by Grace, Viola
When the police arrived, she smiled and gave a slight bow. “We noticed an item missing at the museum, an item that he wanted to research further, and he left with it earlier today. I am afraid that the item in question is a poisoned ring from the fourteenth century, and it is toxic at the least direct contact. I have taken images of the ring, and it is in that sealed container, but if you contact the museum curator, she will confirm how deadly the ring can be.”
One of the officers asked, “Is the cat yours?”
“No, it is his, but it was showing interest in the body, and I did not want it getting sick.” She smiled at the purring calico bundle in her arms. “Is there somewhere that this animal can get a good home?”
The female officer nodded and reached for her mic. “I need animal control here.”
The first officer got a call and turned to her. “You are Eltrinia Lem of the museum?”
“I am.”
“You have been authorized to reclaim your property. I just need to confirm that it is all you are taking.”
She had already downloaded and copied his research, so now, she was just stuck holding a sad but purring cat and watching to make sure that no one touched the ring.
It was a process that took several hours, and when she was authorized to leave, she took the cat with her.
She held the case in her hand after checking and locking it. She left the apartment, got a suitable distance from the apartment building, and then teleported back to the museum.
The cat was freaked out, and its claws were digging into her. “Easy, little one.”
Eltrinia juggled the cat and the secure case as she pressed the code for the door. She got into the secure storage, and she sighed in relief. The cat calmed down, and Eltrinia walked back to the locking case, only to find the curator going through the cases one by one.
The curator saw the cat, and her face softened. “He is definitely dead, then.”
“He is greeny-blue, and his tongue was five times its normal size. He’s dead. I was worried that the kitty would start nibbling on him and would die. She doesn’t like teleporting, but she has calmed down now.”
“Is it a female?”
“He called it Princess in his social media files. I didn’t check. Oh, here’s the ring.”
The curator lifted the wrapped ring up, and she sighed. “Oh, good. It’s the original. There are four items that I have found so far that have been replaced with replicas. As long as there is something in the case, the security system can’t detect the forgery, but I don’t let most people know that. He must have taken the ring very recently.”
“Shit. Who had access?”
“Well, you had only accessed two of the missing. The rest were examined by Seliandor.”
Eltrinia grimace. “I have copied his devices while I waited. I just need to get them out and onto a secure unit.”
“Leave the cat here, we will find a good name for her. I will bring her up when I have finished this audit.” The curator spoke as she finished checking on another compartment.
That was a hint to get to her private workroom.
Eltrinia crouched to set the cat down, and the creature immediately ran to the curator.
She grinned, brushed off the cat hair, and walked back to the exit. She never used her teleportation in the back room. The camera files were open to use by the local constabulary. She didn’t want to give away her party trick in an investigation.
She could teleport from her gallery as there were no monitors or cameras nearby, but the back room was a space designed to be observed. She and the curator agreed that she could be photographed but not on official record doing what her djinn genetics allowed her to do.
She left the storage area and walked out, hiked into the arboretum, and then, she transported herself to her study.
Hours of typing got the contents of all of the documents she had downloaded into her information unit. Her head ached, and she got up to get a glass of water from her dispenser. If she had thought to bring a chip with her, it would have been so much easier.
She groaned and stretched. She printed the documents out and checked her chronometer. It was near dawn. She was tired.
Once the documents were in her arms, she transported herself to the hall outside the curator’s door. She knocked. “Curator?”
“Come in, Eltrinia.”
Eltrinia brought her the documents. “I have the buyers for the objects. I can get them back in a few days.”
“How many did he reference?”
“Six in total.”
The curator sighed in relief. “Thank goodness. I was afraid there were more involved than just him. Do you know how to handle the items?”
“I do.”
“Can you get them back without any fuss?”
Eltrinia nodded. “I can.”
“What can I do to help?”
“I need to use the Eye of Rontgen.”
The curator blinked. “Right. Of course. That would help.” She smiled. “I will have it brought up. It is a private piece of mine.”
Eltrinia smiled. “I know. I have the full catalogue in my head.”
“Good. It will be in your room when you wake up. The sooner that we can reclaim these items, the sooner that we can avoid an international incident.” The curator smiled. “Go get some rest. You have had an active day.”
“Goodnight, Curator.”
Eltrinia headed to her quarters, and she paused in the hall. The cat had been curled at the curator’s feet. She smiled and headed back to her room.
Three hours later, she rolled over in bed and answered her com. She smiled at the displayed number. “Hello?”
“Eltrinia, we need the code.”
“P-u-d-d-i-n-g-c-a-p-t-a-i-n.” She yawned. “Did you get it?”
Rish chuckled. “Have it. Thank you. Go back to bed.”
“Already there.”
Chuckling to herself, she hung up and returned to a restful sleep. She was going to have a busy day ahead.
Chapter Ten
Eltrinia was amazed at what people would put on their social media. Even the ridiculously wealthy put everything that they owned up for their friends to gawk at. Getting a fake account and working her way into seeing the activities of the thieves was easy.
Goods obtained by crime were still stolen, even if the idiots tried to tell themselves that they had purchased it fair and square. The fact that they commissioned the items to be stolen was the annoying part. They had stolen from the museum as assuredly as their conduit had.
Eltrinia had her list of items. She had her containment units, and she could get them all done in three hours if she was lucky.
The Eye was pressed to her forehead and attached with a snug band. She tried it on a few parts of her room and was satisfied that she could turn it off and on again.
Her gloves were black, and she was wearing a veil over her features. It wasn’t really ideal, but she needed to hide her features, and in this case, her eyes were rather unmistakable.
She checked the charge on her com unit, looked at the first image, and she went through the protocol for that item. She could touch it with the gloves, but she would be better off using electricity. The security systems of the wealthy were relatively simple, but she would still be seen until she could fry the systems. The problem was that they had the off-site service for their security. They would see her arrive, so she had to be obscured as much as possible.
Her first target was actually two items. The Hand of Grenud and the Chest of Madigar. They were very different items. One was said to have been severed during battle, and the other had held the payment of ransoms, moving between three kingdoms for centuries. The chest was just large enough to hold a human head. It was not a coincidence. This client had an obsession with the macabre.
Eltrinia didn’t send any messages to the curator. The less her whereabouts could be pinned down, the better.
She paced
back and forth. She admitted it to herself. She was nervous. This was the first time since the first day that she could not simply run back to the curator if things went wrong. If she screwed this up, the curator would be in trouble as well.
She was going to have to make sure that she did not screw this up.
Eltrinia attached her capture bag onto her belt. The bag for the box was the first thing she would lay her hands on.
She wiggled her toes in her soft boots and nodded. Right. No time to delay. It was midday across the continent, and this was the perfect time to snag these items.
Eltrinia teleported herself into the living room and remained in her smoke form as she moved toward the window before gliding into the trophy room. She took inventory as she looked around and finally saw her two objects far too close to other items.
Once she was solid, she shorted out the lock with a jolt of energy, disabling the alarm far too easily for the value of the items inside. The headbox was the first thing she removed, and she closed the case before shorting out the second case and lifting out the hand. The box was designed to hold this kind of curse, so she slipped the one into the other and then pulled out the bag and covered them both.
A voice called out, “Is someone there?”
She returned to the museum, setting the items down before she took a deep breath, and then, she flicked to the next item on the list. The fan of Haruna Atsuka was not something that should be left out of a display case. It needed to be confined.
The next bag was full, and she kept it in her hand as she verified her destination.
She held the image in her mind and teleported again, forming in her smoke format in front of the display where the image of the fan had been shared. It was missing.
She turned and moved through the elegant mansion in the countryside. She heard a laugh and turned to face the source, but there was nothing there.
Her hand solidified, and she threw the bag through the air toward the sound. The dust bomb exploded, and the tiny fibers streaked toward the largest source of static. The fan was silhouetted, and Eltrinia solidified, and she sent out the small probes and stunned whoever was holding the fan. The fan dropped to the ground, and the woman in the elegant robe was exposed.
Eltrinia picked up the fan and held it as she reeled in her small darts. As her target began to wake, Eltrinia returned to the museum.
She set the fan down and quickly returned to recapture the last three artifacts. Everything went quietly, and soon, all the items were accounted for.
Eltrinia summoned the mechanicals, and they each picked up one of the artifacts. They had orders to take them back to the vault via the least public routes.
She sighed and removed the veil, took off her belt, dusted the grey powder from her skirt, and she changed her boots to something that clicked. She removed her gloves and sighed as she patted her hair. It was time for a public appearance.
She looked blissfully normal.
Eltrinia straightened her spine and walked out of her quarters. She checked her com, and it showed that the mechanicals had entered the vault and were leaving the items in the waiting receptacles.
She was in the arboretum when she saw the curator. “Good afternoon.”
The curator smiled. “You have finished your errands?”
“Yes. All done. I am just going to check the gallery and see if the new exhibits will fit.”
“You think it is wise?”
“I think it is necessary. Putting them on display will confirm to the different countries that you are a trusted custodian, and you will protect what you have sworn to maintain.”
“That sounds appropriate. I am going to the vault.”
Eltrinia nodded and continued her walk to the gallery. She smiled at a few people and adjusted the nametag that she had put on with pride.
A couple was looking at the twined rings and murmuring about them. The male glanced over, and he smiled. “Docent, may we ask you about these rings?”
Eltrinia stepped toward them. “What would you like to know?”
The woman smiled. “Why were they forged? Was it for a set of lovers?”
Eltrinia blinked. “Yes, they were definitely for a pair of lovers. They are a death sentence.”
The man frowned. “How?”
She stepped toward the display, and it reacted to her. She showed them the images. The stick figures were far more gentle than the actual event. “The couple, when they had been captured by the families, were each forced to put on one of the rings, binding their hands together. Their free hands were shackled to a stone with the chains on the right and left respectively. They were left to die. One of them could go free, but they would have to sentence the other to death. It was a decision that the couple occasionally made together, letting the member with the brightest future free.”
The woman looked at her companion. “They let the woman free.”
“Oh, no. The woman had defiled herself against her family’s wishes. She had ruined any chance of life and survival without the man she ran away with. She had thrown her life away, and the couple came to that realization. He would slip his finger free of the joined rings, and she would lose her head immediately.”
The woman gasped with her hand at her throat. “Immediately?”
“While she was still shackled to the rock.”
The man swallowed. “But her husband survived.”
“He did, as long as he were fast. The family of the deceased woman had the right and responsibility to avenge their daughter. They hunted him until he either left their territory, or they killed him. These rings are not romantic items. They are reminders of inflexible social regulations and the ripples that flow from them.” She paused. “Anything else?”
“Is there anything cheerful here?” The woman appeared desperate.
There was a small crowd gathering, so Eltrinia ran a tour. She told tales that made the viewers laugh, made tears prick their eyes, and made them mad and a little frightened. It was a fun distraction from the dizziness that was pressing on her.
Once she had waved farewell, she headed to the commissary, got a tray, and sat with her hands shaking and her energy stores beyond low. She was never going to make it back to her quarters at this rate.
One of the servers came over. “Eltrinia? You don’t look so good.”
“I feel a little under the weather. If you see the curator, can you ask her to send a mechanical to lend me a steady arm?” She smiled weakly.
“I can assist if you need help.” Inoth sounded like he was right behind her.
The server looked at him with a dazed smile. “I think that would be good. I have rarely seen her so pale.”
Eltrinia finished her tea and turned to look at the djinn with the concerned expression on his face.
“Eltrinia, you do look very pale. I think you should lie down.”
She made a face. It was one thing to ask for help and another to have a handsome prince swoop in for a rescue.
“I think so, too. Will you help?”
He blinked. “Of course. Grip my hand, and I will keep you steady.”
She fought the wave of sarcasm that swelled up, and instead, she used his hand for balance and held on as she got to her feet.
She held onto his arm and smiled up at him. “Do you remember the way?”
“I do. Would you like me to carry you?” He murmured it softly.
“Not until we are out of the public view.”
He nodded, and they walked slowly through the milling public.
“Is it Saturday?”
He chuckled. “Of course, it is.”
“Ah, that explains the busyness of the museum. I have had a busy week.” She smiled and also winced at how lucky she had been having to only stun one woman and mist around two more. She had been fortunate that there weren’t more people home.
She swayed when they reached the heat of the arboretum.
“Are you stable
?”
“Just the other side of this place, and you can sweep me away.”
He smiled. “I see the finish line.”
They walked toward the rear exit that would lead to the upper level. When they reached it, he wrapped his arms around her, and they teleported to her chambers.
She didn’t have enough energy to stay upright after that.
She heard him calling her name, but the darkness seemed so much more comfortable.
* * * *
The air was warm, and the sun was bright when she woke up. Panels of white silk billowed and flared as she looked toward the windows and saw slices of blue water and white sand.
Inoth was sitting in a window seat in casual attire, staring out at the ocean.
“Inoth, where am I?”
He turned toward her and smiled with relief in his expression. “One of my cottages. The curator said you needed a large charge, and there was a storm here, so here is where I brought you.”
She looked down at the white nightgown. “Where is my clothing?”
“It caught fire. You were struck by lightning multiple times. The curator warned me that it would happen, but watching it was startling.”
“Damn. I liked that dress.” She swung her legs out of bed and tried to stand up. She had plenty of energy, but her legs wouldn’t hold her.
“Easy. Stay in bed for another two hours or heal yourself. If you can’t heal yourself, stay in bed for three hours. I will bring you some breakfast.”
She frowned and concentrated on sending the healing energy through her, but nothing lined up. Her body jerked, but she still wasn’t able to stand up. “Damn it.”
He smiled, walked over to her, and tucked her back into bed. “A few hours here isn’t the end of the world. I will be right back.”
Eltrinia sat and flexed her hands. She had to wait, and waiting was not her strong suit.
She closed her eyes and focused on her body. She felt sore spots and recognized them as the strike points. The storm had definitely had its way with her.