“What is that?” Gabriela asked me.
“Proof,” Maximus murmured. He turned it over in his hands. Lifting his magnifying glass again, he examined it thoroughly. “Your mother was right. It’s not from here.” He stroked it gently.
Leaning close to my ear again, Gabriela whispered, “Any second, he’s going to whisper ‘My Precious’ at it. Sky, we’re not actually breaking any laws here, right? That is yours, isn’t it? You didn’t, um…I mean, of course you didn’t, but is that solid gold?”
“I’ll sell it to you,” I told Maximus.
His eyes didn’t leave the talon. “Any spell you want.”
I winced. Wizards weresupposedto be secret. You’d think he would know that better than anyone. “I told you, she’s not part of this. She doesn’t know—”
“You brought her,” he said. “You either explain to her or kill her. Or you can explainandkill her. Just don’t do it here. I’m not in the murder business.”
Oh, fabulous. I’d planned to repay my new friend with Baybridge’s, not with danger. “Ha-ha! He’s joking,” I told Gabriela. “How about you do what we said? Keep watch for anyone coming in?”
Gabriela was walking slowly backward toward the door. “Sure. Happy to. And then I’d like to leave, if it’s all the same to you.” Her voice squeaked higher.
“Squeamish,” Maximus noted.
“You shouldn’t joke about killing people,” I told him, with an emphasis on the word “joke.” I then lowered my voice, making sure Gabriela was across the store. “I need two spells. The first is for bypassing a wyvern detection spell, and the second is a spell to defeat or subdue a fire beast.”
Maximus looked at me sharply, with narrowed eyes. “Your mother came to me with very similar requests.” He was still fondling the talon. “But I am guessing that you already know that.”
I nodded.
“And dare I guess you also know whose vault she tried to rob?”
Wincing at the word “rob,” I nodded again. He’d spoken at a normal volume—Gabriela must have heard. I shot her a look, but she was peering out the window.
Clutching the amulet, he leaned forward. “Tell me whose it is.”
Every instinct in me screamed at me to grab the amulet and run out of there without looking back. Maximus’s eyes were giving off little sparks—literal sparks, like the kind when you bring two live wires too close together. “I’m here to trade gold for spells, not information.” If Mom hadn’t told him, then neither would I.
“Changed my mind. Gold’s not enough.”
That was alotof gold. It had to be enough! “But—”
Stepping toward me, he closed the distance between us again. “I want in. To your crew. To the job you’re planning.”
“Uh, Sky? Cock-a-doodle-doo?” Gabriela nodded at the door as the handle rattled. She shifted the blinds and said, “I think it’s your brothers.”
Oh, fantastic. Every nerve in my body screamed,Run!Gabriela and I could both bolt for the back door, escape through the alley. But I needed those spells….
Liam’s voice called, “Sky, I know you’re in there! You better not be doing what I think you’re doing.”
“What does he think you’re doing?” Gabriela asked in a whisper that traveled across the store. “Are those lock picks? Sky, I think they’re picking the lock. Never seen anyone do that. Cool.”
Charles called through the door, “Sky, come out right now, or we’re coming in!”
“He can pick a pin tumbler in less than a minute. You don’t have a spell on your lock?” Talking fast, I said, “Here’s the deal: the amulet for the counterspells.”
He continued to stroke the talon, possibly unconsciously. “There is no counterspell for a wyvern detection spell. You’ll need to find another way around it, or persuade a human to block it while you pass by. Your mother must have found a solution. As for the fire beast…I can take care of it. But I come with you, all the way to the vault. That’s the only deal I’ll make. And actually I will need the amulet too, to fuel the spell. It eats gold at a ferocious rate.”
The lock turned.
Why would he want in? And why should I trust him? And what was I supposed to do about the detection spell? There wasn’t time to ask any questions, or even to think. I plastered a smile on my face as all three of my brothers shoved one another to tumble first into the shop.
Maximus quickly pocketed the talon, then spread his arms in welcome. His smile matched mine, brilliant and fake. “Boys, always a delight to see you.”
