estimate the number of new torques she has.” She gestured to the ones in front of them. “Are all these new?”

Jayden examined each one, turning them over. “Two are, the others are not.”

“All right. Come with me to the monastery later to check the others. Once Mojag is back, you both can go into the city and ask about the platinum and see if anyone knows about a missing baby.”

He rubbed a hand over his face. “Okay.”

“First, get some rest.”

“You, too.”