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Yes, it was. I grabbed some fresh clothes out of the bags, then said, “I’m off for a shower.” I hesitated, then added, with an enticing, hopeful sort of smile, “I don’t suppose you want to join me?”
“I would love to join you.” Amusement and desire briefly warred for center stage in the bright depths of his eyes. “However, I do not think it wise right now.”
“Well, damn,” I muttered, even though I really hadn’t expected any other answer. “You do realize all these missed opportunities are going on the tab, and I do expect you to pay the bill once all this crap is over with.”
“It will be my great pleasure to do so.”
“And mine, I would hope.”
“Undoubtedly. Now, go, before my desire gets the better of wisdom.”
I grinned, spun around, and headed for the shower. Twenty minutes later, feeling a lot fresher and wearing sensible jeans, a long-sleeved T-shirt, and sneakers, I returned to the office—just in time to answer my phone.
“Uncle Rhoan,” I said, as his image appeared on the vid-screen. “There’s not a problem, is there?”
“Not yet,” he replied. “Unless, of course, you’ve decided to do something daft without consulting me.”
“Anyone would think I make a habit of doing dumb things with the way you lot carry on.” My voice held an edge that was both amusement and frustration. “I take it you didn’t just call to check up on me?”
“No, I didn’t, although it is a tempting thought.” Humor creased the corners of his bright eyes. “I’m just reporting back with the search results of that phone you handed me.”
“Oh good,” I said, having completely forgotten about it. I had to wonder whether said forgetfulness was the result of having too much on my plate, or simply pregnancy brain kicking in. I might not be that far along, but from what Mom had said, her brain had pretty much gone to mush for the whole term of her pregnancy.
And she so would, I thought with a stab of sorrow, have loved being a grandmother.
I cleared my throat, ignoring the ache as I added, “Did you find anything useful?”
“The phone belongs to one Harriet Monterrey, and she has several addresses on file.”
“One of them undoubtedly an apartment that was blown to smithereens a day or so ago.”
Uncle Rhoan gave me one of those long looks. “And how would you know that?”
“Because she tried to blow us up, not just the apartment. Monterrey is one of our dark sorceress’s aliases.”
“Your sorceress seems to have gained a liking for detonating things of late.”
She certainly did—and I was seriously hoping it wasn’t third time lucky when it came to apartments and bombs. “Well, I guess i
t’s a lot easier than summoning a demon to do your dirty work. Less personal cost involved.”
“And has the side benefit of destroying any evidence she might not wish found,” he said. “In which case, you had better be careful if you’re intending to visit her second address.”
“We will.” If only because Lauren and Lucian had been one step ahead of us right throughout this damn quest, and even now that Lucian was dead, Lauren still seemed more than capable of guessing our next move.
Which made me wonder whether perhaps there was some other form of geas on me. What if Lucian had placed more than one? The charm Ilianna had given me was supposed to nullify the strength of any geas placed on me, but I’d discovered the hard way that it didn’t entirely render them useless. Lucian’s attraction spell had still been active when I was in his presence; the charm just meant that I was better able to resist it.
“Where’s the second address?” I added.
“In Perth,” he said. “Forty-four Gingin Road, Lancelin, to be precise. It’s a very exclusive area, so your dark sorceress obviously has some money.”
“Obviously, given she also has a beachside property on the Gold Coast and several houses here in Melbourne in rather expensive areas.” I hesitated. “I don’t suppose there are any traffic or security cams in the area you could hack into, are there?”
“No, but I ran a background check on the house. It’s basically been used as a luxury holiday rental for the last couple of years, so it’s doubtful there’d be anything of interest there.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.” After all, our sorceress had a habit of doing the unexpected. And a holiday rental, luxurious or not, could certainly provide a good cover for darker activities. “Did you uncover anything about Monterrey herself?”
“Not a great deal,” he said. “The funds from the rental are going into a bank account, but the money hasn’t been touched for several years. According to tax records, she’s a retiree with a good income stream from investments, there are no outside fines or warrants on her, and she hasn’t used her Medicare card to go to the doctor recently.”
